Audiences were shocked and intrigued by the first trailer for “Cloverfield” (a movie no one even knew was in the works) especially by the Statue of Liberty head that comes flying into view. The expanded version of the story, though, just couldn’t quite live up to that shocking moment.
The trailer for “Terminator Salvation” promised a brand-new, dark, gritty, grounded vision for the iconic sci-fi franchise. The film itself, however, was just bleak and not any fun at all. Hey, at least “Terminator: Genysis” was just as bad.
“Star Wars: The Phantom Meance” was so highly anticipated by fans, that the trailer didn’t have to do much to win them over. A shot of a young Anakin meeting Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Yoda in his prime, a cool new villain in Darth Maul with an awesome double lightsaber, and they were sold. The film itself, well … Perhaps the abundance of Jar Jar Binks in the trailer should have been warning enough.
“Battle: Los Angeles’” trailer made it seem like it was the next incarnation of “Independence Day,” with mass destruction brought about by alien invaders. But the end result was derided by critics and moviegoers alike, who complained about how long and tedius it was.
Zack Snyder could take up several slides in this list, but “Sucker Punch” is probably best to illustrate his strong visuals, which lend themselves to amazing trailers, especially when cut together with epic music and, in this case, babes kicking ass. Unfortunately, expanded into a larger story, it never quite comes together.
“Super 8’s” first teaser was so tense and mysterious that many thought it was the second coming of “Cloverfield.” Turns out, it was more like “E.T.” Fine, but not anything like the movie that was promised by the impressive initial trailer.
Infamously hyped by Internet fans months before anything substantial was released from the film itself, “Snakes on a Plane” did the unprecedented thing and touted its insane social media awareness and excitement. When the movie was actually release, however, all that hype just fizzled as the movie failed to live up to the absurd entertainment it promised.
“Iron Man 3” appeared to promise a serious, dark potential ending for Marvel’s first superhero trilogy, with Tony Stark facing off against iconic foe The Mandarin. The trailer certainly did its job in drawing the crowds into theaters, but when they got there, they got a chaotic mess that turned The Mandarin into nothing more than a punchline.
Hot off of “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” moviegoers were excited to see another M. Night Shyamalan mystery thriller, and the trailer for “The Village” certainly promised that. But it turned out to be much more of a drama instead, with sporadic scares, and the twist at the end that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for some who had already grown weary of the director.
