# How Accurate Is Your Movie Trailer Assessment Skill? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736 "2011-03-15T02:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736/21 "2011-03-15T22:25:44Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > See, I was _trying_ to do the same thing with **Inception**. All I’d seen was the poster, and I hadn’t looked at it closely. It was Leo in front of some buildings, that’s all I gathered from my brief glimpses. I hadn’t seen any trailers or clips or read any synopsis or articles or interviews or seen any stills or ANYTHING. Then I dip into a thread that had “spoiler free” in the title and there it was, that Inception had something to do with _dreams_. It would have been so cool to see it for the first time without even knowing that much, but it’s my own fault for trusting. I have to echo the question… what “trust” was violated, exactly? How is the basic premise of the movie a “spoiler” that you were “trusting” people not to talk about? What on earth could they have talked about if they’re not allowed to say anything about the movie the thread was about? Is it a spoiler if I tell you “Saving Private Ryan” is a WWII movie? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736/22 "2011-03-15T22:29:49Z")
I suck ☹ I think every movie trailer looks great ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736/23 "2011-03-15T22:49:51Z")
I can definitely tell when a movie is going to be really bad. I can especially catch the times a comedy’s funniest gag is in the trailer. What I’m not so good at is telling the really good movies from the could-have-been-great movies. No matter what, though, I’m very happy with trailer-editing today, compared to 20-40 years ago. It’s hard to believe those were actually used to make people want to pay to see a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736/24 "2011-03-15T22:54:50Z")
You know I’m a sucker for special effects. Which is why I went to see “Clash of the Titans.” Boy! what a pile of suck that was! I’ve seen better acting and writing in porn movies. The world of Sci Fi has been sucking lately. I hope we get some new talent to the big screen sometime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736/25 "2011-03-16T02:00:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have to echo the question… what “trust” was violated, exactly? How is the basic premise of the movie a “spoiler” that you were “trusting” people not to talk about? What on earth could they have talked about if they’re not allowed to say anything about the movie the thread was about? To answer all three of you, I shouldn’t have used the word “trusting” because that implies that other people spoiled the movie for me by discussing what it was about, and they did not. You’re right, it’s irrational to expect such a thing. I should never have gone into that thread. It’s my own fault, because I didn’t think and I understand that. If there’s a thread that’s labeled “Super 8 (spoiler free)” I know not to go into the thread because of course people will talk about the premise, as they should. “Spoiler free” means “don’t give away the ending” not “don’t say _anything_ about the plot.” I do realize that, just so you know. I misspoke. I made a big deal about it at the time, but I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736/26 "2011-03-16T02:17:14Z")
I have great trailer-fu when it comes to my _personal_ enjoyment of a movie. I rarely see a movie that I don’t like, and that’s generally because it’s a sequel to one I did like, or was based on a book I liked. But I have very specific tastes, and know how to recognize what I will like in trailers (for example the words “thriller” or “thrilling” are big neon warning signs saying, “ **SpoilerVirgin** will not like this movie”). I do remember thinking that I would like _Primal Fear_ because the trailer made it look like a courtroom drama, and then finding that it was too much of a thriller for my taste. (Heh, I see in the IMDB that one of the genres listed is “thriller” – if they’d said that in the trailer, I would have known better). Recently I was a little of wary of _Hereafter_ because the trailer looked like it could have thriller elements, but it turned out to be very good (IMDB puts it in the “drama” and “fantasy” genres). OTOH, my ability to judge what everyone else is going to like, in terms of box office success, or popular and critical acclaim, is not good at all. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736/27 "2011-03-16T02:30:50Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I can definitely tell when a movie is going to be really bad. I can especially catch the times a comedy’s funniest gag is in the trailer. Come to think of it, I’m pretty good at judging comedies by the trailer by this rule: the funniest joke(s) are in the trailer. Usually, if there are 3 funny jokes in the trailer, the rest of the movie must have more. However, if there’s only 1, that’s the only 1 in the entire movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-accurate-is-your-movie-trailer-assessment-skill/574736.md?page=1)