Never Trust a Trailer/Film: Difference between revisions

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*** Some of the dialog was redubbed to be more kid-friendly, too. There's a running gag where everyone keeps calling the main character "chickenshit." In the final film, this was changed to "chicken blood."

*** The film was also originally called ''Down Under'', that got changed to the somewhat misleading title we all know.

* Quite similarly to the previous two, ''[[The Santa Clause|The Santa Clause 2]]'' featured reindeer speaking proper English, when Comet was the only reindeer who could talk, although he spoke gibberish.

* Quite similarly to the previous two, ''[[The Santa Clause (film series)||The Santa Clause 2]]'' featured reindeer speaking proper English, when Comet was the only reindeer who could talk, although he spoke gibberish.

* The trailer for the 1986 Troma film ''Combat Shock'' toted it as being a Rambo-style bloodbath, though the film itself was more of a psychological horror.

** Troma likes to do this on all of their movies. Mostly because they want to the biggest audience possible but also because [[Lloyd Kaufman]] likes to play jokes on the viewers.

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*** Might be interpreted as a bit of [[Fridge Brilliance]] in the case of Rorschach: For people who haven't read the original graphic novel, it attempts (intentionally or not) to derail the whole [[Misaimed Fandom]] thing from the start.

** The trailers were very action oriented. It seems like every action shot in the movie made it into the trailer, making the movie seem more action packed than it was, which pissed off a fair few filmgoers.

* Television ads for ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'' remake have the tagline promise that humanity will heroically "Fight Back!" Really. In reverse, some of the ads imply that humanity is completely and totally doomed, and there is no point trying to fight back, making Klaatu look invincible.

* Television ads for ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 film)|The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'' remake have the tagline promise that humanity will heroically "Fight Back!" Really. In reverse, some of the ads imply that humanity is completely and totally doomed, and there is no point trying to fight back, making Klaatu look invincible.

* A TV spot for ''[[Fight Club]]'' portrayed it as a romantic comedy.

** Most ads for ''Fight Club'' made it look like an action movie all about fighting (and the name certainly seems to back it up). Many theatergoers likely skipped it because of this, and were probably miffed when they realized it was something they might have liked.

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* You would be absolutely forgiven if you assumed, from the ads, that ''[[Burn After Reading]]'' was a wacky comedy starring [[Brad Pitt]] and [[George Clooney]].

* George Miller's ''[[Happy Feet]]'' was advertised early on as a very Pixar-Dreamworksesque animation, with a very light tone. In fact, the film itself was anything but, instead opting for an approach not at all dissimilar to ''[[Watership Down]]'' or [[Don Bluth]]'s early eighties work, and most of the scenes used in the trailer were either from the first half hour or never appeared in the film, to begin with.

* In the trailer for ''[[Toy Story]]'', there is a clip where Buzz Lightyear says, "You're mocking me, aren't you?" and pushes a tool box off a shelf and onto Woody. Given the context of the prior scenes shown, it seemed as though Buzz was getting revenge. In the actual context of the scene, Buzz was really trying to help Woody escape (he continued to push the tool box without knowing that Woody managed to get out), and the real line he says was "Almost... there..." The line as said in the trailer was actually used earlier on in the film, around the point where Sid was introduced. On a similar note, a TV spot had Buzz saying "I changed my laser from stun to kill" and Woody replying "Oh great, now we can blink them to death" edited into the scene where they are riding on RC and being chased by Sid's dog.

* In the trailer for ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'', there is a clip where Buzz Lightyear says, "You're mocking me, aren't you?" and pushes a tool box off a shelf and onto Woody. Given the context of the prior scenes shown, it seemed as though Buzz was getting revenge. In the actual context of the scene, Buzz was really trying to help Woody escape (he continued to push the tool box without knowing that Woody managed to get out), and the real line he says was "Almost... there..." The line as said in the trailer was actually used earlier on in the film, around the point where Sid was introduced. On a similar note, a TV spot had Buzz saying "I changed my laser from stun to kill" and Woody replying "Oh great, now we can blink them to death" edited into the scene where they are riding on RC and being chased by Sid's dog.

