Teaser Trailers

Universal Unleashes First Trailer For ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

With the critical and commercial failure of “The Exorcist: Believer,” you would think movie studios would get the picture and realize that “The Exorcist” franchise had long since overstayed its welcome. But because Universal Pictures spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the rights to this long-running franchise, they still need to get their money back. Clearly, they will do anything to keep this from looking like a horrific investment.

So, David Gordon Green is out, and in his place now is writer and director Mike Flanagan who has spent much of his career adapting the literary works of Stephen King to the silver screen. With “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” Flanagan looks to reboot the franchise with what has been described as a “radical new take,” and he was very aggressive in getting the director’s job as he felt he could bring something new to this franchise which some will say has seen one sequel too many.

And now, we have the first trailer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs” which will be arriving in theatres everywhere come March of 2027. One hand, it makes the upcoming film look quite creepy, but its also makes it look like a movie. When it comes to William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” it was not so much a movie as it was an experience (and an incredibly visceral at that). The sequels have either failed to live up to that experience or have dared to take things in a more cerebral direction. With “Martyrs,” I am not sure where this sequel or reboot is going to land, but I have a feeling it is going to be more of a movie than an experience.

The trailer has a clever beginning as we see Detective Julie Miller (Scarlett Johansson) descend down a number of steps which may not be the same ones in Georgetown, but they certainly reminded of those same steps we saw Jason Miller tumble down all those years ago. Julie comes up to a murder scene involving an altar boy who her partner, Detective Gina Restrepo (Sasha Calle from “The Flash”), tells her is about 15 to 16 years old. We do not see all the gory details of this altar boy’s death as Julie’s head is in the way, and Universal Pictures will not benefit from a restricted trailer at this point in time. But to see this boy being crucified upside down is quite the image, and the medal we see being pulled out of his mouth looks exactly like the one from the original film.

The rest of the trailer features a number of images which have quickly seared into my memory, we see John Leguizamo who is playing a character about to be executed by lethal injection, something which has not been very effective in Tennessee recently. Laurence Fishburne shows up as a priest who looks to have many years etched on his face (please do not ask me how I cam to this conclusion). And an especially prominent figure here is Julie’s son, Max Miller (Jacobi Jupe), who looks to provide this film’s innocent moments in addition to its most terrifying ones.

But for me, one of the most memorable images comes with Julie entering a room and then stopping in place to where I was convinced someone or something would jump at her when least expected. Instead, her son Max asks her, “What is it mom?”

To this, Julie replies, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me that.” And when it comes to Johansson, she delivers this line in a way which is not the least big theatrical or demonic, and it makes the dialogue all the more terrifying as a result.

I also have to add; we never hear Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” played once in this trailer. Maybe this film will indeed be a radical new take.

After watching this first trailer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” I have to be honest and say I cannot help but be intrigued by what Flanagan has to offer us. At the same time, I am quickly and often reminded of how the original “Exorcist” was a visceral experience more than anything else. This one, however, looks like just another horror movie. Can Flanagan and company come even close to duplicating what Friedkin gave us years ago, or can they only hope to make a movie which is only slightly better than “The Exorcist: Believer?”

Well, it cannot be any worse than “Exorcist II: The Heretic.” Can it?

Check out the trailer below.

All-Time Favorite Trailers: ‘Pale Rider’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

With Tony Farinella’s ever so enthusiastic review of Clint Eastwood’s 1985 western “Pale Rider,” I was quickly reminded of the various trailers made for it back in the day. Each trailer and television commercial made for it was dominated by the music of “Best Endeavours” which was composed by Alan Hawkshaw. That piece of music alone was enough to get me super excited about this particular motion picture.

But one particular trailer for “Pale Rider” which excited and stayed me throughout the years was its teaser. I first watched the teaser when it was included in the VHS release of “City Heat,” a movie which teamed up Eastwood with Burt Reynolds and eventually became one of my most inescapable guilty pleasures.

What makes this trailer for “Pale Rider” stand out for me is how it is composed simply of still images. Like the Italian movie trailer for Dario Argento’s “Suspiria,” it is the images which, in their stillness or frozen moments, spoke volumes. While Warner Brothers might have preferred more in the way of moving images, the still ones had much more of an impact on me.

Plus, it has a narrator telling us how Eastwood had previously directed the last great western back in 1976 with “The Outlaw Josey Wales.” This made the trailer’s promise of “Pale Rider” being the next great American western all the more thrilling. Whether or not you think “Pale Rider” proved to be such the thing, I admired the case the narrator sold us on.

