Have movie trailers always been awful or is this a new thing?

[Kwesi]

I've noticed that movie trailers seem to be bad these days and I'm trying to figure out if it's really just "these days" or if, at some point in the past they were actually good.

Everything seems to be about how much shock value you can generate in the shortest amount of time. Minimal narrative exposition, minimal exploration of the movie topic, minimal musical contribution - it's just there for dramatic effect and not to actually represent the film beyond "WOW!" moments (loud, punctuating horns and orchestral drums hits every few seconds).

Thoughts?

[hbarcat]

I think bad movie trailers are just representative of bad movies.

More movies suck now than they used to because the movie makers have lost the desire to take chances and go with their basic human instincts about what makes a good movie.

Committees of marketing experts make movies now. They're formulaic and bland and predictable and they insult the intelligence of the average, would-be movie goer.

Also, too many movies are remakes or sequels of other movies or adaptations of classic pop culture. The stuff writes itself and the producers don't spend any money or effort on it because they know nostalgia alone will get just enough people into the theaters to turn a profit.

[Bloodhammer]

[Don LaFontaine voice]


*soft piano music starts*

In a future......

Where movies have stopped having good trailers.......

*suspenseful-sounding string section joins in*

One man.........

Must journey to the ends of the Earth.......

*orchestra swells*

And the depths of his soullllllllll.........

*orchestra trills on a high note*

To find........

*melodramatic nu-metal song blares*

THE VOICE

*motorcycles explode in the background as Kwesi tears ass down a downtown ally with a busty girl hooked in one arm*

Kwesi: "The reactor is voice activated! We have to find Pablo Francisco!"

Busty Girl: "You mean......."

*another explosion*

THE VOICE

*Hit song ends*

In theaters January second, 2013

[/Don LaFontaine voice]

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

I've noticed that movie trailers seem to be bad these days and I'm trying to figure out if it's really just "these days" or if, at some point in the past they were actually good.

Everything seems to be about how much shock value you can generate in the shortest amount of time. Minimal narrative exposition, minimal exploration of the movie topic, minimal musical contribution - it's just there for dramatic effect and not to actually represent the film beyond "WOW!" moments (loud, punctuating horns and orchestral drums hits every few seconds).

Thoughts?

Don't forget the nonstop use of fading to black. It's like they can't make any meaningful transitions from scene to scene.

[hover]

Naw, it's just pandering / catering to current American "tastes"...watch another country's trailer for the same movie, sure, a lot of the same footage is present, but the "tone" and "pitch" of the trailer is often drastically different.

That all said, can someone PLEASE explain to me who I can punch for green-lighting Texas Chainsaw in 3D? Yeah Hollywood, you wanna endlessly pitch 3D as the pinnacle of entertainment, yet all you keep exploiting it on is cheap disposable slasher flicks...

[BawanaRik]

My take is that if they can't make the trailer look good the movies isn't going to look good. Then there's film like League of Their Own, where if you watched the trailer save the money and don't watch the movie.

It doesn't have to be Bergman but if the trailer is out of focus, not centered ( Jay and Mark Duplass, I'm talking to you) you can have the best movie in the world, even get Marisa Tomei and you won't make money.

But ask yourself, when was the last time you spent money on a movie that wasn't a sequel, prequel etc? The movie doesn't have to good if you buy tickets to bad movies. It's a business, a lot like music. As long as Call me Maybe sells a million copies Cats will be starving.

[BawanaRik]

Martin Scorsese did a 3d flick that was good. Hugo. I'm not a 3D fan but I could see how he set the shots up for it.

It might not have been Citizen Kane but was a dynamite lesson from a professor of film history.

Originally Posted by hover

Naw, it's just pandering / catering to current American "tastes"...watch another country's trailer for the same movie, sure, a lot of the same footage is present, but the "tone" and "pitch" of the trailer is often drastically different.

That all said, can someone PLEASE explain to me who I can punch for green-lighting Texas Chainsaw in 3D? Yeah Hollywood, you wanna endlessly pitch 3D as the pinnacle of entertainment, yet all you keep exploiting it on is cheap disposable slasher flicks...

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by Bloodhammer

[Don LaFontaine voice]


*soft piano music starts*

In a future......

Where movies have stopped having good trailers.......

*suspenseful-sounding string section joins in*

One man.........

Must journey to the ends of the Earth.......

*orchestra swells*

And the depths of his soullllllllll.........

*orchestra trills on a high note*

To find........

*melodramatic nu-metal song blares*

THE VOICE

*motorcycles explode in the background as Kwesi tears ass down a downtown ally with a busty girl hooked in one arm*

Kwesi: "The reactor is voice activated! We have to find Pablo Francisco!"

Busty Girl: "You mean......."

