Trailers: Too See or Not to See

There are several different kinds of movie trailers, you have teaser, theatrical, red-band, green-band, TV spot, and all can show a diverse account of what the movie is about and what you will see on screen.  Back in the day when you could only see trailers in the movie theater, it was always a surprise and you always had a sense of excitement about what was coming soon to a theater near you.

Being young and not knowing that they made a second Lethal Weapon film and seeing the trailer for the first time…

 

Or being a little older and finding out that they made a movie out of my favorite television show of all time with a trailer that hit me after 40 seconds and one name…

 

To seeing something so original and powerful, that it would never have had the same impact if I had read about the trailer or seen something like this on-line…

 

Nowadays trailers are seen everywhere, on the big screen, on TV, on computers, tablets, i-pods, and phones.  And if you are looking you will get notices when one is coming out and you will most definitely not wait until you plunk down 12 bucks to see a movie just to see the latest trailers.  So studios have to do their best to get attention for their films from anywhere to a month to a year in advance.  Some know exactly how to do it which most teasers can do by evoking emotion with little actual film footage.  This was done recently with Christopher Nolan’s latest “Interstellar”.  Others make the mistake of showing everything including the kitchen sink all the way to the last bit of action as in the first “Mission Impossible” in which the final action scene is all laid out for you in the trailer.  You would think studios would learn from ones like that, but they are still around like for this film called “Reasonable Doubt” starring Samuel L. Jackson…

 

You pretty much get the whole movie and what looks to be the final climactic moments before you even see the film.  The best kind are the ones that give you the sense of what you will see in the film, and a storyline, but holds back enough to make you want to see the rest like this new one from the Wachowski’s “Jupiter Ascending”…

 

I still look to be surprised which is hard to do in the social media, 24/7 world.  But the love of film always keeps me coming back for more, and always looking to be amazed in the span of 2 minutes.  Even if the final result turns out to be a terrible film, nothing can take away the memory of seeing this for the first time on the big screen…

  

 

--Robert L. Castillo