As much as I wanted to see “Pale Rider” when it arrived in theaters, I was only ten years at the time, and it was rated R. The best I could do was watch Siskel & Ebert review it as I got to see movie clips there, and I did get to read the movie’s novelization which was written by Alan Dean Foster. For some odd reason, my parents never kept me from doing that.

I didn’t get to see “Pale Rider” until many years later, but that is a story for another time. And from now on, Alan Hawkshaw’s “Best Endeavours” will always forever be the “Pale Rider” theme to me. To others, it may forever be the theme for the British program Channel 4 News, but Channel 4 never secured permanent exclusivity rights for it at the time, so there!

Please check out the “Pale Rider” teaser trailer down below.

Worst Movie Trailers Ever: ‘Warlock – The Armageddon’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

I remember seeing this movie trailer back when I was an employee at Crow Canyon Cinemas in Northern California. I was aware of the original “Warlock” which starred the late Julian Sands as the title character, a son of Satan who is intent on destroying the world. And like any horror film from the 1980’s, it had to be followed by a sequel. This teaser showed some promise as we watch a peaceful landscape of nature become infinitely degraded to where the end of the world feels far too near for our comfort. And it always feels like the end of the world is just around the corner these days and, unlike R.E.M., we do not feel fine about it. Plus, the man narrating the trailer does make your blood curdle as he talks about “when he comes” and how “the land will be tainted with blood.”

So, why does this teaser trailer for “Warlock: The Armageddon” end up on my list for the worst movie trailers ever? Because it shows a lot of promise, and yet it feels so incredibly and unforgivably cheap. This could have been one for the ages, but it instead illustrates how this sequel had to deal with a far too low budget than its predecessor. While “Warlock” had a budget of $15 million to work with, “Warlock: The Armageddon” was made for only $3 million. Watching this trailer makes me realize how the producers were clearly pinching every penny they had when going into this production, and it makes everything here look so sad.

Seriously, this could have been one of the greatest movie trailers ever had more money and creativity been put into its making. That land tainted with blood looks like it was painted with a red Crayola marker. I look at this piece of marketing, and I cannot help but think about all the things about it which could have been improved on. While the narrator does what he can to sell it to the moviegoing public, the images betray the fact that not enough money was put into this particular film. Talk about a power point presentation gone bad!

It’s no wonder that this sequel’s follow up, “Warlock III: The End of Innocence,” would have an even lower budget to where Julian Sands bailed on the proceedings and was replaced by Bruce Payne and didn’t even get a theatrical release. Going straight to video back then never made anyone look all that good.

All-Time Favorite Trailers: ‘The Silence of the Lambs’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

This teaser trailer for “The Silence of the Lambs” was my introduction to this film, and it immediately grabbed me in a way few trailers do. Back then, the internet had yet to be discovered by me, I only knew Jodie Foster from “The Accused” which she won an Oscar for, and I had no idea who Anthony Hopkins was in the slightest. I should also add that not once in this trailer is there any mention that this adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novel was directed by Jonathan Demme. Had Demme’s name been included here, it would have made me all the more eager to check this film out as “Married to the Mob” and “Something Wild” were still very fresh in my mind.

What I love about this particular trailer is how it gives this film a look which makes it feel like no other cinematic experience that was coming soon to a theater near you. Everything about it was full of darkness, but it was a darkness like no other. With its striking images and shrieking noises, and also Anthony Hopkins staring directly into the camera in a way few other actors could, I felt I was being promised an experience which not be average or cliched in any conceivable way. I also very much prefer it to the main theatrical trailer which, quite frankly, gave far too much of the story away to where I am so very thankful I didn’t see it before I saw this brilliant motion picture on the silver screen at Crow Canyon Cinemas.

For the record, “The Silence of the Lambs” is one of my favorite movies ever, and one which I am happy to revisit quite often. This teaser trailer is also one of my favorites as those who put it together made it clear to audiences that this was a motion picture you would be foolish to miss out on. While the darkness it presented could have frightened many audience members off, not once did it feel like your average slasher flick.

