Has the Internet Ruined the Movie Trailer Experience?

[Rowsdower!]

I went to see BvS the other day and finally saw the latest Civil War trailer on the big screen. Now, up until this point, I had only seen it on my computer and I wasn't particularly crazy about anything I saw in it. Nothing in it looked bad; I just wasn't chomping at the bit to see it. However, after finally seeing it on the big screen, all I could think was GIVE THIS MOVIE TO ME NOW. My date had a similar reaction, only it was even better for her because she hadn't seen the trailer before. When Spider-Man showed up, she almost jumped out of her seat. She was so excited she turned to me and was like, "Wait, what movie did we come here to see again?"

It got me thinking that perhaps movie studios are doing themselves a disservice by releasing trailers for these big tentpole franchises online immediately. While we, as fans, love to see these trailers as soon as they're released and watch them over and over online, that can often lead to nitpicking. Furthermore, watching them in a tiny little window on your computer (usually in the middle of your work day, be honest) can make them feel a tad underwhelming, as opposed to seeing them on the big screen for the first time.

While it's too late to go back to pre-YouTube days, I have to ask whether you feel that watching movie trailers online has, on the whole, dampened your overall excitement for big blockbuster movies. If you were only able to see these trailers on a huge screen with surround sound, do you think it would make you more excited for certain movies? Do you think you would still analyze every aspect of a trailer and determine what probably won't work once the film hits? I'm just curious.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Have to say I kind agree with you bro.

Had a similar sort of experience at my showing. I already saw the Apocalypse trailer so it wasn't a surprise to me but there were a number of people there who started speaking up after that trailer finished. Seemed they all liked it.

 

[Drizzle]

This is a fairly recent development since the rise of social media. Back in the '00s, a trailer would be announced to play before a certain film, then it wouldn't be released online until the following Monday after the film's opening weekend, so if you wanted to see a trailer first you would have to go see that movie in theaters or wait a few days. There was also the chance that a leaked copy recorded at a theater would show up, but that was never a guarantee. It didn't happen with every movie, but this was practiced with a great number of blockbusters back then.

Some examples that I remember are the first Spider-Man 3 trailer playing before Superman Returns for a few days before it was released online. I think it was the same case with The Dark Knight trailer in front of I Am Legend. The last trailer I remember being shown in theaters before it went online was the first Dark Knight Rises teaser in front of the last Harry Potter.

I realize that times have changed and studios understandably realize that it's better to release them online first to generate social media buzz. It works, but I still miss the days where I'd be sitting in a theater knowing that a certain trailer was supposed to be shown and going crazy with anticipation about what I was going to see.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Problem is if you try to make it a theater-only deal for a certain amount of time as Chris Nolan has done with his movies (usually for the first weekend of the trailer's release), crap quality bootlegs will show up on YouTube and elsewhere.

 

[Warhammer]

Something even worse is when some people analyze every single frame of a movie trailer just because they can. This led to me being spoiled about [blackout]the Winter Soldier's arm being ripped off[/blackout] in Captain America: Civil War. Of course, I don't know who does it or how, but that is something I wanted to be surprised about.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Something even worse is when some people analyze every single frame of a movie trailer just because they can. This led to me being spoiled about [blackout]the Winter Soldier's arm being ripped off[/blackout] in Captain America: Civil War. Of course, I don't know who does it or how, but that is something I wanted to be surprised about.

Huh, yeah that is true. I didn't see that in the trailers but if they include such things even for a second, someone is going to spot them.

 

[Alien Anal]

I think people ruined the trailer more so than the Internet. We move faster and have higher expectations of knowing everything as soon as we can. Trailers show far too much these days, personally 9/10 times I will stop a trailer halfway through once I can see they are showing me more than I need to know.

IMO just avoid getting sucked into the hype train

 

[OcStat]

I try to avoid trailers online because to me, it just gives a worse impression than seeing it on the big screen.

I did watch the Civil War trailer, was way better in the previews at the theater. Watched the Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer, realized later it showed the whole damn movie and again it was way better on the big screen in 3D than on my smart phone.

It is always great when you see a trailer you never saw coming and a movie gets put on your radar, but that experience is like ten-fold more satisfying at the movies.

 

[smallville fan]

I went to see BvS the other day and finally saw the latest Civil War trailer on the big screen. Now, up until this point, I had only seen it on my computer and I wasn't particularly crazy about anything I saw in it. Nothing in it looked bad; I just wasn't chomping at the bit to see it. However, after finally seeing it on the big screen, all I could think was GIVE THIS MOVIE TO ME NOW. My date had a similar reaction, only it was even better for her because she hadn't seen the trailer before. When Spider-Man showed up, she almost jumped out of her seat. She was so excited she turned to me and was like, "Wait, what movie did we come here to see again?"

It got me thinking that perhaps movie studios are doing themselves a disservice by releasing trailers for these big tentpole franchises online immediately. While we, as fans, love to see these trailers as soon as they're released and watch them over and over online, that can often lead to nitpicking. Furthermore, watching them in a tiny little window on your computer (usually in the middle of your work day, be honest) can make them feel a tad underwhelming, as opposed to seeing them on the big screen for the first time.

While it's too late to go back to pre-YouTube days, I have to ask whether you feel that watching movie trailers online has, on the whole, dampened your overall excitement for big blockbuster movies. If you were only able to see these trailers on a huge screen with surround sound, do you think it would make you more excited for certain movies? Do you think you would still analyze every aspect of a trailer and determine what probably won't work once the film hits? I'm just curious.

Speaking as someone who lives outside of the United States, I'd prefer trailers to be released to the internet so we all feel like we're keeping up with the rest of the world.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Speaking as someone who lives outside of the United States, I'd prefer trailers to be released to the internet so we all feel like we're keeping up with the rest of the world.

