Something about movie trailers that bugs me

[Zorak Masaki]

I just got back from Spider Man 3 and one of the trailers before the film was for some happy feet knockoff called "surfs up" about surfing penguins. The song used in the trailer was green day's "welcome to paradise". Do the people in charge of these trailers even LISTEN to the songs in question? The song is about leaving home and moving to the slums and how bad it is, not about surfing in "paradise". Its as bad as kids films using "semi-charmed life" (a song about smack addiction) and "tubthumping" (A song about getting blasted on beer) in film trailers from the late 90s/early 2000s.

[Tobias]

What annoys me about movie trailers is when they use scenes that never make it into the final cut.

[The Weed Of Cri]

Even worse is when they keep using the same songs over and over again. Drowning Pool's "Bodies" shows up in the trailers for Daredevil, Blade: Trinity, and The Punisher. Was there some kind of rule that this song had to be used to promote every second-tier Marvel character to hit the big screen?

Even worse is when classic songs are redone by bands that the movie studio's corporate owners are trying to cross-promote with their record companies. In the trailer for Shrek, the song "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees is featured prominently. But when it finally shows up in the film (in the closing credits), it is performed by (Ugh!) Smash Mouth, easily one of the most over-rated, over-hyped bands of the last decade.

[Undrave]

Even worse is when they keep using the same songs over and over again. Drowning Pool's "Bodies" shows up in the trailers for Daredevil, Blade: Trinity, and The Punisher. Was there some kind of rule that this song had to be used to promote every second-tier Marvel character to hit the big screen?

Even worse is when classic songs are redone by bands that the movie studio's corporate owners are trying to cross-promote with their record companies. In the trailer for Shrek, the song "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees is featured prominently. But when it finally shows up in the film (in the closing credits), it is performed by (Ugh!) Smash Mouth, easily one of the most over-rated, over-hyped bands of the last decade.

Isn't Smash Mouth's 'I'm a Believer' used in like...a dozen movies?!

[Discloner]

I just got back from Spider Man 3 and one of the trailers before the film was for some happy feet knockoff called "surfs up" about surfing penguins.

Blah. From a thread on the film found here (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=187583):

Animated films gestate for 3 or 4 years before they're released, so its not as if Sony Animation went "Hey look, people liked March of the Penguins and Happy Feet - lets release a film with Penguins in the summer!". Truthfully I like the style a lot - the Mocumentary/hand-held feel. Plus the characters themselves are hilariously modeled - those baby Penguins are funny just to look at.

As to your annoyance of the music choice for trailers...well...I can generally agree with you there, though I suspect most of the trailers I care the most about don't really fall into such practices. For something like an action flick or animated movie - sure...but for me atleast I'm far more concerned with the visuals in those genres then how well the music fits in with the theme of the movie.

You want to talk about odd music in jutaposition to content, how about the use of 'Blister in the Sun' for the new Wendy's commercials?

[Lonestarr]

Isn't Smash Mouth's 'I'm a Believer' used in like...a dozen movies?!

I think you're thinking of "All-Star". Oh, and "Walking on Sunshine" needs to go away. Forever.

[Mynd Hed]

Blah. From a thread on the film found here (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=187583):

It is weird how these CGI talking animal flicks seem to come in pairs, though, isn't it? Antz and Bug's Life, Finding Nemo and Shark Tale, Madagascar and The Wild....

On-topic: If I see Green Day's "American Idiot" used in a trailer or commercial to indicate that the character being shown is A.) American and B.) an idiot one more time, I'll... be more sick of it than I already am, I guess. Seriously, it's getting almost as old as using James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" to indicate that the character shown-- you guessed it!-- feels good. Subtle, much?

[Temple Fugate]

I get annoyed when I hear orchestral scores in trailers that belong to other movies that already came out. I think I've heard Matrix soundtracks in several sci-fi effects-fests in the past few years. The use of such scores make me think about that other film instead of this newer, probably lower quality film.

Also, if it doesn't belong to another movie, I get upset if a trailer has a fantastic score and the music never shows up on the OST or on the DVD.