All-Time Favorite Trailers: ‘The Expendables 3’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

With “The Expendables 4,” or “Expend4bles” as the studio cleverly calls it, about to be released, I wanted to reflect on its predecessor which came out nearly a decade ago. As disappointed as I was with “The Expendables 3” to where my opinion would be no different if it were rated R instead of PG-13, I still adore its teaser trailer which I still find myself watching quite often. It is short and sweet as we are introduced to the cast of the sequel to the tune of Malcolm Arnold’s theme to “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” There is something thrilling about seeing all these actors and movie stars coming together on the silver screen to this famous piece of film music, the same one the actors of “The Breakfast Club” whistled at one point while losing an entire Saturday for whatever it was they did wrong.

Like the teaser trailer for “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” this is a great one for a movie I really cannot stand. While I am happy to revisit “The Expendables” and “The Expendables 2,” “The Expendables 3” is one I would prefer to believe never existed in the first place. But yes, we always have this delightful teaser trailer to it.

Check out the teaser trailer below.

All-Time Favorite Trailers: ‘The Golden Child’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Okay, I have been looking for this particular movie trailer, a teaser trailer actually, for the longest time. While you can find just about anything on the internet, this trailer for the 1986 dark fantasy martial arts action comedy “The Golden Child” seemed to be hidden in deepest regions of Paramount Pictures’ vaults. Denis-Carl Robidoux, however, found a 35mm copy of it and has since posted it on his You Tube page. For that, I could not be more grateful.

Talking about this particular trailer is a bit tricky as you probably know everything there is to know about this film which was directed by Michael Ritchie, the same man who directed Chevy Chase to his best performance ever in “Fletch.” With a certain actor from “Beverly Hills Cop” appearing in it, expectations were understandably high.

I saw this teaser trailer when my brother, friends of his and I went to a movie theater in Thousand Oaks, California to check out “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” on the silver screen. When this trailer began, it was hard not to be swept up the snowy visuals and the narration which promised us an epic journey for one character who is destined to save the most perfect child to be found on this planet. These visuals were supported greatly by music which sounded like it was ripped off of Maurice Jarre’s score to “Lawrence of Arabia.” But as we followed this character who was described as being “the chosen one,” I came to feel as frigid as he did. Next thing we knew, the chosen one was revealed to be Eddie Murphy who wondered why he was.out in the freezing cold while we were sitting in a nice air-conditioned movie theater. Under the circumstances, I cannot blame him for thinking so, and I loved the reaction from the audience as they laughed loudly at him saying he was going back to Hollywood to kick some butt,

Movie trailers like these are in short supply these days as studios have a hard time surprising us as we are always eagerly anticipating the latest big releases which feature movie stars we know are going to appear in them. This trailer for “The Golden Child,” however, surprised and had me in hysterics as it made me realize all the cinematic heroes are not as stoic as we think they are. And, more importantly, they are not prepared to be the hero we expect them to be. Or perhaps they would be if they were inhabiting a country with a far warmer climate.

Please feel free to check out the teaser trailer for “The Golden Child” down below. Eddie Murphy may not consider to be one of his best films, and the special effects in it have not aged all that well, but it is better than its reputation may suggest.

‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ Teaser is Here, Should You Choose to Accept it

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

It’s been close to five years since the last film in this long-lasting franchise, but now we get our first look at “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” I should, however, state how frustrated I was to see it will not be released until July of 2023 which is such a buzz kill. All these exciting images are presented to us, and now we have to wait just a little over a year to see them on the silver screen. This reminded me of how thrilled I was when I first watched the teaser trailer for “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions,” and how deflated I was when we saw the year 2003 plastered at the end of it. We were so excited, and then we were made to wait a full year before we went back to the “real world.” That’s like putting salt in the wound!

Well, with Tom Cruise returning as Ethan Hunt once again, we are greeted with various images we have come to see in the “Mission: Impossible” films such as him palling around with his colleagues played by Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby among others. We also get glimpses of insane car chases which go through downtown cities, trains traveling through the countryside, and our heroic characters partying at a members’ only rave in the most glamorous of places. So yeah, this definitely looks like a “Mission: Impossible” film.

Having watched this teaser trailer several times now, this particular sequel looks to be not much different from the others which preceded it. Perhaps this is because Christopher McQuarrie is returning to director’s chair for the third time, or maybe I am just reacting to how Tom Cruise still looks like he hasn’t aged a day since “Mission: Impossible III.” I’m not surprised to see him “grinning like an idiot every 15 minutes” here and, in this trailer, we see him running really fast, and all by his lonesome as usual. When was the last time anyone rang alongside him anyway?

