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Best trailers ever...

post #1 of 83
4/16/05 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 
Not necessarily for great films, but in and of the artform of movie trailers and trailer editing, what are your favourites? There are some trailers that I love watching almost as much as the films and in some cases, more than the films. Here are a few of mine...

"American Beauty" - the longest trailer, starting with the "look closer..." motif and then building through Baba o'Reilly to the gunshot and the opening flower.

"Moulin Rouge" - theatrical trailer. Great music and editing, really sells the spectacle and atmosphere of the film and hints at the heartbreak within.

"South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" - theatrical trailer, not those teasers with the computer designing 3D Cartman. "Somewhere between courage and not courage" and the introductions of the main characters and the plot, just a wonderful hi-jacking of typical blockbuster trailers.

"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" - I think all the prequel trailers did their jobs very well and the first one probably got me fairly giddy, but this is something special, really solidifying that this is a harder film to fuck up than the other two. This is the one we want and the pacing and content of the trailer is perfect - Palpatine's speech about the dark side, through the problems on the council then into those drum beats, everything kicking off and climaxing with "You were the chosen one!". Then to cap it all, you get a look at Vader. One for the fans. This gave me chills galour the first time I saw it.

"The Matrix Reloaded" - There was no way this film could suck after the theatrical trailer hit. Well, I was wrong, obviously, but this still got me unbelievably excited. The music and visuals on display made it seem like a bigger, better upgrade of the original. Perhaps it did it all too well, given what followed.

"Sin City" - a brilliantly cool way of selling the concept to newcomers. Good soundbites, tough guys, hot dames, slick visuals and pounding tunes. Nice.

That's just a starting point from the top of my head. Any offers?
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post #2 of 83
4/16/05 at 8:14pm
The Matrix Revolutions was great. I also think Sin City had a great trailer. Kill Bill vol. 1 was also very good.

I hate ID4 but the trailer was very well done.

Also, not a big fan of Spider Man but the first trailer kicked ass. I got goosebumps everytime I listened to it.

The Transporter sucked but the trailer looked great. This seemed liked non-stop action. I loved when he jumkicked the door. The rythym was much better in the trailer than in the actual movie.

And The Two Towers with the music from Requiem for a Deam is a classic.

Anyone know where I could download old trailers?
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post #3 of 83
4/16/05 at 8:59pm
http://jurassicpunk.com
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post #4 of 83
4/16/05 at 9:11pm
Best trailer ever (at least in my opinion): Cronenberg's Naked Lunch. Awesome trailer that can be seen on the Criterion DVD.
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post #5 of 83
4/16/05 at 9:48pm
Hitchcock's guided tour through the Bates Motel.
Best. Trailer. Ever.
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post #6 of 83
4/16/05 at 9:54pm
The correct answer is:

Adaptation.
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post #7 of 83
4/16/05 at 10:03pm
The Royal Tenenbaums.
Requiem for a Dream.
LotR: The Two Towers (featuring the orchestral Requiem overture).
Fight Club.
The Phantom Menace trailers were amazing, irregardless of the outcome of the movie.
the newer Hitchhiker's Guide trailer, that deconstructs trailers themselves is great.
AND
the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld's "The Comedian" was great. If you didn't get to see it, I'd suggest trying to find it, its funny as hell, along the same lines as the aforementioned HHGTG one.
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post #8 of 83
4/16/05 at 10:10pm
I'd say all the Wes Anderson movies have great trailers. I'd laugh everytime Bill Murray chocked his kid in the car in the Rushmore trailer.
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post #9 of 83
4/16/05 at 11:02pm
rushmore
once upon a time in mexico & desperado
the matrix

best of all time for me is the phantom menace, awesome trailer. full trailer, not teaser.
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post #10 of 83
4/16/05 at 11:04pm
One of the most unique trailers I can remember was for Buffalo 66.
A more recent one I liked was for White Noise - honestly gave me goosebumps. Still haven't seen the movie though.
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post #11 of 83
4/16/05 at 11:54pm
The very first SAVING PRIVATE RYAN trailer was great. It was just stills with the general explaining the situation with the three brothers and what they had to do and that was it. Nothing given away and it made me want to see it. It was definitely more effective than any of the post-D-Day stuff in the actual film.

I'll definitely second ADAPTATION. I still watch it regularly. Great choice of music and editing.

The flash-frame trailer for THE EXORCIST creeps me out.

The teaser trailer for TWISTER was a lot of fun. Always great when the entire audience jerked back from the tractor blowing into the screen. (Tons more fun than the actual film.)

