# Movies That Were Better Than Their Trailers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589 "2008-08-19T19:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![misshannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@misshannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misshannah)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/1 "2008-08-19T19:41:55Z")
We’ve all gotten excited over movie trailers, only to rush out to see the actual film and be bitterly disappointed (I’m looking at you, _Phantom Menace_). But I’m at a loss to recall any instances where the trailer was horrible, but the film itself was actually really good. Can anyone think of any examples? I’m guessing in most cases it would be that the film was poorly marketed – presented as a bubbly romantic comedy, for instance, when it was actually a complex character drama. (Like [_Shining_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout_rgPSA), but for real.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/2 "2008-08-19T20:00:07Z")
Happens all the time. _Moonlight Mile_ is a really good movie with a dumb trailer. Also, I wouldn’t have seen _Three Kings_ if I hadn’t been dragged by a Marky Mark fangirl. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/3 "2008-08-19T20:01:47Z")
**Tropic Thunder.** The trailer reeks. Boring and blah. The movie is freaking hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![misshannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@misshannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misshannah)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/4 "2008-08-19T20:04:13Z")
Ah thanks! I tried to think of some after I posted. American Pie is one I didn’t even see in the theatre because it looked so bad. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/5 "2008-08-19T20:59:39Z")
I had no desire to see _Fight Club_ after having seen two trailers that made it look like a brutal macho beat-em-up movie. Finally I watched it on cable, and was astounded to learn that it was far from being the mindless piece of junk that the trailers had implied it was. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/6 "2008-08-19T21:01:54Z")
I didn’t see the movie, but the trailer for _Journey to the Center of the Earth_ was one of those where you feel like you’ve seen all the surprising/interesting parts by the end. The reviews were actually pretty positive. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/7 "2008-08-19T21:07:57Z")
The trailer for _Stranger than fiction_ made it out to be a standard Will Ferrell fails-at-comedy affair. It was in fact an incredibly funny and also tragic film that had me in tears at one point. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/8 "2008-08-19T21:42:18Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] The trailer for _Stranger than fiction_ made it out to be a standard Will Ferrell fails-at-comedy affair. It was in fact an incredibly funny and also tragic film that had me in tears at one point. [/QUOTE] Didnt the same apply for Punch Drunk Love? ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/9 "2008-08-19T21:53:38Z")
I don’t know - did Punch Drunk Love make me cry? You tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/10 "2008-08-19T22:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] I don’t know - did Punch Drunk Love make me cry? You tell me. [/QUOTE] Are you me? If you are, then it made you cry like a little girl, you nancy. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/11 "2008-08-19T22:37:14Z")
A Clockwork Orange. The trailer gave away nothing about the movie. Which rocked. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/12 "2008-08-19T22:38:18Z")
If crying like a little girl and thereby being a nancy is wrong then I don’t want to be right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/13 "2008-08-20T01:57:19Z")
**Star Wars** When I first saw the trailer in January of 1977, I was underwhelmed. The special effects looked OK, but the color seemed muddy, making everything look cloudy (bad print?), the music was not the John Williams score that would eventually be used, but some dark, brooding music. And instead of that stand-out yellow-neon-against-black logo, they had some nondescript type font in blue spelling out “Star Wars” It did NOT make me want to go out and see the film. **Terminator** As I’ve said before, the trailers I saw didn’t convey anything of the film. I thought it would be people in rubber masks running around LA and shooting each other up. Then I went to the theater, saw the opening shots before the title, and realized I was in for something good. **RoboCop** Again, the trailer didn’t give you an idea of how literate the film would be – it looked like a broadly-played farce. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/14 "2008-08-20T02:04:58Z")
Batman Forever. I love that movie. The trailer was very weak. The Truman Show The Cable Guy. I went to the movies a lot in the 1990s. I’ll think of more. Men in Black is yet another one. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/15 "2008-08-20T02:41:50Z")
**Bridge to Terabithia**. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/16 "2008-08-20T03:31:14Z")
**In Bruges** ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/17 "2008-08-20T04:02:00Z")
**Dark City** , which had an awesome trailer, was surpassed by its film quite a bit. The trailer was just a deep electronic beat, intercut with shots from the film. Confusing, but brilliant. The movie was even better. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/18 "2008-08-20T04:25:34Z")
**One Missed Call** This movie isn’t _nearly_ as stupid as the trailer makes it out to be **The Other Side of Heaven** Who knew that a story about a mormon missionary would be so darn compelling? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/19 "2008-08-20T05:23:16Z")
**The Survivors** , 1983, feat. Robin Williams, Walter Matthau and Jerry Reed. The movie’s actually quite watchable. The trailer wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589/20 "2008-08-20T06:33:16Z")
Watch _Grayson_ and just imagine how mega-awesome-cool that movie would be. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-their-trailers/460589.md?page=2)