$9 Movie Trailer: Flight

Many things can define a movie trailer. In some cases, it can simply be the existence of footage for a highly anticipated feature, like The Dark Knight Rises or a new Harry Potter installment. Sometimes the trailer gives viewers an insight into the aesthetics to be expected, like with Across the Universe. And other times, a preview can stand out based solely on its song choice.

Now not everyone enjoys the same musical appetites, so trailers resonate differently depending on the viewer. Garden State’s teaser trailer paired its clips perfectly to Frou Frou’s “Let Go,” while in the trailer for Paul, the song “Just the Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. is used to brilliant comedic effect. A song, whether through its melody or lyrical content, can frame a trailer in a way that gives it a dimension beyond the visual.

This is why Flight has such an awesome preview.

http://youtu.be/fJ53JCLG9I0

Watch the trailer for Flight.

We can (I hope) all agree that The Rolling Stones have enjoyed a lot of success in the soundtracks to various films. From the inclusion of “Ruby Tuesdays” in The Royal Tenenbaums to the blistering notes that begin “Gimme Shelter” in The Departed, The Rolling Stones are a band worthy of the Soundtrack Hall of Fame, should such a thing exist.* And speaking of “Gimme Shelter,” here it is again, no less awesome than it sounded in The Departed and employed to give the Denzel Washington character context we aren’t afforded in the trailer dialogue.

Let’s quickly run through the premise of Flight, so as to properly acknowledge the role of “Gimme Shelter” in its trailer. Denzel plays a pilot that lands a 747 after it malfunctions in the air. The plot seems reliant on the true-life heroics of Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger, the man who landed a plane on the Hudson River, until the Done Cheadle lawyer character barges into Denzel’s hospital room and tells him his blood test came back positive for alcohol. I assume many Unreality readers share in common with me the trait that they did not attend pilot school, but we are all pretty sure that drinking before flying is a big no-no. And so the trailer plays out with Denzel depicted both as a hero and potentially on the verge of spending his life in prison. What really happened up there? How badly did John Goodman need this paycheck? We’ll have to come back in November to find out.

John Goodman wants your money.

I like the set-up. Denzel has enough talent to lead viewers down the narrow path of moral ambiguity without letting us in on whether he’s the good guy we like or the bad guy we haven’t realized we shouldn’t like. Most apparently absent from the Flight trailer is information about Denzel’s life outside of the cockpit, which I assume will directly translate to why he might have been drinking. But before we can care about Denzel’s hypothetical family-related alcoholism, we have to know that his character is the kind of crazy mother effer that lands planes that are breaking apart in the sky. Cue Mick Jagger and the boys.

Robert Zemeckis is no stranger to incredible soundtracks. Go Google the soundtrack to Forrest Gump and tell me it isn’t a Best Of Modern Music compilation spanning multiple decades and genres. That movie had Elvis and Creedence Clearwater Revival! ** So naturally, Zemeckis and the dude in the trailer-editing bay knew they needed to set a certain tone with Flight. We need to know that Denzel isn’t a hero like Spiderman or Indiana Jones – he’s got issues that overshadow his valiant act. Should hearing “Gimme Shelter” make a viewer infer these observations? Not really. But when we consider the alternative choice of a film score (not a lesser choice, but more generic), the tone set by blasting “Gimme Shelter” over the latter two-thirds of the trailer is clearly designed intentionally.

Keith Richards also saved a plane once by ripping a three-hour solo on Jumpin’ Jack Flash until the aircraft landed in deference.

In the end, memorable songs make memorable trailers. I probably watched the Pineapple Express trailer more times than I really wanted to because halfway through it M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” drops in. In the pre-Shazam era, I was forced to jot down the lyrics while watching The Departed trailer on repeat so I could get the Dropkick Murphy’s “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” on my iPod stat. Obviously we can’t start tossing “Baba O’Reilly” on whatever excrement the creators of Valentine’s Day make next, but it stands to reason that a good song can really shape how theater patrons frame upcoming films.

Next time you see an awful movie trailer, play it on Youtube while simultaneously listening to “Queen Bitch” by David  Bowie. You want to see that movie more than before, right? Exactly.

*And it should exist. Other guaranteed first-ballot members include Queen (for a variety of songs, but mainly “We Are the Champions” and the Wayne’s World rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody”) and Jefferson Airplane (for “White Rabbit”). We could also toss an honorary title to Will Smith for instigating the tradition of movie actors with any musical ambitions creating a song to pair with every film they star in.

** It also had Randy Newman, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

 

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