And, yes, Hitchcock's PSYCHO trailer is probably the best. Ever.
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post #12 of 83
4/17/05 at 12:19am
The first Matrix trailer gave me chills when I saw it in the theater before Analiyze this in suburban Atlanta. I remebered the trailer more than the damn movie.

The trailer for The Phantom Menace was SOOOO good. Makes you wonder.

ALIEN: the one with the jump cuts and not dialog, with the screaming at the end, and then (VO) "In space, no one can hear you scream." Awesome.

GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE: Amazing trailer for an amazing looking movie that makes absolutely no fucking sense whatsoever.
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post #13 of 83
4/17/05 at 12:34am
Here are my choices from a few years ago..
http://chud.com/forums/showthread.ph...ht=Cliffhanger

Agreed with the Buffalo 66 trailer that one is so unique and great.
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post #14 of 83
4/17/05 at 2:03am
The first teaser for The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. Footage from Das Boot, U-571, and Hunt for Red October edited to music from James Horner's Clear and Present Danger. Utter brilliance.
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post #15 of 83
4/17/05 at 2:30am
Star Wars:Special Edition trailers - Probably the best constructed trailer I've ever seen. Juxtaposing a small 19"television screen against the silver screen backdrop before the images expanded from within the small frame, with the rumbling surround sound, illustrating to most of that generation (pre-Phantom Menace) that they hadn't truly 'experienced' the films -that helped bestow movies as 'events'-until seeing them in the theater.

Most of the memorable previews of recent combined quick cut, well directed, visual scenery with exceptional theme music - Mission Impossible, Lost World, Titanic,the Matrix films.
Eyes Wide Shut
Fight Club
Titanic
Pulp Fiction
Saving Private Ryan
American Beauty


Somewhat depends on your own ordeals though, no trailers of the new decade have been that appealing, the mega-conglomerates began mass producing imitation films after media deregulation, its created a largely barren environment, my keen interest and eagerness for the medium is waned considerably.


I think all the prequel trailers did their jobs
The Phantom Menace trailers were amazing, irregardless of the outcome of the movie.

Despite my being completely enamored with the films since childhood I never was anticipating the prequel in the same manner as the Re-releases of '97. The aura of enthusiasm was present and essentially hung suspended over the summer movie season for Menace, but the teaser and full trailer wasn't exhilirating. Being there in the moment seemed more significant, especially with the reception it ultimately received from critics and the public.
Attack of the Clones previews were an improvement as well as the film over Menace, but still didn't really incite much interest either.

I hate ID4 but the trailer was very well done.
"Blown Away" was an awesome trailer and a good example of what a good trailer can do for totally SHIT movie.
True.
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post #16 of 83
4/17/05 at 6:23am
The STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY teaser.


It shows a montage of clips from the series and the previous five movies. Great stuff like Kahn from Space Seed and Kahn from STAR TREK II side by side; Kirk and Spock from STAR TREK V juxtaposed with the Kirk and Spock from "Where No Man Has Gone Before" from twenty five years ago in a similar pose. As we hear excellent narration by Christopher Plummer and Horner's ST III theme the camera pulls back and we see that the images are being projected on the ENTERPRISE saucer...

It still makes me tear up.

Anyone else see this (it's on the DVD as well)?
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post #17 of 83
4/17/05 at 8:23am
Thread Starter 
Can't believe I forgot about the Fight Club trailer, that kicks ass. And the one for Comedian is a classic.

The full Usual Suspects trailer is pretty awesome too, the one which introduces Keyser Soze and ends on the shot of Gabriel Byrne reflected in the window of Edie's office (surely one of the most simple and effective shots ever filmed?), followed by the "And like that... he's gone" line.
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post #18 of 83
4/17/05 at 8:55am
The trailer that gave me the biggest stiffy was Episode I. If only i had known then what is so painfully evident now.
The Aliens trailer made me change my pants each time i saw it, so did the Jurassic Park one.
My fave of all trailers though has to be the one for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy one that comes across like a an entry to the guide.
The Dawn of the Dead remake was cool with it blowing out to white and having the Zombies appear slowly.
I remeber the Gremlins 2 trailer being pretty cool
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post #19 of 83
4/17/05 at 9:39am
This year has had some great trailers already.

Revenge of the Sith- I've thankfully stayed spoiler free, but its a great trailer with everything we have been wanting to see. "You were the Chosen One!", Anakin marching with the stormtroopers, Palpatine's speech and "charge", its a great trailer.

