When I was at dinner tonight, en route to a movie afterwards, I was told that I get really upset if I miss the trailers (or Coming Attractions). I do so I really didn’t have much of an argument. I simply said “I like to see what is coming soon.” Yet it is more than that. I love the moment when I sit down and get comfortable and the screen lights up and gives me a sneak peek of what’s to come. After that, I can say “Yes!” or “Hell no!” or anything in between. It is a time to see a movie still in infancy and see what they have to offer.
The movie trailer is the production company’s first chance to lure me in or keep me away. Sure many things go into the decision of whether I want to see a movie or not but in the end, if that trailer is garbage, you are not gonna get me to fork over my hard earned (or lightly earned) dollars. If the movie is for a teenage girl (Twilight, Princess Diaries, or any R-Patz infused teeny bopper drama), a well crafted and interesting trailer can make even an old man like me want to see it.
Many things enter into the decision to make a good trailer. First, does it tell a story? Not the entire story but it gives me the idea of what the movie is about. Second, does it only contain the best scenes of the movie? If you have cut together all the scenes in the movie that make the movie worth watching, then do you really have a movie worth watching? It seems to me like you have a 2-5 minute movie at best. Finally, tell me what your story has that I want to see. If you make a trailer that flashes epileptic flashing lights at me and add a fart joke, I will simply not tune in. Make an effort, even if you have a movie for kids, to market something for me or I don’t know, a parent? Here are some breakdowns of some coming soons that I’ve seen recently. Some work and some just leave me with a blank look on my face and some just make me turn my head to my movie mates and say “I don’t think so.”
Abduction
Here is a movie that had me with it’s intial hook. Taylor Lautner stars as a kid who has always felt out of place. He’s interested in a girl who seems to like him. Then he sees a computer aged photo of an abducted child which looks exactly like him. I am in. The idea that a child is living in a house, unaware that the people that have raised him, are not his actual parents. This is a story I want to see. Then the movie loses me. All of a sudden Lautner goes from innocent kidnap victim to James Bond in the body of a teenage wolf. He’s kicking people, blowing up houses and destroying secret agents plans. Makes me wonder if the story was originally about a teen who found out his parents were kidnappers and the movie company says “We can get the wolf from Twilight, let’s amp up the action!” Abduction works for half of the trailer and then blows up... literally.
Rise of the Planet of The Apes
This movie only has a teaser trailer but even from that you can see what the story is. The Planet of The Apes told the story of a astronaut who travelled through time and ended up on Earth many thousands of years from when he started and found out that we were taken over by Apes. This movie is the story of how the apes became intelligent. From the opening with James Franco telling us about a drug that can restore brain function then leading to a all out revolt of the Ape test subjects. It is our own worst nightmare. The animals we test our products on, destroy us. A little message about animal testing perhaps? I don’t know but from the one minute of trailer I saw, I am already lined up for this one.
Fast Five
I don’t think you can see a movie in the theater without seeing this trailer about thieves in fast cars being chased by the Rock and all their ladies wearing tight small bikinis that make your pants go “Hello!” Yes the movie is an eye catching action smorgasborg of sex, violence and cool car chases. Not to mention and improbable leap off of a car flying probably a thousand feet into a ravine. I will see Fast Five but sadly the only reason I will is because I have seen the first Fast 4 movies in the franchise. That and the ladies make my pants say “Hello!” Quick question: Is Vin Diesel still a relevant action star? Yes? O.K. Just checking.
Daydream Nation
This is a movie I haven’t even heard of. I was briefly wondering if this is a straight to DVD movie that slipped past and will soon be on Instant Watch and streaming directly to me. Instead I was surprised to find out that it stars the young talented Kat Dennings and was about her senior year of high school after movie from the city to the town from Footloose or a close faximile. Does it have sex, drama, comedy and goodness? Hell yes. Does it tell me a story that makes me say “Yes, I will see that.”? Yes it does. It is a good and informative trailer.
HALL OF FAME TRAILER: The Minus Man
I’ve only once come across a movie trailer that made my mouth drop open and say “I NEED to see that movie!” The Minus Man is not a great movie. It stars Owen Wilson as a serial killer. None of that is in the trailer. It opens on a couple coming out of the theater in which The Minus Man is playing. They talk and roam about New York, discussing what they loved or what they didn’t understand. Suddenly the guy points to the horizon and says “Look at that!” The sun is rising, they’ve discussed the movie all night. The girl looks at her watch and takes off at a sprint towards something. She slams through a door and starts ripping her clothes off and dashes through another door where two senior citizens float face down in a pool. She is now wearing a red lifeguard uniform and is holding a Hasselhoff red floatation device. The movie was so good, people died.
This trailer told me a story. It wasn’t about the movie but it was a story about the movie. It told me that people would get so worked up in the story, that you could forget even the most serious of jobs. Every time I see it, I wonder, how did they get a film company to allow this as promotion? In the end, the most genius of all trailers tells you nothing of the movie and makes you want to see it. People need to learn from this. Genius is never really rewarded and in the end, the Minus Man’s trailer was exactly and purely genius.
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