# Stuff you see in a trailer that makes you know the movie will suck **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984 "2009-03-10T18:18:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/41 "2009-03-10T21:28:07Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What kinds of things do you see in movie trailers that automatically make you know you don’t want to see the movie? > > Some of those things for me include: > [list][li]A group of characters lip synching to a song on the radio (usually a Motown song). Epidemic to, but not exclusive to chick flicks. No movie with this scene can ever not suck.[/li] Ummm, Wayne’s World? Zoolander? ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/42 "2009-03-10T21:28:40Z")
Talking animals (animation excluded from this) More than three actor names I recognize. Hot chick in a swimsuit emerging from water. Disney logo (granted, by the time that shows up the movie probably already looks like condensed suck). ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/43 "2009-03-10T21:28:55Z")
A monkey (or an ape). ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/44 "2009-03-10T21:31:47Z")
Running from, or being chased by a giant fireball of some kind is pretty sure evidence that the director loves hacky cliches “In a world where…” You hear some ZZ Top or similar travelin’ rock standard as they start out on a journey/roadtrip. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/45 "2009-03-10T21:41:50Z")
> [@astro](#): > > You hear some ZZ Top or similar travelin’ rock standard as they start out on a journey/roadtrip. I’m sorry - the correct answer here is “Born to be Wild.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/46 "2009-03-10T21:45:18Z")
Hey, doesn’t that describe “Easy Rider”? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/47 "2009-03-10T21:47:16Z")
It was actually new when Easy Rider did it. Whereas when the song is used in the trailer for, I don’t know, Wild Hogs, it’s like a copy of a copy of a copy to the millionth generation. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/48 "2009-03-10T21:50:26Z")
[quote=“Diogenes\_the\_Cynic, post:1, topic:488984”] Some of those things for me include: [ul][li]A group of characters lip synching to a song on the radio (usually a Motown song). Epidemic to, but not exclusive to chick flicks. No movie with this scene can ever not suck.[/li] [li]One character telling another character, “you’re crazy/insane/out of your mind, you know that.” This can either be said to an ostensibly “wild and crazy” comedic character or to an endearingly edgy and dangerous action character. In either case, the movie will suck.[/li] [li]A scene of a couple having a cute fight that turns into a kiss. Makes me retch every time. [/ul]QUOTE]I like those things. The fight-to-kiss is overplayed, but the lip synching is cute, & I love, “…you know that.”[/li] Hey, you wanted an honest man in Athens. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/49 "2009-03-10T21:51:16Z")
Interesting that this trailer has all the components of one for a bad movie, but the movie is actually much better than you’d ever think from the trailer: [/Film | Movie & TV News, Trailers, Interviews, & Reviews](http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/11/23/worst-movie-trailer-ever-slumdog-millionaires-international-trailer/) It’s almost like the gag trailers people put up on youtube, but it’s real. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/50 "2009-03-10T21:53:12Z")
A monkey (especially a chimp). A baby (unless it’s completely incidental). Close-ups of female anatomy. The Wayans brothers. Adam Sandler. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/51 "2009-03-10T22:05:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m sorry - the correct answer here is “Born to be Wild.” 😉 You spelled “Bad to the Bone” wrong. No worries; common mistake. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/52 "2009-03-10T23:47:48Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > -Talking babies ('nuff said) Kids of any kind. I’d \*rather \*watch improbable explosions and talking animals. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/53 "2009-03-11T00:04:09Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > Huh. I would’ve said that a trailer from which you can figure out the entire plot of the movie (whether it’s explicitly shown in the trailer or not) is a movie definitely not worth seeing. Having utterly **no clue** what the movie is about after viewing the trailer isn’t much better than figuring out the entire plot. Both things are terrible ways to advertise movies. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/54 "2009-03-11T00:12:54Z")
If the trailer is for a comedy…and I don’t laugh once at the jokes in the trailer. Presumably, they put the best jokes in the trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/55 "2009-03-11T00:40:55Z")
Any “feel-good film of the year”. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/56 "2009-03-11T02:06:18Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > If the trailer is for a comedy…and I don’t laugh once at the jokes in the trailer. Presumably, they put the best jokes in the trailer. Psst… check out post #5: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10923176&postcount=5](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10923176&postcount=5) ---
**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:** [March 11, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/57 "2009-03-11T02:21:12Z")
Anything in a kids’ or family movie claiming to be “beyond imagination”. 1. It can’t be beyond imagination, because somebody imagined it and put it in the movie. 2. Kids have astonishing imagination, and they usually come up with stuff that is much wilder than anything an adult would. 3. If you have such a great imagination, can’t you come up with a new line to use in your trailers? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/58 "2009-03-11T03:14:57Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Also, Jason Statham. That dude must have the best agent in the universe, because he’s basically a wooden stand-in for a real human actor. Where the hell did Jason Statham come from, anyway? One minute he’s nobody, and the next he’s headlining movies where he kicks people in the face. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/59 "2009-03-11T03:34:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Where the hell did Jason Statham come from, anyway? One minute he’s nobody, and the next he’s headlining movies where he kicks people in the face. Because he’s _very good_ at kicking people in the face. He’s a former model who came from a criminal background (he had sold shady goods from the trunk of a car) and got cast in [Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120735/) as a tough guy. He’s credible as a tough guy, seems to be perfectly happy playing tough guys and seems to appeal to women as well. I think the best thing he’s done is [The Bank Job](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200465/). He’s had 23 films released, so it’s not like he came from nowhere, and they have to come up with new action stars - Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis are a little old for this stuff. ---
**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 11, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984/60 "2009-03-11T04:24:15Z")
I love Jason Statham. I don’t care how stupid the movie is, if he’s in it, I want to see it. He has this aura that he knows what he’s doing is beyond stupid, but he’s having a ball doing it, like he’s constantly thinking to himself “I can’t _believe_ I’m getting paid all this money to do this stupid but fun shit! Wheeee!” and, for me at least, it’s infectious, so I have fun too. He just doesn’t take himself seriously. I can’t _wait_ for **Crank II**! How can one person have so much bad luck? _laugh_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-see-in-a-trailer-that-makes-you-know-the-movie-will-suck/488984.md?page=4)