Sin City- Great visuals, a lot of the best lines, perfectly paced, and perfect use of music.

Kingdom of Heaven- The first one. Great dialogue, great visuals, and nice pacing. It speeds up with Jonathan Elias's "Hope" music, and in the middle there's that drumbeat pace complete with Edward Norton smacking the shit out of someone.

Older trailers:

Superman: The Movie- The teaser, with no footage. Just a sky with clouds at sunset, the names zooming across the screen, and a beautiful piece of somber music. Great trailer.

Goldeneye- Original teaser introducing Brosnan. So cool. He walks out, says "You were expecting someone else, and shoots the letters to spell 007. Very cool, and quick cut enough with bits of Famke to give the impression that a much more serious, sexy 90s version was on the way.

L.A. Confidential- There's a beautiful piece of music that plays at the end, and they have the old gravelly voiced trailer narrator that they don't really use anymore. It works really well here though.
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post #20 of 83
4/17/05 at 10:23am
The TCM remake trailer, with the flash bulbs going off every few seconds, and then the darkness with only sounds behind it was good.
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post #21 of 83
4/17/05 at 10:47am
My Top 3....

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake - great editing, nice use of effects, and the musical choices are excellent.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico - also loved the editing and the music. Great trailer, terrible movie.

Spider-man WTC trailer - I don't think any other trailer ever made me more excited
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post #22 of 83
4/17/05 at 4:53pm
That WTC spiderman teaser is up there. The teaser for SAW got me into the theater, and I hadn't seen a horror movie at one in years. Very disappointed with how that same "headgear from hell" scene played out in the film.

And as much as I like the trailer for ROTS, one of all my all time favourites is still the teaser for AOTC. Just flashes of the film with Vader breathing over top. It gave me chills....
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post #23 of 83
4/17/05 at 5:08pm
Well as stew mentioned above, The best trailers in recent memory have been Sin City and my #1 most anticipated movie of the year Kingdom of Heaven(yeah i want it more than EP III, I'm such a bastard.)

Revenge of the Sith had a great trailer, but it seemed to lack some intensity near the end of it yesterday in the theater, like it wasn't loud enough, or it needed more bass. I dunno, but it was still good stuff.

As for Older Trailers:

I really like Clear and Present Danger's trailer and I remember seeing SW Ep I that was cool.
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post #24 of 83
4/17/05 at 5:14pm
Spider-Man WTC teaser
http://www.movie-list.net/classics/s...er-720x388.mov

Another one of my favorites is for the Jerry Seinfeld docu Comedian. It makes fun of the voice-over guy. Unfortunately, the Apple link is dead.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Alexor
Anyone know where I could download old trailers?
http://www.movie-list.com

http://www.empiremovies.com
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post #25 of 83
4/17/05 at 5:14pm
I loved the Unbreakable trailer. It was different. It was mysterious enough that it
made me really curious to see the movie.
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post #26 of 83
4/18/05 at 11:07am
Making trailers is almost an artform in of itself, it takes skill to make a great one. Anyway, here's a few that really excited me with their editing flair:

The Mask of Zorro
Talk about blood pumping, all the action cut together to make me jump up and down in my seat.

A Bugs Life
I thought the other ant film Antz was much much better, but the trailer for this was good, "You think this is a game!?"

Air Force One
"You can end this with one phonecall!" Oldman screaming, spittle flying everywhere = good trailer.

The Matrix 1 & 2
First Matrix trailer (and teaser) was just awesome, seeing a woman run up a wall avoiding gunfire was etched in my mind, because I had no idea how she was doing it, the character or the actor herself, I had to see the movie. Great use of music too. The Reloaded trailer was also great, hyping me up even more. Revolutions wasnt as good as the previous two, it showed way too much, did we really need the entire film spelled out to us, especially by showing Deus Ex talking with Neo?

Out of Sight
Funky music, stylish visuals, cool dialogue, Don Cheadle falling down stairs.
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post #27 of 83
4/18/05 at 11:38am
I think the Spiderman WTC trailer was amazing.
The trailer that had me at hello was the Spiderman 2 trailer. Not the teaser but the one with that amazing music was perfect. It showed exactly what it needed to and was synchronized perfectly with the music. The Two Towers trailer had, by far the best music ever. I haven't seen requiem for a dream but after i found out it has that music in the score I have been clamoring to check it out.

