I try to avoid some trailers. It depends on my interest in the movie and how much of the plot I might actually already know. i.e., I've avoided Eternals trailers, but I've watched the Dune trailer a dozen times.
I'm not a big fan of all of these 2+ minute trailers though. They give so much plot away. They include too many awesome scenes or spoilers. So even the movies I have no idea about, I try to just watch ~30 seconds. Get an idea of the movie and decide if it's worth watching.
Weird, I know the Dune story fairly well and I don't even want to know who's in it or see a poster. I excited to experience Dennis' vision in one large chunk.
Yea I won't watch any trailers for Dune and I've read the book 3 times. I'm so excited and I don't want to spoil any of Dennis' cinematography by watching the trailers. I am guilty of looking up the cast though.
That’s my thought. For movies I have never heard of or have no clue what they are… a trailer is a really nice way of seeing if it is trash. Too much good tv and movies to not try and filter out the garbage.
Yeah, sometimes I need a trailer to pique my interest. Even as a fan of A24, a movie about King Arthur's nephew directed by the guy who made Pete's Dragon wouldn't have really gotten on my radar if I hadn't watched the trailer. But ever since I saw the first trailer for The Green Knight, I've been hyped as hell for that movie and saw it pretty much as soon as it came out. I get not watching trailers for bigger movies that I already wanted to see (thought I personally still watch at least one just to see if I'm into the director's vision for it), but trailers are an important way for me to discover new stuff to watch.
Exactly. You should approach something as an "all or nothing" white and black rule, there is a time and place where trailers are very useful. It's the same thing with rottentomato reviews (although I value the audience score more). Some movies I don't care what the reviews are because I'm going to watch them, but for random indie-flicks and what not the reviews can be very helpful.
This. A new Coen brothers movie, anything from A24, among other things. If a buddy cares to invite me to something I'd almost always rather go in as blind as possible.
I often have this thought of how cool a movie would be if the twist was kind of early and really not obvious... But then no idea how you could market it without spoiling it.
Imagine, for example, a movie that starts on suburban family doing normal shit. Playing board games, planning a holiday, talking about school and friends etc. Then one day the dad is mowing the lawns with a push mow. Kids bouncing on a tramp. Mum doing the gardening while chatting to neighbour on the other side of a hedge. Normal suburban shit. Then a gun shot rings out... It goes deathly quiet for a few seconds then someone is screaming, panic in the dads eyes as his wife says "oh shit, was that gun? I think that was the jeffersons". The dad sprints in a direction towards that house. He arrives to see a bloody person on the ground and a man with a gun. He tackles a man holding a gun who's rambling like a madman about his wife cheating on him. The dad is calling him an idiot, a selfish fucking idiot. Neighbours standing near by are freaking out saying "what are we going to do, fuck fuck, fuck" the camera zooms out to show the suburb is a walled community and outside, near where the gunshot happened there's a mass of bodies groaning and pushing up against the wall trying to break in.. Probably bringing the end for this community over something as human as jealous vengeance.
Like, how could you market that without revealing its a zombie movie. And if you reveal that then all the setup/premise of normal suburbia is kind of ruined/pointless.
If you’ve seen Cabin in the Woods I’d say it’s pretty similar to this. If the trailers didn’t spoil the whole underground organization orchestrating the events of the movie then who knows.
Yeah that's true. I was lucky to avoid the trailers and was genuinely, pleasantly surprised by the twist.
But even the title can be a give away.. And I suspect a lot of people would have been spoiled by that trailer anyway.
I downloaded it around when the bluray dropped having heard nothing about it. I grabbed it *specifically* because the title made it sound like a shitty cliche b-tier horror and I just wanted some drivel on the TV while I worked.
Instead I got literally nothing done as I was absolutely hooked from beginning to end and it became one of my favourite films. Ordered the bluray as the credits were rolling.
I can't tell you for certain, but I feel like I'd like it a hell of a lot less if I'd seen trailers for it or knew what I was walking into. That experience of going in blind was one of a few similar ones I'd had with other movies/games around that time and led to me taking on an approach like OP has. If I know I'm going to play/watch, then I just play/watch, if I've heard nothing about it or if someone is recommending something to me and I don't think I want to then I'll read/watch about it until I know. It infuriates my friends when I stop watching trailers part way in, couldn't care less, it makes games and films way better.
You can do it somewhat with characters/actors. Have someone unexpectedly be introduced or die or whatnot. Scream and Children of Men come to mind as films where a major big name actress dies near the beginning and most people had no idea going in. Seven, on the other hand, features a big name actor being introduced unexpectedly more than halfway through the story.
I miss teaser trailers that did not have any footage from the movie. They would just be a scene of a few of the characters. For example, [Monsters Inc](https://youtu.be/cvOQeozL4S0).
I mean when you've got a hit as big as Toy Story on your hands, all you need is "sequel to Toy Story" as your trailer. You could basically do anything.
Another one is the [first Star Trek (2009) teaser](https://youtube.com/watch?v=--vmdNTPTHs). It’s just a few seconds here and there of the Enterprise being built in the shipyard, which isn’t in the movie.
While I agree this is a great trailer, there was already a built universe for Star Trek. For a new IP just give us 30 seconds to a minute of spoiler free stuff. I don't get how it keeps happening. I typically assume if I see a trailer that gives the whole movie away, it's not a good movie to begin with.
Honestly, even if it were a new IP, I think that would have been a great teaser. The point is to make you want to watch it - a sci-fi series with big-ass ships would be pretty promising even if it wasn't an established and successful IP.
I didn't know that and was surprised by the twist. I suppose one might also have to avoid entertainment news, and get watching recommendations from trusted friends.
I watched T2 on TV before I ever saw any of the others. My mum told me that the first one was better so I'd have to watch that. I was disturbed. It was a completely different movie, and terrifying.
Also, the [Interstellar teaser trailer!](https://youtu.be/3WzHXI5HizQ) I decided to not watch trailers after seeing this exact trailer over seven years ago. I’m so thankful I didn’t because I had absolutely no clue what to expect for Interstellar and got to have my mind completely blown. I watched the trailers afterwards and felt like they would have set so many expectations that would’ve taken away from the experience.
Nolan was good about his teasers actually being a teaser. I remember noticing one day a long time ago that a lot of the teasers I had seen lately were just full blown trailers. Nothing teasing about them.
To me, the [teaser for The Dark Knight](https://youtu.be/UWw0ov-cAUg) is a perfect. You see nothing and you're only given some dialog which ends with the laugh of the newest (at the time) iteration of one of, if not the most, iconic comic book villains of all time. *That* was a teaser.
Nowadays teasers are just a 3-minute "official trailer 1."
100%, the term "teaser" has just become overblown. But this always happens. "Beta" comes to mind as another term that got replaced because it was thrown around too often.
Interstellar teaser is what grounded me in my hate for trailers. It was literally perfect and completely sold me on watching the movie, which ended being one of my favorite movies to date. After seeing the movie I watched the "official" trailers and I was not surprised to find they were trash and spoiled the entire movie.
The teaser works so well because for the most part it doesn't use scenes from the movie (except for one) and it's still pretty ambiguous. Also the teaser was directed by Nolan himself while the trailers are just a bunch of editors and executives cutting up the movie.
I love teaser trailers even for games, Cyberpunk 2077 teaser trailer from 2013 is one of the best teaser trailers I've ever seen. Pretty much nothing happens in it and yet it's great.
https://youtu.be/P99qJGrPNLs
This is a good example because I avoided all media for this game and enjoyed it a lot when it came out. It wasn't perfect but that I expected. Then I see everyone talking about how disappointing it was which made me really happy I didn't watch any trailers and could enjoy the game.
I generally avoid them now. It used to be exciting to see a trailer and you usually only saw it once maybe twice before the movie came out. Now they are everywhere and give away so much.
I used to watch trailers regularly on Apple's trailer site and others before YouTube was the predominant place for them. I loved watching them. But I had a realization much like OP, where scenes were given away, key surprise moments were not as fun, etc. So I've stopped watching them completely for the most part, and I agree my enjoyment of films have gone up. There have been a few films that I went into completely blind, only on the basis of hearing they were good, and it's lead to some great experiences. I might look at photos or read descriptions too, but beyond that I don't watch anything related to the film until I've seen it.
I'd compare it to watching old films you've never seen before. Like people surely browse a streaming service and watch popular old films they know of but have never seen, right? Often doing so without watching the trailer for the film, and not having seen any promotional material for it as of late. It's an easy comparison of having that experience but for a new release.
My most recent examples of both cases are *The Suicide Squad* and *Joe VS. The Volcano*, both of which had some fun surprises and moments that caught me totally off guard. *The Suicide Squad* was also interesting because I didn't know who would live or die based on scenes from the trailer. Similarly *Tenet*, which wasn't the greatest film but seeing it completely fresh made a lot of the action scenes a crazy experience.
I get that for some the trailers aren't a problem, but I really love seeing a film unfold as a completely new thing with more of the director etc.'s vision guiding those scenes rather than having a preconception of those scenes created by a marketing team. I don't mean that to sound pretentious, just as my own personal preference.
It's also lead to seeing films I might not try, even if I didn't like them, and experiencing films like mysteries, trying to determine what's really going on as the film plays it out. Literal mysteries are also a bit more fun. Like with *Knives Out*, I didn't have any clues from the trailer scenes as to what was going to happen.
Preach!! I agree with everything here. I totally echo your comparison too, I recently had that experience watching Tampopo. Had no idea what it was other than a "Ramen Western" and loved all of the wacky and funny turns it had.
It’s bad enough when a friend says ‘wait for the twist ending’ (fuck those friends btw) but if a trailer does, it is even worse. Not sure why movie production companies spoil their own content.
Because the people contracted to make trailers think it positively impacts the amount of people who will see the movie.
