Best of 2009: Old Trailer Friday

Top 5 Movie Trailers of 2009

A trailer by itself can and should be judged on its own artistic merits.  Often enough, these two-minute montages end up being stunning pieces of cinema in their own right, regardless and sometimes contrary to the final film.  This Friday, rather than something new, I bring you five trailers that proved to be cinematic gems with my picks for the Top 5 Movie Trailers of 2009.

5. Watchmen (feature trailer)

My first pick is a fairly convention trailer, and being a feature trailer (which tends to be more expository since they come after the first trailer or teaser) is slightly more advertisement than short film.  Still, it was this trailer that got me so excited about Watchmen and largely in part to its pitch perfect selection of music.  Starting with the haunting Philip Glass Prophecies and Pruit Igoe from Koyaanisqatsi, it slowly builds momentum and motion, and explodes into an ending with the minimalist inspired yet powerfully moving Take a Bow by Muse.  The perfect balance of visual, musical, and emotional energy building to a climax still brings a tear to my eye when I watch this trailer, making it easily one of the best of 2009.

4. Terminator Salvation (trailer B)

This was the trailer that sold everybody on the assurances of director McG that he could make a grittier, more realistic Terminator film.  Though his work on the film was wildly disappointing, it's not hard to see why we believed him.  This trailer is nothing short of stunning.  

Many trailers have a music video sensibility to them, and this is a perfect example of choosing to take a single song and make it the thematic and emotional backing for a trailer.  Set to the Nine Inch Nails song The Day the World Went Away this brief two minute trailer manages to capture the strife, the horror, the hopelessness, and the anger of film's setting and characters, a feat the film itself could not muster in its entire, two hour run.  I'm deeply reminded of the trailer for the original Gears of War game set to Michael Andrews song Mad World, a trailer which in my opinion is one of the best ever made.  It's too bad the beats which were hit so right in this trailer couldn't have been carried over into the film proper, but just because Terminator Salvation ultimately sucked, doesn't make this any less my number four favorite trailer of the year.

3. District 9 (teaser)

The goal of a trailer is to inform and generate interest about a film, and the goal of a teaser trailer is to do so and while giving away as little as possible, thus maximizing interest and excitement.  To be honest, most teasers do a rotten job at this.  They either give away to much about the film or end up being just a slightly shorter version of the more expository theatrical trailer (or feature trailer).  I am convinced that the phenomenal teaser for District 9 was almost completely responsible for the success of this film.  Never in my life as a movie-goer have I ever seen a trailer be so effective with an audience.  Each time I saw this in front of a film there would be the usual gaggle of talking going on during the first part of this trailer, and I even overheard some remarks like "not another African poverty drama."  But when the "they are not...human" text appeared on the screen followed by the goosebumps inducing shot of the alien ship hovering over Johannesburg, I would literally hear gasps and startled exclamations followed by awestruck silence.  Not only is this a text book example of a perfect teaser, but I've never witnessed the desired effect of a trailer like this hit with such precision on every occasion that I saw it in theatres.  Bloody brilliant!

2. Up in the Air (teaser)

As mentioned before, some trailers can sit alone as complete, cinematic works of art.  The teaser trailer for Jason Reitman's film Up in the Air is one of those.  It's not a novel concept to take a monologue from a film, set it to music and to a montage of clips and call it day.  But the pure poignancy evoked from the pairing of word, to image, to sound in this trailer is both breathtaking and heartbreaking.  Unlike some of the trailers I've mentioned, this teaser has a very steady emotional tone which neither builds nor falls, but with the silkly grumble of George Clooney's voice you instantly click with the intended mood and you float there, effortlessly.  There's something soothing about the mixture of somber music (track Genova) with the subversive lyrics of Clooney's speech that troubles you while simultaneously puts you at ease.  I'd almost not be joking to say I watch this every night before I shut my eyes, easily making this my second favorite trailer of the year. 

The movie's not half bad either ;)

1. Where the Wild Things Are (trailer 1)

I can't watch this trailer without breaking down into a sobbing mess.  Even now I'm having trouble finding the adjectives to describe how much I love this trailer.  From the perfect way it opens to the music-less sounds of the wild thing plodding through the forest, to the obscenely cute and charming titles of "inside all of us is a...," to the form fitting track Wake Up by Arcade Fire, everything is just, well, perfect.  Spike Jonze set out to the capture the essence of childhood and present it back as a reminiscence to the child who's grown up.  Presenting this trailer as a moving scrapbook of childhood not only serves to revel in the films gorgeous cinematography, but to drive home the point that even though the studios paid him to make a film for kids, he's made a film for us kids who've grown old, a film to remind us of what is was like. 

If you can watch this trailer without feeling that warm glow of childhood and tearing up just a little bit, then you clearly have a cold lump of coal where your soul used to be, and I'll have to beg forgiveness for making this without a single doubt, my favorite trailer of 2009.

But what about!?!

Missing your favorite, like the trailer for Inglourious Basterds or the teaser for The Last Airbender?  Let me know by leaving a comment below!