Are "tell all" movie trailers bad?

[PatrThom]

I wonder if there's a certain type of movie, or a certain audience, that if you've got that type of movie or aiming for that audience you're better off telling them everything than you are teasing them.

I suppose if your target audience would be those people who saw the original and you want them to see how faithful you have been while crafting the remake, then it might work.
Alternatively, if the movie is more about the journey than the destination (for instance, Super Size Me, or perhaps Titanic), then I suppose you lose nothing by giving everything away and spoiling the ending*.

--Patrick
*Titanic is actually a specific case. It's okay to spoil the story of the boat. It's not OK to spoil the story of Rose.

 

[checkeredhat]

Here is how trailers should be made:


Tells you everything you need to know about that movie. Gives you the setting and the atmosohere, gets you excited and scared, and it does it without telling you a single damn thing about the plot. It is a trailer worthy of awards unto itself.

They tried to do the same thing with Prometheus

and the trailer certainly worked (Though, I'm about 3/4 the way through that movie right now and MAN is it ever disappointing).

 

[Bowielee]

I'll agree with Comedies being the biggest issue with this. When a movie only has 5-6 genuinely funny moments, you will see all of them in the trailer.

 

[PatrThom]

I'll agree with Comedies being the biggest issue with this. When a movie only has 5-6 genuinely funny moments, you will see all of them in the trailer.

I think you just described Movie 43.

--Patrick

 

[fade]

Here is how trailers should be made:


Tells you everything you need to know about that movie. Gives you the setting and the atmosohere, gets you excited and scared, and it does it without telling you a single damn thing about the plot. It is a trailer worthy of awards unto itself.

They tried to do the same thing with Prometheus

and the trailer certainly worked (Though, I'm about 3/4 the way through that movie right now and MAN is it ever disappointing).

Yes. Definitely. When I saw the Prometheus trailer, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I thought, "Wow, Scott can still make a movie. This is gorgeous and thrilling." Too bad about the actual movie.

 

[fade]

What about The Phantom Menace. Wow. What a trailer. Too bad the movie did not live up to the trailer.

 

[Shawn]

Tell-All trailers aren't bad.
They put them out for movies like REC, clearly showing the last scare of the film. And now I don't have to see it.
That's a win for me.

 

[filmfanatic]

Tell-All trailers aren't bad.
They put them out for movies like REC, clearly showing the last scare of the film. And now I don't have to see it.
That's a win for me.

Hey now, REC is worth watching. It's the remake Quarantine that you can avoid.

 

[Shawn]

Hey now, REC is worth watching. It's the remake Quarantine that you can avoid.

Quarantine is probably the film I meant anyway.

 

[Rovewin]

If there is a movie I really want to see I avoid all trailers of it because tell all trailers are way too prevalent. The thing is that they make it nearly impossible to avoid spoilers because most people think if it was in the trailer then it is ok to talk about. I've had a few movies endings spoilered for me this way and this was before they even came out!

I like having a bit of mystery about how things are going to turn out. I like the sort of cliffhanger trailers where you just want to know what happens too bad to resist seeing it in theaters. Minus the in it for the ride movies, if I feel like I've already seen the movie from the minute or 2 of trailers I've seen then what's the point of seeing it in theaters?