I think the movie Jack, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starring Robin Williams as a child who ages at a highly accelerated rate (4 times normal) was marketed as a pure comedy on the order of Big, and much of it was. But when I saw the trailer, my first thought was - my god, he’ll die at 20 or 21! And his graduation speech from high school, with Jack looking quite elderly, emphasized exactly that. It was a comedy, but it was also a very sad drama, as his family was aware from the beginning that they would lose him very young.
I think anybody who decided to see Million Dollar Baby solely on the trailer was probably very surprised.
Well, pardon me for mixing up my tenses.
Are you seriously contesting a subjective experience that I had? The trailer did not accurately reflect the content of the movie, imo. You can disagree, but you can’t state as a fact, that I’m wrong.
I didnt see “Alien” based on the trailers which gave me the impression that it was about a nasty thing that eats people, a generic horror flick that just happened to have a spaceship as a setting.
While “Alien” WAS about a nasty thing that eats people, it wasn’t a generic horror flick, it was a full-bore SF flick that created a whole SF society. I’d have gone to see the moviie a LOT sooner if I’d understood that. Missed the theatrical release, as it was.
Oh my goodne, YES. The scene with the mom at the wedding was so sad that it almost didn’t fit in with the rest of the movie.
Really? I’ve still never seen “Alien” because I was under the impression it was a horror flick.
Really. That’s the exact experience I had. Except for the one scene involving the stomach burst, it’s not even all that explicit in terms of gore. Certainly not by modern standards, and not even by those bygone days. The real point of the movie is not to see people being eaten – in fact, you see no such thing in the movie.
Well heck! I may just watch it one of these days, in that case!
**Signs ** was marketed as a spooky movie about an alien invasion. Sure, it had those plot elements, but the movie was *about * personal redemption, forgiveness, and moving on with life.
Yeah, Alien’s really good. Now Aliens (the sequel) is more akin to your typical horror flick, but is still unique enough to warrent a viewing
I’m really getting tired of these goddamned right-wing fucktard Google ads.
ETA: which, of course, disappear as soon as I post.
You put it very well. That is what I could have titled this thread- ‘What movies did you almost miss because of the trailer?’
I thought 28 Days Later was going to be a straight up zombie movie, maybe with better than usual writing and directing. I didn’t expect so much of the interpersonal drama as various people came to terms with the end of the world.
I suppose it was difficult to market it based on the knid of movie it really was. But I had the same experience. I only watched ‘Fight Club’ in 2005 because of the stupid trailers. So many people recommended it over the years, I finally decided to see it.
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Well, sorta. The VHS cover shows a smiling Dorothy Parker holding a (presumably) post-coital cigarette. They could hardly have picked a less indicative scene from the movie.
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story had some ads marketing it as a martial arts movie, presumably for guys. AND had other ads marketing it as a romance, presumably for gals. When I saw one type of ad immediately followed by another, I figured the move didn’t know what it was, and decided not to spend theater plus babysitter money to see it.
I’ve seen most of it on TV. I looks like a good movie with lots of action, a few romantic elements, and a pretty good story. But there’s got to be a better way to bring all the genders into a theater than running two utterly disparate ad campaigns for the same movie.
A similar thing was done for Forget Paris. The movie was marketed as both a romantic chick-flick, and a comedy about a basketball referee.
This reminds me of another movie with a misleading ad campaign - The Human Stain. The actual movie is about a character, played by Anthony Hopkins, who is of mixed race but has always denied his black ancestry. But the ads make no mention of the racial plotline. But there is a minor subplot about a relationship between Hopkins’ character and a woman played by Nicole Kidman. And the ads focus entirely on this subplot and make the movie look like it’s a love story.
Oh yeah, there was also The Blair Witch Project, which was marketted as a horror film. But it was instead of rather exciting action film where the protagonist, the Blair Witch, using cunning and maybe magic hunts down and assassinates a bunch of stupid people who really needed to die!
I was cheering through the whole thing! 
yes, I really did like the Blair Witch Project only because the witch won
I’ve had several people suggest I see Muriel’s Wedding but I avoided it because I thought it was a romantic comedy. Now that I see it’s not , and considering I like heavy drama, do you think I’ll enjoy it? I’m one chick that really hates “chick flicks”.