Movies can either make or break your moviegoing experience based on the impressions trailers give.
Because all too often, the movie winds up being nothing like what audiences expected after forming their impressions based on the trailer.
Sometimes, a movie can end up exceeding expectations, while other times, not so much.
Curious to hear from moviegoers, Redditor HalpornTamitha8U asked:
"What movie trailers were the most misleading?"
The cute and the fantastical moments depicted in trailers wound up revealing unexpected horrors instead.
Not Just About Gizmo
"I'm old. But if anyone was kicking around in the '80s, you'll have a hard time topping: Gremlins."
"It literally spawned cries for an entirely new film rating. 'Temple of Doom' was released a few months later and that was the last straw."
"The original trailer didn't flatly deny any creepiness per se, but the narrator's voice was more cheerful and the music used in the trailer was more upbeat - never mind the fact that Gizmo, the little monster, was one of the cutest little movie creatures in a long time -- giving the impression to an incredible amount of movie goers that it was about cute little 'monsters', in a fun, children's 'Curious George' style of movie."
"Nevertheless, parents lost their effing minds as kids had nightmares for weeks."
evil laugh gremlins GIFGiphyWhen Fantasy And Gore Collide
"I went into Pan's Labyrinth not expecting the ultra-violence in certain parts of the movie. That was a huge shock when it happened."
These trailers bamboozled audiences by promising elements of horror.
Bridge To Nowhere
"Bridge to Terabithia. The trailer shows kids in the woods with make-believe monsters. Coming on the heels of lion the witch and the wardrobe. I was like cool I really like these kinds of movies."
"Then it turned into a coming of age movie…with the monsters showing up 15 seconds before the credits."
Murder Musical
"One of the early trailers for Sweeney Todd completely hid the fact that it's a musical and just played it like a slasher film."
People reacted positively to these movies in spite of being different from the trailers.
The Director's Twist
"M night shyamalans 'the village' was advertised as a terrifying creature feature with a colonial style village. What we got was an (admitadly amazing in my opinion) love story with some decent plot twists and 5 minutes of 'monster.'"
More Cerebral
"Most recently The Green Knight. Watching the trailers in the cinema you'd be forgiven if you thought this film was going to be high fantasy action. Instead it's a lot of slow, metaphorical monologues and dry exchanges, with nothing really happening. I liked the film, but it's not what it was portrayed as."
There's nothing worse than expecting a comedy and then leaving the theater depressed.
A Thrilling Downer
"The Road. The trailer makes it look like an action packed chase plot. Instead it's the most depressing movie ever made. Really good though."
A Tarantino Masterpiece
"I went into Inglorious Basterds thinking it was a Brad Pitt led semi-comedy from one of my favorite directors."
"While watching the extremely long, suspenseful opening, I quickly realized I was misled. And it was a great movie, but when you watch a movie expecting it to be one way, you can be disappointed. I really need to give it a rewatch. Christolph Waltz was superb."
Wasn't Remotely Funny
"Click. I expected a lighthearted comedy and that is NOT what I got."
Forecast Was Cloudy
"'Weather Man' looked like a goofy slapstick funny flick, with Nicolas Cage getting hit in the face with milkshakes and food and god knows what."
"Turned out to be a dark comedy, with Cage doing that neurotic cynical stream-of-consciousness thing from more serious films."
Trailers are tricky because you don't want to give away too much of the plot or give the wrong impression about its genre.
When I saw the trailer for the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Parasite, I knew nothing about what it would be other than a suspense film in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock classics.
It was intriguing enough for me to see it, yet not vague enough for me to lose interest.
To me, the trailer was misleading in a good way. It wound up being so much more than just your average thriller.
“'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience'.” What's your best real life example of this?"
They Literally Won't be "Shut Down"
"When I tell people to just reboot your computer and it will fix all their problems and yet they won't because they said if you wait long enough it will shut down, when in reality it only goes to sleep."
"Then when I tell them they have to completely shut it down they look at me like I'm an idiot and say they did."
"I tell them it seems like it but it only went to sleep."
"They argue back."- niallaa
Some People Just Don't Get It...
"I used to argue a lot with my sister when we were kids."
"She would do this thing where she would say something, and then I would reference back to it literally a minute or two later to prove a point and she would say 'I never said that' or 'that’s not what I said'."
"Absolutely impossible to argue with someone who will just deny having said things that could hurt their argument."
"Also, trying to change the course of an argument if they feel like they are 'losing'."
"A coworker once called me an idiot for doing something 'incorrectly' when I was actually doing it the right way."
"When I politely explained to them that the way they suggested doing the task didn’t actually work, they started asking 'why are you getting so angry?? I was just trying to help' etc."
"So now we’re arguing about whether I’m angry or not instead of the right way to complete the task."- themightypianocat
Facts Are Facts...
"Arguing is pointless if you do not agree on a set of facts."- niallaa
Facts GIF by Judge JerryGiphyYou Can't Have It Both Ways...
