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Now films are being spoilt by trailers that play before the actual feature

Started by Neil, May 12, 2010, 12:51:09 PM

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Jemble Fred

Surely nobody has been unaware of the ending of Planet of the Apes since the very first film was released? Half the people in the first premiere must have been pretty sure what the score was when they sat down, but certainly the 'twist' has been movie common knowledge for every successive generation.

Jack Shaftoe

I manage to ruin Sixth Sense for myself a few minutes before going in, by browsing in HMV, and picking up the film soundtrack, which had a track called (something like)
Spoiler alert
'Malcolm's Dead!'
[close]
, which was a bit of a pisser. (probably don't need to spoiler that really, but you never know).

Whether you like the LoTR films or not, I thought the trailers were great, just brooding music, some sweeping landscape shots, and a bit of Aragorn going 'Aaaargh!', which is all you needed to get really excited, without showing too much. Even if you knew the books really well, you still don't want to see all the monsters before hand. I worked in a bookshop at the time too, so it was really hard not to sneak peaks at the concept art books before I went in.

gloria

Quote from: Jemble Fred on May 19, 2010, 11:24:24 AM
Surely nobody has been unaware of the ending of Planet of the Apes since the very first film was released?

You'd be surprised.  It's a generational thing. 

Jemble Fred

Fair dues. I can't be sure whether it was Eddie Izzard, The Simpsons or WLIIA which first gave away the ending for me, long before I saw the film. But it's just always seemed to be one of those bits of common knowledge.

gloria

Quote from: Jack Shaftoe on May 19, 2010, 11:32:00 AM
I manage to ruin Sixth Sense for myself a few minutes before going in, by browsing in HMV, and picking up the film soundtrack, which had a track called (something like)
Spoiler alert
'Malcolm's Dead!'
[close]
, which was a bit of a pisser.

Ditto with The Phantom Menace soundtrack, which had a track near the end called something like
Spoiler alert
'Qui-Gon's Noble Sacrifice'
[close]
.

Jack Shaftoe

Ha, yes, I seem to remember that being about the same time. A friend of a friend did all the sound mixing on the Titanic soundtrack. I was really annoyed when he told me about a bit of music when the
Spoiler alert
you know
[close]
hit the
Spoiler alert
thing
[close]
I WAS FURIOUS.

Spoiler alert
I wasn't, obviously.
[close]

An tSaoi

Quote from: Jemble Fred on May 19, 2010, 11:24:24 AM
Surely nobody has been unaware of the ending of Planet of the Apes since the very first film was released?

the 'twist' has been movie common knowledge for every successive generation.

You'd be surprised how many cine-illiterate people there are don't know twist ending that we take for granted. The Empire Strikes Back was on telly a while back, and one of my my friends was genuinely shocked to find out Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father. I'd have thought that was impossible, it's a huge pop culture reference.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quoteprobably don't need to spoiler that really, but you never know

Nothing people won't be able to work out after about ten minutes.

alan nagsworth

I can't believe what I'm reading here. No matter how much these cinema moments are apparent 'common knowledge', TV shows should not parody them to the point of revealing the spoilers. It just encourages the whimsical use of spoilers like it is a casual thing to ruin films for people. It pisses me off no end. Films like 'The Empire Strikes Back' are works of cinematic art and should carry the iconic status through loyal fans who are not so stupid that they feel the need to spurt the ending to everyone in close proximity, but rather keep their fucking mouths shut and let each person have his own untarnished viewing experience. Sickening.

Jemble Fred



non capisco

I watched a DVD of Hitchcock's 'Rope' over the weekend which confirms what I suspected - this isn't a new thing at all. In the special features was the original cinematic trailer which ends with the last scene of the film! If you'd seen it before you'd seen the film there would be absolutely bugger all tension or point to the story. Unbelievable. By that one example you could leap to the conclusion that things have actually got better over the years.

Lee Van Cleef

Reminds me of the Ravens/Colts game in the NFL playoffs earlier this year.  I worked overnight so missed the live game, got home and got myself comfy on the chair in front of Sky Sports to watch the replay.  Right before it started they showed an advert that gave away the result.  Slightly infuriating.

