Never Trust a Trailer/Film: Difference between revisions

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* Rare example of this being done for a movie that doesn't exist: One of the fake trailers in ''[[Grindhouse]]'', entitled "Don't!", is filmed so that you never hear the characters talking, and wouldn't know they were British. Many horror films of the '70s were marketed to Americans in this way.

* ''[[Pans Labyrinth]]'' was marketed as a family friendly fantasy adventure a la ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]''. '''It isn't'''.<ref>It really, really, isn't.</ref> In addition, the trailers and promotional material kinda left out one detail: The movie's in Spanish with subtitles. This resulted in so many complaints along the lines of "It's in the wrong language! I want it in English!" that movie theaters (and rental stores, once the film hit DVD) had to put up signs saying "''Pan's Labyrinth'' is in Spanish and that's the way it's meant to be".

** And apparently [[What Do You Mean ~~Its~~ Not for Kids|the R rating didn't stop people thinking that either]].

** And apparently [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|the R rating didn't stop people thinking that either]].

* [[Defendor]] was marketed as a family-friendly comedy in the trailers, but the actual movie dealt with the [[Reality Ensues|implications of heroism]], drug abuse, and prostitutes.

* ''[[Apocalypto]]'', ''[[Hero (Film)|Hero]]'', and ''[[Brotherhood of the Wolf]]'' all suffer the same problem of there being no indication in the trailer the movie is subtitled. It's amazing how angry people get in a theater when they're forced to read subtitles. (This varies by country.)

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* The trailer for ''[[The Prestige]]'' gives the viewer the impression that [[Christian Bale]]'s character has ''actual magic powers'' which he uses for his stage magician act. The closest thing to actual wizardry in the movie is {{spoiler|Nikola Tesla's machine, used by [[Hugh Jackman]]}}, but given the movie's theme of stage magic and its heavy reliance on misdirecting the audience, the use of this trope is rather appropriate.

* A trailer for ''[[The Magic Roundabout|Doogal]]'' portrayed the film as being a comedy, specifically a parody of the adventure genre, i.e. ''Lord of the Rings''. The film ended up being filled with more sugary sweetness and life lessons than a Care Bears movie. And the VA that they used for the main character (a dog) in the trailer? It was really the rabbit. [[Hoodwinked|Never Trust A Bunny]].

* Not a trailer, per se, but the same idea for the first ''[[Riddick]]'' installment, ''[[Pitch Black]]''. In order to promote it, Sci-Fi Channel made a 45-minute faux-documentary/drama called ''Into Pitch Black'' about an insurance investigator hiring a mercenary to find Riddick and what was left of the ship. Seems like a good way to promo the movie and reveal more backstory, doesn't it? Well, it might have been, if it'd had any actors from the film, acting and production values better than a 1990s FMV game, or the merest semblance of competent writing. Even the entire ''genre'' of the movie is misrepresented: {{spoiler|The film is a sci-fi horror thriller in the vein of ''[[Alien (Film)|Alien]]'' about people fighting to survive a long-distance journey through a desert in months-long darkness, filled with monsters who can see in the dark. The video instead doesn't even show any of the aliens until the end, and only in quick flashes. Instead, it deliberately re-edits footage to make it seem like some kind of ''[[Friday the ~~13 th~~ (Film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' slasher film, with Riddick stalking the main characters, when in fact, he's actually ''the "[[Anti Hero|hero]]"'' of the film.}} There's no question they lost more viewers than they gained. If you're really feeling masochistic, have a search for it on [[YouTube]].

