If you grew up in the early 2000s, you probably saw a trailer for Kangaroo Jack. The trailer gives the impression that the movie is a screwball road trip comedy about two friends and their wacky, talking Kangaroo sidekick. Except it’s not that. It’s an extremely unfunny movie about two idiots escaping the mob. There’s a random kangaroo in it for like 5 minutes and he only talks during a hallucination scene that lasts less than a minute. Turns out, the producers knew that they had a stinker on their hands so they cut the movie to be PG and focus the marketing on the one positive aspect that test audiences responded to, the talking kangaroo, tricking a bunch of families into buying tickets.
What other movies had similar, deceitfully malicious marketing campaigns?
Jarhead, staring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx.
The trailers for the film pitch a story about Gyllenhaal being a young soldier learning the harsh realities of war from tough superior officer Jamie Foxx. The trailer was full of explosions and gunfire, set to the tune of Kanye West’s (2005 era, so peak Kanye) song Jesus Walks. I was expecting something like a Black Hawk Down, or maybe even a poor man’s Saving Private Ryan.
Instead the film is about Gyllenhaal wacking off in a porta potty. Or to be more generous, “Roger Ebert gave the movie three-and-a-half out of four stars, crediting it for its unique portrayal of Gulf War Marines who battled boredom and a sense of isolation rather than enemy combatants.”
Honestly that’s a good story to tell. You can argue that the trailer was designed to be misleading to show “real” war. The problem is when you pitch an action film, I want an action film.
On a related note the film had two direct to DVD sequels, both of which are just generic action war films.
Sounds a little like Rambo vs Rambo sequels.
I honestly think thats brilliant marketing and actually hammers home the message being told. Modern war and life in the military isn’t like what you normally see in media or what the recruiters will promise you. It’s often a boring, exhausting, lonely, massive waste of fucking time in the most hellish of environments, all punctuated by moments of high stress. Most soldiers don’t see direct action and have practically zero insight into what is going on. Why was that patch of dirt 5 miles away just bombed? Was it us who bombed it? Who fucking knows? Get back to drilling.
The trailer for District 9 had stuff in it that wasn’t even in the movie and was all shot at normal camera angles instead of “I’m holding a camera and filming all this” style like the Blair Witch Project.
The trailer looked more like Independence Day, rather than a movie with cam footage showcasing aliens as poor immigrants.
That’s all B roll that the film crew following Wikus shot
Good for them? It was still a bullshit deception.
I remember the trailer for “Cuffs” made it look like a buddy cop comedy that will be full of hilarious jokes. Went to see the movie and the jokes in the trailer were all the jokes in the movie. The rest was dark and depressing and I felt cheated after that.
Holy shit yup. This happened to me. Little kid me was stoked for that movie and it sucked balls hahahahaha
Made my dad take me to theater. I was so disappointed.
OK, call me naive, but I had no idea that Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was a famous musical. The trailer for the film, starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton. So I was very surprised when they all started singing and dancing in the film. This was never mentioned or shown in the film’s trailer! I just double-checked on Wiki and people in the UK logged official complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards agency.
The only other example that comes to mind is the trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man. Can’t remember if it’s the first or second. The shot in the trailer features what looks like the start of an epic fight between Spider-Man and Rhino. Unfortunately, what you see in the trailer is the very last shot in the film. It’s a tease for a fight that you never get to see.
I enjoyed Gattaca, but the trailer is for a very different movie.
No one said Starship Troopers yet? This is the trailer I remember most back then. Just a lighthearted fun action movie about blasting aliens, right?
I don’t see the problem with this. Everything in that 30 second clip was in the movie.
At least it Still gave me a good time unlike kangaroo jack.
Star Wars Episode 1
What were they like at the times?
They were “Look at the story we could tell and the wondrous adventure we’re embarking on together”
And then pod-racing, and puppets, and a jibber-jabber secret sith, and toys.
The movie was pod racing and Jar Jar binks. I can’t recall the trailer.
Edit: Well, the trailer is Pod racing and Jar Jar binks.
i remember the posters had giant shadows of darth vader, but the movie had none of him.
The poster was implying that the young boy would grow up to be Darth Vader, if that’s what you mean?
Spirit looked like it would be gritty but was goofy. After release the trailer for DVD made it look sexy.
Wait, Spirit the Dreamworks animation movie with the horse?
I think they are referring to Will Eisner’s The Spirit but also Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmiron or whatever the fuck it’s called is the worst film title ever.
How you gonna “or whatever it’s called” and get the title perfectly right? Like call it “Stallion of the Cinnamon Rolls” or something at least.
And it’s not a terrible movie. It’s certainly a kids movie but of all the trash out there for kids, it’s nowhere near the worst. Pull up Netflix and we can find at least twenty worse titles.
Lol I literally have never seen it. I do like that you can basically shuffle the words and they are all equally stupid sounding:
- Cimmiron, Spirit of the Stallion
- Stallion, Cimmiron on the Spirit
- Spirit, Cimmiron of the Stallion
No, it may have been called “The Spirit” I think. It was a black and white comic movie, but it had some color. Like the tie was red I think. Idk. Very long ago and forgettable.
