The Ten Best Movie Trailers of 2011

5. The Dark Knight Rises

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yh6SriAjdE

This didn’t blow me away the same way The Dark Knight trailer did, but it’s hard to argue that it’s not a damn fine spot in its own right. I loved the revelation that the plot appears to be literal class warfare, and even if I can’t understand Bane when he talks, he still seems pretty damn cool.

4. Lock Out

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrd67mpE8O0

I bet you haven’t seen this trailer for a 2012 movie starring Guy Pearce, but this first foreign trailer for it is one of my favorite of the year. It’s set up in a very clever way, and is an effective way to hype me for a new sci-fi flick by barely even showing any sci-fi.

3. Battle: Los Angeles

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAdm9ssE6gk

I hated this movie with an extreme passion, but I’ll be damned if this trailer’s haunting melody – The Sun’s Gone Dark and the Sky’s Gone Dim by Johan Johnansson – isn’t one of the most played songs on my iTunes right now. It’s a beautiful track that is absolutely perfect for an alien invasion film like this, even if the rest of the movie doesn’t hold up.

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KBPru-Pu5Q

I was tempted to give the best trailer award to David Fincher another year in a row (The Social Network had the number one spot last year), but I had to place it just shy. The man knows how to craft great trailers, and does a great job of explaining his entire story in only a few minutes. As always, Trent Reznor’s score helps out immensely.

1. The Woman in Black

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXRS3Kghh4

This may seem like a strange pick for number one, but watching this in a dark theater, I’ve never seen so many people squirming in their seats from a mere TRAILER before. I’ve no idea how the movie will turn out, but the trailer makes it look like an exceptionally scary, well-shot and acted horror film. If two minutes of it can be this terrifying, how can the whole film not be?

BONUS: This film will probably never hit the states, but it might be the best one out of all of these.

The Raid

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlmhMSnVdM

Buckle up.

 

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12 Comments

  1. fyi… The Raid is supposed to hit US theaters (albeit probably in limited distribution) sometime in the spring.

    http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/sony-classics-to-unleash-the-raid-next-spring.php

    For me, the music is normally what makes the trailer… a couple of my favorite trailers from 2011 where music was a major factor:
    –Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – the use of the Danny Elfman track from the Wolfman was perfect
    –Another Earth – the track from Cinematic Orchestra gave me goosebumps as i watched the trailer
    –The Skin I Live In – very mysterious trailer left me longing to see what it was all about. and again, the Trentemoller track was great
    –Martha Marcy May Marlene – When it cuts to John Hawkes doing his “Just a Picture” song it gave me the creeps like nothing else.

    And a few where the music wasn’t the major factor, but the trailer was great on its own
    –71 Into the Fire – this trailer and the Raid trailer both are like a kick in the nuts, but in a good way.
    –Casa De Mi Padre – I actually don’t like Will Ferrell, but this trailer really makes me want to see this.
    –Alps – was just a teaser, but after Dogtooth (by the same director), I saw this teaser and left with a major WTF feeling that makes me really want to see it.

  2. I agree with pretty much all of these choices, and what markshek said. The music is the main factor for me. 100% true about the Woman in Black trailer. I’ve never had a horror movie TRAILER make me feel so jumpy.

  3. did anybody else get the sense that the clip of guy pierce being interrogated in ‘lock out’ was straight out of the scene in fight club where tyler durden gets the shit beaten out of him by the owner (i’m fuckin’ lou, who the fuck are you?) of the club they use?

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