Vocal songs don't bother me too much, unless as already pointed out, they clash with the point of the trailer. Lately I've been very put off by "Dead or Alive" being used to heavily advertise Deadliest Catch. Are crabs outlaws now? And if the CRABS are the ones wanted dead or alive, then the show should be ABOUT them and TOLD by them, since the song is ABOUT the outlaw and TOLD by the outlaw. I'm not slamming the show or the fact that these people really ARE risking their lives just to catch crab. I just think that is a terrible song choice. (Not to mention unoriginal.)

Finally, my biggest gripe is when the DVD of the movie comes out and it DOESN'T include the trailers. (But of course they had no trouble throwing in six or seven trailers for OTHER movies.)

(Side note...not a gripe, just an observation...the tendency many trailers have to stick "Now..." in. It's a clever and almost unnoticed technique to enhance audience interest without actually adding any content to the trailer.)

[Zubby]

It's not just trailers-commercials use inappropriate music all the time. There was a commercial for Carnival cruises a few years ago that used Iggy Pop's Lust for Life. If you know the lyrics, you'd know how that is just wrong.

The past coupe of years, there's been a local (Chicago area) commercial for the Wisconsin Dells (a popular family vacation spot). The commercial prominantly features the song Holiday Road, which was written for the movie National Lampoon's Vacation. I don't know why they would want people to associate a vacation in the Dells with the events of that movie, what with a dog being tied to the bumper of a car and drug to death, and having to strap a dead aunt's body onto the roof of the car.

[DarthGonzo]

How about all the trailers that use music from The Nightmare Before Christmas?

[Undrave]

I think you're thinking of "All-Star". Oh, and "Walking on Sunshine" needs to go away. Forever.

All three really. 'I'm a believer' is used in a lot of 'romantic fooling around montage' type of sequences. Like in Austin Powers 2 for exemple.

[Classic Speedy]

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" is way overused in family trailers. Fairly recently it was used in "Monster House"'s trailers/commercials.

[Jeff Harris]

I think there should be a moritorium on songs to be used in movie trailers or any kind of promotional device.

Here's a small sampling. Please add on.

"Walking on Sunshine"
"I Got You (I Feel Good)"
"I've Got The Power"
"Bad to the Bone"
"Let's Get Retarded/It Started"
"All Star"

[EinBebop]

I remember for years every trailer for any movie that could remotely be considered fantasy had the theme from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

What's funny is that the original theatrical trailer for Robin Hood had the music from Willow.

[Ragebot]

How about all the trailers that use music from The Nightmare Before Christmas?

I thought that it worked pretty good for one of the Corpse Bride trailers, actually.

[langden alger]

i think the old saturday night live sketch lampooned all of this perfectly. the one where molly shannon and the rest of the audience is essentially trapped in a theatre with non-stop bad movie trailers.(all featuring shelly long) every one of them kept using 'i feel good' by james brown.

south park also touched on it with a running gag with various rob shienider movie trailers. every one had the same phrase 'but his life..was about to change.' and the same music as every other trailer would hit.

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

I just hate that they go on and on and on and on and...yeah. I don't even care if I walk into the theater a few minutes late, cuz that means I won't have to sit through so much annoyance. Besides, if it's a trailer for a movie I actually want to see, there are times where I don't want any spoilers, so I don't even wanna see the trailer in the first place.

Oh, and those trailers on TV that go on for 2 or 3 minutes are annoying, too. They feel much longer than they already are. The latest offender is that Luke Wilson movie, whatever it's called.

[tb4000]

I also enjoy the oft used "record scratch" to signify when a character does or says something stupid, and the music screeches to a halt.

[Peter Paltridge]

"I've Got The Power" officially hit rock bottom when they used it in a diaper ad.

[Temple Fugate]

When I went to see Grindhouse, Regal did their "Feature Presentation" reel with the roller coaster (My favorite "Feature Presentation" graphic of all time), but then...THEY WENT TO MORE TRAILERS. Actual trailers for actual movies, not the Machete trailer. I was like "What the hell? You just said you were starting the feature presentation!"