* Not a trailer, per se, but the same idea for the first ''[[Riddick]]'' installment, ''[[Pitch Black]]''. In order to promote it, Sci-Fi Channel made a 45-minute faux-documentary/drama called ''Into Pitch Black'' about an insurance investigator hiring a mercenary to find Riddick and what was left of the ship. Seems like a good way to promo the movie and reveal more backstory, doesn't it? Well, it might have been, if it'd had any actors from the film, acting and production values better than a 1990s FMV game, or the merest semblance of competent writing. Even the entire ''genre'' of the movie is misrepresented: {{spoiler|The film is a sci-fi horror thriller in the vein of ''[[Alien (Film)|Alien]]'' about people fighting to survive a long-distance journey through a desert in months-long darkness, filled with monsters who can see in the dark. The video instead doesn't even show any of the aliens until the end, and only in quick flashes. Instead, it deliberately re-edits footage to make it seem like some kind of ''[[Friday the 13th (Film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' slasher film, with Riddick stalking the main characters, when in fact, he's actually ''the "[[Anti-Hero|hero]]"'' of the film.}} There's no question they lost more viewers than they gained. If you're really feeling masochistic, have a search for it on [[YouTube]].

** Though the misrepresentation of the plot is probably the best you can do while avoiding [[Trailers Always Spoil]] - knowing that {{spoiler|the planet is inhabited by predatory aliens and Riddick ends up as the hero}} would ruin the tension early on when the audience is meant to assume otherwise.

** They couldn't have been that wary of revealing Riddick's [[Heroic Sociopath]] role, as the DVD contains a never-released version of the trailer with the tagline "Fight evil with evil".

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* The trailer for ''[[The Invisible]]'' makes it seem like a dead boy is solving his own murder, according to what the other dead guy says. ''Strangely enough'', the other dead guy isn't even in the movie.

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukRdEVthmWM trailer] for the Matthew McConaughey/Kate Beckinsale disaster ''Tiptoes'' plays up the notion that the whole film is a quirky comedy about a woman realizing that her boyfriend's family is comprised of dwarves, the wacky misadventures that follow and the couple's realization that she's pregnant. This, coupled with an out-of-character turn by [[Gary Oldman]] as the man's wisecracking brother, would lead you to believe that this would be (at the very least) funny. (You would also be forgiven if you thought the film was made in the mid '90s, judging by the trailer. It's not: it was made in ''2003''.) In actuality, ''Tiptoes'' involves Beckinsale's character {{spoiler|not only working to further the rights of "the little people," but also deciding to start a relationship with her lover's brother near the end of the film because he has rejected his dwarf child}}. There are also plot threads that go nowhere (Peter Dinklage, who's seen in the trailer, is given very little screen time, and exists merely to hammer home the fact that dwarves can have relationships with normal-sized people).

* An infamous ''[[Freddy VS Jason]]'' trailer has the [[Final Girl]] shouting "Place your bets!" dubbed over her actual line of "Welcome to my world, [[This Is for Emphasis Bitch|bitch]]!".

* An infamous ''[[Freddy VS Jason]]'' trailer has the [[Final Girl]] shouting "Place your bets!" dubbed over her actual line of "Welcome to my world, [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch|bitch]]!".

** That line was taken from a deleted scene (which can be found on the DVD). So it might possibly have been an innocent mistake, depending on when the scene was deleted.

* The trailer for ''[[Casper (Film)|Casper]]'' (1995) showed various scenes featuring Casper's hyperactive uncles, letting on that they were the main antagonists and the plot would be mostly them battling the human protagonists.

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* ''[[Ratatouille (Animation)|Ratatouille]]'' had a teaser trailer that made the film look like more a traditional cartoon story, with Remy stealing cheese from the dining area of Gustou's. It gives the impression that the viewer is in for some Tom-and-Jerry antics, instead of a story of a rat who wants to ''make'' food, not steal it.

** On the whole, Pixar teaser trailers are best viewed as little self-contained skits, since they usually consist of footage which doesn't actually feature in the film itself, whilst revealing very little about the plot.

*** The first Pixar film to do this was ''[[A ~~Bugs~~ Life (Animation)|A Bugs Life]]''. Since then, every Pixar trailer contains footage not seen in the film.

