One of my favorite parts of going to see a movie are the trailers that play before them. Trailers can serve many purposes. Some are just quick cuts of footage, filled to the brim with money shots so the audience will want to rush out and see it as soon as possible. Some, however, can work as their own short films. I particularly love when a trailer doesn’t even use footage from the movie, instead it uses footage filmed just for the trailer.

There can be an art to making a trailer. Some filmmakers choose to make their own trailers so they can do what they want and don’t have to deal with the audience seeing something they don’t want them too. There is one director in particular who appears on this list quite a few times, but I’ll discuss him in more detail later. Trailers, when done correctly, can be moving, confusing, heartwarming, scary, sad, or many other things, and for two minutes of video, that is impressive. And even in some cases where a film doesn’t turn out as well as its trailer, a great trailer is still something to cherish.

Are there any trailers you love that weren’t mentioned on the list? Write about them in the comments so we can check them out.

 

25. WALL-E (2008)

I love what this trailer does. It advertises a movie while telling a great story tangential to the film at hand. Back in 1994 there was a lunch, and at this lunch Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, and Joe Ranft sat down and discussed what they should do after Toy Story. That discussion led to the creation of many of their next movies, including WALL-E over ten years later.

Then, we are introduced to are titular character as he stops shoveling garbage and looks longingly into space. It’s a simple, yet beautiful trailer, made all the better by Brazil score from Michael Kamen. Pixar is known for not giving any idea of their film’s plot from the trailers, and WALL-E does this perfectly. We get a great look into the creative process and a glimpse at what’s to come.

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