** One of the trailers also has Bo Peep hitting on Woody, followed directly by Buzz saying "Don't even think about it cowboy!" Making it seem as though they fight over Bo.

** The trailer also made a small change in the dialogue:

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* The trailer to ''Vulgar'' somehow managed to make the films seem ''lighthearted''.

* The trailer to ''Lymelife'' greatly overemphasized the comedic elements. The film is barely a comedy at all. Furthermore it also made Jill Hennessy's character look like an overprotective bitch. While far from perfect, Hennessy is probably [[Adults Are Useless|the most sympathetic adult in the entire movie]].

* The trailer for ''[[Payback]]'' has a minor one in "This is [Porter's] dog" -- it's only a dog named ''[[We Named the Monkey "Jack"|after him]]'' by a friend/love interest -- and a major in featuring scenes that did not occur in the film, such as a shootout with a disguised hitwoman (restored in the [[~~Re Cut~~|Director's Cut]]).

* The trailer for ''[[Payback]]'' has a minor one in "This is [Porter's] dog" -- it's only a dog named ''[[We Named the Monkey "Jack"|after him]]'' by a friend/love interest -- and a major in featuring scenes that did not occur in the film, such as a shootout with a disguised hitwoman (restored in the [[Recut|Director's Cut]]).

* The trailer for ''Green Zone'' implies a Bourne-style thriller, with the government trying to take Matt Damon's character out as part of a cover-up. This is done through changing the context of lines: "I know what you did" is actually {{spoiler|a line at the end of the movie}} and the line "Take that son of a bitch out!" is actually referring to someone else.

* Pretty much ''every'' trailer for ''[[Alpha and Omega]]'' lied about something.

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* The trailer for ''[[Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium]]'' was downright baffling. All that was shown was a whole lot of beautifully-rendered CGI magic, plus Dustin Hoffman in the middle of it. No indication of the actual ''plot'' was ever advertised, which must have created a bit of [[Mood Whiplash]] for a few viewers when they learned that the movie is really about {{spoiler|Mr. Magorium's magically extended lifetime coming to an end}}.

* The controversial drama ''[[Mysterious Skin]]'' needed to omit the references to sexual abuse, homosexuality, and [[Cluster F-Bomb|extremely heavy]] [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|cursing]] to make their trailers suitable for general TV. This naturally put too much emphasis on the "alien abduction" aspect, so it looks like a family-friendly sci-fi movie with dramatic moments here and there. ''[[Tear Jerker|It]] [[Awful Truth|is]] '''[[Break the Cutie|not]]''' [[Harmful to Minors|family]]-[[Bittersweet Ending|friendly.]]'' {{spoiler|Brian only thinks he got abducted by aliens because he repressed the ''real'' memories of getting molested by his Little League baseball coach.}} While the movie is regarded positively by those who were prepared for its content, people who saw only the trailers may have been surprised after the first twenty minutes.

* The trailer for ''[[Toy Story]] 3'' hid the darker elements of the plot and made it look like the film was going to have the happy tone of the last two films, {{spoiler|while the real plot was an [[Mood Whiplash|emotional rollercoaster.]]}}

* The trailer for ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 3'' hid the darker elements of the plot and made it look like the film was going to have the happy tone of the last two films, {{spoiler|while the real plot was an [[Mood Whiplash|emotional rollercoaster.]]}}

** On top of this, one trailer implied that the toys were being involuntarily donated by Andy, and that Woody was trying to calm them down when actually the toys chose to be donated against Andy's wishes and Woody was trying to convince them it was a bad idea. Another trailer implied that the reason they had to reset Buzz was because he crashed on his dangerous attempt to escape from the caterpillar room when actually that attempt was successful, and there was a... [[Brainwashed and Crazy|more sinister reason.]]

** Some trailers also used the Fisher-Price phone's line "You and your friends ain't ever getting out of here now" in a completely different context, to make it seem as though he was a villain or at least trying to discourage Woody. In the actual film, the phone is a heroic character and helps the toys escape from Sunnyside.

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* The trailer for the 1998 Todd Solondz film ''Happiness'' makes it look like a quirky romantic comedy. The film is anything BUT.