*** The first Pixar film to do this was ''[[A Bug's Life (Animation)|A Bugs Life]]''. Since then, every Pixar trailer contains footage not seen in the film.

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgTGPJtvmS8 trailer] for the documentary ''Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa'' is filled with ominous music and repeated shots of guns and destruction. In reality, the confrontation depicted is a single subplot amongst many and was soon resolved peacefully off-camera. The film is actually a fascinating study of a tiny rural community cut off from the rest of society and the wide range of interesting characters who choose to live there.

* One of the 1977 taglines of the original ''[[Star Wars]]'', now known as ''[[A New Hope]]'', was "No legendary adventure of the past could be as exciting as this romance of the future." Ironically, ''Star Wars'' actually ''is'' set in the past: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

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* The original trailer for ''[[Bambi (Disney)|Bambi]]'' consisted entirely of scenes from Bambi's adulthood, which doesn't begin until about 45 minutes into the movie, and claimed romance and action were the dominant elements.

** And now they advertise it entirely with scenes from when he's a fawn, causing some people to think he's a female. This perception of Bambi as an innocent fawn is no doubt helped by the fact that [[Signature Scene|the death of his mother is the one scene from the film everyone knows.]]

* The trailer for the first ''[[Friday the ~~13 th~~ (Film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' film shows several false scares in amongst the actual murders, counting up to 13. The narrator for the trailer for ''Friday The 13th: Part 2'' hadn't seen the first movie and/or couldn't count: "[[You Fail Logic Forever|On Friday the 13th, 1980, 12 of her friends were murdered. Why should Friday the 13th 1981 be any different?]]" (Only seven people, not including {{spoiler|Mrs. Voorhees}}, were killed that night, and the film's subtitle clearly sets it in 1979, while the second is established as being set five years later.) Then the trailer counts on from 14 up to... 23. * [[Face Palm]]* .

* The trailer for the first ''[[Friday the 13th (Film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' film shows several false scares in amongst the actual murders, counting up to 13. The narrator for the trailer for ''Friday The 13th: Part 2'' hadn't seen the first movie and/or couldn't count: "[[You Fail Logic Forever|On Friday the 13th, 1980, 12 of her friends were murdered. Why should Friday the 13th 1981 be any different?]]" (Only seven people, not including {{spoiler|Mrs. Voorhees}}, were killed that night, and the film's subtitle clearly sets it in 1979, while the second is established as being set five years later.) Then the trailer counts on from 14 up to... 23. * [[Face Palm]]* .

** On a related note, the 1981 horror-comedy ''Saturday the 14th'' was titled and marketed to make it sound like a parody of the above film series, but was a [[Monster Mash]] parody of [[Hammer Horror]] tropes.

* If you saw only the Green Band trailers for [[Kick-Ass (Film)|the movie adaptation of]] ''[[Kick-Ass]]'', you might be thinking that it's a fun, whimsical Kid Fu-type movie to take the children to see. And here's something else you'd be: '''[[What Do You Mean ~~Its~~ Not for Kids|Wrong.]]''' Seriously, don't let the kids see this one; they'll be scarred for life.

* If you saw only the Green Band trailers for [[Kick-Ass (Film)|the movie adaptation of]] ''[[Kick-Ass]]'', you might be thinking that it's a fun, whimsical Kid Fu-type movie to take the children to see. And here's something else you'd be: '''[[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|Wrong.]]''' Seriously, don't let the kids see this one; they'll be scarred for life.

** If not badly influenced by [[Tyke Bomb|Hit-Girl]].

* The trailer for ''Wicker Park'' is cut to seem like ''Fatal Attraction'' mixed with '[[Stalker With a Crush]]' film, but in fact, it is a psychological drama about a man searching for his ex-girlfriend after he thinks he sees her two years after she disappeared. '[[Love Makes You Crazy]]' in this film, but not in the expected ways.

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* The trailer(s) for ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' give the impression it's an action movie with lots of guns and explosions. It isn't, as it is a parody of those movies, meaning this could probably count as a subversion.