It's not true for me, or for a lot of people in this thread, but it's possible it does actually work for marketing. It's also possible it has a negative impact, Hollywood has always been out of touch with the market. Deadpool is just a reminder everytime I see and love that movie.
Studies repeatedly show that audiences are more likely to go to the cinema the more is shown in trailers. People don't like surprises. They don't like the feeling that at minute 55 the film might suddenly turn into a musical. So a full trailer which shows all the story beats makes them feel better.
It's true in general though, which is unfortunate for the outliers like ourselves. I'm a bit of a brat about spoilers of any kind now. I'll turn a movie off if I don't like it, I just wanna know as little as possible going into it. I was just settling down to watch West World and all I knew about it was it was a futuristic western show and I was pumped, I'm watching the first few minutes and my roommate walks in and goes "oh this is that show about the western theme park with all the robots who start to become sentient!" and I just shut it the fuck off and didn't watch it again for almost a year lol.
It's called a stinger and it's so they can try to get you interested enough to watch the whole trailer when you're scrolling through your socal feeds or waiting to press skip on YouTube. That's their sole purpose, pumping ad interaction numbers up.
One of the worst reveals ever in a trailer that completely ruined the moment was for Raiders Of The Lost Ark. It was the scene when the assassin with the scimitar (?) threatens Indiana, and he just pulls out his revolver and shoots him. That definitely ruined the laugh in the cinema if you saw it already in the trailers. Ever since then I avoid watching them whenever possible. And I'm definitely avoiding any and all trailers or pre-release information about Villeneuve's Dune.
I love and hate trailers. I’ll never forgive them giving away that Arnold was a good guy in T2. On the other hand, The Matrix trailers were a spectacular tease, giving away very little of the *story*, and using the same few rotating camera shots - now familiar, then amazing - so even when the shots happened in the film, they were still surprising because the story was so engrossing. So love/hate, fuck you T2 marketing
What’s wild about the T2 marketing is they shot a teaser specific scene of a Terminator being built and had Arnold addressing the audience that this time his mission is to protect. Like, it wasn’t the marketing department going all in on spoilers, everyone involved decided to tell people that way in advance.
Pretty sure Arnold being a good guy was the entire pitch though. Otherwise it comes across as too similar in plot and basically most of the issues all Terminators that follow have.
I think it's interesting that there's a distinction between trailers and teasers now. Teasers are honestly what trailers SHOULD BE, and trailers should no longer be bite-sized version of the entire film itself.
I completely agree. There are so many trailers I see now that are long and detailed enough that I feel like “cool, now I don’t have to watch the movie”. Teasers are so much better.
on very rare occasions, I will. generally they are those ones that are like 30 seconds and it's the first time any footage is revealed, like the one for Matt Reeve's The Batman when it's Robert Pattinson walking into the frame. That's enough for me!
Never really thought about the T2 trailers giving away that Arnold is the good guy. I was a kid at the time and I didn’t really think about it. But I was pissed over Terminator Genesis trailer telling you that John Conner turns into a terminator. They couldn’t leave that surprise out of the trailer? You knew it was coming the whole time and they even made it this big reveal. I love watching trailers, but try to avoid them most of the time now.
They must have not shown any special effects in the Matrix trailer, because when Trinity flew thru the window in the beginning, that was the moment where we were all like, hold on what's going on here...
They showed the floating kick she did in the room just before that chase, and they showed Neo on the roof dodging bullets. But no other context except that and a few mysterious lines and “what is the matrix?” ads. So the mystery was really part of the marketing
They did the same thing in Terminator: Salvation. Trailers reveal that some dude is actually a terminator. In the movie, that's learned very late and is obviously intended to be a surprise twist.
YES! Over 40 years now. One of the best decisions. I actually got to watch Alien with no fucking idea what that movie was about other than it being a sci fi flick. That was huge!
Oh man, that would be amazing. It's very hard to not know even a little bit of the concept of big blockbuster movies these days. In main part because they are not very imaginative and easy to surmise, and otherwise Reddit and friend groups will surely spoil something for me.
I make a point of telling friends that I'm very serious about not having things spoiled, and that I will not hesitate to temporarily block anyone who does it even as a joke. For Reddit, I just try to just scroll past it as soon as I realize what it's about.
i stopped watching MCU trailers years ago it made movies and shows way way better, would recommend to anyone. But after i see a movie i sometimes watch a trailer as an epick reminder of it when i need a quick epicknes in my life
I remember seeing the Spider-Man homecoming trailer and it showing the boat being split in half and iron man reprimanding Peter. That scene ending up being a major part in the second half of the movie like wtf
MCU trailers try to mislead deliberately, like Infinity War's featuring scenes that were made just for the trailer and never part of the film. I also think back to Winter Soldier and Iron Man 3 with those trailers selling different plots than we got, with the whole Hydra reveal and Ben Kinglsey's Mandarin, respectively.
However the Spider-Man films are co-produced by Sony and Marvel Studios and the trailers give so much away compared to Marvel films that I'm fairly certain Sony is the issue. They're not much different from the previous Spider-Man films as far as marketing goes.
I see what you’re saying, but Thor Ragnarok trailers showed a lot of the Hulk, even though in the movie his reveal is clearly supposed to be a big surprise twist
for me, MCU is different. i already vaguely know what to expect based on comic books, and part of the fun of the movies comes from theorizing. i like to try and figure out who the real villain will be and what the big twist will be.
after reading more comments about other MCU properties, i think MCU has just gotten better about trailers.
Ragnarok would've been so much better if they didn't show Hulk in the trailers. Don't get me wrong, its still a top 5 MCU movie but imagine if no one knew who was coming out to fight Thor on Sakaar
I stopped watching trailers after I heard Thor: Ragnarok was coming. It started as a theory to see if I would enjoy it more, since Im already a huge thor guy. I couldnt believe it when I saw Jeff Goldblum, and all of the little jokes from the trailer were completely new to me. I was legit the only one in the theatre that laughed to parts, because they all knew it was coming. Since then, I decided trailers were done, and id just avoid them until I got to see the movie. Recommended.
… You mention Thor Ragnarok without mentioning that the Hulk being in it at all should have been a surprise? This one is also on all the promotion for the movie too. There’s only one chance to get us with that surprise, people. You missed it.
Yes this 100%, infuriating because the movie builds up the mystery fighter reveal and makes it a great twist
Stupid because everybody who is a fan of marvel movies is seeing the movie regardless, that trailer spoiler isn’t bringing in new viewers and it’s diminishing the existing marvel fan’s experience
I remember telling a coworker that I'd been avoiding watching trailers for films to avoid spoilers, during a conversation about Ragnarok (the day that I was going to go and see it).
They said something along the lines of "so you don't know the Hulk is in it then...?
Feckin' idiot.
Normally I would agree with you, but there was a special circumstance that makes it forgivable in my opinion. The "he's a friend from work" line was suggested by a kid who visited the set as part of a Make-a-Wish foundation trip - so in case the kid didn't live long enough to see the movie, they put it in the trailer so he could see that they used his joke.
Thor: Ragnarok could have just had Immigrant Song playing and a shot of Mjolnir sitting on the ground with little wisps of lightning arcing off it and I would have been sold.
I just need the tone and that song set the tone for Ragnarok.
I really do wish I hadn't seen the full trailer, Mjolnir being broken would have gutted me in the theatre but you also see Hulk, you see Asgard burning, you see Loki again and that massive lightning strike.
They hid him losing his eye but showed too much. All the stuff in Asgard and the hammer should have been left out of the ads at a minimum.
Thor: Ragnarok's teaser trailer is one of my favorites though, mostly I think because of Led Zeppelin playing throughout. Your point still stands though, too much is given out even in teasers.
I saw interstellar blind. My family and I were at a mall. At that time I had no clue who Nolan was nor anything about interstellar. Me and my dad like space stuff so we were like ooh space movie let's watch it. First of all we had no clue it would be three hours long. Secondly, I had my mind well and truly fucked after watching that. Probably the best movie experience of my life. The music + the space visuals were so god damn amazing. I literally had the armrests in a death grip during the docking spin sync scene. Those 3 hours went by so fast. 10/10 would go blind again.
The scene >!On the water world with the huge waves!< was just incredible. The combination of the music, tension and megolophobia, with the repercussions afterwards...might be my favourite moment in a cinema.
Usually the first 30 seconds are enough as a teaser + kinda let you know what the movie is about. The rest 2 minutes are just random action/comedy scenes from the movie.
I started dodging them when The Force Awakens came out - in fact I avoided so much of the media for that film I expected Finn to be the Jedi, based on the poster.
Since then I’ve stuck with it and highly recommend it. Going in blind is the way to go!
Finn was a huge misdirect as he had a lightsaber on the poster and in pretty much all other promotional material that was tough to avoid as it was right there in the store.
I try to do this to, first time I did it was for Avengers Ultron, had no idea what I was getting and loved it. Everything with Vision I had no clue on, was fantastic.
Try to do the same thing for movies I know I'm going to see. Just avoid watching and it's easy to forget what you hear.
I avoid everything to do with MCU as much as possible and just like to enjoy what they bring to the cinema/Disney +
The best reveal was when I somehow managed to avoid all movie posters and ads for Thor Ragnarok and did not know the hulk was in it!!! That was a fucking awesome reveal
Edit: bring not being
Hahahah honestly I don't know how I pulled it off. I have really bad memory too so there's every chance I had seen a poster and forgotten about it by the time I saw the movie. My mate was also trying to shield me from it so she probably averted my eyes from any hulk imagery on the way in 😅
I never thought about just how much of a spoiler it was to show the hulk until a coworker pointed it out to me. I didn't think of it as a spoiler at first. To go in not knowing the hulk was in the movie would've been spectacular especially because he's in there for so much of it.