What stood out to me most in this trailer was the appearance of Henry Czerny who returns to this franchise as Eugene Kittridge for the first time since the original “Mission: Impossible” film from 1990. Hearing him talk to Ethan and explain how he needs to take a side makes me feel like this sequel will have very high stakes, and this always helps to add to spectacle on display.

One other thing; seeing Ethan ride a horse is something I have not seen him do before in this franchise. At least I can count on the filmmakers bringing in that as something new. Plus, I have not seen a train fly off the rails since “Back to the Future Part III,” and that should be quite the sight to see. And then there is Cruise driving a motorcycle off of a cliff, something we already knew he was going to do. It makes me wonder what motorcycle enthusiasts think of such a stunt. Once they learn what kind of motorcycle he let crash to the ground, they may be incredibly heartbroken.

And if you look closely, you will get glimpses of newbies to this franchise which include Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell and Cary Elwes among others. These are actors you can always depend on, and I have no doubt they will be great additions.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” is set to open in theaters on July 14, 2023. If you haven’t already, check out the trailer above. Whether or not this will equal or be better than “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” one of the best action films of recent years, remains to be seen.

All-Time Favorite Trailers: ‘Strange Days’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

I first saw this trailer when it played before “Mad Love” which starred Drew Barrymore and Chris O’Donnell. This was at Crow Canyon Cinemas, a movie multiplex I once worked at, and the volume was not all that great as the teenage audience, desperately waiting to see O’Donnell take his shirt off, were talking endlessly before the lights finally went down. I saw it again at the UC Berkeley theater, which was once known as the New Beverly Cinema of Northern California, and I got a better idea of what was on display as I could actually hear what was being said that time around.

“Strange Days” is a 1995 science fiction thriller which starred Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett and Juliette Lewis, and the film featured a kind of technology which allowed those who used it to experience recorded memories and physical sensations of others. But despite it being co-written and produced by James Cameron and having been directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it flopped hard at the box office. It is only over time that this film has gotten the cult following it truly deserved as this one offers the viewer a cinematic experience you cannot find elsewhere.

This particular trailer for “Strange Days” was its teaser trailer which had Fiennes selling us on this technology. The dialogue is taken from a scene in which he is trying to get a potential customer to buy some recorded memories, but this time Fiennes is looking straight into the camera, attempting to sell the audience on what he has.

Fiennes starred in this film not long after his Oscar-nominated turn in “Schindler’s List,” and I love how he tells us about this technology here without showing us a thing. His words suck us in to the possibilities of what we could experience if common sense didn’t kick in on a regular basis. It’s a brilliant piece of acting as he succeeds in making us want to open Pandora’s Box and experience pleasures which are ever so forbidden.

I also love the sound design of this trailer as it features a hum throughout which is much like the one I heard as I entered the American Conservatory Theater to watch the first part of “Angels in America.” There is something so comforting and alluring about such a hum that I cannot help but be drawn into the subject matter in a heartbeat.

By the way, can anyone tell me what song was used at the end of this trailer? I really dug it and would love to know where it came from. Perhaps it was by the band Deep Forest as they were supposed to be composing this film’s music score (it would later be done by Graeme Revell), but I don’t know.

If you have not watched “Strange Days” yet, I encourage you to do so as it deals with themes which are more pertinent today than when this film first came out.

All-Time Favorite Trailers: ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ and ‘The Matrix Revolutions’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

As I write this, the first official trailer for “The Matrix Resurrections” is about to be unveiled for the whole world to see. I have been truly enjoying visiting the movie’s official website (www.whatisthematrix.com) as it hints at what is to come, and the way it is being handled is endlessly brilliant as there are so many different images to see. Seriously, visiting this site just once is not enough as not everything is the same.

But more importantly, it reminds me of when I first saw the teaser trailer for “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions” back in 2002. It still feels like yesterday when I was hanging out with my friends and fellow cast mates from Disneyland as we waited in line to check out “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.” An eagerly awaited cinematic event, we first had to suffer through some needless commercials (we saw it at an AMC theater in Orange County) and trailers for movies which could not possibly be anywhere as enthralling as the weakest “Star Wars” extravaganza. And by saying that, yes, I do include the dreaded holiday special.

And then came the teaser trailer for “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions.” The screen was dark, but the audience quickly recognized the Don Davis’ music, and this put everyone at attention. Once those digits began descending down the silver screen, everyone went wild as we were about to get our first look at the follow-up to one of the most groundbreaking motion pictures of the 1990’s.

