Open Forum Friday: Do Red Band Trailers Spoil the Best Parts of a Movie?
When it comes to movie marketing, I don’t know if anything will ever be quite as effective as a good trailer. Seeing is believing, as they say, and actual clips from a film are the best way to give the audience an idea of what to expect, and to prove that a movie is worth getting excited about. The catch 22 is that if the filmmakers show too much ahead of time, people might end up being let down when they see the final product — either because there are no surprises left, or because the movie couldn’t maintain the same level of quality all the way through.
I’m sure at some point we’ve all heard someone utter the phrase, “All the best parts were in the trailer”, and I think this is becoming more and more common and time goes on. Nowadays studios don’t care if they spoil a movie for you just as long as they get your money, and this is further exemplified by the new trend of releasing R-rated “red band” trailers for films. It used to be that an R-rated comedy, horror or action movie could not show some of its “money shots” ahead of time, because trailers had to remain suitable for a general audience. With more and more red band trailers showing up online, however, all of the edgiest jokes and most extreme action are now revealed for all to see.
While I understand that in some cases a G-rated trailer can completely misrepresent an R-rated movie, the problem is that studios no longer have a reason to show any restraint. They don’t want to hold anything back, because they want to get your attention at any cost. What do you think? Are red band trailers good or bad for movie marketing? Are they giving away too much of the movie? Can you say the same for all trailers in general? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.
Comments (7)
I don’t think they give away much more than regular trailers, sometimes they give you a much better idea of what to expect (IE Burn After Reading)
Posted by MJS on July 31st, 2009I think the red band trailers are a detriment to the movie industry. There’s something magical about the anticipation of what’s to come in a film. That feeling of surprise when the gag is revealed or you get to witness a TV star udder a swear word in a movie…that’s cheapened by the red band trailer.
I know in our fast-food-culture where we want everything now it seems to fit, but I think it’s robbing us of the cinematic experience of expectation.
Posted by Dan on July 31st, 2009I got into this pretty heavily a few weeks back. In most cases I agree with the above commenter (Dan). Every now and then a red band can give a better idea of what the film is about, but chances are I already know what the film is rated and I already know what the film is about and can judge the movie by who is in it and who directed it. A regular trailer is enough. I try to avoid red bands if I can.
Isn’t there a red band for District 9? Or maybe not, but I know I avoided the 2nd trailer like the plague (successful so far). I already know 100% I’m seeing the movie, why would I want to see more footage that will take away from the experience when I get to see it. While half the theater will say to themselves, “I already saw that in the trailer,” I can say, “Oooooh”.
Posted by Andrew James on July 31st, 2009I remember back in the day when some trailers were just a floating title for the movie paired with narration. There’s something to be said for the simplicity in that. I think I builds interest and if some movies were only advertised using that method (albeit vigorously through all media formats) that sheer curiosity would bring people to the theatre. I don’t think it’s the reb band trailers that ruin movies, but trailers in general. A single image, piece of dialogue, or intriguing yet mysterious plot synopsis can be far more effective than showing the entire movie in a minute.
The other problem is showing a whole VERSION of the movie in the trailer that isn’t really what the REAL movie is. So many trailers present a film with the whole “from the producers/directors of” and then edit the trailer to look like other movies you MAY HAVE liked. It’s a belabored point to say that Hollywood is unoriginal, but it’s really become nauseatingly, boringly so. I think people are more open than they’re given credit for and if there wasn’t such an attempt to make every movie’s marketing geared towards EVERYONE then maybe people would discover that a little variety is refreshing from time to time.
Posted by Fatbologna on July 31st, 2009I can’t stand the exact opposite, which is most video game tv ads which hardly show any gameplay and have some lame marginally related video that is implied to somehow relate to the game or tries to say the game is cool without ever showing the actual game. Even worse is the completely cryptic ads like the U R (/) red e campaign that launched the 1st Playstation back in 95′. Maybe movies need mascots like the ghost from the Ghostbusters logo to make the product stand out amongst the competition.
Posted by Duke Togo on August 1st, 2009Has anyone else noticed that some of the recent red bands have just been flat-out unfunny? Funny People and the newest on The Goods both come to mind.
Posted by Matt on August 2nd, 2009Sometimes I don’t understand why the ruin the movie in the first place. For instance, the new Terminator movie ruined the fact that Sam Worthington was a robot which we’ve been a nice surprise. And would’ve made the move a little bit more interesting.
Posted by Chris on August 3rd, 2009Leave a Reply