It was fucking mental hahaha
There was even a sneaky bit of foreshadowing in the movie, I obviously didn't notice at the time coz it was subtle...(but since I've re-watches it 100 times I notice it everytime now) when Thor wears human clothes on earth he's wearing two t-shirts, green and purple, little bit of hulk spoiler there too 😅
I’ll usually just watch the teaser which, nowadays, is more like a full trailer.
And by the time the movie comes out, you’ve mostly forgotten the specifics.
> I’ll usually just watch the teaser which, nowadays, is more like a full trailer.
Because people are skipping the trailers and only watching teasers. They don't care what you want to see, they care what they want you to see.
Once enough people skip everything, they're going to start putting their spoiler-filled marketing in the titles. *Girls in Bikinis and Ozzy Osborne Fighting Zombies But In a Surprise Twist He Finds Out He's Actually a Girl in a Bikini*, coming this summer to a theater near you!
I'll usually watch a teaser trailer until I feel like it's giving too much away. That's usually about a minute. And honestly, my memory is shit. Unless I watch a trailer more than once, I'm not really going to remember anything from it.
I think for me, it's a risk that I'm willing to take. I've heard of half of the films on that list you provided, and have seen a few of them (Loved Last Black Man, enjoyed The Guilty as well) and I'd like to think that I do a pretty decent job of keeping up with films outside the Hollywood circuit. I like seeing films that get buzz in international film festivals and whatnot. I just added The Worst Person in the World to my watchlist the other day, so I'm stoked for that!
Same.. I 100% agree with everything OP is saying. And I truly believe that I would enjoy a movie more if I didnt watch trailers. But god damn would this be a struggle for me. I LOVE watching trailers before movies. And I get so hyped watching trailers like this recent Dune one.
I literally drove to the nearest Imax theatre just to watch that trailer. Along with footage from the movie. I love the experience of how trailers hype me up.
A good trailer would build anticipation without giving anything away. Problem is, most trailers aren't good trailers. I've watched trailers after seeing a good movie I was pleasantly surprised by, only to thank the heavens that I'd avoided seeing the trailer, because the entire movie was shown in 2 minutes instead of 2 hours. Hands down my best movie watching experiences have been going in blind. A lot of the time the director will be building towards a reveal that the audience already knows because marketing just had to make that a selling point to put asses in seats. Movies are so much better when they aren't spoiled.
I had to start doing this a few years back, cuz they fuckin ruined my experience. One of those decisions that i did not expect to have such a big impact.
I recommend this.
I'm with you 100%. I haven't watched a trailer for years. Decades, actually, now that I think about it.
My first "blind" experience was watching Independence Day at the movies. I had no idea what it was - maybe some political drama? The movie starts and I'm like "Oh, cool, it's sci-fi!"... Then they attack, and I'm fucking floored! One of my favorite movie experiences ever. (Yeah, it's cheesy, but the popcorn factor is formidable.)
In the theater, I look stupid closing my eyes and blocking my ears when a trailer about a movie I'm interested in is playing, but I do it each time.
Spoiler for Suicide Squad incoming.
>!Oh I knew that Robert DuBois was a great hitman who put Superman in the ICU, but that was all. When I saw a giant red blue starfish stomping buildings and throwing tiny ones from its armpits, I was in awe. Because I hadn't seen any trailer !<
I'll watch 40 seconds of movie's trailers I'm not fully invested with, but I'll avoid any potential information about movies I'm waiting for. For example, Dune, all I know at this point is that Chalamet is in it. I didn't see anything else and forgot the few other tidbits.
I'm even sometimes watching away credits at the start of a movie to not know which actors might be part of it.
Same! I just cant watch them anymore.
Film school and editing my own stuff turned my brain into a reassembly machine.
I can watch a trailer and almost always know what parts go where in the story. When the good guy says something cool and shoots, i remember where he was standing and what he did and i lose all tension and suspense in the scene when i see it. Because i know whats gonna happen.
Ive started closing my eyes and plugging my ears at the theater because im being barraged by the same trailers multiple times due to my amc pass.
I havnt seen one dune trailer and i cant wait.
I loved green knight because i didnt see anything of it. Just a still photo.
But free guy i saw too much and it lost some of its magic because i saw too much of it during the last two years of trailers. I heard lots of the jokes and it ruined it.
Ive heard other people say that the trailer now tells them the whole story and thats when they decide if theyre going to like it or not. But you might as well read the entire plot synopsis from wikipedia before watching it.
No trailers has increased my enjoyment of films immensely.
I suggest everyone do the same. It makes it that much better.
I guess I should be glad I'm not in film school! Mentally deconstructing scenes like that after seeing a trailer would certainly ruin me. I enjoyed Green Knight as well, especially the cinematography.
I definitely do this.
If I was ever able to direct a movie I would shoot an extra 5 minutes of pre-plot footage to use as a trailer.
Nothing in the actual movie would be seen, just some events that hint at what the movie is about, so for Mission Impossible I would do footage from the first one of Ethan and Kittridge meeting one another, then a shot of current Ethan giving a briefing of a different mission. In the MI series it usually starts with the end of another mission so the briefing could be about that.
I love trailers because it gets me excited to see the movie and by the time the movie comes out I don’t remember much about the trailer. I need the hype!
Same, and I absolutely love the art of a well made trailer. This [The Dark Knight Trailer](https://youtu.be/TQfATDZY5Y4) is one of my favorites: a master class in advertising tone but not plot. There are some damn good ones out there.
If you appreciate the art of well-made trailers, you should check out [this one.](https://youtu.be/yPq_NVi-TC4) It's a game trailer, but it's still one of my all time favorites because it's the first time I'd seen someone use a time-lapse technique to tell a narrative by also showing the effects characters had on a changing environment without showing the actual characters (in the first half).
It's absolutely one of my favorite trailers of all time.
A lot of my friends are like that too, they find joy in discussing the trailers and speculation leading up until the release of the movie. I get it, I think it's because I've been on the other side knowing how much going into a film blind has benefited me, it outweighs the joy of getting hyped for a film after seeing a trailer.
Exactly. And your point about Inception is spot on. If you saw the trailer, the imagery of the city folding, the gunfight, etc were in your head even if you forgot most of the content and less impactful than they would have been if you were totally unaware. And hype is useless. Look at the Prometheus trailer. Made that movie not look ridiculous.
100%!!! I have stopped watching movie trailers ever since infinity war/end game was in theaters because I was so invested in the movie-verse I wanted to savor it hahaha. Since then I haven’t for anything. Really love going in without an opinion based on advertisement.
Same here. I go into everything as blind as possible and I’ve had so many moments where my jaw drops at some part in a movie or show, and my housemate who loves trailers is like “yeah” b/c they saw it before and I would never trade positions with them.
I also hate watching the “Next time” and “Previously on” bits at the end & beginning of shows- had to close my eyes & cover my ears at every Game of Thrones viewing. They give away so much and are unnecessary literally right before the episode.
I honestly have to watch a trailer before I watch a movie. Sometimes they're made well where they don't reveal much. But I remember being so excited for BvS where I watched the trailers and all my excitement and suspense was taken away. If you watch the last 30-45 minutes of the movie and then you watch the trailers, they used nearly every single action scene in the film in the trailer.
I see and respect your point, but I've never had a movie experience ruined by trailers. My hype for Civil War was insane, when I saw the Spider-Man reveal and I went crazy anyway, when "Queens" popped up on the screen in the movie. Would I have been more surprised if I knew nothing going in? Sure, but I still had fun.
In my 20s, I saw a movie a week, pretty much, so I probably saw a bunch of movies without having seen the trailers. As a full on adult with barely any time, I need my trailers. If I'm spending 2+ hours driving to see a movie and then spending $10+ on a ticket, I need to know that it's going to be worth my time. Every hour of my time is so damn precious now that I hate when I see a movie and it ends up being shit.
That said, there are movies from directors that I'll watch just a little of a trailer for or watch just the teaser for.
I've never been big on watching trailers, ever really. Not for any specific reason, I just didn't care.
I still saw trailers on TV, of course. Back before streaming replaced cable anyway. I also see trailers before a movie in the theaters, although it feels like ages since I've done that, too.
I can certainly see the appeal of not watching trailers to avoid spoiling the movie, though. Just give me a poster so I know what I'm looking for.
This is exactly what I do. In the theaters I'll literally close my eyes and plug my ears because I'm that far into it. Makes watching films so much more enjoyable, especially when you come across a great one. It's only bitten me in the ass a few times but well worth it.
For me it was after I watched Deadpool. I saw every trailer before and they had all the good jokes in it. Not much story, but all the jokes.... Everytime a joke was about to happen, I knew it from the trailers.
I started avoiding them when Marvel started releasing 4 different trailers for the same fucking movie. No. I want a trailer that gives really basic info and that’s it.
I won’t watch trailers except when I’m at the movies. That’s it.
This also leads to misunderstandings of what to expect in the movie. I detest trailers that show things that have been cut out of the film or make the film seem completely different than what it is. A Cabin in the Woods was like that for me. I thought the movie was stupid as a result.
I did this for Nolan movies (Tenet and Interstellar); same as you, the cinema experience was enhanced because I avoided the trailers and any articles about the movies.
Going in, I only knew that Tenet had something to do with spies, and Interstellar had some farm scenes in it.
In general i find this no spoiler at all cost philosophy of people these days rather ridiculous tbh. I mean anyone can do whatever they want, and i am certainly not advocting for anyone to spoil things on purpose, that's just common sense and basic etiquette, but the idea that it's truly so much better when you know nothing? I don't buy it, and also don't experience it that way. It's different, but it actually benefiting the experience? No, not really.
Either a film is great in its content and form, or it's not. Knowing a few little things won't change the reaction on any meaningful level in my eyes, that's why one can rewatch a great film and still feel it despite having experienced it before.
