# Incomprehensible Movie Trailers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2000, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373 "2000-11-22T21:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/21 "2000-11-26T15:05:21Z")
I have to agree with those who say it is equally bad to show too much in a movie trailer. However, you must give something to pull them in. It does not necessarily have to be hints to the plot (although I like this). It could also be a trailer that is artistic/visually stunning enough itself to make you interested. I believe American Beauty had a trailer like this. The terrible ones are those that don’t give you much reason to go see the movie OR misrepresent the movie. The Bounce example that I gave earlier is lacking in any plot hints and any significant artistry. I suppose they are hoping to pull people in on ability of Paltrow and Affleck to draw in fans. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/22 "2000-11-26T19:34:07Z")
One of the things we do in the Washington Film Society (see the following URL) [http://www.dcfilmsociety.org](http://www.dcfilmsociety.org) is that twice a year (just before the big summer push and the big Christmas push for films) we get together at a theater we’ve rented for a couple of hours and watch as many of the trailers for upcoming movies as we can get our hands on (usually fifteen to twenty of them). We make fun of the stupid ones, but we also try to analyze what each of the trailers is trying to say about the movie. For instance, at our most recent trailer show, we talked about why the trailer for _Castaway_, the new Tom Hanks film, gives away the fact that halfway through the film he’s rescued from the island he’s trapped on. I suspect that the distributing company had a dilemma with this film. They didn’t want to give away the fact that Hank’s character is rescued, but if they didn’t mention it, people would think that it’s just a modern-day Robinson Crusoe story, and that’s not the point of the film. We also talked about how the trailer for _Driven_ almost hides the fact that the film stars Sylvester Stallone. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/23 "2000-11-26T21:12:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\*We also talked about how the trailer for _Driven_ almost hides the fact that the film stars Sylvester Stallone. \*\* I think I’d hide that, too. It’s been seven years since Stallone was the star of anything that even came close to a blockbuster (Demolition Man, 1993). Antz was probably the most successful movie he’s been in since then, and he was a voice actor whose character wasn’t even the hero. Judge Dredd tanked. The Specialist was a blip. Daylight came and went so fast that I don’t even remember what the commercials were about. And these are the movies he did that had even decent box office numbers. He’s been in 14 movies since DM (according to IMDB). I recognize the four I listed above. I don’t think I’ve even heard about the others, and one was disavowed by the director himself (it’s credited to Allen Smithee, aka Anonymous in creditspeak). Stallone’s star is losing altitude at a nice, speedy clip. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/24 "2000-11-26T22:53:41Z")
I have the DVD for _Being John Malkovich,_ and it has the television and theater trailers on it. I’ve watched them, and there is absolutely no way in hell to tell what the movie’s about. Of course, I can’t think of any way to explain that movie in 30 seconds anyway. The one ad that comes closest is a parody of a tv psychic ad. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/25 "2000-11-27T02:06:33Z")
Wait, now, Stallone did that movie where he was a fat cop. Copland. That’s it. He also did that horrible one… Get Carter. That was SHIT. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![\_hijack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/c0e974/32.png) [@\_hijack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_hijack)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/26 "2000-11-27T03:02:00Z")
The worst one was “Toys”, the Robin Willims bomb. The preview just showed him in a field of grass, gabbing. Because they had no idea what direction the film would take before it was finished. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/27 "2000-11-27T03:10:23Z")
[Jabootu’s review of _Sphere_](http://www.jabootu.com/sphere.htm) notes, frequently, how all the vaguely interesting or supposedly “surprising” moments in the film were given away in the trailer. True, all of it true. jsc1953 mentioned _What Lies Beneath_, and it’s true, the trailer basically makes the first third of the film pointless. SPOILER FOLLOWS: since the trailer tells you that the plot has something to do with Harrison Ford’s affair, you know from the beginning that the “neighbor killed his wife” nonsense is just a red herring. SPOILER ENDS I’m a fan of the “teaser” myself, the ad that tells you next to nothing about the film and often contains no scenes from the film at all. One of my favorites is the teaser for _The Messenger: The Story Of Joan Of Arc_. No scenes from the movie, but enough to intrigue you. Remember the teaser for _A Bug’s Life_, with all the bugs barely visible on the leaf, which gets chewed off by the caterpillar? How about the _Terminator 2_ teaser, showing the Terminator being constructed and ending with Arnie looking at the camera with glowing red eyes? And, as a kid who grew up loving Japanese monster movies, I loved the museum teaser for _Godzilla_, even if the movie wasn’t great. Sometimes teasers go grossly awry, though. One that springs to mind is the _Alien 3_ teaser, which pretty well states flat-out that the aliens are coming to Earth. Musta been made before that final script rewrite. