Howdy Folks, It’s Luke (Lallen) here! I wanted to make a little change to today scheduled programme. So we are taking a step back, slowing things down a little,a and taking a personal look at my very favourite film trailers. As you are aware, Trailers are an essential cog in the movie making process. They give audiences their first look at the films content, whilst also setting the tone and pacing of the future flick. I have always found trailers and poster to be a fascinating subject matter, like a modern type of ART genre, and that probably explains why I create so many posts about the two. However, they are nearly always objective, and so I decided to share with you six of my favourite film trailers, with an in-sight to why they are special to me. So with out further delay, lets chat about My Favourite Film Trailers (And Why I Love Them!)

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring

When I first saw this trailer, I was hooked already. I’d read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in my childhood, and the prospect of seeing a live action version just blew my mind. The closest we ever came was back in the 70’s when John Boorman took up the challenge, complete with Frodo and Gladriel sex scenes and Aragon wielding both halves of the shards of Narsil, in a dramatic Orc battle. It would have been pretty epic and messed up at the same time, but the project become too expensive and Boorman quickly switched to the Arthurian epic Excalibur, which borrowed heavily from his LOTR script. I was hyped for the real deal, and when I found out that my favourite film director, Peter Jackson was behind it, my mind exploded again. This was the guy that created Brain-Dead. The guys whose first film was so low budget, he cast himself in two roles and almost killed himself making cast of his own head, when he shoved his face into a bowl of plaster. They guy that created his very own digital company to makes dancing butterfly’s for Heavenly Creatures. That guy!

I must have watched this damn trailer about 100 times, studying every aspect, every shot. I still get chills when we first hear Gollum’s classic lines from way down deep under the mountain. It’s highly polished, tightly cut and with the films superbly orchestrated score blasted over the top. The Two towers produced a trailer that was arguably better, and action packed, but it’s this one that gets me all excited again, every time I see it.

X-men First Class – Days of Future Past

Ok time to get my geek on. I was never a big comic book fan as a kid. Not because I did not like them, but because I could not get hold of them. Access to those type of things was scarce in the UK, but I collected stickers and trading cards and watched early marvel cartoons that appeared on terrestrial TV. The X-Men were indeed my favourite, hosting a wide arrange of characters and story lines. A failed TV Pilot turned film, called Generation X, came out in 1996, which followed Jubilee as she joined the titular spin-off X-Men group. It was cool film which I loved immensely, but a simple footnote in the wider X-Men film series. By the time Bryan Singer started pumping out the X-men films, I was already an uber X-men geek.

I loved all the films, even stomaching the pretty messy Origins movie. When First class came out in 2011, it was pretty much the death blow to the Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen helmed films, with a younger cast dropping into their characters shoes. It was this trailer that re-ignited my passion for comics and superhero films. Here was a film that was embracing both its past and future iterations and bringing them together into one of X-Mens most epic story lines. The trailer was action packed  With a mixture of iconic tracks such as John Murphy’s chilling score to Sunshine, but most importantly, it brought both  James McAvoy and Stewarts Charles Xavier on screen together and it’s still one of the most  powerful film images burnt into my brain.

Star Wars: Phantom Menace – Trailer #2

Having grown up in the 80s, it goes without saying that I was a huge Star Wars fan, simply by osmosis. I had Star Wars bed clothes, lunch boxes, posters, toys, books and even a couple of cool looking clocks. Whilst I might have been too young to catch the original film run, the films played every Christmas, so I got a yearly injection of Luke, Leigha Han and Chewbacca. In 1997, the remaster series came out on the big screen, and you know for sure that I was there for each film on opening night. It was an amazing experience to finally see Star Wars at the cinema, with understanding the true power (ahem) of THX surround sound (Thanks George!).

When the Phantom Menace trailers started to drop, I don’t think I knew anyone that was not excited about revisiting the world of Star Wars. It was immense. I’ve not seen marketing at such an extent for a film. It was everywhere, and it was big. There were two trailers that dropped for Menace, the first one featured a lot of Anakin Skywalker, a character that arguable ruined the first film, and it was pretty run by numbers. It was not until the second trailer hit, that we got a real look at film. With it’s main plot mapped out, lots of action, lots of light-sabres and no whiny Anakin, it was an amazing trip back to a galaxy far far away!