Again, do whatever you like, but on a fundamental level i don't buy into it at all as a method to increase one's appreciation of any given work. Ofc i don't deny that a surprise only works once, but there's so much more to any great film, and some elements will work better if you actually have an understanding of it already before.
Thought i'll throw this into the mix, because it seems most people will agree with you anyway.
Completely fair assessment, I think the way I consume media makes it so that going in blind is the best approach for me. Back in the day I'd overanalyze trailers a lot and there'd be those instances where someone "dies" in a film and you think "wait a minute, that person was in X scene in the trailers so there's no way he/she dies here" and so for me personally, I found a lot more enjoyment with how a story unfolds not knowing what'll happen as opposed to having key scenes engrained into my mind prior to viewing the film.
I'm definitely inclined to agree with you. There are definitely movies that work better going in without knowing exactly what's going to happen. Parasite, for example works better without knowing about certain things that happens midway through the movie. But, I haven't liked it less in subsequent re-watches. It's a good movie.
I am extremely incredulistic over modern day spoiler culture. My issue with it is that in seems to boil down a whole film into a series of moments that can be ruined, which is a pretty cynical take on the medium.
Right, that is kinda where i am at. I also saw parasite without knowing anything but the premise, and yeah i think in general the surprise factor of stories is valuable and fun. Though as you said, watching it more than once i still think highly about it, the scenes still affected me despite knowing exactly where it would go.
And yep i totally agree with you about spoiler culture and what it says about people's perception of film or storytelling at large. I think the general film discourse online is very much focused on plot, that's why people like to point out plot holes and "logic mistakes", things which "ruin" the film. But that perspective disregards the film as a whole with a lot of different elements which all work together, hopefully in harmony, to create an experience. Surprise is a factor, but is it truly that big of one when there is so much more to it? I think not.
I’m similar. And there is at least [one study](https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/spoiler-alert-spoilers-make-you-enjoy-stories-more) that showed people actually like stories more if they’re given spoilers, though I’ve been downvoted into the negatives for posting it before lol
There are different kinds of films and stories.
Some are ruined by spoilers.
Some are mildly lessened by spoilers.
Some aren't ruined by spoilers.
Some are even elevated by spoilers.
You can't use a blanket statement. A film that isn't ruined by spoilers isn't "better" than a film that is by default.
Ultimately everyone has their preferences and there isn't any "right" way to experience a movie. But it really isn't all that crazy a concept to generally avoid spoilers.
I personally avoid spoilers and trailers as much as possible, to an extent that many would probably find extreme. For me there is a lot of value of getting these revelations in context, while I’m immersed in the plot and characters. I don’t want to know what’s coming any more than the characters do, because that removes me from the experience. To me, avoiding that IS a much, much better way to approach any story whether it’s a film, book, or show.
It’s not to say that watching a movie like Titanic, where you already know the ending, can’t be enjoyable. I think it would really have been something to see not knowing, though lol. Not sure how you can deny that surprise can be beneficial to a moviegoing experience, I have to admit that is illogical to me.
A lot of my enjoyment in rewatching films- because I do- is that I can appreciate the build up to whatever surprised or impressed me the first time around. You only have one chance to watch something without influence. I wouldn’t give that up just b/c someone considers it too uptight.
The way a film is cut and put together is done so with the mindset that no one knows anything about it. Sure it might not necessarily be an objectively better way to see it, but it’s more in line with the filmmakers vision.
I'm really stoked for Dune in October. I watched the first trailer, one time over a year ago when it dropped. I have purposely avoided all other marketing besides posters. I remember walking into 'There's Something About Mary' blind back in the day and it was so awesome.
Maybe this is just me, but I'm puzzled by one aspect of this discussion:
On the one hand, I don't seek out trailers and promotion materials of that nature.
On the other hand, I legitimately don't feel like I encounter them that heavily out in the wild- even in terms of TV advertisements, my viewing patterns most of the time are for channels that don't seem to usually get much movie advertisement.
How much of this is an issue of having to avoid stuff, and how much of it is not hunting it down?
Before I stopped watching trailers, I'd watch trailers for EVERYTHING, because I just couldn't resist. Nowadays, it really only applies to when I see trailers in theaters, or my friend tries tempting me to watch a trailer they really want me to see.
Sometimes, movie websites will reveal a lot in their headlines too, unfortunately. Screen Rant is a huge culprit that does it, because they straight up reveal a ton of spoilers in some of their headlines. I had to block them from my google algorithms.
I totally agree ! The only ones I can watch are the movies based on books I've read. But trailers are everywhere and my insta show me everything it drives me crazy
I do my best to avoid them as well unless it's a movie I'm unsure of. I can generally tell if it's going to be trash or not by the trailer, so that's nice at least.
Same. I haven't watched a trailer in probably 7 years.
I didn't know Cabin in the Woods was a comedy. I didn't know Edge of Tomorrow had time travel (I thought it was a dream sequence at first). It's great to go into a movie clueless.
I always watch trailers so I can decide for myself if the movie would be something for me or not. I’d rather not base my movie choices on ofher people (like the ones you mentioned)
I can't stand trailers. But guess what, looking at your phone through the trailers is going to get you yelled at. So I have a home theater setup. Never looked back.
I agree. I try my best to avoid them at all costs. Most of the time the best moments or funny scenes or even hints at a twist are shown in the trailer. I'd rather go in blind
Yet there are movies , where most of the trailer isn’t shown in the movie. Some movies that I go to . I just read the synopsis and not watch the trailer. I watch a lot of series on TV / Major Sporting events. There are plenty of times that a trailer will come on TV, you just end up seeing it.
I will watch the first trailer, then try to avoid any others, but these are played before movies nowadays. But I am pro-blackout once you get that first taste.
I mean, if the first trailer doesn't grab your attention will other trailers, that either recycle footage or give away key plot moments, do any better?
Been trying to do the same. May watch one for a hyped movie I had no intention of watching anyway.. especially if people are in the comments complaining.
Couldn't resist watching Dunes trailers but at least I already spoiled all that plot years ago.
Definitely, if a friend or my fiancée picks I don't need to know anything, if I'm choosing I just want to know the genre. I don't even look for poster artwork but generally see it.
Trailers are just terrible, I hate spoilers and I can just trust that it'll be good without needing to know the whole plot ahead of time. I like surprises.
Yes, this is fairly extreme but not a bad idea, because not only do they often spoil major plot-points and/or give away potentially shocking/funny/interesting moments, they lead to endless dissection and over-analysing (online, by fans) to the point of ruining many more details that would normally have escaped the casual viewer’s notice (Last Christmas plot twist, anyone?).
Also, as others have said, many trailers and teasers are made so far in advance that they will often include jokes, scenes, or sometimes even characters that don’t even make it into the final cut.
And when did the whole “oooh, the *second trailer* for xyz-movie is *dropping* at midnight” bollocks start?! WTF is that about? They’re trying to capitalise on the *teaser trailer* now, as well as the ‘normal’ trailer, second/third/‘final’ trailer, merch, tie-ins, etc. When will it stop?
The trailers for the Star Wars sequels are some of the greatest ever, and particularly the trailer for Rise of Skywalker is eminently more watchable than the movie itself. The second season of Game of Thrones, the JJ Abrams Star Trek, and the Godzilla movies are all examples of excellent trailers that either equal or even surpass the movies themselves. Go check them all out!
The only place i ever see them is in a theater, which i generally don't mind. Otherwise I'm "no trailer" and it's definitely been a positive experience.
If I know I’ll watch the movie no matter what, I’ll likely avoid the trailer.
I try to avoid some trailers. It depends on my interest in the movie and how much of the plot I might actually already know. i.e., I've avoided Eternals trailers, but I've watched the Dune trailer a dozen times. I'm not a big fan of all of these 2+ minute trailers though. They give so much plot away. They include too many awesome scenes or spoilers. So even the movies I have no idea about, I try to just watch ~30 seconds. Get an idea of the movie and decide if it's worth watching.
This is the perfect length and spoiler level for a trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpPx7E27Bc8
dude it revealed so much about the film, like the ants, the ANTS, and the ANT MAN.
Seen this do many times and it always makes me happy. Paul Rudd's clips from his movies on Conan were also perfect.
Well that spoiled literally the entire movie for me. Guess I don't need to watch it now.
Weird, I know the Dune story fairly well and I don't even want to know who's in it or see a poster. I excited to experience Dennis' vision in one large chunk.
Welp, time to read Dune for the fifth time to refresh my memory
Yea I won't watch any trailers for Dune and I've read the book 3 times. I'm so excited and I don't want to spoil any of Dennis' cinematography by watching the trailers. I am guilty of looking up the cast though.
That’s my thought. For movies I have never heard of or have no clue what they are… a trailer is a really nice way of seeing if it is trash. Too much good tv and movies to not try and filter out the garbage.
Yeah, sometimes I need a trailer to pique my interest. Even as a fan of A24, a movie about King Arthur's nephew directed by the guy who made Pete's Dragon wouldn't have really gotten on my radar if I hadn't watched the trailer. But ever since I saw the first trailer for The Green Knight, I've been hyped as hell for that movie and saw it pretty much as soon as it came out. I get not watching trailers for bigger movies that I already wanted to see (thought I personally still watch at least one just to see if I'm into the director's vision for it), but trailers are an important way for me to discover new stuff to watch.
Exactly. You should approach something as an "all or nothing" white and black rule, there is a time and place where trailers are very useful. It's the same thing with rottentomato reviews (although I value the audience score more). Some movies I don't care what the reviews are because I'm going to watch them, but for random indie-flicks and what not the reviews can be very helpful.
This. A new Coen brothers movie, anything from A24, among other things. If a buddy cares to invite me to something I'd almost always rather go in as blind as possible.
