Saturday, January 01, 2011

Best Movie Trailers of 2010

Here are my top 10 mainstream movie trailers from 2010:

10. A-Team (trailer #2)

Okay, admittedly, this was a guilty pleasure for me. I was excited at the prospect of seeing Sharlto Copley as Murdock, but this trailer got me interested in everything else. It looks over-the-top and fun, just like the tv show upon which it is based. Regardless of what you may think of the film itself, this trailer was exciting. I was addicted to saying, "I'm B.A., and you're gonna be unconscious" for a while. The skyscraper-helicopter stunt at the end is pretty damn cool - much better than the flying tank scene from the first trailer. I only wish they would have incorporated the intro monologue ("If you can find them..." etc.) in this trailer, too.






9. Clash of the Titans (trailer #2)

Yes, another guilty pleasure trailer for a crap movie. This is almost the same as the first trailer, only this time around we get to see the Kraken and hear Liam Neeson utter awesomeness like, "Turn them on each other" and of course, "Release the Kraken!" Also, that god-awful tagline "Titans. Will. Clash" is replaced by "Damn. The. Gods." which is a little better, and always made me and my friends laugh when it seemed like the trailer was simply saying "DAMN" at its own awesomness. Oh, and don't pretend like you don't enjoy those giant scorpions keeping the beat.



8. Tron: Legacy (trailer #1)

Even non-Tron fans must have felt the tingles and jingles when they first saw this trailer. It shows just enough to tease the audience, which is why I like it more than any of the other trailers. The grid, the lightcycles, the costumes, the recognizers, and Jeff Bridges - all look wild. And the trailer music - presumably Daft Punk - kicks ass. Again, regardless of how you feel about this movie, you gotta admit this trailer is worthy of a nerd boner or two.



7. Inception (teaser)

I am especially fond of the teaser because it was incredible at the time. I remember watching this thing and going "What the FUCK is this movie about?!" even though I thought I already knew. The few teasing shots (especially Gordon-Levitt flying down the hallway) combined with that addictive "BRAAAAAAAAHMM" music made for one sweet trailer.



6. The Expendables (Call to Arms trailer)

Even if this self-proclaimed "ultimate action flick" turned out to be a fairly tame disappointment, this was a hilarious trailer. Even the red band screen is funny. The trailer starts by berating men for letting women take over Hollywood, and throws in a Call of Duty reference for good measure. Then it lets loose a montage of non-stop action set to Andrew WK's "I Get Wet" and demands guys come see "the only men you are allowed to love." My favorite part of the trailer is when it says "You will see this movie. Not off your torrents. In a fucking theater." It's a shame the movie wasn't as manly and awesome as this trailer.



5. Black Swan

A beautiful, dark trailer for a beautiful, dark film. The music is haunting and I love the use of black feathers behind the text cards. In two minutes, the trailer sums up Nina's transformation from innocent ballerina into a tormented "black swan." I still get chills at the climax - "What happened to my sweet girl?" "She's GONE!"



4. Battle Los Angeles

I can understand why some people hate this trailer - namely, the choice of music. Personally, I love it. Johann Johannsson's appropriately-titled "The Sun's Gone Dim" is absolutely haunting and fits the footage perfectly. This could have easily been a Michael Bay-esque trailer like Skyline had, but instead it reminds me more of District 9. The haunting music combined with scenes of the Earth being attacked by an extraterrestrial menace and very gritty, realistic battle scenes give me goosebumps for the entire length of the trailer. And that final shot of a soldier's terrified face at 1:53 (set to a bone-chilling muffled scream) is absolutely perfect. This is the kind of trailer where I sorta feel like I just got my ass kicked when it's over. I cannot wait to see this film.



3. Sucker Punch (trailer #1)

And this is the kinda trailer where I feel like I need a cigarette after watching it. So much epic bad-assery in one small video, I can barely handle it. There are ass-kicking girls, giant samurais, robots, dragons, explosions, and every other amazing thing you can think of. Zach Snyder trailers usually deliver and this is no exception. It is raw awesome and pure sexuality, especially the obvious symbolism at 1:12. The accompaniment of Lords of Acid's "Crablouse" is a perfect fit. Yes, the second trailer had Led Zeppelin, but overall it could not touch the visceral impact of this trailer.



2. True Grit (teaser)

A stunningly beautiful trailer for a fine film. The song is what really makes it - "Where No One Stands Alone" by The Peasall Sisters. The lyrics and haunting female vocalists create an ideal atmosphere for the trailer. The heavy bass and roaring thunder in the background help, too. The trailer is brief but I absolutely love it.



I also love the theatrical trailer, so it's worth posting here. Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" is a perfect song for this movie and it makes for one awesome trailer. Where the teaser is beautiful, this trailer is purely bad-ass.



1. The Social Network

Just when we were all sick of hearing Radiohead's "Creep", this trailer utilized it with incredible results. Using Scala and Kolacny Brothers' choir version of the song over images of Facebook creates something profoundly beautiful and haunting. The themes of the song tie in perfectly with what Facebook has become. I cannot imagine a more perfect song choice. "I don't care if it hurts. I want to have control." And the way the music swells as Mark Zuckerberg's life falls apart in the trailer gives me chills every time. Simply put, this is a perfect trailer.



UPDATE: I forgot about the "Buried" teaser trailer so I wanted to throw it in here. I love the Hitchcockian look and music of this one!



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Best Worst Movie Trailers of 2010

Just for fun, here are some of my favorite lesser-known trailers. By no means am I implying that these films will be bad,they are just 2010's best low-budget, B-movie trailers. Here we go, in no particular order:

* Army of Wolves

This looks like a god-awful Dog Soldiers rip-off, but this trailer is hilarious. 1:05 kills me everytime. And is that Seth Rogen at 1:28?



* THEMS

A parody of campy 1950s black-and-white monster films. Just watch it.



* Hobo with a Shotgun

It needs no explanation.



* Roid Rage

One of the better grindhouse-inspired trailers to come out of the woodwork lately. Make sure you watch it until the very end to hear one great tagline.



* Who Killed Captain Alex?

Uganda throws their hat into the action movie ring. ALALALALALALALALALA ACTION!



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Finally...

Best Fake Trailer: Clown

2 comments:

Sean D. said...

Nice List. You picked some good trailers. If I had to name my three mainstream favorites, they're all on here. They would be Battle Los Angeles, Social Network, and the True Grit trailer. I'm with you on the music choice for BLA. It's so beautiful and eerie at the same time. Whoever cut that trailer has some talent. I hope the whole movie carries a similar feel.

As for your other picks, I completely forgot about Army of Wolves! haha You're right about that guy looking like Seth Rogen too. I never noticed that before, heh. I'm going to see if the movie is on Netflix after I post this comment.

I really hope THEMS finds its way to our area sometime in 2011. That looks like it could be a lot of fun. And, Who Killed Captain Alex? may be everything The Expendables should have been, hehe. We need to get our hands on that movie.

HitmanDJ said...

Great list, Sad that some of these movies had great trailers and terrible movies(mainly Expendables). I completely agree with your number one for best trailer, so perfect.