Amazing Trailers (Old & New)

[Artemis]

I think trailers are great. I'll happily miss the endless adverts at a cinema, but I'll always make sure I arrive in time for the previews. Watching the blu-ray of Close Encounters of the Third Kind recently, I was intrigued at the trailers that form part of the extras. This manages to make an amazing movie seem boring and tedious with a nearly five minute trailer that goes on and on and on, until you're either offering to see it so the trailer will end, or you've killed yourself.

But some trailers are amazing. So it'd be wicked cool to have a thread so you can share your faves, yeah?

Despite the relative disappointment (which does ease with time), I found The Matrix Reloaded trailer to thrill me.

I also think the re-jigged Jurassic Park trailer (for the 3D release) is superb.

et toi?

[El Unicornio, mang]

I really like this one for Back to the Future, which is over a minute long and features McFly and the DeLorean and some tantalising visuals but doesn't contain any footage from the film itself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SrV13F3x7Y

I seem to remember the original Pirates of the Caribbean trailer was another one that didn't feature any scenes from the film, just a skeleton foot stomping over some treasure on a beach.

[Stone Cold Jane Austen]

Ah. Good thread idea. Only the other day I watched this, which I thought was a very good trailer, for Experiment In Terror: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOY9pdNhhlg. I discovered this after I couldn't stop playing that lovely bit of Henry Mancini that you can hear over the top of it. I love the way it just sets up the mood and tone of the film without giving anything away. I haven't actually seen the film yet which I'm hoping to rectify in the next few days[nb]depending how long this Amazon delivery takes to arrive ahem ahem[/nb].

I love the old trailers. They seemed more set on piquing interest than giving the whole story away.

[eluc55]

The one that immediately springs to mind is this; the trailer for Star Wars Episode III.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4raW1agJG7U

I can remember being at uni, and watching this over and over again with my mates, even though we all hated episodes I and II with a passion. The fact was we were still huge Star Wars fans, and desperately wanted this to be good. Then after months of build up, the trailer was released.

It's just great how it starts slowly, with that footage from the classic films, then weaving in footage from the newer ones and finally hitting you with that shot of Anakin's eye, the notorious volcano planet, Mustafar, and that heavy breathing.

"Lord Vader..."

"Yes, Master."

"Riiiiise."

I must have watched it fifty times or more, and even now, I still love it, despite thinking that the film is probably the worst in the entire series. Hell, even when I hadn't seen the film, even though I knew the film itself was bound to be rubbish, that trailer still managed to make a cynical, bitter Star Wars fan feel like a little kid all over again. 


More recently, I've had a similar experience with the third trailer for Man of Steel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DJcgm3wNY

I've always disliked superman and hated the films, but that third trailer did what the first two hadn't, and just made me fall in love with it all. I've been buying all kinds of Superman stuff since then, and I still find the trailer utterly thrilling. Again, it starts slow, small and sweet, but when it all kicks in with the money shot[nb]2 minutes in[/nb], it genuinely feels awe-inspiring. It's cut to the music brilliantly, too.

[phantom_power]

The Phantom Menace is a classic example. The trailer was amazing and made my excitement for the film, which was pretty huge already, almost unbearable. It didn't help that it came out in a time when downloading video was in its infancy and internet connections were still dial-up so the wait to get it was longer than it would be today. The trailer is a masterclass in teasing, ramping up the anticipation as the trailer goes on. I must have seen that trailer 20 times before the film came out.

We all know how that one ended though

[zomgmouse]

I'm still in awe of how shameless trailers used to be. Check out this one for 42nd Street, especially from the 1:33 mark.

[spock rogers]

I remember seeing this teaser trailer for Terminator 2 at the cinema when I was a kid. It blew me away. No footage from the film, just a T-800 being made in a factory.

This one for the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man is brilliant the way it uses sounds from the film to create a rhythm (a character's head being bashed against a blackboard, a woman clearing her throat.)

[Johnny Textface]

I always remember the trailer for Sunshine being amazing.  I think they used the music from Requiem for a dream (before EVERYONE started using it - even to soundtrack real life killing sprees).

I'm at work now so can't look on youtube to verify my memory of it - but will have a look later.

[Artemis]

More recently, I've had a similar experience with the third trailer for Man of Steel.

I very nearly mentioned that at the top of this thread, but didn't want to pick the best ones. Man of Steel's third (international?) trailer is outstanding. It's pretty much everything I could have hoped for, and a textbook for the way trailers should be made. From the gravitas of the alluring opening narrative from Crowe, to the steady reveal of Superman's identity combining carefully mysterious but appropriate levels of supernaturalism with very earthly problems, to a very slight insight into a serious threat without giving anything much away, and finally to the necessary and triumphant answer to 'are they going to pull off him flying?'. The cinematography is perfect for it, and the music so foreboding and then so exhilarating as you realise they may just have made an amazing film.

It's a magnificent trailer, almost a film in itself and easily ascended this movie to 'huge excitement' status.

[neveragain]

I loved this trailer when I was a kid and still do now. Maybe it's nostalgia, the fact I was disturbed by the film at a young age and yearned for ages to seek out this revoltingly mysterious oracle, the sheer excitement of finding this trailer AT THE END of some other video, I dunno, the visceral quality of the images, the anarchic nature of the central device.. but it's always just stuck in my head. Great ending too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbOmCUWm25w

It could be argued you needn't watch the film. But no, it's very creative in its sick imagery.