Ah, fair point. Hadn't considered that.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Yes, without a doubt.

 

[BlackFox]

We live in a time where everyone wants everything NOW. So that means every tiny scrap of information and intel is endlessly searched for and that includes fans itching to know every detail about a film before its release and its also easier to get that info with everyone having a phone in their pocket that has a camera, messages and images can be sent around the world in seconds.

This can make it hard sometimes to avoid spoilers even if your not actively looking for them.

The trouble for studios is they are damned if they do, damned if they dont.

If they dont release trailers, show enough up front - Fans reaction is immediately "they are hiding how bad it is"/"they dont care about the fans"/"its going to be a bomb"

If they do - "they've given away the plot"/"I saw all the best bits in the trailer already"

Its a fine line to walk and case in point is that trailer 2 for BvS which stole some of the thunder from the final thing in my view. On the flip side however the studios need to get bums in seats so they need to show the money shots to tempt you in.

 

[jmc]

The digital age has brought with it a level of convenience for trailers, but it's also started to rob us of experiencing something completely unexpected. I can remember hiring VHS movies when I was a kid where there were always 2 or 3 trailers before the main movie, and believe it or not some of those trailers for obscure films whose titles I can't even remember still stick in my mind today.

 

[Rowsdower!]

We live in a time where everyone wants everything NOW. So that means every tiny scrap of information and intel is endlessly searched for and that includes fans itching to know every detail about a film before its release and its also easier to get that info with everyone having a phone in their pocket that has a camera, messages and images can be sent around the world in seconds.

This can make it hard sometimes to avoid spoilers even if your not actively looking for them.

The trouble for studios is they are damned if they do, damned if they dont.

If they dont release trailers, show enough up front - Fans reaction is immediately "they are hiding how bad it is"/"they dont care about the fans"/"its going to be a bomb"

If they do - "they've given away the plot"/"I saw all the best bits in the trailer already"

Its a fine line to walk and case in point is that trailer 2 for BvS which stole some of the thunder from the final thing in my view. On the flip side however the studios need to get bums in seats so they need to show the money shots to tempt you in.

So true. Studios don't want to spoil movies but sometimes they feel a need to just to ensure they get asses in the seats. And in the case of that BVS trailer you mentioned, yeah, it was kind of a play-by-play if the movie. If you saw that, you pretty much knew what you were getting.

 

[Drizzle]

I don't know what WB was thinking with the BvS marketing campaign. They gave away EVERY money shot and plot point from the movie in the trailers. I never want to hear fanboys *****ing and moaning about not getting a third or fourth trailer ever again.

 

[redhawk23]

Perhaps we project too much importance onto our experience with corporate advertising.

 

[Rocketman]

The big problem is people overly dissecting and analyzing every solitary second of a trailer... to the point where they have a version of the movie chronologically edited in their heads, and it's not the movie they end up seeing.

 

[Quasimod0]

The last time I can remember actually being surprised by a trailer in the theater was the first Transformers teaser. I remember the audience laughing when the title came up. Little did they know that they'd be going to see many more of those movies.

Since then I've been following movies closely, and I usually see trailers online before seeing em in the theater.

 

[terry78]

I saw people recording the new Ghostbusters and the new Lego Batman trailers with their phones when I saw BvS, so that tells you everything right there. We are in a social media world now, and instant, give it to me now mindsets run rampant. "How dare you make me wait" is the nom de plume of most people.

 

[psylockolussus]

If you don't want the internet to ruin the movie trailer experience, then I guess you should skip watching the trailer online and just wait for it to be attached in a movie theater.

 

[terry78]

It's kind of hard to avoid unfortunately. In the circles I run in online and offline, people are constantly bombarding me with clips or spoilers in my feed and what not. Hell, dudes at work just now were talking about blatant plot points of BvS in front of everyone.

 

[hitmanyr2k]

I went to see BvS the other day and finally saw the latest Civil War trailer on the big screen. Now, up until this point, I had only seen it on my computer and I wasn't particularly crazy about anything I saw in it. Nothing in it looked bad; I just wasn't chomping at the bit to see it. However, after finally seeing it on the big screen, all I could think was GIVE THIS MOVIE TO ME NOW. My date had a similar reaction, only it was even better for her because she hadn't seen the trailer before. When Spider-Man showed up, she almost jumped out of her seat. She was so excited she turned to me and was like, "Wait, what movie did we come here to see again?"

I had a similar reaction at my theater. When Spider-man showed up at the end of the Civil War trailer there were collective gasps in my theater and people were genuinely shocked and buzzing about it. I sat there perplexed looking around because I had seen this trailer 20 times already and thought that people who went to these movies did the same. It made me wonder how much the casual moviegoer even looks at trailers online.

 

[terry78]

It's just us. We're weird.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I had a similar reaction at my theater. When Spider-man showed up at the end of the Civil War trailer there were collective gasps in my theater and people were genuinely shocked and buzzing about it. I sat there perplexed looking around because I had seen this trailer 20 times already and thought that people who went to these movies did the same. It made me wonder how much the casual moviegoer even looks at trailers online.

Hahaha, yeah, it makes me feel like I need to get more of a life.

 

[Rowsdower!]

The last time I can remember actually being surprised by a trailer in the theater was the first Transformers teaser. I remember the audience laughing when the title came up. Little did they know that they'd be going to see many more of those movies.

Since then I've been following movies closely, and I usually see trailers online before seeing em in the theater.

Hahaha, yeah I remember that too. People were like, "Huh? The Transformers come from Mars? WTF?"