I was thinking of showing The Last Waltz to a bunch of people for whom this wouldn't necessarily be unfamiliar territory, but the idea of a concert video remains something of a boring prospect and it got me to thinking about the best way to introduce certain subject matter to a new audience. That, of course, is the function of the trailer. What are your thoughts on the placement of the trailer in the order of viewing relative to the feature? Do you think it sets the tone or do you find it tends to suck the air out of the thing? Or would you say it's a tasty morsel of things to come? Examples welcome!

Always before the movie. Its usually how I sell the movie to relatives.

What he said! I always watch the trailer before.

Sonicflood

I never watch it before, especially if I haven't seen the movie and somehow avoided seeing the trailer in the theater. Trailers give too much way. Sometimes I'll watch it after the movie, sometimes not at all.

if I've seen the film...I'll maybe watch the trailer first...along with other features. if I have not seen the film...or not for a long time...I'll wait on the trailer. they show way more than I really wish to see.

Usually, we watch it after the movie because if it's a movie you havent seen in a long time it may jog your memory, or if you havent seen it at all, it might give away things to come. Then, during the movie you can say in your head "ok, this hasnt happened yet but i saw so and so in the trailer so i know something like that will happen before the end.

After

I always watch the trailer before the movie-it's just always been a tradition of mine.

Always after, if at all. Trailers give away too much. Now if it's a trailer for another movie that I'm not going to watch right away, hey no problem.

if i have seen the movie, i watch it before. if i havent seen it, i watch it after. the trailers give way too much away and especially if youre gonna watch the movie right away after it, its all very fresh in your mind.

if im going to show a movie to a friend for the first time, i also will not show them the trailer, and i tell them not to look up the movie on imdb.com. i want it all fresh.

If you've already bought/rented/borrowed the DVD, you don't need to advertise to yourself to get you to watch it.

If seeing how the producers chose to advertise it seems appealing, I check out the trailers after.

I read / watch trusted reviews, not trailers. For me the best way to watch a movie is always knowing as little as possible about it.

I always watch trailers after the movie, as well as any other extras. I avoid spoilers if I haven't seen the movie and if I have seen the movie chances are I have seen the trailer many times.

Actually, it depends on whose movie the trailer is...If I see a trailer for a Robert Zemekis film in the theater, I almost want to go running and screaming from the place because he ALWAYS gives away the entire movie in the trailer. (And he's admitted to doing this!)

However, some trailers are done properly and only hint at what is to come...the Lethal Weapon trailers were always great because they showed a sneak peek of ONE SCENE (Riggs on the toilet for Lethal Weapon 2; Bomb at the beginning for Lethal Weapon 3) that got you in the mood, but didn't ruin the story.

I'm with Khan, I like knowing as little as possible about a film the first time I see it. I usually like to watch the trailer right after I finish a movie. If I was trying to get someone to watch a film, I might pop on the trailer for them if it is a good one that might influence their decision. But for me, whether I've seen a movie or not, but especially if I haven't, I always watch the trailer after the feature. ...It is a trailer after all

I don't watch the trailer before, but I a trailer is part of my absolute minimum requirements list, as it is easy to show others what the movie is about.

I usually watch a trailer after the feature -- my hopes are to eventually put all trailers on my hard drive so I can decide what I want to see without walking downstairs...

Never. Trailers don't really ever do it for me unless it's for a movie I don't have immediate access to.

Neither.

I don't watch trailers before the movie because they give too much away.

I don't watch them afterwards because I no longer care...why see short clips from a movie I just saw?

There are exceptions...such as the nifty-keen Resident Evil: Apocolypse trailer that just came out.