Oh and ditto on the AOTC "breathing" trailer. I'm usually a sucker for less is more, not to mention I hate too many spoilers.
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post #28 of 83
4/18/05 at 12:05pm
Yeah man, the UK Goldeneye trailer was superb.
"The world has changed. Friends are now enemies. Enemies are now friends. But you can still rely on one man..." And Brosnan walks on and shoots 007 onto the screen. Then that drum roll, and the new U2 (?) riff of the Bond theme thumps out with heavy guitars.
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post #29 of 83
4/18/05 at 7:30pm
hmm

Batman, the teaser was simply brilliant then the second one had the car ith the bomb at the factory and still my favourite Elfman theme

Pearl Harbor, simply stunning and entirely misleading

Back To the Future, simply classic

The Incredibles teaser, freaking great, and the movie was even better doesnt happen often enough

The Lion King, basically the first 5 minutes of the movie but Disney marketing knew its had the rebirths zenith

Recent

Sith Trailer, watched with the other prequel trailers its is superior

The New World and Kingdom of Heaven are simlpy the most beautiful trailers

Garden State teaser, helped alot by Frou Frou, but still great editing and not much talking

Spider Man 2 full trailer, too much info, but damn did it hook you
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post #30 of 83
4/18/05 at 7:39pm
Pearl Harbor.
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post #31 of 83
4/18/05 at 7:53pm
I am showing my age, but Steve Martin's first trailer for the Jerk was brilliant, and did not show one scene from the movie.
And Orson Wells' trailer for Citizen Kane (it's on the DVD) was brilliant also.
The TPM trailer was great and one fo the biggest con jobs in film history.
The Worst Trailers have to be for "Catwoman"...audiences actually laughed at it and that was NOT the intention, and the one for The Pendragon WOTW. Never has a trailer..even an on line one, so killed any anticipation for a film. People, like me, who supported the effort to do a authentic original "War Of The Worlds" quickly abandoned ship after that trailer showed we had a huckster and incompetent on our hands.
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post #32 of 83
4/18/05 at 7:58pm
The trailer for Casshern is probably my favorite ever. I know it's one I've watched more than any other. But I agree with what someone said earlier about the Star Wars Special Edition trailers. Those were probably the best-constructed trailers ever.
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post #33 of 83
4/18/05 at 9:48pm
Reading through both threads mentioned here, I'll throw in my two cents:

The international trailer for Vampires (it's on the first Underworld DVD). Uncut, and it begins with James Woods' mini-rant to the priest. Good stuff.

Cliffhanger's teaser is great.

Stew mentions Superman's teaser. I like one of the trailers that shockingly wasn't on the DVD, yet aired on Sci-Fi Channel's Trailer Park many moons ago. It has no footage, just stills, an okay voiceover and John Williams' wonderful music. You can find it at CapedWonder.com or at the Turner Classic Movies site under their listing of the film..
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post #34 of 83
4/19/05 at 4:54pm
I actually preferred the final full Spider-Man 1 trailer to the WTC teaser. It hit all the right beats. Both of the full Hitchhiker's trailers rock, I've watched them over and over again. The Two Towers trailer, the Sin City trailer, The Matrix Reloaded, all superb. All three SE Star Wars trailers were a joy, though I felt betrayed after actually seeing the movies.

Good trailers are works of art, to me. Even though they are marketing tools, a good trailer shows that the person behind it knows the product they're selling well, and have good editing skills. A good choice of music can make or break a trailer, just look at the most recent KOH trailer. Hideous.
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post #35 of 83
4/19/05 at 5:28pm
Most of the trailers that have had the biggest impact on me have already been mentioned but I'll put them out there again anyway.

Independence Day
The Matrix
Star Wars Epiode I
The Sixth Sense

and the new Texas Chainsaw trailer was effectively unsettling.

Sin City worked well too. It was the music that put it over the top for me.
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post #36 of 83
4/19/05 at 5:40pm
I believe I was in seeing Dracula 2000 when I saw the teaser trailer for Evolution . After the regular trailers started coming out, it looked stupid, and I never went to see it. But Evolution still has one of my all-time favorite teasers. It's cool as hell.
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post #37 of 83
4/19/05 at 6:02pm
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the the teaser for Terminator 2. My favorite trailer ever!
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post #38 of 83
4/19/05 at 6:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chappers
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the the teaser for Terminator 2. My favorite trailer ever!
http://www.movie-list.net/classics/t...or2-teaser.mov
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post #39 of 83
4/19/05 at 6:45pm
I agree with barbelithbomb who mentioned the trailer for Comedian, that was a really funny trailer because it directly made fun of and spoofed movie trailers. Very similar to the latest Hitchhikers trailer which I also thought was really funny.

