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Great trailer, shame about the movie

Great trailer, shame about the movie

Great trailer, shame about the movie
Danielle de Wolfe
07 January 2014

Creating a trailer that sells a two-hour film in just two minutes is an art form in itself, especially given the notoriously short attention span of, well, everyone. There's nothing we love more than a truly great trailer, other than cold hard cash, so when a doozy comes along, we're usually salivating for more.

But sometimes, when more comes, it's usually in the shape of a crushing disappointment. Which brings us to eight great trailers which were infinitely better than the movies they were advertising.

Battle: Los Angeles

What it promised: Thanks to a combination of stunning visuals and a hair-raising sample from Icelandic musician Jóhann Jóhannsson, we were expecting an action film that also delivered an emotional punch.

What it delivered: Well we were so wrong. The action was loud and dull while the characters and any attempt at emotion was utterly ham-fisted. We blame our disappointment all on that brilliant damn song.

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Godzilla

What it promised: This tongue in cheek teaser was smartly attached to The Lost World ,a year before release, and suggested that the new incarnation of Godzilla would add some wit to the eye-popping visuals.

What it delivered: A film which was completely devoid of both wit and intelligence. Unless you find Hank Azaria calling Jean Reno "Mr Paris" funny.

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Sucker Punch

What it promised: A bold new sci-fi epic that manages to create a visually thrilling new world and, refreshingly, populate it with a strong female cast.

What it delivered: An almost incoherent excuse to combine nonsensical video game action with some offensively sexist stereotypes.

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Bad Teacher

What it promised: A foul-mouthed comedy about an unprofessional and relentlessly cruel teacher filled with dark humour and a riotous turn from Cameron Diaz.

What it delivered: A more restrained comedy which overplayed its one-joke premise and softened far too easily.

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Along Came A Spider

What it promised: A fitting follow-up to Kiss the Girls that delivered Seven-esque suspense along with some elaborate setpieces and some genuinely surprising twists.

What it delivered: A rather plodding thriller that, aside from an opening sequence misused in the trailer, failed to deliver any actual thrills or a remotely convincing performance from Monica Potter

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Terminator: Salvation

What it promised: The Terminator film we deserved after the disappointing third chapter. A selection of crackly glimpses of some awesome apocalyptic imagery along with Bale's moody voiceover and that unforgettable theme kicking in at the end made us very very excited.

What it delivered: Utter disappointment, in spades Aside from some arresting visuals, the plot was half-baked and so the film became a loud mess with no human involvement.

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House At The End Of The Street

What it promised: Okay so it shows a lot of the movie but the unusual structure (teling the story backwards) is unique for a trailer and helps to suggest that it's an equally unusual Hitchcockian thriller.

What it delivered: A lurid and toothless teen thriller that used increasingly absurd twists to liven up an otherwise overly familiar storyline.

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Superman Returns

What it promised: This utterly thrilling teaser had us chomping at the bit for more. Perfectly structured, it hinted at a sense of wonder that would continue to differentiate the Superman movies from other superhero offerings.

What it delivered: One of the most underwhelming superhero films ever made, the horrible miscasting of the leads and the dull plot meant this was stillborn.