Requiem for a Dream

It’s the Job of all film trailers to sell the film experience to the audiences, and so it is that Darren Aronofsky’s breath-taking drama could possible be one of the most effective trailer ever made. Masterfully edited together in a fast paced, sensory overloaded, 1 minute and 30 seconds, the trailer packs all the punches of the full feature, giving us a great taste of the full flavour.

Requiem for a Dream is one of those films that is hard to watch, but hard not to re-watch. Because of it’s clever editing, tasteful sound track and one of the best ensemble casts of the noughties, Requiem caught my attention and has never let go. Since my very first look at heart racing trailer, I knew that this was going to be something special. Many trailers make the mistake of throwing a lot of images at you but with little context, and it may be the case here, until you have actually watched the film. And suddenly, this trailer becomes a little mini version of the film. It’s the cleverness of this preview that I have always admired. I love requiem for being an arty, edgy, dark drama that keeps pulling me back in. Plus, it stars Jennifer Connelly, who I’ve had a secret crush on for about forever!   

Inception

Inception is one of the finest films I’ve ever seen. Believe me when I say that I don’t say that lightly. I never went to see Inception at the cinema, to be honest it passed me by in a very busy year, and it was not until it arrived on DVD that I picked up a copy for a weekend movie. When I first put it on, I turned it off after 15 minutes. Both me and my missus just could not get our head around what we were watching. Put it down to be a late evening, or the half bottle of whiskey we had shared, but this movie just did not sit right that evening. Several months went by, when I spotted the DVD sitting on top of my cabinet, and I reminded myself that I just HAD to give it another viewing. And so I did, and I turned it off after half an hour,

It was a full blown year later until I finally gave it another shot, and for some reason, this time round I began to understand. The film finally resonated with me. It was dramatic, action packe, and deeply emotional. I must of watched Inception every Friday evening for about 4 months after my first viewing.  And when I could not watch the film, or did not have the time, I’d chuck on this trailer, just to relive a few minutes of the film.

The trailer is a masterclass of editing. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it is to edit something down like this, and yet the trailer gives you a thoroughly nourishing taste of the greater picture, and it’s just as satisfying as putting on the full film.

Mad Max: Fury Road

2015 was a funny year for film. In-particularly it was saturated with sequels, and it was a very mixed bag. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a marvel, Mission Impossible: Rogue nation was a mess, Jurassic world was incredible and Spectre was boring, Age of Ultron rocked the cash-bar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Part 2) did not. And so it was I found myself with very low expectations to the fourth film in the Mad Max series, Fury Road. Now lets set the record straight, the trailer is AMAZING. It’s this fast paced, jammed packed thrill ride that included terrible warlords, fast cars and exciting battles, everything Mad Max should be. But we have all been burned by bad trailers before, and most action films jam all the best into the short minute run time of a preview. That is what I thought I was going too see, a film where all the best bits were there in the trailer. Boy was I ever wrong. I had no been so blown away by a film before. The enormity of the films achievements were just spell binding, and I’m still in awe of George Miller, who directed this amazing film. How did this guy go from Happy Feet, to this?

I dare you to watch this trailer, taste its manic beat and not feel your heart frantically beating in your chest. The best thing about it, is that it does not spoil a thing. The entire film is a non-stop action set piece, that barely slows down, and the shots chooses for the trailer just give you a hint of the madness. I don’t think I can think of any more words to describe just how awesome the film and it’s trailer are. The trailer for Mad Max Fury Road is an exhilarating look into a world of misery and suffering, but with a hint of hope in the man they call Max. I don’t think I can think of any more words to describe just how awesome the film and it’s trailer are, so I’ll leave you with a story.

During a special preview session of the film with Miller, a man stood up and raised his hand to ask a question, “I’m an independent filmmaker here in Austin,” said the man “I was inspired by you, I grew up watching your movies. I guess my question is how the hell did you make this?” That man was Robert Rodriguez.

“Hi Horror Fans – Did you know, film trailers used to come at END of the films, hence why they are called “TRAILERS”. However, cinema patrons never stuck around long enough to watch them, so film companies started insisting that they play before the main feature. It was a tactic that worked, and led to the massive advertising phenomenon  we know today. We hope you enjoy this change of pace, but if you did not knows your time to vent your insatiable fury in the comments below. Or, you know, you could just leave us a few kind words, or share you favourite trailers below. Please share and spread the good word, and have a gloomy weekend!

Keep Rotten”

“Morti” The Mortician