What movie had a really good non spoiler marketing campaign?
What movie had a really good non spoiler marketing campaign?
Went to a movie theater and saw a trailer for a movie where I was interested in the first 30 seconds of it, but the trailer then showed what looked like something probably from the last 10 minutes and spoiled the entire movie, so lost all interest.
So what movies come to mind as having done really good, where it makes you interested and gives you an idea of the movie, but doesn't ruin any big reveals?
Fight Club. I literally avoided it because all the ads made it seem like some 'BRO FIGHTING IS HARDCORE AND AWESOME LETS CHUG A BEER' dudebro bullshit.
The fan interpretation of the movie as literally that really colors my perception of the movie. I love Bukowski (with some trepidation), and I know that the dudebro interpretation is 180 degrees from the intended meaning, but when it’s that badly misinterpreted I can’t help but feel like the cultural baggage weighs it down. It’s been decades since I’ve seen it, but when I started becoming aware of the PUA culture ((which I think provided the nucleus to the incel/maga culture we see today), they were leaning hard into it.
Contrast that with American History X, which I’ve been told has been interpreted by skinhead/WP subcultures as a film that portrays them positively and justifies their POV. I don’t associate that movie with that interpretation because they’re a much more marginalized community (at least until 2016), and because the movie really beats you over the head with the message so much that misinterpretation cannot be attributed to the film.
Look up 'The Stunt Man' with Peter O'Toole. He plays a director trying to make a WW1 movie. At one point he's talking to the film's writer. "A director I really admire once made a truly great anti-war movie. Military recruitment in his home town jumped 500% after they screened it."
I think this comment sums up why a lot of studios don’t avoid spoiling major plot points in trailers. It’s very easy to advertise a movie as something it isn’t (or just the opening third), and miss the core audience that will actually leave good reviews on it, convincing others to go.
A movie that did a great job of getting across what it was in the trailer, but still throwing a massive curveball, was Barbarian, which I really appreciate it for. Almost every plot point was subversive, though partially because it was such a strange film.
Cabin in the Woods is another great example. Avoided it because it looked like a generic slasher.
I had it figured out from the scene on the airplane.
"Oh look, we have the same suitcase!"
"Oh, fuck me!!"
Matrix. The original one. They nailed it.
Right. All I remember from the marketing material, even the bespoke website, was an image of a Sentinel. Seeing that was enough for me to avoid all reviews, but I did visit that website a few more times and still had no idea what the movie was about. Saw it opening night. Actually I was a bit disappointed by the premise, seemed very derivative. Still a great movie tho.
The Blair Witch Project. A lot of us didn't know it was fake until the actors accepted an award for the movie 😅
People played along like it was real found footage but grown adults understood it was a movie. It was fun to pretend it was real. They didn’t do traditional press to help preserve the idea…it wouldn’t have been as fun if the actors were on the tonight show etc.
I read articles about it before going to the theatre, a major studio picked it up as a tiny indie film and didn’t change a lot but they did throw some budget at some sound production that amped it up. The scene in the tents where you hear shit all around them? In surround sound it’s fantastic. The studio added that.
It was so obviously fake though
Edit: downvotes from people who were six when it came out, I guess
Probably more of a bait and switch tactic, but Deadpool 2's trailer focused on setting up X-Force with some fantastic casting - then killing them off almost immediately in the film
Just rewatched the offical trailer, and you're totally right! All you really know is that Deadpool is trying to protect some kid and forms the xforce. It doesn't spoil anything with why Cabal is there, any other villain's that show up, or the character arc of the kid.
Great example!
My memory is a bit hazy but The Matrix comes to mind.
What is the Matrix?
Mystery Men had posters that just showed the characters, a trailer mostly cut from action scenes and character intros (no plot), and the music video to Smash Mouth's "All Star"
"You put your father's skull in a bowling ball?"
"Oh! No, no, no... guy at the Pro-Shop did it for me."
