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21. Strange Days (1995)
By IFC
on 06/25/2009
Salesmanship is a large but unspoken part of all trailers. The teaser to Kathryn Bigelow's "Strange Days" addresses that notion by structuring itself as a simple but forceful pitch: star Ralph Fiennes, in a variety of close-ups, selling you on the idea of virtual reality. At first, little of what Fiennes is selling makes sense ("Have you ever jacked in? Have you ever wire tripped?"). But slowly he draws us in with that movie star charm, playing to our curiosity by promising VR will deliver escapism, vicarious thrills, and an immersive sensory experience; by absolutely no coincidence whatsoever, exactly the same things any great movie offers as well.
As Fiennes speaks, suggestive text flies about the screen, underlining his points, vowing to deliver "forbidden fruit" of "textures" and "colors." The whole thing operates on two levels: as a clever deconstruction of movie advertising, and as a tantalizing commercial for the mysterious product it's selling, which is technically virtual reality, but is really just the movie "Strange Days." Fiennes' performance as this self-described "magic man" is seductive and alluring, no small feat when you're forced to do it while spouting technobabble. In a career that's already garnered two Academy Award nominations, Fiennes' work in this teaser is one of his best performances to date. --Matt Singer
I guess you guys haven't seen the trailer for The Hughes Bros.'s Dead Presidents, huh? What about Forest Gump? I think those are the 2 greatest of all time. Gump is better than the movie. And Dead Prez is the best ever.
Oh... what about the SW Ep 1 teaser? Maybe you should call this the best film trailers on YouTube! LOL. Dead Prez is probably too hard for you to locate.
I think The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and 300 should be included!
Clerks? No love for the Clerks trailer? Sigh.
Honorable mention for the Grindhouse fake trailers? "Don't" was brilliant.
Great list, by the way. Thanks for including 'Man Who Wasn't There'
Seriously? We have to click 50 times just to get the damn list? No thanks.
Like clicking 50 times is soooo hard, right? But you guys forgot about There Will Be Blood!!
50 PAGES?!!! Get back to work researching how to post an article. No Digg for you.
50 PAGES?!!! Get back to work researching how to post an article. No Digg for you.
GREAT article and flawless pick for #1. I actually did a lil piece on that trailer at our own movie blog, so I'm elated to see as your top pick. Yay trailers!