10 Outrageous Ways Movie Trailers Lie To Us

1. Showing Scenes Wildly Out Of Context

Pretty much all movie trailers do this at one point or another, because it's sorta unavoidable. The sheer nature of juxtaposing short clips of dozens of scenes means that we're only getting a scarce sense of context at best, and as such we basically end up making our own inferences. It's a fun part of the movie trailer game, to dissect what's happening and then see how it matches up in the full film, but still, these trailers will often intentionally manipulate this. Take the trailer for Serenity, which at 2:08 shows River kicking her brother Simon in the face, an immediately startling shot to anyone familiar with the show, and instantly making us wonder, why the Hell are they fighting? Our mind might sprout ideas - perhaps one of them turns evil or has been in on it all along? The possibilities are endless, and though building that air of mystique is part of the game, the intention is still clearly to confuse and flummox. What do you hate most about deceptive movie trailers? Let us know in the comments below.