"For a short while, I worked as a line cook at a Cracker Barrel, and there was a little saloon style door that led to the staff section (kitchen, bathroom, etc)."
"There was a staff only sign on the door, above the doors, and on the wall behind the doors at eye level."
"Usually if someone from the customer side comes in, they said, 'Coming in' before opening the door, so they didn't hit anyone, but of course customers didn't know that."
"So when this dude opened the door and hit a waitress carrying a ton of drinks, we were reasonably upset with him."
"He said, ;You should really put a sign up'."
"We showed him all the signs, and he goes, 'That seems a bit excessive'."- GreyFoxHound1
So Wrong.
"Had an employee sign an NDA about an upcoming art installation that had investors."
"He told everyone."
"He argued with me the NDA only meant he couldn’t disclose anything with the people in the company."- BosskHogg
He Knew What He Was Talking About
This was best said:
“'Never wrestle with pigs'."
"'You both get dirty and the pig likes it'.― George Bernard Shaw"- Zerowantuthri·
pigs GIFGiphySome Outdated Inventions Are Definitely Not Missed...
"I’m showing my age here but I used to work for an estate agency, and we had sales offices set up at the site of large new housing developments."
"Our primary method of communication was fax."
"One of the sales associates telephoned our office to say that the fax machine had run out of paper."
"No problem, I said, one of the guys is coming your way later for a house tour, I’ll give him a box of paper to give to you."
"We then had an almost 20 minute long argument when they kept insisting 'NO, YOU JUST SEND ME A BLANK FAX BECAUSE I NEED THE PAPER, IT WILL JUST COME OUT OF MY FAX MACHINE'.”
"It was like trying to nail jelly to a tree."
"Difficult, irritating, and it achieved nothing."- BettieKat
Very Few Hills Are Worth Dying On...
"I had a friend in university who was a world-class high school debater."
"Over meals, she liked to pick a ridiculous proposition and then talk circles around people until they had to concede to her point, no matter how absurd."
"When she tried it with me, I just stonewalled her."
"Met every point with a solid 'I don't think that's true'." or 'That doesn't make sense'."
"Eventually she gave up and never tried it with me again."
"It was the only time I've ever used the tactics of the stupid to win an argument."
"But, to be fair, if you're not arguing with me in good faith, I feel no obligation to respond in good faith."- kitskill
IS The Customer Always Right?...
"Working retail."
"Especially when I worked in the tech shop or a computer store."
" Trying to convince someone their $500 laptop is never going to be a gaming system no matter how many of the very few replaceable parts we throw at it can be exhausting."- MOS95B
happy episode 7 GIFGiphyEducation Only Matters If You Learned Something....
"Was arguing with this dude about something math-related."
"He didn’t know how to read a study that involved statistics. claimed he was in multiple AP math classes."
"Tried saying that I 'probably don’t even know basic integration'."
"Gave me a common integration problem."
"He wrote it but forgot the minus sign, making it unsolvable."
"I pointed it out and he edited the comment to make it correct."
"Told him that some people can see when you edit comments."
"He claimed that he just capitalized a letter. on and on and on."- SaturdayNightCity
Good Legal Counsel Might Be Worth The Splurge...
"I asked a representative from the Friend of the Court to explain something she said and she told me that I understood what she was saying."
"I replied that I wouldn't have asked her to explain if I had understood."
"She said if I was going to be difficult, she would hold me in contempt."
"My X chimed in that she didn't quite understand what she had said and was greeted with a smile and an explanation."
"From that point on I always disagreed with the Friend of the Court on EVERYTHING, so that I could be seen by the 'Actual Court' and a Judge."- PURPLEPEE
Season 4 Episode 21 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphySore Winners Are No More Attractive Than Sore Losers...
"Once worked with a guy who, by his own admission, got his rocks off by picking fights."
"He'd start an argument over the smallest thing."
"If you said it was white, he'd say it was black, just to try to start something."
"The one that always stood out for me was the weather app competition."
"One day he asked me what temperature it was, so I read it off my weather app."
"He got all offended, because his weather app said it was a couple degrees warmer."
"So he decides we're going to have a weather app competition."
"He was going to chart what our apps said the temperature was, and at the end of the week, whichever one was closest to that day's high would be the winner."
"And the loser would have to start using the winner's app."
"To which I said, "What is your f*cking problem?'"
"So, yeah."
"For the first few days, he'd make a big performance about marching into my office, recording the temperature off my app, jotting down some notes, and walking off."
"This started on a Monday."
"He gave up after Wednesday."
"Either because I was winning, or he was disappointed because, despite his best efforts, I just did not give a f*ck about weather apps."
"Or maybe the boss told him to stop because I filed a complaint that this was bordering on harassment."- originalchaosinabox
Im Always Right GIF by ZionGiphyIt should perhaps be said calling someone an idiot, or even thinking it, is not a particularly nice thing to do.
Even so, if you're tempted to do so when you're in the presence of a particular individual, probably best not to provoke them.
After all, if you're so determined to "win," does it really make you any better than them?