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Post trailers that are better than the movie they represent.

Damnit. Just last night I was discussing a movie that's so bad it's trialer was better than the film. And now I forget what it was.

I love trailers. There's many I have synced on my phone right now to watch just because. Watching trailers is one of my favorite things to do

Man of Steel was a huge disappointment to me, even though I wasn't expecting much from it. Batman v. Superman doesn't look like it'll be much better. Superman is made to look sinister and almost unforgiving... I know the people of Metropolis are afraid of him, but is the audience supposed to fear him too? Sure seems like it.

Batman's voice reminded me of Red Volcano's from Young Justice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3lFzMbNUo8&t=1m46s)... emotionless, cold. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet.

It was a really stupid idea of Warner Bros.'s to send the trailer out to a few theaters. It was bound to leak given it's such an anticipated film. Snyder said that the IMAX event will have more footage, but that'll probably leak somehow before Monday too.

As for trailers themselves... love 'em. They're a magic combination of dialogue, music, sound effects, and visuals. Pretty much everything's out of context, so they have to piece something together cohesive yet not too revealing.

My favorite trailers I've ever seen probably are the first Age of Ultron one, the third Days of Future Past trailer (both the domestic and international versions), the second Winter Soldier trailer, the third Interstellar trailer, the Half-Blood Prince teaser... the list goes on.

One trend I've noticed in trailers today (Age of Ultron must have started it) is taking upbeat themes and turning them dreary and depressing. I've Got No Strings, California Dreaming, the Jurassic Park theme, the song used in the MI: Rogue Nation trailer, etc.

I've tinkered around in video editing software to make my own trailers; looking back, most of them are abysmal, but I've made a few I'm still sort of pleased with:

- Wolverine and the X-Men (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5i1zs2I_9k) (ignore sloppy editing at some points)
- BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3wC9Pp8ijg)
- Turtles Forever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xsl0uQ3QqM) (ignore anything past 1:33, I don't know why I made that so long.)

I often avoid fan trailers because most of them are beyond horrendous. They're often just fifteen-second clips piled onto each other set to music so loud that it drowns out any dialogue.

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For me, the BvS trailers was more than I was hoping for and meets or exceeds all of my expectations. How the final film will be, well we won't know until next March. But I'm more than cautiously optimistic at this point. I love seeing new things (at least on film) done with the characters, I like the realistic but stylized world and I can't emphasize enough how glad I am that one-liners and cheap jokes aren't thrown around like JJ Abrams used lens flares on Star Trek.

I know I said this in another thread, but I don't like my comic books or their film adaptions "fun". I'm not a huge fan of snark, and when we are dealing with superpowers and aliens and whatnot, if the filmmakers want me to invest in the stories and care I have to buy that, in a slightly different world than ours, this could happen. Almost all across the board, the Marvel films are caricatures of good and evil. They are so over the top that I don't even know why they bother doing them in live action. Even the films that the try to be "serious" like TWS still resort to platitudes at best and don't even attempt to explore issues they bring up with any real depth.

As for trailers in general, I love them. They are a very specific art form that when done right can be more impactful than the film they are selling to us (since that's what trailers are, marketing ads for movies). I think trailers are best when they are built around a specific theme or mood, and aren't just a compilation of random scenes that test well with focus groups. I don't want to know the entire plot of the movie before I see it, I just want a hint of the what the film feels like. And I absolutely hate it when multiple trailers use the same scenes ad infinitum (like Terminator Genisys or Edge of Tomorrow).

To me, Snyder is pretty much the trailer god. Almost every single one he has done has brought something new and fresh, and at the same time been incredibly enjoyable to watch. Watchmen, MoS and now BvS... they're all just gold. David Fincher is also someone that makes excellent trailers (The Social Network, TGWTDT, Gone Girl). Off the top of my head, other personal favorites for me would be the TDK teaser, TDKR's third trailer, the first trailer for 300: Rise Of An Empire, both of the Godzilla trailers, Only God Forgives, Drive, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Prometheus' 1st trailer, Wolf of Wall Street's 2nd, the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter trailer with the Johnny Cash song, the epic length Cloud Atlas trailer, both trailers for Jack Reacher, all of the trailers for The Master, the first Iron Man 3 trailer, Skyfall's teaser, the first trailer for Battle: Los Angeles... I could go on but I can't think of anymore off-hand.