[Canted_Angle]

I think the best trailers are the ones which make you need to see the film but at the same time give away very little about what happens in the film. For that reason the best trailer ever is for The Shinning, here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKdpe4J2h0

It's just perfect.

[Bobby Treetops]

I think the best trailers are the ones which make you need to see the film but at the same time give away very little about what happens in the film. For that reason the best trailer ever is for The Shinning, here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKdpe4J2h0

It's just perfect.

^Fantastic.....wow.

Bit obvious this one but I'm always amused by The Shining trailer re-cut as a feel good comedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmkVWuP_sO0

[SteveDave]

I really wanted to see The Master after seeing this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttFr_siT50

but the actual trailer put me off.

[Marty McFly]

I think the best trailers are the ones which make you need to see the film but at the same time give away very little about what happens in the film. For that reason the best trailer ever is for The Shinning, here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKdpe4J2h0

It's just perfect.

Oh I hadn't seen that before, bit creepy, innit?

Here's another Stephen King adaptation trailer from 3 years later that still makes me jump at the end every time..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ5M11m9vI0

I've always loved the original trailer for Psycho which features Hitchcock himself taking a stroll around the Bates house and motel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps8H3rg5GfM

[SteveDave]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KkXJhAi53kQ

Diana. Hmmm.

[Bored of Canada]

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF TAXI DRIVER AND THE WRITER OF AMERICAN PSYCHO!
This trailer is amazing in the fact that they likely scrubbed through hours and hours of rushes and they decided THIS was the best way to market this film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZfMZP9B3EdM

Keep clicking on 42 seconds, and watch that transcendent delivery of the fella's lines. Seriously. Click it repeatedly about four times.
They literally have to have another character repeat back the same thing in the next shot with a questioning inflection just to have it make sense.

With the whole production itself being pretty disastrous[nb]http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/101520/Was-The-Canyons-Rejected-By-Sundance-Due-To-Lindsay-Lohans-Troubles [/nb] [nb] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2359189/Lindsay-Lohans-tardiness-tantrums-psychodrama-exposed-The-Canyons-director-Paul-Schrader.html [/nb] [nb]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/lindsay-lohan-acted-like-a-child-canyons-set-james-deen_n_2566005.html[/nb] and this trailer, combined with the fact that this pornographic actor they've cast as the lead can't speak properly, this film honestly looks like a complete train-wreck...

Ah, man. I enjoyed this trailer way more than I should have.

[grassbath]

The original trailer for Alien - excellent build-up, great use of sound, captures the atmosphere, terror and urgency of the film without giving away too much or too little:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVY_lonKf4

[kitsofan34]

Spike Lee's remaking Oldboy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1UYBANOIaU

[SteveDave]

http://youtu.be/LztLegpGepo

Nanny McPhee writes Mary Poppins with Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.

[Jerzy Bondov]

http://youtu.be/LztLegpGepo

Nanny McPhee writes Mary Poppins with Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.

Maybe something has gone wrong with me but I think this looks fucking amazing.

[SteveDave]

Maybe something has gone wrong with me but I think this looks fucking amazing.

It does look heartwarming. I bet by the end she'll be eating "cookies" & saying "Radical"

[The Region Legion]

More recently, I've had a similar experience with the third trailer for Man of Steel.

Absolutely, a masterpiece of trailer making. Unfortunately, it's better than the film itself and actually provides me everything I needed from a Superman origin story.

I actually might even prefer Trailer 5 though which encapsulates the origin and then spends the rest of the time just kicking an astonishing amount of ass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVyFPCc5uJ4

That music breakdown at the end... fucking goosebumps on goosebumps.

[lipsink]

This trailer for 'The Dark Knight Rises', I absolutely love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8evyE9TuYk

I was actually quite disappointed by the film after this. The music used is bloody great too (shame they never put it on the soundtrack). That sense of quiet bleakness at the beginning (and particularly shots like the kids looking out the window and Joseph Gordon Levitt's look of utter shock at 0:43) slowly building up to a big loud triumphant ending. I still get goosebumps watching it.

[Delete Delete Delete]

Think i'll just drop this one here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SLsA_Opybw

[clingfilm portent]

Think i'll just drop this one here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SLsA_Opybw

Now that's a fucking trailer.

[Sivead]

The trailer for home video release of Heavy Metal that was on the VHS of Desperado.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MzWF8YLhY

[Brundle-Fly]

Adam Chaplin. Such a prosaic film title for such a cartoon gore fest trailer.

NSFW? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuSL7JpyD-I

Monster Brawl. Trailer proving the 'that's all I need to see. really' theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqGIAkd5tYw&feature=endscreen

[lazarou]

Still the best, the New Barbarians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OxDHxxmZfg

There's something about opening on a slow tracking shot of a skeleton in a hazard suit with perspex tit-holes that really sets a tone.

[Mister Six]

Does anyone know when trailers actually started being good? Not counting outliers like The Shining, of course. I mean, in the 80s trailers went on for about half an hour and had awful voiceovers and seemed to show the entire fucking movie. At what point did the language of the trailer as we know it today begin to take effect?

[kidsick5000]

Still the best, the New Barbarians:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OxDHxxmZfg

There's something about opening on a slow tracking shot of a skeleton in a hazard suit with perspex tit-holes that really sets a tone.

Sadly, the full film isn't on yt. That's a bloody long trailer.