Paaaaul

Quote from: non capisco on May 19, 2010, 10:15:31 PM
I watched a DVD of Hitchcock's 'Rope' over the weekend which confirms what I suspected - this isn't a new thing at all. In the special features was the original cinematic trailer which ends with the last scene of the film! If you'd seen it before you'd seen the film there would be absolutely bugger all tension or point to the story. Unbelievable. By that one example you could leap to the conclusion that things have actually got better over the years.

Rope had already been a Broadway and West End play, and was based on a well known true story from 20 years before so it wasn't going out unknown into the world.

It was, to a lesser extent, like Downfall
Spoiler alert
where Hitler dies at the end.
[close]
, but I do agree on the whole that trailers are a lot less spoilerific than they used to be.

Serge

Quote from: alan nagsworth on May 19, 2010, 06:31:20 PM
I can't believe what I'm reading here. No matter how much these cinema moments are apparent 'common knowledge', TV shows should not parody them to the point of revealing the spoilers. It just encourages the whimsical use of spoilers like it is a casual thing to ruin films for people. It pisses me off no end. Films like 'The Empire Strikes Back' are works of cinematic art and should carry the iconic status through loyal fans who are not so stupid that they feel the need to spurt the ending to everyone in close proximity, but rather keep their fucking mouths shut and let each person have his own untarnished viewing experience. Sickening.

True, true. My main objection to not spoilering stuff is the fact that there are people who are too young to have seen these films before and who should be able to enjoy them without having twist endings, major plot points, etc revealed to them. My niece is four. In, say, ten years time, if she wants to watch 'Planet Of The Apes', she should be able to sit down and enjoy it without knowing that General Thade somehow escaped from the pod, defied natural ape law by swimming out to Marky Marks spaceship and somehow rewired it, flew it through a wormhole in time that just happened to lead him to Earth centuries before Marky Mark arrived back in..no, no, what am I saying, my wife's gonna kill me! Charlton Heston is on
Spoiler alert
made you look
[close]
until the film is ready to show her that. You can't say 'everybody knows that' because that's an argument that isn't even worth starting, because everybody doesn't.

An tSaoi

But what about all those great parody moments, like Stop The Planet of the Apes I Want To Get Off! from The Simpsons, or "I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate!" from Spaceballs (or your Star Wars spoof of choice)? There are lots of funny scenes that would be lost if you weren't allowed to reference 'common knowledge' plot-points.

Serge

I was specifically referring more to casual spoilering on forums, in magazines, etc, rather than parodies. That's a tricky one, though I prefer parodies when they're not specifically hitting you over the head with where they're from - I've never found the Simpsons 'Planet Of The Apes' musical that funny, to be honest.

Jemble Fred

I remember being 9 years old and watching a Real Ghostbusters episode where the ghost of Citizen Kane
Spoiler alert
comes back to have one last ride on his sledge, Rosebud.
[close]
I just think some stories are too big for the idea of 'spoilers' to hold much water.

Mr Colossal

 I didnt even twig that kate bushes lyric 'in the snow with rosebud'   on king of the mountain was actually a citizen cane reference initially.   I also havent even bothered watching the burton remake of planet of the apes, in fact, when I wrote about the spoiler, I forgot it even existed...   I think plenty of people encounter spoilers like that,  I grew up with commadores and amigas and there was a lot of 80's sci-fi /video shop culture embedded onto them.  But after a while you sort of forget and become detatched. I've lost track of the amount of times where Ive actually only been reminded that I already knew the spoiler or had previously seen it referenced years ago on the unveiling of the actual spoiler itself again and have found myself rolling my eyes and  thinking 'oh its THAT film!!' (the ending of dont look now the first time i watched it was a good example...). I find people who never stray really far from the edges of popular culture and what is fashionably 'permissible' often dont even know what's been referenced when they're shown them.  Like I could probably point out loads of people I know who've seen some reference to the 'HEREEEEES JOHNNY!' scene from the shining (e.g. in recent lenny henry advert)  but who probably wouldnt even bother seeking out the film itself (because its a horror or ITS OLD) or know what its about, outside of possibly seeing the scene in isolation in some TOP 50 SCARIEST MOMENTS!!! list programme.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: An tSaoi on May 20, 2010, 12:00:42 AM
But what about all those great parody moments, like Stop The Planet of the Apes I Want To Get Off! from The Simpsons, or "I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate!" from Spaceballs (or your Star Wars spoof of choice)? There are lots of funny scenes that would be lost if you weren't allowed to reference 'common knowledge' plot-points.