** Well, they at least made it clear that the film was heavy on comedy.

* The trailer for the [[Bruce Willis]]/Tracy Morgan film ''Cop Out'' gave the impression that Willis was a gritty longtime cop unwillingly saddled with a goofy new partner, or even that Morgan was not actually a ''real'' cop. In fact both characters are veterans and have been [[Heterosexual Life Partners|working together]] for a long time, and Morgan's character (though indeed the less gritty of the two) is still definitely a proper detective.

* The trailer for the [[Bruce Willis (Creator)]]/Tracy Morgan film ''Cop Out'' gave the impression that Willis was a gritty longtime cop unwillingly saddled with a goofy new partner, or even that Morgan was not actually a ''real'' cop. In fact both characters are veterans and have been [[Heterosexual Life Partners|working together]] for a long time, and Morgan's character (though indeed the less gritty of the two) is still definitely a proper detective.

* ''[[Diary of a Mad Black Woman]]'' does this. The entire trailer portrays the antics of a crazy, elderly black woman, so the movie's title makes it seem like they're talking about a ''crazy'' black woman. Couldn't be farther from the truth; the only way those clips have any plot relevance is that the black woman seen in the trailer has a minor part in the plot. The movie is actually about a black woman who's angry (aka, "mad") at her husband for cheating on her and throwing her out of the house, and her schemes at getting back at him.

** To elaborate, the majority of the trailer shows the Tyler Perry character Madea, and her typical smart-ass comments. However, the actual story involved her ''granddaughter'' Helen. In fact, all of Madea's scenes in the trailer were almost all of her scenes ''in the movie.''

* The early trailers for ''[[Despicable Me]]'' showed only the escalating, cartoony conflict between the [[Villain Protagonist]] and the, er, Villain-y-er Antagonist, making the movie look like a [[Spy vs. Spy]]-style supervillainy-fest. Only the most recent trailers have revealed the movie's true nature as a [[Children Raise You]] story which happens to feature a supervillain as its main character.

** There was also the teaser which consisted entirely of the opening scene followed by the titles. The scene in question involes a misbehaving kid unintentionally exposing the Great Pyramid of Giza to have been replaced by an inflatable copy, followed by a news report commenting on these events. Based on this alone, the film appears to be some kind of comedy-mystery about a mysterious villain planning to steal various monuments, and the plot seems to be about trying to find out who is responsible. In actuality the Pyramid theft is pretty minor (although it does become the subject for some humour when it is shown {{spoiler|to have been stolen by the antagonist and hidden in his base, and [[Paper Thin Disguise|it is painted blue so that it blends in with the sky]].}} Of course, this incident does inspire Gru's plan to steal the Moon, which does help to drive the story, but the primary focus is still on his relationship with the kids.

** There was also the teaser which consisted entirely of the opening scene followed by the titles. The scene in question involes a misbehaving kid unintentionally exposing the Great Pyramid of Giza to have been replaced by an inflatable copy, followed by a news report commenting on these events. Based on this alone, the film appears to be some kind of comedy-mystery about a mysterious villain planning to steal various monuments, and the plot seems to be about trying to find out who is responsible. In actuality the Pyramid theft is pretty minor (although it does become the subject for some humour when it is shown {{spoiler|to have been stolen by the antagonist and hidden in his base, and [[Paper-Thin Disguise|it is painted blue so that it blends in with the sky]].}} Of course, this incident does inspire Gru's plan to steal the Moon, which does help to drive the story, but the primary focus is still on his relationship with the kids.

*** The title also shows an intimidating silhouhette of Gru, implying he's the villain... even though he's the main character.

*** Must have been the [[Cool Hat|"fedora"]] that made us think that.

* The trailer for ''[[Juno]]'' focused on Paulie Bleeker, Michael Cera's character and the father of Juno's baby and barely showed Juno at all. The film itself focused much more on Juno, with Bleeker simply featured as a supporting character. This probably came as a result of trying to capitalize on the momentum of Michael Cera, who had a [[Star Making Role]] in ''Superbad'', which opened a few months before ''Juno.''

