trailers

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 30th, 2006, 12:26 pm

One of the things I love about DVD releases is that you get to see the original trailers for films, even older ones.

And this led me to the conclusion that trailers today, by and large, are absolutely awful.

It's not just that they often reveal major plotpoints (Spidey 2 showed a good part of the subway fight, The Buttefly Effect HAD THE ENDING in the trailer) but the way they are cut, edited and put together. There's no grace or subtle hinting of what the plot might be. It's basically a microcosm of the film. That's not what a trailer is supposed to be. And it's not just that they show you a lot of stuff, they're just done badly!

I been thinking about this since I've recently watched the trailers for Scrooged, The Fly 1986, and Hook. (1991.) There's no doubt about it, trailers have changed. Maybe it's the audience's shorter attention span?

Post by **Meg** » May 30th, 2006, 2:52 pm

by and large, are absolutely awful.

What kills me is that they can't even make trailers for GOOD movies!

*coughPixarcough*

Post by **Macaluso** » May 30th, 2006, 3:48 pm

Man Pixar's teaser trailers are awesome you guys are all crazy.

Post by **Dacey** » May 30th, 2006, 4:59 pm

Er, trailers have, if anything, IMPROVED in the last few years. Especially when it comes to Disney. Just look at the preview for "Pocahontas" and compare it to the trailers for "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" and you may see what I mean.

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 30th, 2006, 5:03 pm

Actually I really liked the Pocahontas trailer; I haven't seen the Atlantis one.

But I am not really referring to either Disney, Pixar or the trailers of animated movies. Animation trailers should be in a seperate category....their styles have always been different from live-action trailers.

Post by **Dacey** » May 30th, 2006, 5:09 pm

I see your points. Kinda.

But, in general, I feel like trailers today are as good as they've ever been. Like the trailers for "King Kong". Wow. Those were as good as they get.

My opinion.

Post by **ShyViolet** » May 30th, 2006, 5:32 pm

Like the trailers for "King Kong". Wow. Those were as good as they get.

Yeah, King Kong was a great one.

I think what I'm referring to isn't just how excited a trailer makes you to want to see the movie but how artistically it is made. Most trailers nowadays have a real MTV-vibe. They are almost all exactly alike, no distinct style.

Not everyone might remember this, but it didn't used to be that way.

Post by **Dacey** » May 30th, 2006, 5:41 pm

The thing is, I *do* think trailers today have some artistic quality to them.

For example, look at the full trailer for "Spider-Man 2". A masterpiece. In general, I think that they're better than ever nowadays.

Older trailers are interesting to see, and some of them are quite good. But try comparing the trailers for the original "Star Wars" trilogy to those made for the prequels, and then maybe I'm getting my point across better.

Post by **PixarVixen** » June 6th, 2006, 3:51 pm

Macaluso wrote:Man Pixar's teaser trailers are awesome you guys are all crazy.

Not me! ^__^

The only Pixar trailer that was somewhat blah was the very first one for Cars. If it wasn't for that one racing part...

~~=oP

Post by **Dacey** » June 6th, 2006, 4:51 pm

The Pixar teasers aren't usually "Bad". But they don't always "Rock you" like they should. Plus, the "Monsters, Inc." one had several plot holes in it once you saw the actual movie.

Post by **PixarVixen** » June 6th, 2006, 7:20 pm

For me, the only Pixar trailer that had that "rock you" quality was the one for The Incredibles. Of course, it was their action film, so it had to be in-your-face.

~~=oP

Post by **Meg** » June 7th, 2006, 7:52 am

I wasn't blown away by The Incredibles trailers...

I was suprised when the 'I' phone that appeared in the teaser didn't show up in the film.

Post by **ShyViolet** » June 7th, 2006, 9:55 am

That phone was kinda cute.

It reminded me of the "Batphone" in the campy 60s Batman series!

It would glow just like that.

"Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channell!"

I loved the Incredibles teaser, and the first trailer especially. The music really got you excited, and you only see a glimpse of Syndrome at the end, which was awesome. And boy was he cool.

For example, look at the full trailer for "Spider-Man 2". A masterpiece. In general, I think that they're better than ever nowadays.

Uh, a masterpiece? Well, if showing every major plot point and half the finale is a masterpiece, then....just sayin'.

I much prefer the Spidey 2 teaser, the one that started off with MJ and Peter sitting together and MJ saying "Do you love me?" (That gets me every time.) It's much more in the style of what FULL TRAILERS used to be like.

If you ever get a chance, get the 80's version of The Fly 20th Anniversery DVD and watch the theatrical trailer for it. THAT is a trailer. (Even the lame Fly II trailer is better than what we see today.)

I know styles have changed, but still....it doesn't mean we have to get shoddy quality.

...BTW I very much believe that animated trailers are in a different category than live-action. (Especially since what the audience expects from animation is not only different from live-action, but those expectations have changed radically from 1980s and even 1990s animation. Want proof? Maybe The Last Unicorn has a trailer somewhere on the disc, or even The Secret of Nimh. That would be a good comparison to today.)

Just my opinon.

