Top 5 – Teaser Trailers
With 10 Cloverfiled Lane coming out on Friday, the sequel (I think) of the 2008 found footage monster movie Cloverfield. Both films had great teaser trailers, especially the first one. Along with Cloverfield, there have been a lot of legendary teaser trailers, which is what I will be looking at today. A teaser trailer isn’t a full on trailer that gives you all the characters and plot. They give you a taste, hence the word, tease. So here we go, top five teaser trailers of all-time.
5 – Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996)
Shown during the 1996 Super Bowl, this was the definition of an explosive teaser. This has flashes of classic disaster movies of the 70’s, and only gives us hints as to who “They” may be, leaving a mystery factor to the whole movie. But, what really makes this teaser so great is the money shot at the end, when we see the White House blow up. This is an iconic image and one that shows this is not going to be your typical science fiction disaster pic.
4- The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)
The teaser trailer for The Incredibles plays like a short film. The images of Mr. Incredible on the wall show his rise as an icon and then end with his retirement, giving us a full story of who he was. We then see the hero ready to get back in action, until his belt has other ideas. This also shows his domesticated side, as we hear his wife call for him. It’s hilarious to watch him struggle and showed us we were in for another Pixar classic.
3 – Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
Arguably the godfather of great teasers, this teaser is incredibly creepy and thrilling. What starts as a slow reveal of the title turns into a horrifying science fiction experience. The trailer never stops, giving us visually stunning glimpses into the futuristic world we will be taking in along with its many horror aspects. The last five seconds are loud and startling, and then it’s silent, and we get one of the most chilling lines in cinematic history, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” Creeps me out just thinking about it.
2- The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
When The Dark Knight announced its cast, the biggest controversy was the casting of Heath Ledger as the legendary Joker. Fanboys lost their minds, bashing the supposed “pretty boy” actor as a terrible choice for the iconic villain. This teaser shut them all up, and with no footage at all. With only one line from Ledger’s Joker and the infamous, terrifying laugh and we were all sold. The dialog from the Joker, as well as from Bruce Wayne and Alfred, perfectly captures the mythos of the Joker. The bat signal coming into light and then breaking apart when we hear the Joker personifies the movie. This is a great trailer from an all-time great movie.
1- Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008)
Cloverfield is number one on this because it was the first teaser I can remember seeing that made me go, “Wow!”. Shown before Transformers (2007), this almost stole the spotlight from the actual movie. Nobody had any idea what this movie was. It came out of nowhere and had everyone talking right after. All we got was a party filled with twenty-somethings and then a whole bunch of chaos, including the decapitation of the Statue of Liberty. We knew it was a monster movie, but is it aliens? A Godzilla creature? What is taking over New York? So many questions needed to be answered. This left a lasting impression on everyone who saw it, and had everyone itching for the movie to come out.
Which of these trailers is your favorite? What’s your favorite teaser trailer? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix. And don’t forget to like Kevflix on Facebook by clicking right here.