[Classic Speedy]

When I went to see Grindhouse, Regal did their "Feature Presentation" reel with the roller coaster (My favorite "Feature Presentation" graphic of all time), but then...THEY WENT TO MORE TRAILERS. Actual trailers for actual movies, not the Machete trailer. I was like "What the hell? You just said you were starting the feature presentation!" Man, that's low. It reminds me of "Jaws Wired Shut" on The Simpsons when the announcer says: "And now, our feature presentation. (higher voice) If THAT'S a phrase you like to hear, then-" And Homer goes berzerk. :p

[DarthGonzo]

I also enjoy the oft used "record scratch" to signify when a character does or says something stupid, and the music screeches to a halt.

They tend to do that the most when a character is about to curse.

"I'm gonna kick your..." RECORD SCRATCH!!!

[Shawn Hopkins]

Ads in general often appropriate music for the completely wrong ends. I remember an ad for jeans or something that used the line from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" that goes "Some folks are made, born to wave the flag, oh they're red white and blue" to create sort of a feelgood, look at the pretty patriotic people vibe. That completely ignores that the entire rest of the song is an attack on blind patriotism and chickenhawks. The "Lust For Life" deal is pretty hilarious, too.

Here's a link with the jeans ad and a few other examples:

http://noho-missives.blogspot.com/2002/07/fortunate-son-jeans.html

[TheMecca]

They tend to do that the most when a character is about to curse.

"I'm gonna kick your..." RECORD SCRATCH!!!
"You are one bad son of a... WOAHHHHH!"
See: Rush Hour series, assorted comedies with Eddie Murphy, etc.

[tb4000]

Nothing beats the classic narrators, though.

In a world.....where chaos reigns....one man....will step up to the challenge.
*cue eerie operatic choir*

[Michael24]

Has anybody seen the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian? It's a great spoof of movie trailers and their narrations, with that one "trailer voice guy." (Not Don LaFontaine; I can't remember this guy's name.)

[Discloner]

When I went to see Grindhouse, Regal did their "Feature Presentation" reel with the roller coaster (My favorite "Feature Presentation" graphic of all time), but then...THEY WENT TO MORE TRAILERS. Actual trailers for actual movies, not the Machete trailer. I was like "What the hell? You just said you were starting the feature presentation!"
I'd always assumed that in a situation where this happens - it was less the theaters fault, and more the fact that the ditributing company (Wienstien for Grindhouse right?) attached a trailer to the film so it'd definetly be shown. Like...a Pixar movie preview before a pixar movie, where it'll be in all showings and not just programmed by the theater itself.

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

I remember an ad for jeans or something that used the line from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" that goes "Some folks are made, born to wave the flag, oh they're red white and blue" to create sort of a feelgood, look at the pretty patriotic people vibe. That completely ignores that the entire rest of the song is an attack on blind patriotism and chickenhawks.
I remember that. Did they use the original CCR version, or the watered down U2 cover? (I like U2, but that song is supposed to be sung with some angst to it, not so laid back. ;) ) Actually, now that I think about it, I think it was a woman singing that part. At any rate, yeah, not much point to it.

[Peter Paltridge]

When trailers create more questions than answers as to what the movie's about, it's kinda annoying.

I just got back from Spider-Man 3, and if you got the same trailers I got, then you should know what trailer scene I'm referring to......

"NAAAAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAAAAH, HEEEEY JUUUUDE!"

What the....???? Explain that scene to me.

[Temple Fugate]

I'd always assumed that in a situation where this happens - it was less the theaters fault, and more the fact that the ditributing company (Wienstien for Grindhouse right?) attached a trailer to the film so it'd definetly be shown. Like...a Pixar movie preview before a pixar movie, where it'll be in all showings and not just programmed by the theater itself.Yeah, I'll bet that happened. I believe it was the Die Hard trailer, which belongs to the same company.