My favorite trailers I've ever seen probably are the first Age of Ultron one, the third Days of Future Past trailer (both the domestic and international versions), the second Winter Soldier trailer, the third Interstellar trailer, the Half-Blood Prince teaser... the list goes on.

I see we have the same taste. I too love the first Age of Ultron trailer. And the third (and final) Days of Future Past trailer that uses Kashmir. I also love the teaser for DoFP. It contains John Murphy's Adagio In D Minor, which is becoming a cliche but I love that piece. Same as the third trailer for Interstellar.

Other favorites include: ALL trailers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (there's a trailer for both parts together and then there's trailers for parts 1 and 2), Inception trailer 2 (Mind Heist) of course, Blade: Trinity, Sleepy Hollow, all the final Transformers trailers, Mockingjay, pt. I, the final Avengers trailer , Mad Max: Fury Road trailer 2 (not the latest one) and the 15th TV spot for The Dark Knight Rises: EPIC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZUQKhZiKOw)

There are plenty more, but there's only so many I can think of at the moment....

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Darn, I wouldn't want sound like one of those haters as I'm always on the "I'll see it and then make up my mind" side of things, but it seems they're actually going for the physical confrontation between Bats and Supes in this one. I've never liked it, and will never like it. Neither characters were designed for it, and is just a means to rake in the fans. "Do you bleed" attests to that entirely. I myself was hoping for more of a conflict of wits ala Justice League: Doom. But it seems I have to cringe through yet another battle of Superman being overpowered by a guy in a tin can. That's of course completely ignoring the fact that the reason behind these fights is always flimsy or out of character (Supes listening to the president anyone?)

Thought Man of Steel was not perfect, but at least a decent start of the cinematic universe. And yes I also liked Superman Returns along with the first four Reeves movies, I hope I'm going to like this one too but I have my actual doubts this time.

When I first heard about it I was very much against it. I've always felt that whenever it was done in the comics it almost always felt forced & gimicky. Furthermore, there is simply no way Batman could ever remotely be equipped to take on Superman, it just isn't possible. Super strength, super speed, super reflexes... Superman just has it all and there's no way an ordinary human with no special abilities could ever hope to match that.

However, starting with the Comic Con footage and now with the trailer, I've started to come around to it and appreciate the angle they're coming from. One of my favorite things about Batman (which is rarely explored) is that Bruce is pretty much insane. He's not in touch with reality. His one-man war on crime is an extreme emotional reaction from a traumatic experience he had when he was a boy, and is in no way rational. A sane man that wanted to stop crime would do so through politics or economics or other such means. He would not take on one bad guy after another with his fists. He beats on thugs because he enjoys it, because it is his revenge on the man that killed his parents. So already, he's psychologically unstable just from the outset.

Now add to that ten years of fighting crime this way. Sure, he's probably made some progress, changed things. But things have also gotten much worse since he's started, and on top of that he's not a young man anymore and there doesn't seem to be any end to his crusade. In comes an alien from who knows where with abilities that make him seem godlike. Hell, one confrontation with him and others of his species leveled an entire city and killed thousands of people. Who's to say what his intentions may be, no matter what he says to the media (if he says anything at all).

Batman has always been paranoid in the comics. He's had files detailing how to take down each member of the Justice League since its inception. It's not much of a stretch to create a situation where they are (seemingly) at odds with each other, especially when they are strangers and can only rely on third party accounts of behavior.

As for how they'll approach the logistics of someone with superpowers fighting a regular human, I'm of a wait-and-see approach. That trailer has earned that much, at least.

Yes, the clash of heroes which leads to an eventual team up is a very tired trope of comic book stories, but it doesn't look like it's ever been handled this way before.

Personally, this is my most anticipated big Hollywood that's coming in the next year or so.

