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50 Greatest Trailers: The Experts Speak
Trailer house pros weigh in on which trailers THEY think deserve to be called the best.
The Anticipation is Killing Me
To some degree, these films didn’t need trailers to sell themselves — buzz had already built, but when they hit theaters and computer screens around the country, they didn’t disappoint. (Arguably, that time would come later.) All masterfully edited and directed by some of the best visualists around, here are the trailers for “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” “300,” “Kill Bill: Volume 1″ and “Pearl Harbor”:
Odds and Ends
These two films couldn’t be any further apart, but both were suggested by readers and we can’t disagree. Rob Reiner’s long-winded and shamelessly self-promotional trailer for “This is Spinal Tap” sees the first-time director bringing out his two Emmys and proclaiming “there’s a naked groupie in this movie with enormous breasts, big nipples” all in an effort to “sell popcorn” before admitting he has no actual footage to show. So instead, he plays stock footage of a Scandinavian cheese festival, narrated by Derek Smalls alter ego Harry Shearer and featuring Tap’s David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) participating in a “cheese blowing” competition.
Ridley Scott preferred a minimalist approach for the teaser to “1492: Conquest of Paradise,” his ill-fated Christopher Columbus biopic starring Gérard Depardieu that achieved the nifty trick of modernizing the discovery of America by comparing it to the moon landing with a judicious use of staticky jolts and clever voiceover.