*another explosion*

THE VOICE

*Hit song ends*

In theaters January second, 2013

[/Don LaFontaine voice]

Nice work,

[Bloodhammer]

*bows*

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by hover

That all said, can someone PLEASE explain to me who I can punch for green-lighting Texas Chainsaw in 3D? Yeah Hollywood, you wanna endlessly pitch 3D as the pinnacle of entertainment, yet all you keep exploiting it on is cheap disposable slasher flicks...

Im not a big fan of 3D, but I find the slasher pic to be the perfect vehicle for it.
Sure, 3D can be used well to put an audience member into a setting, but it just works so much better for putting a chainsaw or pickaxe (My Bloody Valentine) in someones face.

Originally Posted by BawanaRik

But ask yourself, when was the last time you spent money on a movie that wasn't a sequel, prequel etc?

Last Monday.

[hover]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

Im not a big fan of 3D, but I find the slasher pic to be the perfect vehicle for it.

I agree, but I also think it's just about the only vehicle it was ever truly for. Which is why I think Hollywood should stop trying to force it upon (otherwise just fine without it) movies produced by ( just fine) directors who'd rather not use it.

I admit I am into the innovation / James Cameron-esque wow-factor of it in some respects...and expanding tech, but some people (like me) don't think it's the end-all second coming saviour of cinema.

Of the last 10-15 "blockbusters" / non slasher flix that came out highly touting the 3D angle in the past 5-6 years, I only saw 3 of them IN 3D because i had no choice at my location: UP, Prometheus, Brave. And all 3 were decent enough movies that they didn't need it, nor did the 3D aspect truly add anything to it. I didn't BELIEVE I was in a floating house, nor an alien planet from the "immersion" of it. Just give me a good movie already, not a gimmick crutch.

[MatticusMania]

Yeah, just about every 3D movie that Ive seen I end up finding the third dimension more distracting than actually addding something to the film.

I did not see Avatar in 3D, but Ive been told that it used 3D quite exceptionally. If so, there should definitely be more of that going on. Or not.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

Everything seems to be about how much shock value you can generate in the shortest amount of time. Minimal narrative exposition, minimal exploration of the movie topic, minimal musical contribution - it's just there for dramatic effect and not to actually represent the film beyond "WOW!" moments (loud, punctuating horns and orchestral drums hits every few seconds).

Uh, that's not just trailers. That describes most entire movies!

Seems like the studios have abandoned character development and actual plot continuity (and plots that make sense) in favor of continual explosions, car chases, grossness, nudity, shooting and other visual distractions. You don't learn much about the characters, and trendy (choppy) editing often destroys the continuity.

Movies like the John Ford classics and David Lean epics such as Lawrence of Arabia are pretty hard to find nowadays. Thank heavens for Peter Jackson and The Hobbit, and Spielberg's Lincoln.

[Simo98]

I find that 9 times out of 10, if I've watched the trailer I don't need to watch the film.


Generally the plot is so thin and flaky that they essentially cover the whole thing in a 90 second trailer, and cut out all the filler in-between.

[AmpedSilence]

out of the recent films I've watched, The Hobbit's trailer didn't really spoil much for me...
Then again, the movie is super long!

[chuck norriss]

Originally Posted by Kwesi

I've noticed that movie trailers seem to be bad these days and I'm trying to figure out if it's really just "these days" or if, at some point in the past they were actually good.

Everything seems to be about how much shock value you can generate in the shortest amount of time. Minimal narrative exposition, minimal exploration of the movie topic, minimal musical contribution - it's just there for dramatic effect and not to actually represent the film beyond "WOW!" moments (loud, punctuating horns and orchestral drums hits every few seconds).

Thoughts?

check this out

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

[Jared Lash]

What's funny to me is that it seemed like when I was younger that at least the trailers were targeted to the demographic that was sitting in the theater. Maybe I'm wrong but I remember seeing more trailers for films that appealed to me.

But these days I go to see something like Argo and the trailers are all over the place. Kids movies, horror films, stuff aimed at tween girls etc. Weird.

At least TV still seems to know how to market to their demos. When I was sick in bed on Sunday and watching TV I was surprised at how awful all the advertised shows & movies were. Then I remembered that I was (for some unknown reason) watching "Pineapple Express" on cable and it all made sense.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

What's funny to me is that it seemed like when I was younger that at least the trailers were targeted to the demographic that was sitting in the theater. Maybe I'm wrong but I remember seeing more trailers for films that appealed to me.

But these days I go to see something like Argo and the trailers are all over the place. Kids movies, horror films, stuff aimed at tween girls etc. Weird.

That's because you have a mental age above 15, so the movies aren't targeted to you.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

That's because you have a mental age above 15.

Could you call my wife and tell her that? She might believe it from an outside party that doesn't occasionally subject her to dutch ovens.

[Bloodhammer]

It's just crap