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Best Movie Trailers (1)

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Movie trailers: The most underrated aspect of filmmaking. Yes, I did just say that the trailer for a movie is a part of the overall quality of a film, and a very important one, actually. I’ve always thought the Academy should enact an award for Best Trailer for a Feature Film, but they have yet to hear my cries. Why, you ask? Well, have you ever rushed to the cinema earlier than usual so you can sit down and see what else is in store for you in the near future? Have you ever felt the goosebumps rush up your arms when you see a particularly thrilling sneak peek? I know I have and the trailers are, believe it or not, something I look forward to every time I step into the theatre. They are a very crucial piece of the whole concept of advertising and getting people invested in something they haven’t even seen yet. I would, in fact, call it an art. Now people will understand why I never want to be late to a movie. “It’s fine — we’ll just miss the trailers.” “I know! Speed up!”

The Social Network (film)

 1. The Social Network (2010).

I had to do a lot of deep thinking to choose my number one spot on this list. It was between The Social Network and whatever number two is and after watching both of the trailers on YouTube again, I had to go with The Social Network due to its overall impact. I still remember sitting in the theatre in 2010 and seeing this race before my eyes. To this day it still gives me goosebumps. It shows you an absolutely exhilarating look into the drama behind the creation of the most successful social networking website of all time, Facebook, and the brilliant, albeit hostile, forces behind it. The editing is remarkable and it features a cover performance of Radiohead’s “Creep”, which is one of the most haunting tunes I’ve ever heard. It’s just a bonus that the movie actually reached expectations.

Alien (film)  2. Alien (1979).

I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about the history of movie trailers, but I do know that most trailers from the early 90s and before aren’t the most impressive and a bit bland. It wasn’t until the late 90s and early 2000s that filmmakers began upping the quality due to the heightened demand. Before YouTube and the Internet, you only saw trailers in the theatre and maybe on television, so there wasn’t much pressure on people to create interesting or intriguing trailers. I haven’t seen every movie trailer out there, but I would say that Alien had the first truly cinematic sneak peek. It’s expertly edited not to show you too much and gives you a perfect sample of what the overall film will be like by crafting a sense of suspense and horror as if something will jump out at you at any second thanks to the unnerving tune it’s set to. If I saw that while in the theatre back in 1979, I would definitely be intrigued as well as freaked out.

Watchmen 3. Watchmen (2009).

It was almost inevitable that the adaptation of the greatest comic book ever written would be a disappointment, but the trailer gave us some hope. Coming out a year after The Dark Knight revolutionised the superhero movie, you can tell Watchmen was going for the same lofty ambitions and the trailer gives you quite the taste. Lined by a gritty and sordid “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” by The Smashing Pumpkins, it begins with a visually arresting depiction of Dr. Manhattan’s origin and then goes on to cut between each of the masked vigilantes that we would eventually come to know. It’s dark, undaunted, and raises our expectations even higher, which, in the long run, may not have been the best move.

The Blair Witch Project 4. The Blair Witch Project (1999).

After enticing people to see this film thanks to its creative and groundbreaking advertising techniques, it went on to scare the hell out of a generation and even shot the found-footage genre into immense popularity. This little indie flick terrified moviegoers without having to spend a cent for budget thanks to its incredibly effective, and cheap, way of crafting good old-fashioned suspense: letting your imagination run away with you. That is also the exact technique that they used with their trailer. Opening with a confession coming from one of the main characters, it then gives us the information that we will be seeing footage from three documentary filmmakers who went missing in the woods. Creating the illusion that this has all actually happened, it intrigues you with its strange visuals and exhilarating dialogue crafting the atmosphere for a truly horrifying experience that you’re, sadly, going to have to wait a couple more months to see.

Cloverfield 5. Cloverfield (2008).

Much like The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield had a very intriguing advertising technique and I don’t think it was any coincidence that it was also found footage. By keeping all the filmmakers quiet, leaving the rest of the population of Earth in the dark, and only releasing an extremely subtle and mysterious teaser trailer, Cloverfield was sure to gain some box office success. The trailer shows you absolutely nothing besides a bunch of explosions and the iconic visual of the Statue of Liberty’s head being tossed down the streets of New York City, making you wonder what force could have possibly been at work here. Who wasn’t interested in seeing what was in store for them on this film’s release date?