* The trailer for ''[[Juno]]'' focused on Paulie Bleeker, Michael Cera's character and the father of Juno's baby and barely showed Juno at all. The film itself focused much more on Juno, with Bleeker simply featured as a supporting character. This probably came as a result of trying to capitalize on the momentum of Michael Cera, who had a [[Star-Making Role]] in ''Superbad'', which opened a few months before ''Juno.''

* The trailer for ''[[The 40-Year-Old Virgin]]'' makes it look like ''[[American Pie]]'' {{smallcaps|with [[Recycled in Space|STEVE CARRELL!]]}} Turns out the actual message of the movie is nearly the exact opposite.

** The message of the movie isn't revealed until right towards the very end, so the trailer isn't really lying.

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* The trailer for ''[[Boogie Nights]]'' made it look like a constantly fun, largely dance-oriented romp with lots of sex thrown in for good measure. The film is a very great deal more dark and downbeat than that and there isn't all that much dancing.

* The trailer for ''[[Mr. Magoriums 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 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.]]}}

** 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.]]

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* This is one of many reasons why some people detest the [[Ralph Bakshi]] adaptation of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Animation)|The Lord of the Rings]]'': Granted, you might think it's a decent adaptation of the story on its own merits, even though it neglects ''Return of the King'' and only adapts the first book and half of the second book. However, the preview material never revealed this, so those in the audience who were expecting any kind of closure to the story after sitting on their asses for two hours had to leave the theatres with an aching pair of blue balls. This was due to [[Executive Meddling]]; the original title was supposed to be ''The Lord of the Rings Part I''.

* The trailers for the [[All CGI Cartoon]] movie ''[[Battle for Terra]]'' shows things from the humans' side and barely shows the alien characters, which misleads the public about the fact that {{spoiler|the humans are the invaders.}}

* A lot of people didn't want to see ''[[Coraline (Film)|Coraline]]'', even ranting about how it wasn't as scary as the book, after seeing the theatrical trailer, which made it seem more kid-friendly. This resulted in several people missing out on a great film, and [[What Do You Mean ~~Its~~ Not for Kids|many parents escorting terrified and crying children out of the theaters]]. Coincidentally, [[Neil Gaiman]] cited the happy, childish trailer as his favourite.

* A lot of people didn't want to see ''[[Coraline (Film)|Coraline]]'', even ranting about how it wasn't as scary as the book, after seeing the theatrical trailer, which made it seem more kid-friendly. This resulted in several people missing out on a great film, and [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|many parents escorting terrified and crying children out of the theaters]]. Coincidentally, [[Neil Gaiman]] cited the happy, childish trailer as his favourite.

* The trailer for ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' make it looks like a happy, sappy movie about a dog taking care of an orphan. If you ever saw the movie [[Nightmare Fuel|you would know it's anything but that.]]

* All of the trailers for ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' made it out to be a slapstick, comedic parody in the same vein as most of Dreamworks's animated features. Granted, this could be excused by the fact that the title character is voiced by Jack Black--but considering his usual style of acting and choice in film roles, this would seem to be a very strong example of [[Misaimed Marketing]] twice over--most fans of Jack Black's usual work would not go to see him in an animated feature, and most parents would not want their kids to see an animated feature which starred Jack Black. In any case, the movie instead turned out to be a pretty serious, epic action film with almost mythic proportions at times.

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* Similar to the ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' example, Dreamworks' ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'' made it out to be far zanier than it really was, and obscured Susan's status as the main character and instead played her condition for far more humor than in the movie itself.

** This seems standard for Dreamworks now, as the early trailers and promotion for ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (Film)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' also tried (not very successfully, considering the box office opening) to make it out to be a zany Dreamworks comedy, when it is actually a fantasy adventure story; its humour is incidental to the plot.