I understand where you're coming from. But what you describe is exactly Batman. He goes out there every nigh risking his life trying to stop crime with his bare hands. His courage, his determination, his cunning, and his skill is what defines him. If you pit him against Superman and have him be on equal footing with him detracts from everything he does. Suddenly he becomes this super being.

And from Superman's side it also detracts from the character. He's supposed to be this godlike hero people look up to and he is supposed to be the example for humanity. He does what no one else can, but leads as an example. He is not supposed to be affected by earthly concerns like aging, eating, lack of energy, lack of physical strength, insufficient durability. He counteracts earthquakes, saves kittens from trees, stops hurricanes, does everything a human could dream of. His abilities is what defines his character because it is something he has to struggle with. He wants to be human but knows he can never be like us, not mortal. There is a struggle of disconnection with humanity and a yearning for his home planet. In most instances he doesn't even want these godlike powers, but keeps them anyway for the good of mankind. And now this character is pitted against someone in a metal suit. So much for the entire character struggle. Just give someone a metal suit and they can do everything he can. He won't feel isolated anymore after that.

Story wise it will be pretty hard to work in too. In Man of Steel he punches Zod so hard an entire crater is created, and he manages to fly through a machine that is penetrating the entire planet with it's gravity pull and push which also by the way landed who knows how many times the speed of sound on slim spiked feet entirely intact. No power suit would counter that. Some stupid story element will probably be introduced, that or it's not addressed at all and he's just weak from the get-go like in The Dark Knight Returns. The teaser should have gone like this: Batman: "Tell me, do you bleed?" Superman: "Not from any alloy I will" *speeds down like in the teaser but lands hard enough for the ground to turn to rubble burying Bruce*. That, or he just heats up his suit with a laser eyed blink so Bats steps out in panic for Supes to vaporize the thing. Or sucks the oxygen out of the area until he passes out. That's not going to happen though. No way you wouldn't have to suspend your disbelief.

But I'm being way too negative.

I love the character design. Batman looks really buff, which is a big difference coming from the lean Nolan Bats. And one can complain all about the atmosphere and such. I'm more like "deal with it" on that front. It's their choice to make it gritty and the teaser showed they did a great job with the backdrops. DCU doesn't have to be MCU.

Regards.

I've never liked Batgod. I also hate it when writers always bring Superman down to make Batman seem like the superior hero. Look at All-Star Superman; Kal's goals and accomplishments go far beyond just preventing petty crime on Earth. He's involved in stopping destruction and creating new possibilities for life on a cosmic scale, while Batman is only concerned with stopping criminals in one particular city. As cool as Batman is and as easy as he is to adapt for film, I think Superman has much more possibilities in terms of storytelling. Which is why I was so disappointed when I heard that not only would he have to share his sequel film with Batman, but also with 3-4 other Justice League members.

But, as I said, we don't know how the filmmakers will be handling the inequality and camaraderie of the duo, so I'm still looking forward to the movie.

I'm also glad that DC is not copying Marvel and has their own take on what a DC film universe looks like. If people want a more comedic/fun bent or a more realistic/darker one, fans have options. Or they can enjoy both. Why divide the fanbase when there is no need to?

Exactly. It also detracts from the Batman character because the makers try so hard to make Batman even more badass by making him fight Supes and suddenly make him do ridiculous unrealistic things. But in my opinion he doesn't have to fight Clark to be the man. In TDK when he took out an entire SWAT team while trying to protect the hostages at the end of the movie was bad ass was it not? It's cool because he's just a man. No one would complain Nolan's Batman wasn't badass enough because he didn't take on a nigh invulnerable alien. All he needs is his charisma, intelligence, and advanced resources + skill set to be an asset.

But I digress since I'm going off-topic.

I deliberately don't want to watch any SW trailers. Want to see the movie without spoiled tidbits or quotes.

Regards.

DAK, start fine tuning your Zimmer interpersonal-please release-the-complete-score-to-me skills so you can deploy them next year when B v S hits the screens. If it helps I'll throw in an NY or German style cheesecake for free. Sweeten the deal, as it were.

As for trailers: the one for the first Alien. The alien egg cracking open followed by the escaping of green light and the creature's scream. Said everything about the film without revealing a thing. And speaking of things, the tagline to the poster of The Thing: "Man is the warmest place to hide."

