Movie trailers

[Roger]

Is it just me or is there a trend towards revealing more and more plot points via movie trailers, to the point of spoiling the movie?   It just seems like most trailers I've seen recently have done that, to some degree.

[Fuchur]

Very, very true if you ask me. I think they are just putting the "best" (often visual) scenes (which are often most expensive) into the trailers which often have pretty relevant plot points in them too or which are just most interesting. But if you then go to watch the movie, you got spoilered a lot already without even knowing that sometimes.

That is bad for movies and cinemas in the long term if you ask me.

Best regards
*Fuchur*

[robcat2075]

It has been common practice for decades to promote movies made for children and teens with trailers that give away the story points. Sometimes even the title ("Free Willy") pretty much gives it away. Children don't like to try new things... Children like what they already know... was the thinking.

Now some of those children of decades ago are grown up and are promoting their own nominally adult movies and think it's normal to give away the plots. They have probably never in their lives been to a movie that surprised them in any big way.

[Roger]

2 hours ago, robcat2075 said:

It has been common practice for decades to promote movies made for children and teens with trailers that give away the story points. Sometimes even the title ("Free Willy") pretty much gives it away. Children don't like to try new things... Children like what they already know... was the thinking.

Now some of those children of decades ago are grown up and are promoting their own nominally adult movies and think it's normal to give away the plots. They have probably never in their lives been to a movie that surprised them in any big way.

I hadn't really noticed it with regard to kid/teen movies but then I haven't seen one of those (unless you count Pixar movies) since before 1990 or so?  

But I definitely have been noticing it with horror movies, there was one on for a horror movie set in a nunnery and I was just thinking "after seeing this trailer, why would I bother seeing the movie now?"   ESPECIALLY  when those kind movies rely a lot on jump scares, and they put at least 3 big ones in the trailer. 

But I guess they've been doing this for ages now, just not to the same extent.   I'm thinking of how they put the "big reveal" for Soylent Green in the dang trailer, lol.

[robcat2075]

I think there's a substantial segment of the adult population that doesn't want daring new things either.

That's why McDonald's hamburgers are still eaten, why "cinematic universe" are big and why the best-selling cars all look pretty much the same.

[Roger]

31 minutes ago, robcat2075 said:

I think there's a substantial segment of the adult population that doesn't want daring new things either.

That's why McDonald's hamburgers are still eaten, why "cinematic universe" are big and why the best-selling cars all look pretty much the same.

Well, there's probably some truth to that.   My dad was telling me "oh there's this new sushi place in town, you think I can get seared tuna there"? 

Why would you go to a sushi place and not even try the sushi?   I even suggested something fairly tame to him like Philly Roll and NOPE not interested.

[KingVidiot]

I avoid trailers for that reason.
I like to know nothing about a movie for the full experience.

I only watch trailers for stuff I know I don't want to see (subject matter/actors/director), or maybe after I saw a movie.

Since the trailers can have the best scenes in the movie that may be fun enough to watch, and they are often made by certain professionals that are good at making trailers.  

[robcat2075]

6 minutes ago, KingVidiot said:

I avoid trailers for that reason.
I like to know nothing about a movie for the full experience.

Yes, some of the most enjoyable movie experiences have been when I went to the theater for something, it was sold out, and I just bought a ticket to whatever was starting next without knowing any more than what was on the poster in the lobby. 

That was how i saw "A Goofy Movie", which far surpassed my expectations, and the only time I enjoyed a Jackie Chan movie, having never heard of him before.

 

Fun fact... I later found out "A Goofy Movie" was spun off from a Disney TV series, "Goof Troop" which was produced and sometimes directed by our very own Bob Taylor!

 

Quote

and they are often made by certain professionals that are good at making trailers.  

It turns out there's a whole business around putting songs in trailers that are not in the movie itself...

How the Cover Song Conquered Movie Trailers

[KingVidiot]

Yeah audiences often want to be spoon-fed so they don't have to think and just zone out for entertainment.

My fav trailers are for the old sci-fi and horror movies of the 50s and 60s, crazy stuff and very amusing.

In fact, trailers for any of the movies classified as "psychotronic" by Michael Weldon are great for wild trailers - ""the ones traditionally ignored or ridiculed by mainstream critics at the time of their release: horror, exploitation, action, science fiction, and movies that used to play in drive-ins or inner city grindhouses".

He used to publish "Psychotronic Video" magazine, and I first learned about him from the "Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film". A great reference book for all kind of wild movies, even Roger Corman and Elvis movies.