Simms Jr. geeks out, and shares with you his favorite movie previews. Yes. Nerd Alert.
It’s Simms Jr. here. If you are a friend of mine, or anyone who’s scanned my social media behavior, you know that I’m a geek. A hardcore one. I’m such a geek that I actually “collect” film trailers. Geek themed trailers, as in big budget sci-fi, action, and horror films. I have five trailers that I hold dear to my heart. I’d like to share them with you, so below are the five movie previews that I consider to be the best ever made. Enjoy, and please be kind in the comments section. “I’m sensitive about my sh#$!”
1. Creepshow. 1982.
This film is a classic, and one of my all time favorite movies, period. Stephen King and George Romero joining forces? How couldn’t Creepshow have been incredible? The trailer for the film is just as great as the movie. It has the same “comic-booky” feel of the film, but it’s nearly as spooky. The trailer showcases it’s creators, and shows you exactly what the movie is about. This is an extraordinary film trailer.
2. Superman The Movie. 1978
This trailer is actually a “teaser” trailer. A trailer that’s really short in length, that’s meant to hit you in the chest, and keep you on the lookout for the full length trailer soon to come. The reason I love this short video is simple. Imagine you are in a theater in the summer of 1978, and you’re wondering if anything cool coming out that year. All of the sudden, you see this trailer, with the flying names, and that red sky. And then…SUPERMAN. Tell me you wouldn’t have lost your shit if you would’ve seen this. I know this isn’t a full length trailer, but I love it because I know it had to have kept nerd-dom on it’s collective asses in 1978.
3. The Thing. 1982
“Man is the warmest place to hide”. Are you kidding me? That’s one of the best taglines ever, attached to one of the best trailers…ever. The beginning of it, with those cold, white letters. The music. Grim, and dark. The scenes. Scary, and aggressive. This was what the best horror trailers looked like in the ’80s kids. They nearly hit as hard as the films themselves. This trailer practically says “You come see this movie, you’re going to get scared, and you’ll never be the same again.” One of my favorite films of all time, and one of the best films that didn’t deserve to flop during it’s original theatrical release.
4. Rocky Balboa. 2006.
We all laughed (including me). Rocky 26 was going to be made and released in 2006, and it seemed that the Rocky poster in Airplane 2 was spot on. Sly was going to make these things until he was 75. Who was an old Rocky going to fight? And how was Rocky going to fight? While wearing Depends?
And then this trailer hit. Rocky’s weathered, war weary voice over. The visual of the older, flinty eyes of a tiger. The Rocky Balboa mantra (“It ain’t about how hard ya’ hit”). And lastly, the stark title on the screen at the trailer’s conclusion, Rocky Balboa. After that, much of the laughter stopped.
This trailer showcased what Sylvester Stallone was doing with Rocky in 2006. He was stripping the character and the series down to it’s core. And it’s core was a message. “Don’t give up. Never stop. Keep going”. That’s what the Rocky series was all about.
Did Sly do that? Well, Rocky Balboa grossed over $75 million dollars in the U.S. I think Sly’s mission was accomplished.
5. Star Wars. 1977
This pick of mine is different, because this trailer actually…sucks. It does. It shows scenes from the movie. It tells you who George Lucas is. And, that’s it. It’s one of the flattest trailers I’ve ever seen.
I put it in this list because it’s an example of a studio not knowing what it had on its hands. For those not in the know (non-geeks), 20th Century Fox, (and several of Lucas’ film making contemporaries) had no faith in Star Wars. At all. Many were certain it would flop. Hence, this boring, uninspired trailer. To be fair, back in 1977, there was no such thing as a massive space saga designed to make cosmic levels of money. So you can’t fault 20th Century Fox for their unease with the movie. But, when you realize what Star Wars has become, and you then watch this trailer, you just have to laugh. I’m betting if Fox’s executives did know what they had on their hands, the trailer would’ve been better.
That’s my list. What’s yours?
image credit: Wikimedia Commons/Philippe de la Muerte
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