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/28 "2000-11-27T03:49:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KJ \* > \*\*I remember the **Men In Black** teaser also. That was great. Except, as I recall, there was some line of dialogue in the teaser (something about Will Smith asking how the guns worked or something…I don’t remember the exact words at all. Can someone help me out here?) that got taken out of that scene in the movie for some reason. > \*\* Between the time they made the trailer, and the movie got finished, they’d rewritten the scene. Heck, get the collectors edition box set. (Yeah, I just got it for our brand new DVD player.) The whole movie is rewritten between the time it got started and ended. 🙂 Smith: “You know how to use this thing?” Jones: “Not a Clue.” That’s in the original trailer. It ended up with Jones explaining how the guns work, Smith not catching it, and Jones telling him “Just shoot the damn thing!” Which is a good point. Trailers are often made before the movie is even finished. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/29 "2000-11-27T16:16:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > [ > I’m a fan of the “teaser” myself, the ad that tells you next to nothing about the film and often contains no scenes from the film at all. … > Sometimes teasers go grossly awry, though. One that springs to mind is the _Alien 3_ teaser, which pretty well states flat-out that the aliens are coming to Earth. Musta been made before that final script rewrite. \*\* I also love teaser trailers…give you a wonderful sense of anticipation over a film that’ll probably turn out to be disappointing. 90% of everything is crap, but it’s a lower percent for teaser trailers. 🙂 Best example: the teaser for Independence Day that ran during the Super Bowl 6 mos prior to release. I think there were major rewrites going on during Alien3. So the teaser might’ve reflected reality as of the time of its creation. Rumors abound that the Fellowship of the Ring teaser will be released next month; possibly attached to 13 Days, possibly to Dungeons & Dragons. ohboyohboyohboy… ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/30 "2000-11-27T18:55:45Z")
I recall another teaser line from MIB that didn’t make it into the movie. Referring to wearing the sunglasses to keep the memory-eraser thing from affecting them, K says, “Why do you think they’re called Ray-Bans?” I liked the line and it didn’t appear in the film. They didn’t mention the type of sunglasses at all. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/31 "2000-11-27T19:53:26Z")
I think \*\* A Few Good Men \*\* had the best trailer I have ever seen, the voice over of the exchange between Nicholson and Cruise that began “You ever serve in a forward unit?” I could not wait to by a ticket after that. \*\* Double Jeopardy \*\* had a horrible trailer. It gave away the ending in what was a thriller. Why should I sit through 2hrs of will she find her husband when they just showed the ending ? ---
**Author:** ![Anake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@Anake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anake)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/32 "2000-11-27T23:01:57Z")
I also liked the “teaser” (because we all basically know what it was ABOUT) for **Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas**. This was before they revealed the Grinch’s face. He was stealing the toys to the tune of “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” Back when I was seeing **Sleepy Hollow** in theaters I saw the trailer for **Man on the Moon** and I was amazed. It was pretty moving. That’s the only trailer I’ve liked that showed tons of scenes from the movie (the trailer I’m talking about began with “Andy Kaufman: 1949-1984” and then went to the trailer–or did it just say “1949-1984”?). From, Anake ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/33 "2000-11-29T13:45:01Z")
jayjay writes: \> I think I’d hide that, too. It’s been seven years since \> Stallone was the star of anything that even came close to \> a blockbuster (Demolition Man, 1993). Antz was probably \> the most successful movie he’s been in since then, and he \> was a voice actor whose character wasn’t even the hero. \> Judge Dredd tanked. The Specialist was a blip. Daylight \> came and went so fast that I don’t even remember what the \> commercials were about. And these are the movies he did \> that had even decent box office numbers. \> \> He’s been in 14 movies since DM (according to IMDB). I \> recognize the four I listed above. I don’t think I’ve \> even heard about the others, and one was disavowed by the \> director himself (it’s credited to Allen Smithee, aka \> Anonymous in creditspeak). Stallone’s star is losing \> altitude at a nice, speedy clip. The really strange thing about this is that producers keep giving Stallone big roles in major films despite the fact that his films aren’t making money. After all, lots of one-time movie stars finished their careers working as character actors or doing smaller roles on TV. Stallone doesn’t seem to get it that his time as a star has passed. If anyone else had had a string of money-losing films as long as Stallone, they’d be doing dinner theater by now. ---