I don't want to sound hypocritical, but whilst I do find some spoiler parodies amusing, I only do so through having known the endings already. Two key examples for your comparison/contrast are (both from the Simpsons):

Planet Of The Apes:
Spoiler alert
"Wait a minute... Statue of Liberty? That was OUR planet! [Charlton Heston impersonation]"
[close]
While on one basic level I find it amusing (through having been told the ending somewhere else beforehand - Hell I even parodied it myself in last year's Wimblemong, albeit without spoilers), I still have never seen the film itself and never intend to, based purely on the fact that it has been ruined, everywhere, by everycunt. The film might be incredible, who knows, but I never intend to find out because I know I am heading for an ending that far surpasses 'predictable'.

The Empire Strikes Back:
Spoiler alert
Homer, walking out of cinema: "Wow! Who woulda thought that Darth Vader would turn out to be LKuke Skywalker's father?!"
Crowds queueing for the film: [swathes of complaints]
[close]
This one is simply intolerable on every conceivable level. There is no humour there besides something which is not even base level sneery geekdom. Utterly pathetic waste of time and something which still disgusts me to this day.

Do you see what I mean? It's abhorrent and quite frankly disturbing. I think that there are certain levels of spoiler parodying that can be tolerated (and not speaking subjectively here) but seriously, not many at all, to be perfectly honest. Also I feel that with films like 'Spaceballs' - which I'm guessing is something of an out-and-out Star Wars parody, yes? - you would watch this film having already seen Star Wars and thus expect out-and-out parodies which mimic the story in many different ways. For a reference to 'The Empire Strikes Back' to just be lazily flung into that episode of the Simpsons, however, I simply have no time for it.

Peru

This is the absolute best ruin-the-entire-movie trailer ever. Spoilers, obviously, though the film is an absolute turd anyway so go nuts.

What Lies Beneath (2000) - Theatrical Trailer - © DreamWorks & 20th Century Fox

SavageHedgehog

Supposedly that trailer came about because research showed that audiences preferred knowing what was going to happen in a movie.

Quote from: non capisco on May 19, 2010, 10:15:31 PM
I watched a DVD of Hitchcock's 'Rope' over the weekend which confirms what I suspected - this isn't a new thing at all. In the special features was the original cinematic trailer which ends with the last scene of the film! If you'd seen it before you'd seen the film there would be absolutely bugger all tension or point to the story. Unbelievable. By that one example you could leap to the conclusion that things have actually got better over the years.

The originl cinema trailer for "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" gave away just about every major plot point and revelation.

I remember the day I bought "The Usual Suspects" on ex-rental VHS from Virgin, having missed it at the cinema. I'd just paid, turned to the magazines on the shelf by the till, and there was Empire, with the words
Spoiler alert
'Kevin Spacey -
[close]
we talk to Keyser Sohze!' So the end wasn't a massive surprise when I watched the tape.

Serge

'Empire' are motherfuckers for spoiling films. They once did one of their top tens on 'Best Plot Twists', and a cursory glance revealed that I'd seen all of the films in question, so wouldn't have my enjoyment of them ruined. Except, halfway through the description of 'Sixth Sense' they gave away the twist to 'The Others', which I hadn't seen at that point. Cunts.

SavageHedgehog

In their Top 10 show for 1992 (or it might have been an Oscar special for 93) Siskel (as in not Ebert) gave away the ending of The Crying Game  (
Spoiler alert
her vagina is missing
[close]
). That upset quite a few people at the time, and was probably the inspiration for Mayor Quimby (those Simpson writers at it again, eh?) giving away the same ending in Marge in Chains.

