7. Flight
Who wants to see an intoxicated Denzel Washington fly a plane upside-down?! Everyone, that's who! Flight hit our screens in February of this year. Directed by Robert 'run Forest, run' Zemeckis, the film was an enjoyably dramatic two hours, lifted high above 'average' by Denzel's stratospheric performance. The film's trailer was cut from the same cloth, spectacular, thrilling and concise, and it performed its job of 'buzz generator' as perfectly as any preview can. Why It Works: Flight is a trailer totally at ease with the film it is promoting, knowing exactly when and how to reveal the movies major plot points before taking the time to bask in the glory of its breathtaking set-piece. The viewer acts like a crash scene investigator, piecing the narrative together before being posed the films morality-bending conundrum should a pilot who saved a plane full of people from certain death while drunk be considered a hero or a criminal? As the pilot in question is Denzel Washington, the answer is undoubtedly 'a hero', but before you have time to come down on one side or the other, the trailer takes-off, hitting you with a montage involving John Goodman, Don Cheadle and a plane with one engine billowing flames being flown upside down to the tune of the Stone's Gimme Shelter. Flight, I tip my pilot's hat to you.