10 Movie Trailers That Were Disproportionately Better Than the Movie

Sometimes we see a movie trailer that just blows us away. The promise of what is to come is so exciting that we know deep down that this is a movie we must see. We’re given hints of a world beyond expectation and imagination, something that has to be seen to be believed. Something…that turns out to be pretty gosh darn average. A movie without a single memorable quality. When we rewatch the trailer all we remember is that sense of crushing disappointment.

These are those trailers.

Stargate

Roland Emmerich really could’ve filled this list by himself. Between Independence Day, Godzilla, 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow he’s got the market on overhyped blockbusters cornered. Over time some viewers had developed a thick skin to this kind of marketing blitz but back when Stargate trailers did the rounds we where totally unprepared. It looked imaginative, action packed and unique. It looked like Indiana Jones meets Star Wars. The result? Astoundingly meh.

Oceans 12

Ocean’s Eleven was an unexpected smash hit. In spite of the hot new director at the helm and the best cast the decade had seen the movie had practically no marketing budget. The A-List cast all took a salary cut to make the film happen, so no penny was being wasted. When the sequel happened the studio was much more willing to drop some bank into the trailers. Our imaginations ran wild with the possibilities of the new heist and all the fun that was to be had. The noir style intros to the characters made the trailer a work of art in it’s own right. Then we saw it…and it was a confused mess inspired by the crew spending to much time hanging around Amsterdam.

Entrapment

It was cool, it was smooth, it was a slick looking heist movie and we always loved those. We had this great dynamic between Zeta-Jones and Connery, it had Catherine Zeta-Jones’…acting ability…

Everything single part of the movie that is cool, smooth and slick is the trailer. The rest of the movie was boring padding.

Mission: Impossible 3

The first Mission: Impossible had plenty of good ideas (and an awesome trailer) but the confused plot only existed to string together the action sequences. The follow-up took the action scenes up to 11 but failed to create a story that matched it. Then we saw the trailer for the third movie. It was directed by J.J. Abrams back when he could still be trusted with a movie instead of just marketing and it looked as though it was going to put the focus more on characters and story. Hoffman was dripping menace as he was set up as the bad guy and the action and humour seemed to be intact. Sadly it was less then memorable.

Reign of Fire

If we were to cobble together a Top 10 Things Movies Can’t Get Right (maybe we should do that…) the top of the charts would be dragons in a live action feature. There’s some nicely rendered CGI dragons doing the rounds but the films that showcase them never manage to deliver the firey goods whether it’s Jeremy Irons waving around his staff or Sean Connery mumbling the dialogue they turn out average at best. When we saw this trailer we thought they’d finally nailed it. We were wrong.

Waterworld

THE MOST EXPENSIVE MOVIE EVAR MADE!!! EVAAAAAAAAR!!! Possibly because they plugged the crap out of the movie to try and make up for the epically overblown budget.

Planet of the Apes

Those make-up effects! The stunts! The performances from Carter and Roth! Those hot new young actors! Those bold visuals! The potential!

The ending! What the fuck was up with that ending!

Catfish

This trailer just oozed mystery. The fact that it was a documentary just made it all the more incredible. Some dude meets a girl on the internet and they hit it off, they become heavily involved and he develops relationship with her and her family, sharing pics and videos, chats, music. Eventually he suggests meeting and she shuts down. He heads across the states to pay a surprise visit…only to find that the truth is…is…well, you’ll just have to see the movie to find out the astounding, shocking and thriller reveal!

It’s some crazy lady. Boring.

Paranormal Activity

Full credit to whoever put together this gem of a trailer, because it is damn good. Instead of focusing on the content of the movie they showed us the reactions of the audience in attendance. They look scared. Terrified. This movie promised to freak us out in a way we haven’t seen in a long time. Sure, some people may have been scared by the actual film…if they’re babies. Babies with nervous disorders.

Apollo 18

Smart, mysterious, shocking…this looks awesome! The historical angle adds a nice touch to a sci-fi horror. And then…it got 24% on rottentomatoes.
 Never mind.