* Early trailers for ''[[Megamind]]'' do this as well, obscuring the fact that Mega-Mind defeats Metro Man in the first act, with the rest of the movie pretty much having him question [[And Then What|what he'll do next.]] All of them make out the most part of the movie is about Mega-Mind vs Metro Man, but it's more a romantic action-comedy with Mega-Mind vs himself. It also kind of makes Metro Man look like more of a glory-hound jerk than he really is.

* Early trailers for ''[[Megamind]]'' do this as well, obscuring the fact that Mega-Mind defeats Metro Man in the first act, with the rest of the movie pretty much having him question [[And Then What?|what he'll do next.]] All of them make out the most part of the movie is about Mega-Mind vs Metro Man, but it's more a romantic action-comedy with Mega-Mind vs himself. It also kind of makes Metro Man look like more of a glory-hound jerk than he really is.

* Parodied in the trailer for ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Animation)|Aqua Teen Hunger Force]] Colon Movie Film for Theaters'', which gives a long list of things that '''do not''' appear in the movie. Except the flaming chicken.

** Similarly, an early trailer for ''[[Team America]]'' gave a long list of actors and political figures...followed by the note that "They're all going to hate this movie" (since it's a send-up of [[The War On Terror]] and directly makes fun of many of them).

* ''[[Mrs. Doubtfire (Film)|Mrs. Doubtfire]]'' is another [[Robin Williams]] film whose trailers will make you think 'zany wacky' and that the Dad he plays is dressing up so as to avoid the results of some harebrained scheme that went wrong. The trailers kind of completely ignore the heart-wrenching scenes wherein he and Sally Field tear each other to emotional pieces as and after their marriage falls apart--in front of their kids. [[Pierce Brosnan]] is made to seem an unwanted interloper - in fact he is scads more responsible and stable than Williams' character. And the unmasking scene is not an 'uh-oh' but a huge emotional gamble that at first backfires hideously.

* ''[[Sucker Punch]]''. It is not a lighthearted film at all.

* The trailers for ''[[The Adjustment Bureau]]'' suggested that Thompson (Terence Stamp) is the primary Adjuster, when really he's only in the second half for four or five scenes. The primary Adjuster is Richardson, played by John Slattery. [[One Scene Wonder|Although, Terence Stamp stole the show anyway.]]

* The trailers for ''[[The Adjustment Bureau]]'' suggested that Thompson (Terence Stamp) is the primary Adjuster, when really he's only in the second half for four or five scenes. The primary Adjuster is Richardson, played by John Slattery. [[One-Scene Wonder|Although, Terence Stamp stole the show anyway.]]

* The trailer for ''[[Secret Window]]'' painted the movie as a horror film with the main character haunted by a ghost by emphasizing scenes that were hallucinations. The film is actually a psychological thriller.

* There were TV spots for ''[[Beauty and The Beast (Disney)|Beauty and The Beast]]'' (they can be seen on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases) that focused on the action scenes and the slapstick battle between the Enchanted Objects and the mob as opposed to the love story that dominates the film. The slapstick, in particular, was emphasized to ride the coattails of the previous year's hit ''[[Home Alone]]''. By contrast, the theatrical trailer was an accurate rundown of the story.

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* Neil Simon's ''California Suite'' combines comedy and drama as it tracks several sets of characters, one of which is a couple whose marriage is going down in flames. The film was advertised as a straight comedy, focusing on the funnier storylines with none of the anguish even mentioned.

* The trailer for ''[[G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra (Film)|G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra]]'' implied that Cobra's attack on the Eiffel Tower would happen early in the movie and that the G. I. Joe team would then be formed in response to that attack. In the actual film, the Joe team is fully assembled well before the Eiffel Tower attack, which happens roughly halfway through the movie following a lengthy action scene as the Joe team chases the Cobra operatives through the streets of Paris in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the attack.