Has anybody seen the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian? It's a great spoof of movie trailers and their narrations, with that one "trailer voice guy." (Not Don LaFontaine; I can't remember this guy's name.)I'll always contest that the best movie trailer parody belongs to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Ads in general often appropriate music for the completely wrong ends. I remember an ad for jeans or something that used the line from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" that goes "Some folks are made, born to wave the flag, oh they're red white and blue" to create sort of a feelgood, look at the pretty patriotic people vibe. That completely ignores that the entire rest of the song is an attack on blind patriotism and chickenhawks.

I had no idea about that until my roommate pointed it out to me. Do they do these types of things because they can't find a truly patriotic song or they don't really know what the songs are about?


When trailers create more questions than answers as to what the movie's about, it's kinda annoying.

I just got back from Spider-Man 3, and if you got the same trailers I got, then you should know what trailer scene I'm referring to......

"NAAAAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAAAAH, HEEEEY JUUUUDE!"

What the....???? Explain that scene to me.

I was wondering about that too. Guess you had to live in the 60's to understand.

[Michael24]

Yeah, I'll bet that happened. I believe it was the Die Hard trailer, which belongs to the same company.

"Hey Jude" in the Live Free or Die Hard trailer!? Huh! I've seen the trailer countless times on-line and there's no song used in it. (Just an awesome electric guitar version of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy.")

Also, Die Hard is Fox, Spider-Man is Columbia. :)

[Temple Fugate]

"Hey Jude" in the Live Free or Die Hard trailer!? Huh! I've seen the trailer countless times on-line and there's no song used in it. (Just an awesome electric guitar version of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy.")

Also, Die Hard is Fox, Spider-Man is Columbia. :)I was not responding to the "HEY JUDE" post. :sweat: I just now edited in the quote for clarification. ^

And the trailer I was thinking of may not have been Die Hard, but I just did an Internet search and found an article confirming (http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/03/31/live-free-or-die-hard-trailer-in-the-grindhouse/) that Fox purposefully attached Die Hard to Grindhouse, although the films were produced and distributed by different companies. Maybe they struck some kind of deal.

[Peter Paltridge]

I think the reference was to the trailer for Across the Universe (http://acrosstheuniverse.com/)...
Yes, that was the name. Is there any particular reason why they'd be using the same song to promote a Die Hard movie?

[Temple Fugate]

Yes, that was the name. Is there any particular reason why they'd be using the same song to promote a Die Hard movie?That's the last time I'll ever respond to someone without quoting them first. :ack: I was not responding to your post. Die Hard is a completely unrelated topic to what you were asking.

[AhmedtheHead]

What annoys me about movie trailers is when they use scenes that never make it into the final cut.

THAT annoys me. The trailers for Inspector Gadget, Dudley Do-Right, The Master of Disguise, Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Pink Panther are pure examples. The companies don't even put the scenes on the DVD's. What's the use?

[Michael24]

Ah. Okay, thanks for clearing that up, Temple. Funny how easy a topic can divert just from a missing quote. :D

[Temple Fugate]

THAT annoys me. The trailers for Inspector Gadget, Dudley Do-Right, The Master of Disguise, Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Pink Panther are pure examples. The companies don't even put the scenes on the DVD's. What's the use?Don't forget Star Trek: Nemesis. HALF the trailer wasn't in the film, and most of the deleted scenes weren't in the initial DVD release.


Ah. Okay, thanks for clearing that up, Temple. Funny how easy a topic can divert just from a missing quote. :DYeah, I didn't think the quote was necessary but the way I worded my response made it pretty vague what I was responding to. My fault for assuming people wouldn't automatically think I was responding to the post directly above me.

[Swordfish_II]

THAT annoys me. The trailers for Inspector Gadget, Dudley Do-Right, The Master of Disguise, Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Pink Panther are pure examples. The companies don't even put the scenes on the DVD's. What's the use?

Well, the trailers are usually made be entirely different people than the ones editing the movie, and sometimes before the finished movie is even edited.

[EinBebop]

I was surprised to watch School for Scoundrels and discover the funniest part of the trailer (paintball to the groin) had been cut from the movie; there weren't even any deleted scenes.