Movie trailers are proof that film-editing is an art form. There are plenty of great movies that were promoted by terrible trailers. There are also trailers that outshine crummy films. And 14 of them are works of art in their own right.
21. It
The trailer for the 2017 theatrical version of It is better than the entire 1990 television movie version that preceded it.
20. The War for the Planet of the Apes
The creative minds behind War for the Planet of the Apes knew something that's true of every movie trailer -- less is more.
19. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
17. Creed II
16. Star Trek
15. Dunkirk
14. Colombiana
If Oscar nominations were handed out for trailers, Zoe Saldana's would've been a slam-dunk. It seems like some unspeakable childhood tragedy had rendered her an emotional wreck. Too bad the actual movie turned out to be dumb as sh%t.
13. The Lord of the Rings
It's one thing to announce that you're adapting a classic fantasy book to the big screen. Proving that you've really brought hobbits, cave trolls and balrogs to life is a whole different story. And director Peter Jackson did just that with his clip for the first movie in his Middle Earth series, The Fellowship of the Ring.
12. Live by Night
The trailer is a masterpiece. The movie sucks.
11. The Age of Ultron
16. Star Trek
15. Dunkirk
14. Colombiana
13. The Lord of the Rings
It's one thing to announce that you're adapting a classic fantasy book to the big screen. Proving that you've really brought hobbits, cave trolls and balrogs to life is a whole different story. And director Peter Jackson did just that with his clip for the first movie in his Middle Earth series, The Fellowship of the Ring.
12. Live by Night
The trailer is a masterpiece. The movie sucks.
11. The Age of Ultron
10. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
9. The Batman
8. Batman v. Superman
A great trailer -- and only a glimpse of a great movie.
7. G*dzilla
The teaser for this monster movie is literal. It even teases the gigantic star of the movie.
6. Revenge of the Sith
Say what you want about the Star Wars prequel trilogy but two of those movies had incredible trailers -- including these. It was rumored that Star Wars creator and Revenge of the Sith writer/director George Lucas enlisted his old friend Steven Spielberg to edit the trailers. He probably should've hired him to direct the movie as well.
5. Solo
4. Rogue One
The trailers for Rogue One told you right away that you were in for something special. But the movie's so good that they only scratch the surface. As an added bonus the trailers contain footage that didn't make it into the movie. While all good trailers leave you wanting more these leave you yearning even after you've seen the movie -- not because what you've seen wasn't good enough but because you know there's more to the story.
3. The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is arguably the first comic book movie masterpiece but there's no debating the fact that its trailer is the absolute best teaser for a superhero film.
2. The Force Awakens
A
couple of years ago, I stopped watching trailers and for the same
reason that I'd stopped reading movie reviews. I just wanted to know as
little as possible going into the theater. I didn't wanna be sitting
there knowing that what's-his-face would make it through the suicide
mission without a scratch because he still hadn't done that thing from
the commercial. But, after that whole prequel mess, I broke my new rule.
I figured going to see a Star Wars movie on blind faith wasn't worth
the risk.
True
-- the teaser trailer, which came out almost a year before the movie
did, is only 88 seconds long. But, it's one hell of a minute-and-a-half.
It had the best aspects of the original trilogy and at the same time it
also had the seriousness of the best trailers for the video games.
Just as important, there was none of the cheesiness that was a constant
presence throughout, say, Attack of the Clones. Seriously,
you got your ominousness -- a guy in all black with a red lightsaber;
spaceships (although not actually in space -- whatevever) -- the
Millenium Falcon, TIE Fighters and X-Wings; and John Williams' music. It
was like a fan movie with financing. Although there's plenty of
goofiness to go around in the actual film, none of that bs is in the
trailer.
1. The Phantom Menace
The teaser trailer for The Phantom Menace debuted on November 13, 1998 and preceded screenings of Meet Joe Black. Star Wars fans paid full price for tickets to the Brad Pitt romance drama, watched the trailer and left before the movie started. When the second trailer was released with the film Wing Commander, fans followed the same pattern. On March 13, 1999, Lucasfilm premiered the trailer on the movie's website and the ensuing traffic overloaded the servers.
The Phantom Menace is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. But the first two trailers are mind-blowing. They kinda had to be to trick so many millions of people into looking forward to see what turned out to be such a garbage film.
Updated 4/20/21
Originally Posted 8/1/17
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