Alright! Today I'm counting down some of my favorite movie trailers... no particular reason, I just like them, and it's nice to have a list of this sort of thing. And to spice things up, I'm writing the descriptions in the length of the trailer, so... that's fun.
Inception
This is the oldest my list gets. Recency bias? No. Most trailers before 2010 were absolutely terrible (Flashbacks to "Coming soon to own on DVD and video"). Inception was what kicked off good movie trailers. It even invented the "BWAAAH" sound! That alone gets it a spot on this list!
Man of Steel
Heaven knows my feelings about Man of Steel are mixed, but this is one epic trailer (The teaser trailer's great too). This trailer is just about everything Man of Steel should have been - a realistic take on Superman, but one still built on foundations of hope and the defining Superman question: What is he? Human? Kryptonian? Or is he something more - an ideal?
Godzilla
Godzilla's a great hidden gem. A slow gem, but a gem nonetheless. The teaser trailer is nothing short of spectacular - a nearly two-minute sequence of the human soldiers falling into "battle" with Godzilla, followed by the money shot of Godzilla's roar, all set over ominous 2001 music.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Inception may revolutionize the "BWAAAH!" sound, but Guardians of the Galaxy forever changed movie trailers by having a 70s song play throughout. The first GOTG trailer had to sell the audience of some group of randos who none of them have ever heard of - and, well, it's the third highest-grossing movie of 2014. Good job.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Age of Ultron trailer, unfortunately, ends up being more than the sum of the movie it's promoting. The trailer promises a darker, thrilling story all set to a terrifying rendition of "There Are No Strings On Me" overlaying images of robots and destruction. A two-minute montage of what looks like the Avengers facing their worst enemy yet and losing quite badly.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
People were pretty hyped for a new Star Wars movie, even if (To some fans) the last four hadn't been all that great. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer successfully sells the audience on the legacy sequel to the Original Trilogy - menacing shots of Darth Vader's fractured helmet and Han Solo's admittance of the Force being true will satisfy any fans of the franchise.
Sandwiched between the well-done nostalgia you have the new characters subtly taking center stage (Remember back when we thought Finn was the main character? Good times).
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Starting with gloomy shots of the First Order and an iconic voice-over from Supreme Leader Snoke, The Last Jedi might just have the best-scored trailer yet. For a theme that appears nowhere in the franchise, the trailer music is surprisingly iconic. Featuring teasers to the answers you had after The Force Awakens, the fans were scrutinizing every frame of this trailer in search of clues... ah, good times.
Avengers: Infinity War
I remember being in 8th grade when this trailer dropped and I had to drop everything I was doing to watch it... I was sitting in my shop class... this was the build-up of my theatrical life right here, my childhood icons coming together against a threat in a cosmic battle that I'd been excited for every since 2012. It features all of your favorite heroes, casts doubts on who could live and who could die, and introduces you to the leading man Thanos and his epic quest.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
The Solo: A Star Wars Story probably has the best trailer music of all time - the sound design throughout is simply immaculate. Shadows and close-ups look straight out of concept art, which is always enjoyable. If you weren't sold on a Han Solo origin story starring someone other than Harrison Ford, this trailer should do it for you.
Us
No doubt about it, the Us trailer is simply terrifying. Giving us glimpses and visions of what's to come, the doppelganger horror flick keeps you on your toes with some very intense shots and a brief glimpse at a terrifying confrontation between the family and their evil counterparts, all set to a terribly creepy "I Got 5 On It" remix.
Avengers: Endgame
Honorable mention to the first trailer, that one's just as good. The Avengers: Endgame poster is honestly an emotional rollercoaster - black and white glimpses of the earlier Marvel movies with dramatic dialogue about how much the lost in Infinity War are sure to tug at the heartstrings. Having seen the movie, it gives us just the right amount of footage - practically everything is from the first hour of the movie. That's impressive.
Joker
Frozen 2
How exactly do you get a 14-year-old boy interested in the sequel to a princess movie they've hated for the past five years? Release a trailer like this one. The teaser trailer is basically just a sneak peek for a beautifully animated sequence wherein Elsa is trying to escape an island that keeps throwing her back to the shore. This seemingly darker and more epic take on the world of Frozen was a great marketing decision (One that resulted in a 1.540 billion payday).
Dune
Unlike Artemis Fowl, where you could see that the film was a guaranteed flop designed only to piss off fans of the book, the trailer for Dune is a pitch-perfect recreation of what the book details. The sense of scale is truly frightening and, even more so than Solo, Dune appears to be Concept Art: The Movie. Every frame here looks like beautiful wallpaper.
The Batman
The Batman trailer is literally the greatest of all time. Since its release last August 22nd, I have seen it literally every single day. It has been a year. I don't plan on stopping. The dark and gloomy Gotham vibe is a perfect translation of the crime-ridden Gotham we've all been told about but never really seen. Shots here look ripped straight from a comic book page, full of surprising designs choices and brooding violence.
And we can't forget the amazing remix of "Something In the Way" mixed with Michael Giacchino's new Batman theme. The title card... ah, the phasing in and out is so clean one can hardly handle it. Best trailer of all time right here.
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