"Coming home one night, he fell down an elevator shaft... onto some bullets."
"You, know, I've always suspected a bit of foul play."
"As have I."
"God gave me this gift, I shovel well, I shovel very well."
I remember seeing it in theaters and really not knowing what to do with it.
Just rewatched that movie. Still great.
Everything but the skunk scene.
Interstellar marketing was pretty interesting, they basically told you nothing about the movie, but communicated the vibes of it well. I don't think the first trailers even showed space, despite that being where the majority of the movie takes place.
That movie was so nuts, they could have shown a lot more and still given nothing away…
Interstellar trailer https://youtu.be/zSWdZVtXT7E
This is one of the few films where I thought the teaser trailer was more compelling than the full trailer.
Alien.
The OG!
"In space no one can hear you scream"
Rewatched the trailer, literally all you know is that they are in space, and there is something terribly wrong.
Such a good trailer.
Terminator 2. The trailer gave the impression that Schwarzenegger was the baddie.
Really? I think you might have lucked out and seen a different trailer, because the one I saw completely spoiled the big reveal!
One of my minor cinema regrets is that I saw T2 before I saw T1, so the impact of the moment Arnie steps out of the elevator in front of Sarah wasn't what it might have been. Still a great movie though, so glad I saw it in the cinema.
Cabin In The Woods. I wanted to see it because of the commercials and wondering WTF?
Cabin in the Woods is a fantastic subversion of horror movie tropes and a great homage to the classics.
Gary Oldman, in the role of a lifetime.
I about spit up my drink going through that trailer.
So for Gary Oldman is this role tge equivalent of like Kirk Lazarus playing Lincoln Osiris? Or Tugg Speedman playing Simple Jack? Because I just can't decide.
I watched the whole trailer thinking this was a parody for a movie that didn't actually exist. I thought maybe it was a fun treat for Tropic Thunder.
Kate Beckinsale agreed to star in the film for scale if she would be allowed to wear her "lucky hat" during filming, and Bright agreed.[1] On her first day of filming, the producers demanded that Bright tell her to remove the hat, and Bright refused, as this was the only reason she was in the film for a low salary. Arguments between Bright and producers persisted during filming.[1]
but more importantly:
Matthew Bright conceived the film when he was 18, as "a raucous comedy about little people fucking each other".[1]
the wiki for this movie is wild
ahem Did you really have to post this? It would have cost you nothing to not post it.
Frozen. Somehow, Disney kept the unexpected twist a secret. Even while watching the movie, you just don't think that something like that could happen right up until it does. It's a card they'll never be able to play again.
Bonus gaming answer: Halo & Halo 2. Bungie did a great job keeping both The Flood and playing as the Covenant a secret until the respective games were released.
To be fair Avengers Endgame did a good job of it.
Inception also comes to mind. I had no idea what it was going to be about and it turned out great.
Infinity war comes to mind for me. IIRC, the trailers contained a bunch of fake footage that wasn't actually in the movie to prevent spoiling anything.
Barbarian. The all-red movie poster caught my eye, and the trailer doesn't spoil much, there is waaaayyyyyy more going on in the movie than is shown in the trailer, although I would still recommend see it blind.
I was in a state of stunned wtfuckery for the entire movie.
It's an amazing movie.
Every time you think you got it figured out you’re blindsided with some shit lmao. Great movie
Truly.
Blindsided with 18-wheelers, every time.
Love it.
Nope.
I mean the movie, I'm not just refusing to answer. If you don't already know what it's about, it does an incredibly good job of making you curious as to what the fuck is going on.
Also, it's just a banger with lots of attention to detail. Highly recommended.
I did not know this trailer, thank you! Awesome movie!!
Park Chan-wook’s films have great trailers that make them very intriguing yet don’t give anything away. For example, The Handmaiden
I was going to post this and then I saw your comment. The Handmaiden trailer gives nothing at all away yet somehow commands you to watch the film. A masterpiece in film trailers, also an excellent movie.