Trailers have such a formulaic look to them now that I like when people try something different, even if that just involves poking fun at the standard format.
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post #40 of 83
4/19/05 at 7:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chappers
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the the teaser for Terminator 2. My favorite trailer ever!
teasers are a waste of my time, give me a full trailer or give me nothing at all.

the one exception in my experience is the wtc spiderman teaser.
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post #41 of 83
4/19/05 at 10:15pm
Every trailer HBO produces for its original series. Most recently the ones for ROME, which I can't wait for, but there were also some good ones for Carnivale.
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post #42 of 83
4/20/05 at 9:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chappers
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the the teaser for Terminator 2. My favorite trailer ever!
My old VHS copy of Total Recall had this trailer and even after I owned T2, I got goosebumps watching that trailer. T2 marketing (even "you could be mine") was pretty flawless. And the DVD is still in my top 5, maybe even #1, for content and production.
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post #43 of 83
12/5/05 at 12:31pm

Music in the spiderman 2 trailer

I would like to know what the last (music) number in the Spiderman 2 trailer (the long one) is, I have been searching for it for a long time, but haven’t found any thing so far... maybe someone in here could help me?
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post #44 of 83
12/5/05 at 4:20pm
The full Fellowship Of The Ring trailer is fucking amazing, one of the most powerful I've ever seen. The SuperTrailer that they made after ROTK came out is awesome as well.

If anyone knows where the LOTR trailers are still downloadable, I'd really like to know. The versions on Dave's Trailer Page, MovieList, and Jurassic Punk are all down.
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post #45 of 83
12/5/05 at 7:51pm
Quote:
Another one of my favorites is for the Jerry Seinfeld docu Comedian. It makes fun of the voice-over guy. Unfortunately, the Apple link is dead.
Woo hoo! It's back up!
http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/comedian.html
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post #46 of 83
12/5/05 at 8:26pm
The best I've seen in years is the trailer for Kar Wai Wong's In the Mood for Love.

The almost montage sequence with eerie romance music drifting through the background (straight out of the mind of Kubrick or perhaps Lynch) gives very little away and is itself a work of art.

I could watch it a dozen times in a row and not get bored.
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post #47 of 83
12/5/05 at 8:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
The correct answer is:

Adaptation.
I'm going to love that trailer until the day I die. Under Pressure is one of my all-time favorite songs, and it works perfectly with the trailer. Absolutely stellar trailer.

Moovyphreak already mentioned Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian- which was a great trailer. Along those same lines was the wonderful trailer for Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

And I don't even remember the movie it was for, but I rented The Purple Rose of Cairo when I was, like, 8. After the movie there were a bunch of trailers, and there was one that had a chick taking her top off and revealing all contained underneath. I thought this was great! A trailer with titties? I'd never seen this before! Hands-down my favorite trailer. I don't know what movie it was (I think it had Shelley Long in it. . . I think. . .) but it sure was a fantastic one.
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post #48 of 83
12/7/05 at 3:01am
http://www.mymovies.net/player/playe...ilmid=121&sec=

Check out all three of the trailers by Joe Carnahan.

Edit: Try this link too... http://film.virgin.net/player/play.a...virgin&sec=trl
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post #49 of 83
12/7/05 at 6:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff Foster
The best I've seen in years is the trailer for Kar Wai Wong's In the Mood for Love.
Sony Pictures Classics' trailer for 2046 was incredible too. I think I saw it five or six times in a theater, and it never failed to amaze me.

Although I've never seen the film, I must praise the Blow trailer. It was cut in triple split-screen, very original given how formulaic trailers often are.
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post #50 of 83
12/7/05 at 7:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kreeper
The STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY teaser.


It shows a montage of clips from the series and the previous five movies. Great stuff like Kahn from Space Seed and Kahn from STAR TREK II side by side; Kirk and Spock from STAR TREK V juxtaposed with the Kirk and Spock from "Where No Man Has Gone Before" from twenty five years ago in a similar pose. As we hear excellent narration by Christopher Plummer and Horner's ST III theme the camera pulls back and we see that the images are being projected on the ENTERPRISE saucer...

It still makes me tear up.

Anyone else see this (it's on the DVD as well)?
Yes, it's what I was coming here to post. Sulu's crummy fencing technique aside, it's a great teaser. Very original.
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