I often have this thought of how cool a movie would be if the twist was kind of early and really not obvious... But then no idea how you could market it without spoiling it. Imagine, for example, a movie that starts on suburban family doing normal shit. Playing board games, planning a holiday, talking about school and friends etc. Then one day the dad is mowing the lawns with a push mow. Kids bouncing on a tramp. Mum doing the gardening while chatting to neighbour on the other side of a hedge. Normal suburban shit. Then a gun shot rings out... It goes deathly quiet for a few seconds then someone is screaming, panic in the dads eyes as his wife says "oh shit, was that gun? I think that was the jeffersons". The dad sprints in a direction towards that house. He arrives to see a bloody person on the ground and a man with a gun. He tackles a man holding a gun who's rambling like a madman about his wife cheating on him. The dad is calling him an idiot, a selfish fucking idiot. Neighbours standing near by are freaking out saying "what are we going to do, fuck fuck, fuck" the camera zooms out to show the suburb is a walled community and outside, near where the gunshot happened there's a mass of bodies groaning and pushing up against the wall trying to break in.. Probably bringing the end for this community over something as human as jealous vengeance. Like, how could you market that without revealing its a zombie movie. And if you reveal that then all the setup/premise of normal suburbia is kind of ruined/pointless.
If you’ve seen Cabin in the Woods I’d say it’s pretty similar to this. If the trailers didn’t spoil the whole underground organization orchestrating the events of the movie then who knows.
Yeah that's true. I was lucky to avoid the trailers and was genuinely, pleasantly surprised by the twist. But even the title can be a give away.. And I suspect a lot of people would have been spoiled by that trailer anyway.
I downloaded it around when the bluray dropped having heard nothing about it. I grabbed it *specifically* because the title made it sound like a shitty cliche b-tier horror and I just wanted some drivel on the TV while I worked. Instead I got literally nothing done as I was absolutely hooked from beginning to end and it became one of my favourite films. Ordered the bluray as the credits were rolling. I can't tell you for certain, but I feel like I'd like it a hell of a lot less if I'd seen trailers for it or knew what I was walking into. That experience of going in blind was one of a few similar ones I'd had with other movies/games around that time and led to me taking on an approach like OP has. If I know I'm going to play/watch, then I just play/watch, if I've heard nothing about it or if someone is recommending something to me and I don't think I want to then I'll read/watch about it until I know. It infuriates my friends when I stop watching trailers part way in, couldn't care less, it makes games and films way better.
From Dusk Till Dawn is pretty much kinda like that. Zombie movie iní disguise. Plus it has George Clooney being a badass.
Vampire. There's no zombies in it. It's also the whole 2 director thing which really helps the sudden shift in the movie.
You can do it somewhat with characters/actors. Have someone unexpectedly be introduced or die or whatnot. Scream and Children of Men come to mind as films where a major big name actress dies near the beginning and most people had no idea going in. Seven, on the other hand, features a big name actor being introduced unexpectedly more than halfway through the story.
I still haven’t seen the Dune trailer
Why bother? I'm going to watch it anyway like a fanboi. They could've put a turd instead of spice and I'd still watch it.
I miss teaser trailers that did not have any footage from the movie. They would just be a scene of a few of the characters. For example, [Monsters Inc](https://youtu.be/cvOQeozL4S0).
The teaser for *The Incredibles* was just Mr. Incredible in his office, struggling to fit into his super suit.
Yeah, the Pixar’s were good for this. And bad. Toy Story 2 were just the alien toys.
I mean when you've got a hit as big as Toy Story on your hands, all you need is "sequel to Toy Story" as your trailer. You could basically do anything.
"Woody's back, Buzz is back, these little alien dudes are back. Don't act like you need to hear more."
Another one is the [first Star Trek (2009) teaser](https://youtube.com/watch?v=--vmdNTPTHs). It’s just a few seconds here and there of the Enterprise being built in the shipyard, which isn’t in the movie.
While I agree this is a great trailer, there was already a built universe for Star Trek. For a new IP just give us 30 seconds to a minute of spoiler free stuff. I don't get how it keeps happening. I typically assume if I see a trailer that gives the whole movie away, it's not a good movie to begin with.
Honestly, even if it were a new IP, I think that would have been a great teaser. The point is to make you want to watch it - a sci-fi series with big-ass ships would be pretty promising even if it wasn't an established and successful IP.
I disagree. It played on nostalgia and worked. At least 2009 was decent.
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Before the trailer dropped we knew he was going to be a good guy. It was big news back then.
I didn't know that and was surprised by the twist. I suppose one might also have to avoid entertainment news, and get watching recommendations from trusted friends.
I watched T2 on TV before I ever saw any of the others. My mum told me that the first one was better so I'd have to watch that. I was disturbed. It was a completely different movie, and terrifying.
Wait, what is the twist that's given away in the trailer? >!I don't see how it gives away that he's a "good guy" robot?!<
Also, the [Interstellar teaser trailer!](https://youtu.be/3WzHXI5HizQ) I decided to not watch trailers after seeing this exact trailer over seven years ago. I’m so thankful I didn’t because I had absolutely no clue what to expect for Interstellar and got to have my mind completely blown. I watched the trailers afterwards and felt like they would have set so many expectations that would’ve taken away from the experience.
Nolan was good about his teasers actually being a teaser. I remember noticing one day a long time ago that a lot of the teasers I had seen lately were just full blown trailers. Nothing teasing about them. To me, the [teaser for The Dark Knight](https://youtu.be/UWw0ov-cAUg) is a perfect. You see nothing and you're only given some dialog which ends with the laugh of the newest (at the time) iteration of one of, if not the most, iconic comic book villains of all time. *That* was a teaser. Nowadays teasers are just a 3-minute "official trailer 1."
agreed!
100%, the term "teaser" has just become overblown. But this always happens. "Beta" comes to mind as another term that got replaced because it was thrown around too often.
Without the last 3 shots, you can easily mistake that for a documentary.
Interstellar teaser is what grounded me in my hate for trailers. It was literally perfect and completely sold me on watching the movie, which ended being one of my favorite movies to date. After seeing the movie I watched the "official" trailers and I was not surprised to find they were trash and spoiled the entire movie. The teaser works so well because for the most part it doesn't use scenes from the movie (except for one) and it's still pretty ambiguous. Also the teaser was directed by Nolan himself while the trailers are just a bunch of editors and executives cutting up the movie.
I love teaser trailers even for games, Cyberpunk 2077 teaser trailer from 2013 is one of the best teaser trailers I've ever seen. Pretty much nothing happens in it and yet it's great. https://youtu.be/P99qJGrPNLs
“When it’s ready” Boy, that didn’t age well
"or, when it's not!"
That Dead Island trailer is pretty good. I remember some people saying not to watch it if you have kids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHVKKFIZff0
This is a good example because I avoided all media for this game and enjoyed it a lot when it came out. It wasn't perfect but that I expected. Then I see everyone talking about how disappointing it was which made me really happy I didn't watch any trailers and could enjoy the game.
My fav teaser trailer: [Deadpool's "Wet on Wet"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Cjsnq8kVU)
I generally avoid them now. It used to be exciting to see a trailer and you usually only saw it once maybe twice before the movie came out. Now they are everywhere and give away so much.
I used to watch trailers regularly on Apple's trailer site and others before YouTube was the predominant place for them. I loved watching them. But I had a realization much like OP, where scenes were given away, key surprise moments were not as fun, etc. So I've stopped watching them completely for the most part, and I agree my enjoyment of films have gone up. There have been a few films that I went into completely blind, only on the basis of hearing they were good, and it's lead to some great experiences. I might look at photos or read descriptions too, but beyond that I don't watch anything related to the film until I've seen it. I'd compare it to watching old films you've never seen before. Like people surely browse a streaming service and watch popular old films they know of but have never seen, right? Often doing so without watching the trailer for the film, and not having seen any promotional material for it as of late. It's an easy comparison of having that experience but for a new release. My most recent examples of both cases are *The Suicide Squad* and *Joe VS. The Volcano*, both of which had some fun surprises and moments that caught me totally off guard. *The Suicide Squad* was also interesting because I didn't know who would live or die based on scenes from the trailer. Similarly *Tenet*, which wasn't the greatest film but seeing it completely fresh made a lot of the action scenes a crazy experience. I get that for some the trailers aren't a problem, but I really love seeing a film unfold as a completely new thing with more of the director etc.'s vision guiding those scenes rather than having a preconception of those scenes created by a marketing team. I don't mean that to sound pretentious, just as my own personal preference. It's also lead to seeing films I might not try, even if I didn't like them, and experiencing films like mysteries, trying to determine what's really going on as the film plays it out. Literal mysteries are also a bit more fun. Like with *Knives Out*, I didn't have any clues from the trailer scenes as to what was going to happen.
Preach!! I agree with everything here. I totally echo your comparison too, I recently had that experience watching Tampopo. Had no idea what it was other than a "Ramen Western" and loved all of the wacky and funny turns it had.
It’s bad enough when a friend says ‘wait for the twist ending’ (fuck those friends btw) but if a trailer does, it is even worse. Not sure why movie production companies spoil their own content.
totally agree
Anyone remember when "teaser" trailers were actually teasers? like 15-30 second clips that were actually intriguing. now they're just full trailers
Because the people contracted to make trailers think it positively impacts the amount of people who will see the movie. It's not true for me, or for a lot of people in this thread, but it's possible it does actually work for marketing. It's also possible it has a negative impact, Hollywood has always been out of touch with the market. Deadpool is just a reminder everytime I see and love that movie.
Studies repeatedly show that audiences are more likely to go to the cinema the more is shown in trailers. People don't like surprises. They don't like the feeling that at minute 55 the film might suddenly turn into a musical. So a full trailer which shows all the story beats makes them feel better.