The thing is, I *do* think trailers today have some artistic quality to them.

I agree that some do as well....King Kong (the teaser) defintetly, 100%. That's very much in the style of what trailers used to be.

Even though it's from a while ago I also liked the Pleasantville (1998) trailer...no particular reason.

Older trailers are interesting to see, and some of them are quite good. But try comparing the trailers for the original "Star Wars" trilogy to those made for the prequels, and then maybe I'm getting my point across better. Wink

I haven't seen them, and I guess they may seem hokey by today's standards. But I'd probably prefer them. Other than the first Revenge of the Sith trailer that blended the '77 material with the prequels, I thought the new Star Wars trailers (especially Episode I) were pretty bad. All they did was show scenes from the film...there's no art in that, at least I don't think so. Lucas would have gotten rabidly excited responses from audiences if he showed Yoda doing stand-up comedy for six minutes. Yeah, TPM trailer was cool because it showed scenes from the film, but so what? There wasn't a whole lot to get excited about other than the stunning CGI, Liam Neeson in a wig, and oh yeah...Jar-Jar Binks. Plus, Anakin barely talks at all. (But maybe that was a good thing.)

Personally, I thought the coolest thing was seeing young Obi-Wan for the first time. (Still, at least they didn't totally screw up and show the climactic light-sabre duel with Darth Maul--THAT was a close one.

)

I did see a trailer for the 1983 film "WarGames" with Matthew Broaderick when he was like 16 years old. It's about a teen who while "downloading" (so to speak) what he thinks are video games, is really breaking into a government computer and inadvertantly starting World War III. It's actually an awesome film (even with those dated, lumbering dinosour computers) and yeah, I think think that trailer was better too. :

Here's a pic:

http://www.pldos.pl/bogus/hardware/komp ... _imsai.jpg

OLD computers....

And...the original modem:

http://www.imsai.net/images/war_image/coupler.jpg

Post by **Dacey** » June 7th, 2006, 1:23 pm

Maybe you and I will never agree on this, ShyVi.

You complain about trailers giving too much away, yet you talk about the preview for "Scrooged" like it was better than most trailers today. Not only did that ad give away many of the film's best jokes ("The Night the Reindeer Died!"), but it made the movie look sort of... stupid.

And how was the "Spider-Man 2" teaser in "The Style of older FULL trailers"? Back in the "Old days", full trailers gave away more than teasers do today!

Of course, this is the way that I see things. But we can agree on one thing: THIS is the best teaser trailer evah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hETGi5ywalo[/i]

Post by **ShyViolet** » June 8th, 2006, 1:31 pm

Hey WJ, it's cool. I respect your opinion.

It's kinda fun when there's actually a debate on the boards.

Actually, Scrooged is not a GREAT trailer, (the film itself is a bit flawed,, so...) but I thought it presented the story pretty well, and that it really didn't give much away.

Consider this: in the trailer, yeah, you do see "The Night the Raindeer Died" which sets up the film's environment: a tightly controlled TV network with a bastard of a president who produces lousy films to reel in the audience.

Most importantly, you see various, but not overly revealing, examples of Frank Cross's meanness, how he treats people (like poor Bobcat Goldthwaite.) Plus the hilarious line: "I like to give so much...sometimes I hurt...from too much giving..." and get just a hint of his time with the ghosts, mainly the "Jacob Marley" guy, William Forsythe's character. Then just a glimpse of Cab Driver Christmas past and lunatic Christmas present. That's it.

No clips of his relationship with Claire, where things went wrong for him, or Christmas Past telling him: "Frank, you don't who you are, you don't know what you want, and you don't know what the hell is going on." Trailers today would have shown that, just in case the audience isn't excited or interested enough...yuck! Probably we would have also gotten some of Frank's "big speech" at the end, just to get the family demographic in there, along with Frank's secretary and her little boy who doesn't speak. It's very possible that nowadays they would have shown him whispering at the end "G-d bless us every one." It would have been a microcosm of the film, not a commercial for it. They're too different things.

What I mean about the Spider Man teaser was that by and large, full trailers and teasers today have gotten so much longer than they used to be that yes, a teaser TODAY is often close to the length of what theaterical TRAILERS were back in the 80s, and maybe early 90s.

The Spidey 2 teaser was in the style of old full trailers in that, like Scrooged, it gave HINTS and showed GLIMPSES of what the film is about (clip of MJ with the new boyfriend, Harry leaning over Spidey with a knife, Dock Ock climbing the building, etc...and most importantly, the opening coversation with MJ, which sets the tone of the film. But doesn't, like the full Spidey trailer, TELL US THE WHOLE STORY, show Peter junking the Spidey outfit, reveal Peter's catharsis with Aunt May's voiceover "I believe there's a hero in all of us...even if we have to give up the things we want." Then have the explosive "I'm gettting married" line from MJ. Then Harry taking off Spidey's mask. And worst of all, we see major parts of all the great action sequences in advance, especially the subway fight.

Well, this is my opinion.

Oh, and which YouTube trailer are you referring to, WJ? For some reason it's not coming up.