** Given how inappropriate the trailer is, it's likely this was intentional.

* The domestic trailer for ''[[The X Files: I Want to Believe]]'' showed a [[Monster of the Week]]-style plot, matching decently to the movie. The international trailer went out of its way to pretend it was about aliens - it had blurry lights in the distance (actually car headlights) with reaction shots (from different scenes) and minimized the shots of the psychic and actual villains.

* The domestic trailer for ''[[The X-Files: I Want to Believe]]'' showed a [[Monster of the Week]]-style plot, matching decently to the movie. The international trailer went out of its way to pretend it was about aliens - it had blurry lights in the distance (actually car headlights) with reaction shots (from different scenes) and minimized the shots of the psychic and actual villains.

* Trailers for the [[Coen Brothers]] remake of ''[[True Grit]]'' make it looks like a, well, [[Darker and Edgier|Gritty Reboot]] of the Western genre ''a la [[No Country for Old Men]]''. According to people who've seen it, it's actually more of a comedy (which makes its absence in that category for the Golden Globes and its replacement by ''[[The Tourist]]'', which was also marketed as an action movie, all the more galling).

** {{spoiler|The trailers also greatly exaggerated Josh Brolin's role, even billing him above the title and making it seem he and Mattie have a dramatic confrontation. In reality, he only shows up in the last fifteen or twenty minutes, and spends most of that time whining before Mattie shoots him.}}

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** Like the ''Sweeney Todd'' example above, ads and trailers made no indication to the film being a [[Musical]].

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyOyBVXDJ9Q&feature=related One trailer] showed Rapunzel with [[Prehensile Hair]] that could grab and attack a character on its own. Other trailers showed her using the hair to close doors and windows. In the film, the hair has none of these properties, and actually has to be carried by characters throughout, as it is liable to getting caught on objects as it drags across the ground.

** By playing up some [[Subverted Trope|Subverted Tropes]] and the one scene in the film where Rapunzel overpowers the main male character, while using a punk-pop song by singer [[~~Pink~~]], the trailers led some to believe it was a [[DreamWorks]]-style parody of traditional fairy tales, rather than a fairly straight-forward version of the story that updates Rapunzel to an [[Action Girl]].

** By playing up some [[Subverted Trope|Subverted Tropes]] and the one scene in the film where Rapunzel overpowers the main male character, while using a punk-pop song by singer [[P!nk]], the trailers led some to believe it was a [[DreamWorks]]-style parody of traditional fairy tales, rather than a fairly straight-forward version of the story that updates Rapunzel to an [[Action Girl]].

** One [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESMMMIViQdMpA web-exclusive trailer] parodies the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI "Double Rainbow" viral video], and though it is cut together mostly from scenes in the film, the voiceover is only in the trailer.

* Due to the overwhelming success of ''[[Dirty Dancing]]'', a lot of trailers for ''[[Road House]]'', which also starred Patrick Swayze, targeted women audiences. One wonders how stunned they were when they saw Swayze {{spoiler|rip out a guy's throat with his bare hands}}.

* The early trailer for ''[[Star Trek: ~~First Contact|Star Trek~~ First Contact]]'' featured footage from the TNG series, including of the Galaxy-class USS Enterprise-D, presumably because the producers didn't want to reveal the look of the new Enterprise-E at that time.

* The early trailer for ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'' featured footage from the TNG series, including of the Galaxy-class USS Enterprise-D, presumably because the producers didn't want to reveal the look of the new Enterprise-E at that time.

** Additionally, the trailers makes Picard's line "The line must be drawn '''HERE!!!'''" look like a [[Badass Boast]], when, actually, it's part of Picard's [[Sanity Slippage]]. And they played up the prospect of an all-out Federation invasion by the Borg, when, in fact, there's only one ship targeting Earth.

* The trailer for the ''[[The Green Hornet (film)|The Green Hornet]]'' makes it seem (by splicing unrelated scenes together) that Kato builds the [[Cool Car|Black Beauty]] for Britt's father. Britt then supposedly decides to put on a mask and become the Green Hornet to avenge his father's death. In fact, Kato only builds the car ''after'' Britt suggests becoming superheroes, and it is made clear that the father dies of {{spoiler|a bee sting, until the end when it is revealed he was actually murdered}}.