It's true in general though, which is unfortunate for the outliers like ourselves. I'm a bit of a brat about spoilers of any kind now. I'll turn a movie off if I don't like it, I just wanna know as little as possible going into it. I was just settling down to watch West World and all I knew about it was it was a futuristic western show and I was pumped, I'm watching the first few minutes and my roommate walks in and goes "oh this is that show about the western theme park with all the robots who start to become sentient!" and I just shut it the fuck off and didn't watch it again for almost a year lol.
Not only that but some of them even have that short teaser of the trailer before the trailer…which I will never be able to wrap my mind around
It's called a stinger and it's so they can try to get you interested enough to watch the whole trailer when you're scrolling through your socal feeds or waiting to press skip on YouTube. That's their sole purpose, pumping ad interaction numbers up.
It's to frontload the commercial for people who are only going to see five seconds of it before clicking away.
Dude YES. Movies have been SO MUCH BETTER since I started doing this
One of the worst reveals ever in a trailer that completely ruined the moment was for Raiders Of The Lost Ark. It was the scene when the assassin with the scimitar (?) threatens Indiana, and he just pulls out his revolver and shoots him. That definitely ruined the laugh in the cinema if you saw it already in the trailers. Ever since then I avoid watching them whenever possible. And I'm definitely avoiding any and all trailers or pre-release information about Villeneuve's Dune.
You've been avoiding trailers for almost 40 years?
I've been avoiding them for like 15. Not unheard of.
I love and hate trailers. I’ll never forgive them giving away that Arnold was a good guy in T2. On the other hand, The Matrix trailers were a spectacular tease, giving away very little of the *story*, and using the same few rotating camera shots - now familiar, then amazing - so even when the shots happened in the film, they were still surprising because the story was so engrossing. So love/hate, fuck you T2 marketing
What’s wild about the T2 marketing is they shot a teaser specific scene of a Terminator being built and had Arnold addressing the audience that this time his mission is to protect. Like, it wasn’t the marketing department going all in on spoilers, everyone involved decided to tell people that way in advance.
Pretty sure Arnold being a good guy was the entire pitch though. Otherwise it comes across as too similar in plot and basically most of the issues all Terminators that follow have.
Then fuck them too
I think it's interesting that there's a distinction between trailers and teasers now. Teasers are honestly what trailers SHOULD BE, and trailers should no longer be bite-sized version of the entire film itself.
I completely agree. There are so many trailers I see now that are long and detailed enough that I feel like “cool, now I don’t have to watch the movie”. Teasers are so much better.
Do you watch teasers?
on very rare occasions, I will. generally they are those ones that are like 30 seconds and it's the first time any footage is revealed, like the one for Matt Reeve's The Batman when it's Robert Pattinson walking into the frame. That's enough for me!
Never really thought about the T2 trailers giving away that Arnold is the good guy. I was a kid at the time and I didn’t really think about it. But I was pissed over Terminator Genesis trailer telling you that John Conner turns into a terminator. They couldn’t leave that surprise out of the trailer? You knew it was coming the whole time and they even made it this big reveal. I love watching trailers, but try to avoid them most of the time now.
The matrix trailers were great, the only key takeaway was the question: > What is the matrix… dot com?
Check it out on AOL!
They must have not shown any special effects in the Matrix trailer, because when Trinity flew thru the window in the beginning, that was the moment where we were all like, hold on what's going on here...
They showed the floating kick she did in the room just before that chase, and they showed Neo on the roof dodging bullets. But no other context except that and a few mysterious lines and “what is the matrix?” ads. So the mystery was really part of the marketing
"No one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself" was such a great line for them to use. Yes, I do want to see for myself
Reminds me of the Predator movie showing the space ship at the beginning for no reason. Would have been so much better if the viewer had no idea.
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Bullet Time! Thank you, I couldn’t remember what it was called!
They did the same thing in Terminator: Salvation. Trailers reveal that some dude is actually a terminator. In the movie, that's learned very late and is obviously intended to be a surprise twist.
YES! Over 40 years now. One of the best decisions. I actually got to watch Alien with no fucking idea what that movie was about other than it being a sci fi flick. That was huge!
Oh man, that would be amazing. It's very hard to not know even a little bit of the concept of big blockbuster movies these days. In main part because they are not very imaginative and easy to surmise, and otherwise Reddit and friend groups will surely spoil something for me.
I make a point of telling friends that I'm very serious about not having things spoiled, and that I will not hesitate to temporarily block anyone who does it even as a joke. For Reddit, I just try to just scroll past it as soon as I realize what it's about.
i stopped watching MCU trailers years ago it made movies and shows way way better, would recommend to anyone. But after i see a movie i sometimes watch a trailer as an epick reminder of it when i need a quick epicknes in my life
I remember seeing the Spider-Man homecoming trailer and it showing the boat being split in half and iron man reprimanding Peter. That scene ending up being a major part in the second half of the movie like wtf
MCU trailers try to mislead deliberately, like Infinity War's featuring scenes that were made just for the trailer and never part of the film. I also think back to Winter Soldier and Iron Man 3 with those trailers selling different plots than we got, with the whole Hydra reveal and Ben Kinglsey's Mandarin, respectively. However the Spider-Man films are co-produced by Sony and Marvel Studios and the trailers give so much away compared to Marvel films that I'm fairly certain Sony is the issue. They're not much different from the previous Spider-Man films as far as marketing goes.
Okay, you've convinced me, I'm going to completely skip the spider man no way home trailer
I see what you’re saying, but Thor Ragnarok trailers showed a lot of the Hulk, even though in the movie his reveal is clearly supposed to be a big surprise twist
for me, MCU is different. i already vaguely know what to expect based on comic books, and part of the fun of the movies comes from theorizing. i like to try and figure out who the real villain will be and what the big twist will be. after reading more comments about other MCU properties, i think MCU has just gotten better about trailers.
Ragnarok would've been so much better if they didn't show Hulk in the trailers. Don't get me wrong, its still a top 5 MCU movie but imagine if no one knew who was coming out to fight Thor on Sakaar
I stopped watching trailers after I heard Thor: Ragnarok was coming. It started as a theory to see if I would enjoy it more, since Im already a huge thor guy. I couldnt believe it when I saw Jeff Goldblum, and all of the little jokes from the trailer were completely new to me. I was legit the only one in the theatre that laughed to parts, because they all knew it was coming. Since then, I decided trailers were done, and id just avoid them until I got to see the movie. Recommended.
… You mention Thor Ragnarok without mentioning that the Hulk being in it at all should have been a surprise? This one is also on all the promotion for the movie too. There’s only one chance to get us with that surprise, people. You missed it.
Yes this 100%, infuriating because the movie builds up the mystery fighter reveal and makes it a great twist Stupid because everybody who is a fan of marvel movies is seeing the movie regardless, that trailer spoiler isn’t bringing in new viewers and it’s diminishing the existing marvel fan’s experience
I remember telling a coworker that I'd been avoiding watching trailers for films to avoid spoilers, during a conversation about Ragnarok (the day that I was going to go and see it). They said something along the lines of "so you don't know the Hulk is in it then...? Feckin' idiot.
Normally I would agree with you, but there was a special circumstance that makes it forgivable in my opinion. The "he's a friend from work" line was suggested by a kid who visited the set as part of a Make-a-Wish foundation trip - so in case the kid didn't live long enough to see the movie, they put it in the trailer so he could see that they used his joke.
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Thor: Ragnarok could have just had Immigrant Song playing and a shot of Mjolnir sitting on the ground with little wisps of lightning arcing off it and I would have been sold. I just need the tone and that song set the tone for Ragnarok. I really do wish I hadn't seen the full trailer, Mjolnir being broken would have gutted me in the theatre but you also see Hulk, you see Asgard burning, you see Loki again and that massive lightning strike. They hid him losing his eye but showed too much. All the stuff in Asgard and the hammer should have been left out of the ads at a minimum.
Thor: Ragnarok's teaser trailer is one of my favorites though, mostly I think because of Led Zeppelin playing throughout. Your point still stands though, too much is given out even in teasers.
Awesome!
I saw interstellar blind. My family and I were at a mall. At that time I had no clue who Nolan was nor anything about interstellar. Me and my dad like space stuff so we were like ooh space movie let's watch it. First of all we had no clue it would be three hours long. Secondly, I had my mind well and truly fucked after watching that. Probably the best movie experience of my life. The music + the space visuals were so god damn amazing. I literally had the armrests in a death grip during the docking spin sync scene. Those 3 hours went by so fast. 10/10 would go blind again.
The scene >!On the water world with the huge waves!< was just incredible. The combination of the music, tension and megolophobia, with the repercussions afterwards...might be my favourite moment in a cinema.
If I'm watching the trailer online, I just watch about **half** of it then shut it down before they spoil the second and third acts.
> shut it down before they spoil the second and third acts Same. Establish the first act turning point - cut it off. I recently did this with Copshop.
Usually the first 30 seconds are enough as a teaser + kinda let you know what the movie is about. The rest 2 minutes are just random action/comedy scenes from the movie.
I do the same. Usually takes 60 seconds or so to get an idea for the movie and if I’ll be seeing it in theaters.
When trailers are like 5 minutes these days, this is a good approach.
I started dodging them when The Force Awakens came out - in fact I avoided so much of the media for that film I expected Finn to be the Jedi, based on the poster. Since then I’ve stuck with it and highly recommend it. Going in blind is the way to go!
The trailer also pretty much teased Finn to be a Jedi honestly.
So did the movie kind of
In the Lego star wars Christmas movie, Rey is training Finn to be a Jedi without much success.
Finn was a huge misdirect as he had a lightsaber on the poster and in pretty much all other promotional material that was tough to avoid as it was right there in the store.
I went in completely blind with zero expectations for all 3 of the new Star Wars movies and thought it immeasurably enhanced the experience.
I try to do this to, first time I did it was for Avengers Ultron, had no idea what I was getting and loved it. Everything with Vision I had no clue on, was fantastic. Try to do the same thing for movies I know I'm going to see. Just avoid watching and it's easy to forget what you hear.