Brilliant.

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I loved American Sniper

Other favorites include: ALL trailers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[/URL]


I loved the trailers for Part 2 - they're what got me interested in trailer (and later film) music - except for all those hilarious Voldemort screams. Each trailer has like five disembodied yelps that come from Voldemort, and I was honestly a little disappointed that the film didn't have any of these. :p

A new trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrbeP04PgtQ) for Fantastic Four came out today, and the editing is God-awful.

I was honestly a little disappointed that the film didn't have any of these. :p

Part II also does not contain the scene when Voldemort is grabbing Harry by the face and he asks him "Why do you live", to which Harry replies "because I have something worth living for". It's in one of the trailers


A new trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrbeP04PgtQ) for Fantastic Four came out today, and the editing is God-awful.

I still have no desire to see this. Doesn't look great. And Kate Mara is the only one of the 4 who I like.

Part II also does not contain the scene when Voldemort is grabbing Harry by the face and he asks him "Why do you live", to which Harry replies "because I have something worth living for". It's in one of the trailers


That I think was one of those shots meant to only be included in the trailer. It doesn't really fit in with the context of the scene it would be inserted in.

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If you read any old FF comics you'd know that the place they're probably traveling to interdimensionally is the Negative Zone, a weirdass dimension that is virtually uninhabitable because everything is made up of antimatter.

In the comics they got their powers from cosmic rays that pelted their spaceship while they were on a mission, though, not from the Negative Zone.



But they could have cut down on his screaming/yelling.
I found it highly distracting.

Like I said, he never screams like that once in the film. It's really confusing as to why they included it so much in the trailers, and why they bothered having Fiennes scream like a lunatic so many times at all. Kinda bizarre.

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The Negative Zone is in a few episodes of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, especially episode 42: "Assault on 42".

Fox's Fantastic Four films are something I've never been able to get excited about. Not that I think the FF will be better off at Marvel/Disney, but I don't think Fox cares about the franchise at all (it's just another way to make money), and it show with how they've treated them so far.

The new film has some things going for it (a more grounded universe; a hint of a horror tone, which hasn't been done with a mainstream comic book film before; talented actors; Philip Glass is co-composing the score, etc.), but first and foremost Simon Kinberg is a writer and producer on the film and I absolutely hate everything he touches. He has never made a good film. DoFP is one of the worst comic book films ever, and the only reason why it isn't the worst X-Men film is because X-Men Origins was truly a waste of everyones time.

The first trailer was okay, but it didn't wow me. The weak voiceover was the main problem, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. This second trailer is much better. I think I'm actually looking forward to it more than Age of Ultron. That's only the case, though, because Avengers is a known quantity, and I didn't much care for the first film (too many characters; too much humor; lackluster plot and bad guy). At least with the new FF film we don't have anything to base our expectations on.

The problem with the trailer, though, is that it feels really small to me. Maybe it was just bad timing with BvS' trailer hitting only a couple of days earlier, but this feels like an independent film more than a comic book one. I don't mind smaller scale superheroes. Daredevil's TV show was possibly the best thing Marvel Studios has ever done. But with the FF, there's an awe and wonder that's lacking from the trailers. These are not action heroes. They are explorers. They fight battles with their brains, not their fists. If there was one run on the comic I think they should've adapted, it would be Hickman's. His time with the FF is what made me like the team in the first place. Science was at the forefront. Humor (something I generally don't like in my comic books) was also a major part of his storytelling.

Overall, there's just a gut reaction if I like a trailer or not, if it stays with me and makes me get excited about a film. BvS had it; Star Wars, Terminator, A:AoU & FF do not. I'll probably still check this out in theaters, but I'm not optimistic.

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Here's a new article: 5 Tricks Hollywood Uses to Make Good Trailers and Bad Movies (http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-tricks-hollywood-uses-to-make-good-trailers-bad-movies/).

I don't agree with some of what the author says, but if you're at all interested in film marketing maybe you'd want to give it a read if you have the time (one of the points he makes is about music).