* The trailer for ''[[Face Off]]'' begins with Sean Archer ([[John Travolta]]) talking about how he's spent his career following and studying Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage). He concludes with "And now I've finally found a way to track him. I will become him," implying that he willingly takes on his enemy's appearance in order to find him. The film begins with Archer actually capturing Troy and putting him in a coma, and the face switch only happens because the FBI needs vital information from Troy's brother, and Archer reluctantly takes on the mission because he's the only one who can pass for Troy.

* The trailer for ''[[Face Off]]'' begins with Sean Archer ([[John Travolta (Creator)]]) talking about how he's spent his career following and studying Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage). He concludes with "And now I've finally found a way to track him. I will become him," implying that he willingly takes on his enemy's appearance in order to find him. The film begins with Archer actually capturing Troy and putting him in a coma, and the face switch only happens because the FBI needs vital information from Troy's brother, and Archer reluctantly takes on the mission because he's the only one who can pass for Troy.

* All of the trailers for ''[[Dazed and Confused]]'' depict it as a [[Stoner Flick]]. In the actual film, only one character (a supporting character) is actually a stoner and instead the film is a coming of age film about different types of people in different cliques (much of it told from the point of view of a 15 year old).

* The trailers for ''[[The Cable Guy]]'' made it look like another light-hearted comedy romp with Jim Carrey (this was 1996, before his career diversified). It's actually a black comedy verging on psychological horror. To be fair, [[Mood Whiplash|the movie itself didn't seem sure what genre it was]].

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* The trailer for ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'' shows a bunch of short clips of battle scenes with a man providing an update on the war, and a few other random scenes of soldiers walking around implying that this is simply another Vietnam War film (and not even a terribly good one at that). If you'd never heard of Stanley Kubrick before seeing his name in the trailer, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a crappy b-movie trying to cash in on the success of [[Apocalypse Now]] or [[Platoon]] instead of an in-depth character study of how war causes people to gradually lose their humanity

** The trailers also show nothing but men on the field. The whole first half of the movie involving R. Lee Ermey as a drill instructor turning a group of recruits into marines is completely absent. It's even more ironic when you consider the fact that the half of the film which the trailer ignores ended up being ''more'' famous than the later battlefield sequences.

* [[Duck You Sucker]], [[Sergio Leone]]'s last spaghetti Western, was marketed as a light-hearted action/adventure Western set during the Mexican revolution. The film starts off this way, initially centering around a bandit managing to get an Irish explosives expert to help him rob a bank. Then of course {{spoiler|the aforementioned bank turns out to be a political prison, and John had tricked him into liberating a bunch of revolutionaries, making him a hero}}. After that point... let's just say it [[Kill Em All|gets pretty brutal]].

* [[Duck You Sucker]], [[Sergio Leone]]'s last spaghetti Western, was marketed as a light-hearted action/adventure Western set during the Mexican revolution. The film starts off this way, initially centering around a bandit managing to get an Irish explosives expert to help him rob a bank. Then of course {{spoiler|the aforementioned bank turns out to be a political prison, and John had tricked him into liberating a bunch of revolutionaries, making him a hero}}. After that point... let's just say it [[Kill'Em All|gets pretty brutal]].

** It's ironic when one considers that some of the more brutal moments are actually shown in the trailers (among them a particularily unnerving scene where {{spoiler|hundreds of revolutionaries are forced into ghettos, with soldiers standing on each side shooting them}}), and they still managed to make it look like it was fairly light-hearted.

* The trailer for ''[[Killer Elite]]'' depicts the film as a violent action film where [[Jason Statham]] and [[Clive Owen]] are trying to kill each other to get to [[Robert De Niro]]'s character (with the tagline "May the best man win"). Though the actual film is still rather violent, it is actually an espionage thriller about a retired hitman having to kill three SAS agents as part of a revenge plot planned by a sheik. Owen's character is a government agent whose job is to watch him and his associates every move.