Seeing Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne, who speaks of how “the war” will have an end over this trailer, reprising their roles was exciting, and the images we were shown thrilled me to no end. Furthermore, to see everything climax to the tune of Rage Against The Machine’s “Wake Up” was just perfect.

Of course, this trailer does have one big failing. It ends with “2003” displayed across the screen, and the yells of excitement quickly turned into moans of frustration as we suddenly realized it would be a full year before the first of these sequels would be unleashed. Back then, time still moved a bit slowly.

As for how these sequels turned out, that’s for another set of articles.

Check out the teaser trailer below.  

Tom Cruise Flys High Again in First Trailer for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

The thought of a “Top Gun” sequel was laughable years ago as Tom Cruise had little reason to do a sequel to any of his films. Seriously, it seemed as likely as him doing a sequel to “Cocktail” which, while a big hit at the box office, was not exactly a critical darling. But in recent years, any movie he stars in which doesn’t have “Mission: Impossible” in its title has failed to make much of a dent at the box office, and perhaps this is why he has chosen to finally revisit his superstar-making role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell 34 years after the original was released. Whatever the case, its first trailer honestly has me very excited for it.

From this trailer, we learn Maverick is still a Captain instead of a military general, meaning he is still unsafe and quite dangerous in the cockpit of an airplane. Whereas James Tolkan chewed him out in the original, another bald military general played by Ed Harris (give this man an Oscar already!) berates him for not allowing himself to get promoted. When we finally get our first look at Cruise here, it looks as though he hasn’t aged much since 1986, and he still has that shit-eating grin which drives everyone crazy in ways both good and bad.

What struck me most about this “Top Gun: Maverick” trailer was its flight scenes as director Joseph Kosinski, who previously directed Cruise in “Oblivion,” makes us feel like we are in the cockpit with Maverick as he takes off from an aircraft carrier in the middle of an ocean. This reminded me of how exhilarating the flight sequences from the first “Top Gun” were, and this sequel looks to have even more of them.

From there, we get glimpses of characters such as Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), son of the late Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), and he looks to be as buff and as musical as Cruise, Edwards, Val Kilmer and Rick Rossovich were in the original. Yes, there looks to be another volleyball game in store for us in which we discover how the men look without their t-shirts on.

We also see glimpses of Jennifer Connelly as Maverick’s love interest who is said to be a single mother and the owner of a bar. My guess is Kelly McGillis does not appear in this sequel as she seems determined to remain retired from acting.

Val Kilmer is also set to return as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, but we do not see him in this trailer. I read somewhere that his Iceman is now a Vice Admiral, and I’m guessing he will still be teasing Maverick about who is going to be whose wingman.

I am also gratified to know Harold Faltermeyer is back to score this sequel, and he will be doing so along with the great Hans Zimmer. You can hear Faltermeyer’s score throughout this trailer, and it is an immediate reminder of how much it drove the action and emotion of “Top Gun” back in 1986. I can already see myself buying the soundtrack to this sequel when it arrives in theaters in the summer of 2020. Heck, I might buy the soundtrack before this sequel is released.

That’s the other thing; “Top Gun: Maverick” is being released in 2020, exactly one year from now. I know Hollywood is always serious about securing release dates for movies way ahead of time, but showing us trailers for movies which will not be released for another 12 months seems unnecessarily torturous. Remember when we got the first trailer for “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions?” It got audiences excited as hell and yelling out with joy as soon as those green digits started descending from the top of the silver screen. This was back in 2002 when the trailer was shown before “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” and it ended with “2003” on the screen. As thrilled as we were with the continuation of “The Matrix” franchise, seeing the date of when the first sequel was to be released had us groaning in frustration all too loudly.

At least here, Paramount Pictures tells us “Top Gun: Maverick” will be coming out in 2020 in the middle of the trailer instead of at the end of it. After all these years, Hollywood has remembered they can tease audiences only so much before foolishly risking our wrath.

“Top Gun” may have received mixed reviews upon its release as the aerial footage proved to be more exciting than when the characters were on the ground, but damn it was an entertaining flick. A nice wave of nostalgia passed over me as I watched this first trailer for “Top Gun: Maverick,” and I patiently await its release next summer. And who knows, maybe Quentin Tarantino will come up with another memorable examination of how this sequel depicts a man’s continuing struggle with his homosexuality just as he did previously in “Sleep with Me.”

Please check out the trailer above.

Top Gun Maverick teaser poster