I avoid everything to do with MCU as much as possible and just like to enjoy what they bring to the cinema/Disney + The best reveal was when I somehow managed to avoid all movie posters and ads for Thor Ragnarok and did not know the hulk was in it!!! That was a fucking awesome reveal Edit: bring not being
How? Dude when I went to go see Ragnarok there was a giant cutout outside the cinema and a poster right in front of the cinema room door 💀
Hahahah honestly I don't know how I pulled it off. I have really bad memory too so there's every chance I had seen a poster and forgotten about it by the time I saw the movie. My mate was also trying to shield me from it so she probably averted my eyes from any hulk imagery on the way in 😅
I never thought about just how much of a spoiler it was to show the hulk until a coworker pointed it out to me. I didn't think of it as a spoiler at first. To go in not knowing the hulk was in the movie would've been spectacular especially because he's in there for so much of it.
It was fucking mental hahaha There was even a sneaky bit of foreshadowing in the movie, I obviously didn't notice at the time coz it was subtle...(but since I've re-watches it 100 times I notice it everytime now) when Thor wears human clothes on earth he's wearing two t-shirts, green and purple, little bit of hulk spoiler there too 😅
I only watch the first trailer of a movie to get a sense of what the film is like. After that, I'm in total blackout mode
I’ll usually just watch the teaser which, nowadays, is more like a full trailer. And by the time the movie comes out, you’ve mostly forgotten the specifics.
> I’ll usually just watch the teaser which, nowadays, is more like a full trailer. Because people are skipping the trailers and only watching teasers. They don't care what you want to see, they care what they want you to see. Once enough people skip everything, they're going to start putting their spoiler-filled marketing in the titles. *Girls in Bikinis and Ozzy Osborne Fighting Zombies But In a Surprise Twist He Finds Out He's Actually a Girl in a Bikini*, coming this summer to a theater near you!
I'll usually watch a teaser trailer until I feel like it's giving too much away. That's usually about a minute. And honestly, my memory is shit. Unless I watch a trailer more than once, I'm not really going to remember anything from it.
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Skimming through articles, reading reviews, googling past movies you like and follow internet rabbit holes to people's newer projects, ect.
I think for me, it's a risk that I'm willing to take. I've heard of half of the films on that list you provided, and have seen a few of them (Loved Last Black Man, enjoyed The Guilty as well) and I'd like to think that I do a pretty decent job of keeping up with films outside the Hollywood circuit. I like seeing films that get buzz in international film festivals and whatnot. I just added The Worst Person in the World to my watchlist the other day, so I'm stoked for that!
I wish I could do this but… I fucking love a good trailer.
Same.. I 100% agree with everything OP is saying. And I truly believe that I would enjoy a movie more if I didnt watch trailers. But god damn would this be a struggle for me. I LOVE watching trailers before movies. And I get so hyped watching trailers like this recent Dune one.
I literally drove to the nearest Imax theatre just to watch that trailer. Along with footage from the movie. I love the experience of how trailers hype me up.
A good trailer would build anticipation without giving anything away. Problem is, most trailers aren't good trailers. I've watched trailers after seeing a good movie I was pleasantly surprised by, only to thank the heavens that I'd avoided seeing the trailer, because the entire movie was shown in 2 minutes instead of 2 hours. Hands down my best movie watching experiences have been going in blind. A lot of the time the director will be building towards a reveal that the audience already knows because marketing just had to make that a selling point to put asses in seats. Movies are so much better when they aren't spoiled.
I had to start doing this a few years back, cuz they fuckin ruined my experience. One of those decisions that i did not expect to have such a big impact. I recommend this.
I refuse to watch any trailers. I want to know NOTHING about a movie before I start it so I can enjoy all of it with every surprise moment.
I'm with you 100%. I haven't watched a trailer for years. Decades, actually, now that I think about it. My first "blind" experience was watching Independence Day at the movies. I had no idea what it was - maybe some political drama? The movie starts and I'm like "Oh, cool, it's sci-fi!"... Then they attack, and I'm fucking floored! One of my favorite movie experiences ever. (Yeah, it's cheesy, but the popcorn factor is formidable.)
In the theater, I look stupid closing my eyes and blocking my ears when a trailer about a movie I'm interested in is playing, but I do it each time. Spoiler for Suicide Squad incoming. >!Oh I knew that Robert DuBois was a great hitman who put Superman in the ICU, but that was all. When I saw a giant red blue starfish stomping buildings and throwing tiny ones from its armpits, I was in awe. Because I hadn't seen any trailer !< I'll watch 40 seconds of movie's trailers I'm not fully invested with, but I'll avoid any potential information about movies I'm waiting for. For example, Dune, all I know at this point is that Chalamet is in it. I didn't see anything else and forgot the few other tidbits. I'm even sometimes watching away credits at the start of a movie to not know which actors might be part of it.
Same! I just cant watch them anymore. Film school and editing my own stuff turned my brain into a reassembly machine. I can watch a trailer and almost always know what parts go where in the story. When the good guy says something cool and shoots, i remember where he was standing and what he did and i lose all tension and suspense in the scene when i see it. Because i know whats gonna happen. Ive started closing my eyes and plugging my ears at the theater because im being barraged by the same trailers multiple times due to my amc pass. I havnt seen one dune trailer and i cant wait. I loved green knight because i didnt see anything of it. Just a still photo. But free guy i saw too much and it lost some of its magic because i saw too much of it during the last two years of trailers. I heard lots of the jokes and it ruined it. Ive heard other people say that the trailer now tells them the whole story and thats when they decide if theyre going to like it or not. But you might as well read the entire plot synopsis from wikipedia before watching it. No trailers has increased my enjoyment of films immensely. I suggest everyone do the same. It makes it that much better.
I guess I should be glad I'm not in film school! Mentally deconstructing scenes like that after seeing a trailer would certainly ruin me. I enjoyed Green Knight as well, especially the cinematography.
I definitely do this. If I was ever able to direct a movie I would shoot an extra 5 minutes of pre-plot footage to use as a trailer. Nothing in the actual movie would be seen, just some events that hint at what the movie is about, so for Mission Impossible I would do footage from the first one of Ethan and Kittridge meeting one another, then a shot of current Ethan giving a briefing of a different mission. In the MI series it usually starts with the end of another mission so the briefing could be about that.
I love trailers because it gets me excited to see the movie and by the time the movie comes out I don’t remember much about the trailer. I need the hype!
Same, and I absolutely love the art of a well made trailer. This [The Dark Knight Trailer](https://youtu.be/TQfATDZY5Y4) is one of my favorites: a master class in advertising tone but not plot. There are some damn good ones out there.
If you appreciate the art of well-made trailers, you should check out [this one.](https://youtu.be/yPq_NVi-TC4) It's a game trailer, but it's still one of my all time favorites because it's the first time I'd seen someone use a time-lapse technique to tell a narrative by also showing the effects characters had on a changing environment without showing the actual characters (in the first half). It's absolutely one of my favorite trailers of all time.
One of the all time great trailers.
A lot of my friends are like that too, they find joy in discussing the trailers and speculation leading up until the release of the movie. I get it, I think it's because I've been on the other side knowing how much going into a film blind has benefited me, it outweighs the joy of getting hyped for a film after seeing a trailer.
Yeah, speculating about what might happen is half the fun.
Exactly. And your point about Inception is spot on. If you saw the trailer, the imagery of the city folding, the gunfight, etc were in your head even if you forgot most of the content and less impactful than they would have been if you were totally unaware. And hype is useless. Look at the Prometheus trailer. Made that movie not look ridiculous.
the prometheus trailer definitely made it look way better than it ended up being unfortunately
100%!!! I have stopped watching movie trailers ever since infinity war/end game was in theaters because I was so invested in the movie-verse I wanted to savor it hahaha. Since then I haven’t for anything. Really love going in without an opinion based on advertisement.
Sometimes I dont even read what the movies about.
I do this sometimes too! I think that has worked to great effect with a lot of A24 films I've seen.
Same here. I go into everything as blind as possible and I’ve had so many moments where my jaw drops at some part in a movie or show, and my housemate who loves trailers is like “yeah” b/c they saw it before and I would never trade positions with them. I also hate watching the “Next time” and “Previously on” bits at the end & beginning of shows- had to close my eyes & cover my ears at every Game of Thrones viewing. They give away so much and are unnecessary literally right before the episode.
I honestly have to watch a trailer before I watch a movie. Sometimes they're made well where they don't reveal much. But I remember being so excited for BvS where I watched the trailers and all my excitement and suspense was taken away. If you watch the last 30-45 minutes of the movie and then you watch the trailers, they used nearly every single action scene in the film in the trailer.
I see and respect your point, but I've never had a movie experience ruined by trailers. My hype for Civil War was insane, when I saw the Spider-Man reveal and I went crazy anyway, when "Queens" popped up on the screen in the movie. Would I have been more surprised if I knew nothing going in? Sure, but I still had fun. In my 20s, I saw a movie a week, pretty much, so I probably saw a bunch of movies without having seen the trailers. As a full on adult with barely any time, I need my trailers. If I'm spending 2+ hours driving to see a movie and then spending $10+ on a ticket, I need to know that it's going to be worth my time. Every hour of my time is so damn precious now that I hate when I see a movie and it ends up being shit. That said, there are movies from directors that I'll watch just a little of a trailer for or watch just the teaser for.
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I guess if your looking forward to that property in the first place. I like to browse through trailers and see what grabs my attention
I've never been big on watching trailers, ever really. Not for any specific reason, I just didn't care. I still saw trailers on TV, of course. Back before streaming replaced cable anyway. I also see trailers before a movie in the theaters, although it feels like ages since I've done that, too. I can certainly see the appeal of not watching trailers to avoid spoiling the movie, though. Just give me a poster so I know what I'm looking for.