**Author:** ![Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/34 "2000-11-29T14:01:52Z")
Am I wrong, or does the TV commercial for _Cast Away_ give away the conclusion? (I won’t repeat it here to avoid being a spoiler). About trailers that show scenes that don’t make the final cut: Didn’t the trailers for _The English Patient_ show Ralph Finnes’ character cocking a rifle as if he were about to fire it? In the movie, he doesn’t do that. Also, the commercials for _The Grinch_ show the Grinch popping his head through a tree and saying to Cindi Lou “I’m not The Grinch, if that’s what you’re thinking.” In the movie, he hides behind the tree and doesn’t say this. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/35 "2000-11-29T15:11:52Z")
Soup, Did you bother to read my post? That’s just what I said about _Cast Away_. It gives away the fact that he gets rescued (which occurs halfway through the film, not at the end) because they didn’t want the potential audience to think that it was just a modern-day Robinson Crusoe story. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/36 "2000-11-29T15:14:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\* > The really strange thing about this is that producers keep giving Stallone big roles in major films despite the fact that his films aren’t making money. After all, lots of one-time movie stars finished their careers working as character actors or doing smaller roles on TV. Stallone doesn’t seem to get it that his time as a star has passed. If anyone else had had a string of money-losing films as long as Stallone, they’d be doing dinner theater by now. > \*\* I think Sly’s films still do well enough overseas and in video to keep his films in the black. But about trailers… One of the best teasers of all time was for Blair Witch. Love or hate the film the 30 sec theatrical trailer was very effective in getting people to see the movie. Liar Liar had a good trailer. It did have a bunch of jokes in the trailer but in the film each of those jokes continued on and got funnier and funnier. Cast Away had a teaser trailer that did not show him being rescued. Now the new trailer shows it and I guess the movie is supposed to be about him getting back with Helen Hunt after she thought he was dead for 4 years. I wanted to see the first movie. I don’t want to see the second. (Why is Helen Hunt in every movie right now?) I liked both the teaser and the second trailer for Sleepy Hollow. I liked all the trailers for South Park. The teaser for The Messenger was great. I really like the trailers that just show images and play music. Maybe they so some words on the screen but just a little musical montage is usually a good trailer. It just gives you the feeling of the film and an idea of the plot from the images. The trailers for Unbreakable really did not prepare me for the film. I liked the film, but it was nothing like I expected from watching the trailer. I guess with the all the focus groups, ‘input’ from the stars and directors, and having to please the studio heads and getting the trailer approved for all audiences it’s kind of hard to make a trailer. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/37 "2000-11-29T16:48:18Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Max Torque_ > > Sometimes teasers go grossly awry, though. One that springs to mind is the _Alien 3_ teaser, which pretty well states flat-out that the aliens are coming to Earth. Musta been made before that final script rewrite. \*\* Ooooh, I remember that trailer!! Weren’t there some print ads mentioning this too?? Maybe it’s time to finally make _Alien 5_ where they do make it to earth after all!! Sigourney hasn’t been up to much lately… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/38 "2000-11-30T01:46:21Z")
In ALL of the trailers for _Hocus Pocus_ Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy are shown pointing at each other and saying in unison, “She did it!” Except it wasn’t in the theatrical release. My twins picked up on doing it and everything. They were disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2000, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373/39 "2000-11-30T01:53:41Z")
definitely see Unbreakable. The trailer has to be weird. If it were clear, it would give away crucial parts of the movie. Even reading the reviews is a little too much. You have to go without knowing much of the story. All you need to know they explain in the movie. Definitely see! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incomprehensible-movie-trailers/42373.md?page=1)