Jemble Fred

Wasn't it The Naked Gun where they also put that spoiler in the end credits?

padougy

Quote from: alan nagsworth on May 20, 2010, 09:25:48 AM
I don't want to sound hypocritical, but whilst I do find some spoiler parodies amusing, I only do so through having known the endings already. Two key examples for your comparison/contrast are (both from the Simpsons):

Planet Of The Apes:
Spoiler alert
"Wait a minute... Statue of Liberty? That was OUR planet! [Charlton Heston impersonation]"
[close]
While on one basic level I find it amusing (through having been told the ending somewhere else beforehand - Hell I even parodied it myself in last year's Wimblemong, albeit without spoilers), I still have never seen the film itself and never intend to, based purely on the fact that it has been ruined, everywhere, by everycunt. The film might be incredible, who knows, but I never intend to find out because I know I am heading for an ending that far surpasses 'predictable'.

The Empire Strikes Back:
Spoiler alert
Homer, walking out of cinema: "Wow! Who woulda thought that Darth Vader would turn out to be LKuke Skywalker's father?!"
Crowds queueing for the film: [swathes of complaints]
[close]
This one is simply intolerable on every conceivable level. There is no humour there besides something which is not even base level sneery geekdom. Utterly pathetic waste of time and something which still disgusts me to this day.

Do you see what I mean? It's abhorrent and quite frankly disturbing. I think that there are certain levels of spoiler parodying that can be tolerated (and not speaking subjectively here) but seriously, not many at all, to be perfectly honest. Also I feel that with films like 'Spaceballs' - which I'm guessing is something of an out-and-out Star Wars parody, yes? - you would watch this film having already seen Star Wars and thus expect out-and-out parodies which mimic the story in many different ways. For a reference to 'The Empire Strikes Back' to just be lazily flung into that episode of the Simpsons, however, I simply have no time for it.

While I accept that if I was Prime Minister, I would legislate that if someone wilfully spoils a film/book/TV series/video game for you, you are entitled to punch them in the face, I think you're taking it a little too seriously.

In some areas you need to talk about the whole plot. A thorough review of something needs to mention the important plot points. Sight & Sound does this regularly, which is why I've stopped reading it. In a perfect world, every viewer would come to the piece concerned completely fresh, but it just doesn't work like that.

I'd also say spoiling is allowed if it's a joke in a film or TV show, like the bit in The Simpsons that you mentioned. And the twist to ESB? Does anyone really not know about that? I hate people who are careless with spoilers as much as anyone (possibly moreso), but there are some twists that are just too ingrained into pop culture to avoid. If the twist was about something less famous I'd mind more.

Does anyone really care that we find out that most of Dallas was a dream of whatsherface's? Some things are more important than spoilers.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: padougy on May 22, 2010, 12:19:17 AM
In a perfect world, every viewer would come to the piece concerned completely fresh, but it just doesn't work like that.

Which is precisely why I take it seriously.

Quotethere are some twists that are just too ingrained into pop culture to avoid.

Because of spoilering cunts, and nothing else. I know they don't just get there overnight, but I find it hard to understand why people can't keep their mouths shut.

George Oscar Bluth II

I knew the identity of the killer and
Spoiler alert
why Mrs Bates was in the basement
[close]
before I saw Psycho and it didn't temper my enjoyment of the film, maybe because it's so good. Also, I knew what or who Rosebud was in Citizen Kane but again, it didn't matter because it's so good.

The ultimate is Soylent Green being
Spoiler alert
people
[close]
, that one was on the poster!

Serge

Personally, I'm waiting for the Special Edition of 'Citizen Kane' that comes in a
Spoiler alert
sledge
[close]
-shaped box. With a photoshopped picture of Orson Welles holding a
Spoiler alert
sledge.
[close]
Whilst
Spoiler alert
riding a sledge
[close]
down a
Spoiler alert
sledge sheped hill.
[close]