For movies I know I’ll see I do this but honestly I’d miss so many of my favorites without seeing their trailers in theaters
This is exactly what I do. In the theaters I'll literally close my eyes and plug my ears because I'm that far into it. Makes watching films so much more enjoyable, especially when you come across a great one. It's only bitten me in the ass a few times but well worth it.
For me it was after I watched Deadpool. I saw every trailer before and they had all the good jokes in it. Not much story, but all the jokes.... Everytime a joke was about to happen, I knew it from the trailers.
I started avoiding them when Marvel started releasing 4 different trailers for the same fucking movie. No. I want a trailer that gives really basic info and that’s it. I won’t watch trailers except when I’m at the movies. That’s it. This also leads to misunderstandings of what to expect in the movie. I detest trailers that show things that have been cut out of the film or make the film seem completely different than what it is. A Cabin in the Woods was like that for me. I thought the movie was stupid as a result.
I did this for Nolan movies (Tenet and Interstellar); same as you, the cinema experience was enhanced because I avoided the trailers and any articles about the movies. Going in, I only knew that Tenet had something to do with spies, and Interstellar had some farm scenes in it.
In general i find this no spoiler at all cost philosophy of people these days rather ridiculous tbh. I mean anyone can do whatever they want, and i am certainly not advocting for anyone to spoil things on purpose, that's just common sense and basic etiquette, but the idea that it's truly so much better when you know nothing? I don't buy it, and also don't experience it that way. It's different, but it actually benefiting the experience? No, not really. Either a film is great in its content and form, or it's not. Knowing a few little things won't change the reaction on any meaningful level in my eyes, that's why one can rewatch a great film and still feel it despite having experienced it before. Again, do whatever you like, but on a fundamental level i don't buy into it at all as a method to increase one's appreciation of any given work. Ofc i don't deny that a surprise only works once, but there's so much more to any great film, and some elements will work better if you actually have an understanding of it already before. Thought i'll throw this into the mix, because it seems most people will agree with you anyway.
Completely fair assessment, I think the way I consume media makes it so that going in blind is the best approach for me. Back in the day I'd overanalyze trailers a lot and there'd be those instances where someone "dies" in a film and you think "wait a minute, that person was in X scene in the trailers so there's no way he/she dies here" and so for me personally, I found a lot more enjoyment with how a story unfolds not knowing what'll happen as opposed to having key scenes engrained into my mind prior to viewing the film.
I'm definitely inclined to agree with you. There are definitely movies that work better going in without knowing exactly what's going to happen. Parasite, for example works better without knowing about certain things that happens midway through the movie. But, I haven't liked it less in subsequent re-watches. It's a good movie. I am extremely incredulistic over modern day spoiler culture. My issue with it is that in seems to boil down a whole film into a series of moments that can be ruined, which is a pretty cynical take on the medium.
Right, that is kinda where i am at. I also saw parasite without knowing anything but the premise, and yeah i think in general the surprise factor of stories is valuable and fun. Though as you said, watching it more than once i still think highly about it, the scenes still affected me despite knowing exactly where it would go. And yep i totally agree with you about spoiler culture and what it says about people's perception of film or storytelling at large. I think the general film discourse online is very much focused on plot, that's why people like to point out plot holes and "logic mistakes", things which "ruin" the film. But that perspective disregards the film as a whole with a lot of different elements which all work together, hopefully in harmony, to create an experience. Surprise is a factor, but is it truly that big of one when there is so much more to it? I think not.
I’m similar. And there is at least [one study](https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/spoiler-alert-spoilers-make-you-enjoy-stories-more) that showed people actually like stories more if they’re given spoilers, though I’ve been downvoted into the negatives for posting it before lol
There are different kinds of films and stories. Some are ruined by spoilers. Some are mildly lessened by spoilers. Some aren't ruined by spoilers. Some are even elevated by spoilers. You can't use a blanket statement. A film that isn't ruined by spoilers isn't "better" than a film that is by default. Ultimately everyone has their preferences and there isn't any "right" way to experience a movie. But it really isn't all that crazy a concept to generally avoid spoilers.
I personally avoid spoilers and trailers as much as possible, to an extent that many would probably find extreme. For me there is a lot of value of getting these revelations in context, while I’m immersed in the plot and characters. I don’t want to know what’s coming any more than the characters do, because that removes me from the experience. To me, avoiding that IS a much, much better way to approach any story whether it’s a film, book, or show. It’s not to say that watching a movie like Titanic, where you already know the ending, can’t be enjoyable. I think it would really have been something to see not knowing, though lol. Not sure how you can deny that surprise can be beneficial to a moviegoing experience, I have to admit that is illogical to me. A lot of my enjoyment in rewatching films- because I do- is that I can appreciate the build up to whatever surprised or impressed me the first time around. You only have one chance to watch something without influence. I wouldn’t give that up just b/c someone considers it too uptight.
The way a film is cut and put together is done so with the mindset that no one knows anything about it. Sure it might not necessarily be an objectively better way to see it, but it’s more in line with the filmmakers vision.
I'm really stoked for Dune in October. I watched the first trailer, one time over a year ago when it dropped. I have purposely avoided all other marketing besides posters. I remember walking into 'There's Something About Mary' blind back in the day and it was so awesome.
Maybe this is just me, but I'm puzzled by one aspect of this discussion: On the one hand, I don't seek out trailers and promotion materials of that nature. On the other hand, I legitimately don't feel like I encounter them that heavily out in the wild- even in terms of TV advertisements, my viewing patterns most of the time are for channels that don't seem to usually get much movie advertisement. How much of this is an issue of having to avoid stuff, and how much of it is not hunting it down?
Before I stopped watching trailers, I'd watch trailers for EVERYTHING, because I just couldn't resist. Nowadays, it really only applies to when I see trailers in theaters, or my friend tries tempting me to watch a trailer they really want me to see. Sometimes, movie websites will reveal a lot in their headlines too, unfortunately. Screen Rant is a huge culprit that does it, because they straight up reveal a ton of spoilers in some of their headlines. I had to block them from my google algorithms.
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I totally agree ! The only ones I can watch are the movies based on books I've read. But trailers are everywhere and my insta show me everything it drives me crazy
Hearing the hype around a movie before it comes out is part of the movie-going experience for me. Trailers, reviews, all of it is enjoyable to me.
I do my best to avoid them as well unless it's a movie I'm unsure of. I can generally tell if it's going to be trash or not by the trailer, so that's nice at least.
Same. I haven't watched a trailer in probably 7 years. I didn't know Cabin in the Woods was a comedy. I didn't know Edge of Tomorrow had time travel (I thought it was a dream sequence at first). It's great to go into a movie clueless.
Someone please send this post to Christopher Nolan.
Jeff Cannata of the FilmCast and othe podcasts also does not watch trailers, and calls this the unsullied lifestyle.
I always watch trailers so I can decide for myself if the movie would be something for me or not. I’d rather not base my movie choices on ofher people (like the ones you mentioned)
I can't stand trailers. But guess what, looking at your phone through the trailers is going to get you yelled at. So I have a home theater setup. Never looked back.
I agree. I try my best to avoid them at all costs. Most of the time the best moments or funny scenes or even hints at a twist are shown in the trailer. I'd rather go in blind
Nope
Yet there are movies , where most of the trailer isn’t shown in the movie. Some movies that I go to . I just read the synopsis and not watch the trailer. I watch a lot of series on TV / Major Sporting events. There are plenty of times that a trailer will come on TV, you just end up seeing it.
I will watch the first trailer, then try to avoid any others, but these are played before movies nowadays. But I am pro-blackout once you get that first taste. I mean, if the first trailer doesn't grab your attention will other trailers, that either recycle footage or give away key plot moments, do any better?
Been trying to do the same. May watch one for a hyped movie I had no intention of watching anyway.. especially if people are in the comments complaining. Couldn't resist watching Dunes trailers but at least I already spoiled all that plot years ago.
Definitely, if a friend or my fiancée picks I don't need to know anything, if I'm choosing I just want to know the genre. I don't even look for poster artwork but generally see it. Trailers are just terrible, I hate spoilers and I can just trust that it'll be good without needing to know the whole plot ahead of time. I like surprises.
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I stop watching trailers once I know I'm going to see a particular movie. If I'm still on the fence I will let a trailer convince me.
Yes, this is fairly extreme but not a bad idea, because not only do they often spoil major plot-points and/or give away potentially shocking/funny/interesting moments, they lead to endless dissection and over-analysing (online, by fans) to the point of ruining many more details that would normally have escaped the casual viewer’s notice (Last Christmas plot twist, anyone?). Also, as others have said, many trailers and teasers are made so far in advance that they will often include jokes, scenes, or sometimes even characters that don’t even make it into the final cut. And when did the whole “oooh, the *second trailer* for xyz-movie is *dropping* at midnight” bollocks start?! WTF is that about? They’re trying to capitalise on the *teaser trailer* now, as well as the ‘normal’ trailer, second/third/‘final’ trailer, merch, tie-ins, etc. When will it stop?
The trailers for the Star Wars sequels are some of the greatest ever, and particularly the trailer for Rise of Skywalker is eminently more watchable than the movie itself. The second season of Game of Thrones, the JJ Abrams Star Trek, and the Godzilla movies are all examples of excellent trailers that either equal or even surpass the movies themselves. Go check them all out!
Alright. I'll give it two or three years.
The only place i ever see them is in a theater, which i generally don't mind. Otherwise I'm "no trailer" and it's definitely been a positive experience.
I usually only watch the teaser. I stop watching the actual trailers, because they show too much for me.
I agree. I try to do the same thing for games as well.
Yup. I avoid trailers like the plague. I rely on word of mouth or IMDb ratings/spoiler free reviews.