Garrett’s Grumblings – 08/05/2015 – My 15 Favorite Teaser Trailers Ever Made

A warning right off the bat. This article -like a lot of my articles, quite frankly- is going to make me sound bitter, old, or a combination of both. But since the Terminator Genisys full trailer reveal that John Connor was in fact that film’s main villain -something that wasn’t revealed until an hour plus into the film- I have realized something. The art of the teaser trailer has been somewhat lost in recent years. There was a time when footage was shot specifically for the trailer, and all audiences got was a peak at the look and feel of what was soon to come. Here, I have listed 15 trailers which I feel get their points across almost perfectly, and at all of their conclusions I was already begging the studio to take my money NOW. Some of these follow the template of new footage, some give flashes, but ALL have one thing in common–they did their job.

So let’s get to it, shall we?

 

 

15. Cloverfield

Spoiler alert – this is not the last time a film associated with JJ Abrams appears on this list. There was something about this trailer that just grabbed me. Right off the bat, we are introduced to characters’ faces as they are enjoying the party inside. Eventually, rumbles happen, and everyone goes outside just in time for a famous head from a symbolic New York monument to land practically at their feet. Move over Godzilla. There’s a new monster in town. Now, THERE’S a tagline.

 

 

14. The Shining

How the hell did Stanley Kubrick get THIS teaser through censors?! I could not imagine sitting in a theater and seeing this seemingly harmless shot of an elevator as the names Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall scroll on by. Then, just as Stanley Kubrick’s name disappears, blood fills the elevator, and eventually the screen. Only Kubrick would be cold enough to take this kind of strategy towards marketing.

 

 

13. The Exorcist

Readers of the novel would already know what was coming. But as the famous shot of a priest pulling up to the fog filled exterior of a house disappears, psychedelic flashes of devilish scenes involving a little girl and evil demon flash for a good minute and a half, getting more and more intense. Just as you have had enough, the flashes stop and the title The Exorcist appears in big, bold, red print. Much like the movie, this teaser does not let up once it gets going.

 

 

12. The Thing

Famously a box office dud when originally released, maybe it had to do with this jumbled piece of marketing. Only fans of the original film The Thing From Another World would recognize the big block of ice, which carried the alien in the original 1961 film. Still, watching it now, it is quite obvious that this teaser gets the mood of the film just right. It’s telling you, ‘don’t expect to laugh at this movie. Expect to be chilled to the bone.’ None of Ennio Morricone’s score is to be found either.

 

 

11. Strange Days

I remember the first time I saw this teaser like it was yesterday. I was in a theater with past Aftertaste guest Teddy Gyi and we were getting ready for Die Hard With A Vengeance to start. Suddenly, Ralph Fiennes appears on the screen after breathing heavy and gives a pitch of how he can give you the coolest dreams and fantasies you can imagine. To give you an idea of how our minds worked at the time, after it was over, I told Teddy I could not get over the size of Fiennes’ nose. He ignored me and uttered, ‘was that James Cameron’s name I just saw?’

 

 

10. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

This was the oddest teaser I had ever seen. In fact, many of today’s behind the scenes intros that roll in the background while a movie theater audience sits down can trace their origins to this 1989 doozy. The teaser to Indy 3 basically doubles as a behind the scenes featurette, as actors Harrison Ford and Sean Connery flash before the screen out of character. We also see Steven Spielberg and George Lucas as well. The cap off (haha) is Harrison Ford stapling his hat on his head to keep it from blowing off, then looking at the camera and saying ‘just another day at the office.’ At 12 years old, that was all I needed to see to get excited.

 

 

9. Superman The Movie

Not much to this trailer other than the names we know of flashing in that recognizable Superman font across the screen in a continuous shot that takes place in dusk time clouds. The wonder that comes with this teaser is enough to carry it, as the only points it needed to make were made. In a year, not only will some of your favorite movie stars highlight a comic book film of all things, you will also believe a man can fly in the clouds. Fantasy fulfilled.

 

 

8. The Matrix

No doubt about it. The teaser of 1999 belongs to an upcoming film on this very list. Yet, the action movie of the year is teased here. From a flying Carrie Anne Moss to an image of Keanu’s mouth sewn shut, the teaser to the Wachowskis’ breakthrough hits all the right notes without giving away its ‘bullet time’ money shot. Well played guys. Er girls. Er, guy and girl.

 

 

7. Spiderman (2002)

Some might think the notoriety that comes with Spiderman catching these criminals’ helicopter in a web spun between the Two Towers mere weeks before 9/11 happened is what landed it on this list. But that could not be further from the truth, The thing I intro’d this piece with is what landed it here. The fact that Sam Raimi put this scene in a little under two minute spot speaks wonders about the confidence Sony Pictures had in the property. It showed that special effects were indeed up to par and Spiderman was going to be brought to the screen like you’ve never seen him. Oh, and no glimpses of the Green Goblin were to be found.

 

 

6. Super 8

A teaser in every sense of the word, JJ Abrams released this trailer even before the start of principle photography. Ever the mystery builder, the teaser showed parts of the infamous train crash and concluded with a mystery box being pounded on by a mysterious creature. Later trailers would be good at playing up the Spielberg inspired nostalgia. But as good as they were, they did not live up to this one’s startling impact.

 

 

5. Star Wars Episode 1

After sixteen years of waiting, this teaser let everyone know that George Lucas’s promise to tell the story of Darth Vader’s fall from grace was about to be fulfilled. Highlights include new creatures combined with old, and a peak at one of the most imposing villains in the franchise’s history. Fantasy and fun were in abundance in this trailer. Whether it lived up to that promise or not has been debated by some defenders but mostly naysayers in the sixteen years since.

 

 

4. Independence Day

I still remember the Super Bowl in which this teaser was run. We all took our faces out of the beer tap long enough to yell ‘holy shit’ at the screen for a minute straight. A shadow of ships overhead, a laser blast into the White House, and no signs of Will Smith talking were all I needed to get my ass in that seat opening day. Say what you will about Roland Emmerich. The man knows how to tease his films.

 

 

3. Terminator 2 Judgment Day

James Cameron had not even started filming yet when special effects maestro Stan Winston was given $500,000 to come up with a teaser for the next year’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. So without any footage to work with, what’s one to do? The end result is surprisingly not unlike what Cameron eventually came up with. In my mind, this is in every way the perfect teaser. We see an assembly line of terminators being made, and Arnold flexing in steam punk fashion, only to open his red eyes as the template Terminator 2 Judgment Day quite literally closes itself across the screen. It is a fascinating teaser in that no signs of the film’s T-1000 villain were to be seen. Only the promise, from Schwarzenegger himself, that after seven years away, he was back. THAT, my friends, is a teaser. Great score by Brad Fiedel as well.

 

 

2. Alien

There is not a more harrowing teaser in existence. An overlaying shot of an egg over a planetary surface gets us in a very calm mood.  Then the egg breaks, and the greatest tagline in horror history moves across the screen. Scary science fiction was not in the offering after Star Wars. But this promised us that Alien would not only be scary. It would be the scariest film we’d ever see.

 

 

1. Star Wars The Force Awakens

Han. Star Destroyer. Artoo. Luke’s voice. Vader’s mask. Chewy. Did I mention Han? Did I also mention the tears?

 

There you have it. What did I miss? What do you disagree with? What DC fan is going to whine because I didn’t include the Superman V Batman teaser? Let me know below, or on our Facebook page.