The Shining (film) 6. The Shining (1980).

The Shining is one of the scariest, if not the scariest, films ever made. Coming from a cinematic mastermind, Stanley Kubrick, it chronicles a slow and painful trip down the road towards complete insanity with every terrifying pit stop you could imagine made along the way. One reason why I love this film, and still gain nightmares from it to this day, is its subtlety. Subtlety is a rare thing within the horror genre and The Shining uses it and creates a deranged and eminently haunting atmosphere. The trailer does the same, beginning with the film’s eerie score and a shot of an elevator with the credits rolling from the bottom of the screen until it exits at the top. The shot is long and creates the sense that something may or may not jump out at you at any moment, until the elevators open and the river of blood comes flowing out, covering the camera lens in a red tint. May not tell you a whole lot about the story, but it sure gives you quite the glimpse into what you’re getting into.

Birdman 7. Birdman (2014).

No, Birdman hasn’t even come out yet, but I know I’m anticipating the release date thanks to one masterpiece of a trailer. The modern superhero is dissected in this upcoming drama-comedy about a washed-out actor (who is famous for an iconic superhero role) struggling to put together a Broadway play. It’s only sufficient that Michael Keaton play the leading role, given that he is well known for his portrayal of Batman in the earlier Tim Burton films, and a string of other notable comedic and dramatic actors including Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Naomi Watts co-star to create quite the star-studded cast. The trailer is cleverly shown to the tune of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”, giving us a small hint as to the themes explored and what we should expect from this intriguing little film.

The Dark Knight film 8. The Dark Knight (2008).

The Dark Knight is a movie that single-handedly revolutionised a genre. It brought a gritty and dark twist on the usually cartoonish and popcorn-flavoured superhero movie and we couldn’t get enough. The trailer gave us the first peek at a film that would later be known as one of the most influential and finest films of all time and it did it with a ferocious punch. Opening to a voice-over by Heath Ledger’s The Joker, already proving most of the public wrong in thinking he wasn’t a good choice for the role, it begins with an ominous and hostile tone that doesn’t let up. Ring in the haunting, yet beautiful, score, Christian Bale kicking butt as Batman, and some truly unnerving visuals and you have got yourself quite the glimpse of what’s to come, and what comes along is pretty grand indeed.

Godzilla 9. Godzilla (2014).

Godzilla, which came out earlier this summer, blew us away and heightened our expectations when the thrilling trailer came out last winter. I remember counting down the days before I would get to see this trailer (yes, the trailer) and I was not disappointed by what I witnessed. Bryan Cranston begins the trailer with a voice-over, using his best Walter White voice, accusing someone of hiding something after a, so-called, “natural disaster”. That natural disaster will soon turn out to be much more when we get hints of a giant, reptilian monster attacking several cities. A very eerie visual is one of several planes dropping from the overcast sky and into the ocean like they’re toys; they’re not damaged, just stalled and dropping dead into the water. Then if Godzilla was what you were searching for, you get an awesome and chilling visual of the mighty beast roaring his signature roar before the trailer cuts to the title. After this, expectations were sky-high and, thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones that actually ended up enjoying the overall product on its release.

Man of Steel (movie) 10. Man of Steel (2013).

While the overall product didn’t quite live up to all the hype (but was still mildly entertaining), the trailers were mostly to blame for this. I’m mostly talking about the third trailer which illustrates the morals and themes of this latest Superman outing, giving you a sneak peek into what it truly means to be the “man of steel”. From the first trailer, you could tell this depiction of Superman wasn’t going for what the original Superman went for, but instead trades in all of the camp for a more Dark Knight feel; this meaning it’s much darker and broodier, which is both a strength and a weakness when it comes to this particular attempt. The trailer (#3) does a very interesting thing. Instead of showing you a glimpse at the plot of the movie, it asks questions, like the question of whether Clark Kent, or should I say Kal-El, should show his powers to the world or keep them a secret, which is a recurring decision within the actual film. The trailer is insightful, intriguing, and just plain-awesome, which is more than I can say about the end product.

Written by Jacob Miller



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