How sad is it that week after week people from all over the globe get
tricked out of money by Hollywood? Let's face it, the highest paid
people in the business shouldn't be the Actors, and it shouldn't be the
Directors, it should simply be the men and women who most of us have
never heard of. They are the ones who edit the movie trailers together.
They are the ones that give us a glimpse into what their new film has to
offer, and they are the ones that trick us the most. This holds true
for any genre but especially when it comes to horror/suspense and
comedy. They trick you by often showing you the funniest or scariest
scenes in the movie and make you believe that the whole film will be
filled with the same thing.
How many times have you seen a movie trailer and thought to yourself
"wow that movie looks fantastic, I can't wait to see it". Then you go
see the movie, and it is nothing like what the trailer made it appear to
be? Months before the movie is released you get bombarded with PR for
the film, from posters, trailers and even pop up ads on the internet,
and you get so filled with hope for these high budget, and often times
low talent films that you can't help but expect them to be great. So now
you've wasted nearly $10 dollars for the movie ticket, and while I try
and avoid the over priced, under-satisfying snack line, most people will
go and spend at least another $10 there. Now you have spent nearly $20
for a very boring, sometimes upsetting 2 hours of your life that you
will never get back again. That would be bad enough, but the worst part
about it is that you will probably go and do it again next weekend as
well.
So how can one avoid being tricked by the studios and how can you
avoid wasting money after seeing these mini movies called trailers? Well
the truth is there is no way to 100% to be sure that the movie you see
is going to be good. But here are a few things that you can do to raise
the chances of wasting less money by seeing the better movies out there.
1. Watch the trailers - Even though Trailers often trick us, they are
still necessary to get some idea of what the movie might be about.
2. Read many reviews - The key to reading reviews is to not just read
one and then go on what the author had to say. Read many and most
important, try and find reviews from people who seem to have similar
tastes as yourself. Most of us go see movies with certain friends
because they usually have similar tastes as us and will enjoy the same
things. Same goes for movie reviews. Find reviewers who seem to have
similar tastes as you, and that will help you in picking your next
movie.
3. Actors/Directors - If the main actor is someone that you do not
normally like, then it's a good chance that you will not like this film
either. The same goes for the director. A lot of times the average
person doesn't even know who is directing the film before they go see
it. If they would only check this beforehand they might find out that
this person has been involved in many films that they did or did not
like. Film in this sense is much like reading a book. Would you go buy a
book that was written by an author that you hate? Try using the same
thought process with film directors.
4. How many times have you seen the movie trailer? I've recently come
to the conclusion that if I see the movie trailer on TV more than 5
times the week before the movie is being released, then I have no desire
to see that movie anymore or at least on opening weekend. This is more a
general rule for myself as I do not always hold true to it. For
example, I could see the trailer for Spider-Man 3 100 times the week
before it comes out, and I will still see it opening day. They have done
enough for me over the first two films to convince me that the third
will be just as good. This has caused me some disappointment in the past
(The Matrix films) but generally when seeing sequels and trilogies it
is ok to see the 2nd or 3rd if you liked the first.
5. Wait until opening weekend is over. There are so many movie
websites out there now to find out what the general public has thought
about a film. If you don't trust the professional movie reviews, then
wait a week or two after the movie has been released and find out what
others think about it. This again will help you to filter out some of
the bad movies out there.
Again, I understand that there is no full proof plan to avoid seeing a
bad movie, but my advice to you is to put a little more thought and
research into the films you see before you go, and then hopefully your
overall movie experience will improve.
