illennium

I think what you mean to say is that they should notify you of the existence of forced trailers before you make the purchasing decision. It is blatantly false that you "shouldn't be forced to endure something you don't want" since you're just buying the product the studio is selling, which is a DVD with forced trailers.

exharrison

That sort of forces you back into the VHS days.

harpo787

Well, I thought we meant trailers as an extra...and I thought we meant trailers for the film that's on the DVD...but Comfort Eagle seems to be speaking of trailers for OTHER movies (and even worse: the forced kind).

In the theater, I HATE trailers that show too much. Teaser trailers are usually pretty damn cool, because they don't reveal the whole damn movie (usually).

As far as trailer extras...not a deal maker/breaker for me, but I do enjoy them - as others have suggested - to see how accurately the movie was portrayed in the trailer.

I just watched the trailer for Yellow Submarine on the dvd, and it's 3 and a half minutes long almost. For the first minute, it seems like the movie is not a movie at all, but merely a collection of Beatles songs animated to music video. You wouldn't even think that there was something resembling a plot. For the entire 3+ min. they manage to not say TOO much of what the movie is about. If you saw a trailer go beyond 3 minutes, you'd have the whole movie laid out for you, including the end.

RogerSC

I love trailers. For me, putting together a good trailer is a difficult task in itself. When I first saw the commercial for 'The Crow,' I was like, "damn, I need to see this movie, also because of the Stone Temple Pilots song that accompanied it, which was very short in the actual movie.

Lots of them show special things, like the preview for Terminator 2, when they made a special scene just for the teaser showing terminator exoskeleton becoming Arnold. Neat stuff IMO.

mndtrp

That's kind of what I was thinking as well. Coupled with whoever said they like to use it to get suggestions for the wife/girlfriend is how I look at it. Some previews are cool as hell on their own, and I sometimes like to see how it looked. A lot of movies, I never even saw a preview for.

It's not something I look for when buying a dvd. The movie comes first, everything else is secondary.

Fincher Fan

I HATE that fucking ad. There's nothing worse then preachy commercials. That ad makes me want to download movies out of spite.

dom56

I loved watching trailers but I find it sadly that most of the studio are no longer puting them on the DVD. Case in point, I have the 2-disc LE of War of the Worlds and I find it appalling that with all the extras, Dreamworks never bother to included any trailers for this movie, not even a teaser at all. I purchased Casino Royale and while it's has some trailers none of them were of the movie (Spideman 3 does looked cool) , instead they would put it on other DVD liked The Da Vinci Code. Don't be surprised when Sony released the 3-disc Ultra Spiderman 3 SE they won't included any trailers for the movie on the set.

Giles

I agree, it's always interesting to note the scenes that didn't make the final cut. As for 'Twister', that last shot of the wheel airborne and crashing into the window was I believe specifically created for the trailer and not for the actual film. Another trailer I like was one for 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' that featured scenes not seen until the Expanded Edition eventual came out and in one instance a scene that didn't make the EE cut at all: the orc stalking Eowyn.

d2cheer

Exactly, I watch them and wonder how some trailors got me to go see the movie in the first place?

mijorico

The reason I enjoy trailers on the DVDs is because it allows you the opportunity to relive what first made you want to see a movie that, obviously (since you bought the DVD), you ended up liking.

It's also fun to see older trailers that you had either never seen before or don't remember.

Some of my favorites: The Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, Go.

DiscGuy

Trailers have always been part of the theater going experience. I agree with most people here that that trailers have nostalgic value as well has historical value. A well-made trailer will peek your interest without giving away key story plots. Specially created teasers (i.e. not scenes from the film) can be fantastically entertaining.

A pet peeve of mine are DVD trailers (sometimes advertised as “original trailers”) that are actually trailers for a re-release instead of trailers for the initial theater run. For example, the single trailer on E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial 2-disc Limited Collector’s Edition was a trailer for the 2002 theatrical release of the 20th anniversary enhanced version. The two-disc set does not have a single trailer for the 1982 release. Regrettably, there was terrific teaser trailer for E.T. that I have always remembered but to my knowledge, has not been released on home video.

The E.T. teaser trailer was a single, eye-level shot of the tool shed outside Elliott’s house. The fog-filled atmosphere is cut with shafts of light radiating downward from a single light bulb in the shed. You knew something unearthly was inside. The camera slowing dollies forward toward the open door. In the last seconds of the teaser, E.T.’s hand reaches around the door jam. WOW! That ET teaser trailer stuck with me more than whatever movie I went to see that night. Remember this was a teaser trailer – months before anyone had even seen E.T. We simply saw a terrifying (terrified?) hand reaching around a door jam. It was extremely eerie.

Earlier, someone mentioned the Psycho trailer as a superb example of how a trailer can present added material instead of simply consisting of clips from the movie. If you’ve never seen the Psycho trailer, you should seek this one out. The trailer is Hitchcock himself giving a walking tour of all the sets with typical deadpan Steven Wright-ist humor. A classic!!!

Favorites of mine include the various teaser trailers for the Austin Power’s movies. The teaser trailers on the Spy Who Shagged Me DVD appear at first to be Star Wars trailers. A few notes of Vader’s musical theme are played. Soon the shadowy figure is reveal to be Dr. Evil. “You were expecting someone else!?!” “If you see only one movie this summer, see Star Wars. But if you see two movies, see Austin Power’s: The Spy Who Shagged Me.” When these teasers played in crowded theaters, I have memories of entire audience busting out with laughter. And on the Austin Powers Goldmember DVD, check out the teaser trailer #1 where Mini-Me and a cast of midgets reenact the front titles to the first Austin Powers movie. “This summer, isn’t it time for a LITTLE Austin Powers?? If you see one movie this summer, see Austin Powers. If you see two movies, see Austin Powers again!” This is fun advertising that does not reveal a single joke or punchline from the films.

And finally, Pixar! Lots of great custom, creative teaser trailers on most of their DVD releases.

tylergfoster

Older movies, it's cool to see how they were advertised. New movies, I probably watched the trailer a bunch before it came out if I bought it. As people have mentioned, often it will contain footage not in the movie and sometimes that footage isn't in the deleted scenes either (some of these DVDs would ONLY have the trailer).

And most importantly, why not? Generally discs are not so crammed with crap they can't make room for a minute and a half of footage that they've already got. In a perfect world, a studio would, at the very least, include everything they've got on hand and don't have to create (deleted footage, the trailers, EPKs). The non-inclusion of a trailer just seems kinda lazy in my book.

SMB-IL

Exactly. I always watch the trailers after the film to see how the marketing department misled the public.

No, though, not a deal-breaker if they're not there.

crazyrabbits

Personally, I like trailers pertaining to the film included on the disc, although it's not a necessity for me. In some cases, it helps enhance the viewing experience. Trailers like the "Psycho walking tour" or the Alien 3 "On Earth, everyone can hear you scream" promos are interesting pieces relating to the film. However, what I hate are forced trailers. Damn you, media conglomerates!

Feathers McGraw

To me it's the sheer lunacy of having 5 or 6 trailers for *other* films, but not the film in question.

You can just see the "Duh, if they bought the disk already then we don't need to sell them on it" thought balloon over their head. As if the only purpose for viewing a trailer is to make a purchase decision. A complete inability to see that other purposes and desires exist.

The Bus

The recent The Kingdom trailer uses Dead Can Dance's "The Host of Seraphim" (which is quickly becoming the new Orff's "Carmina Burana"). Then it also uses a piece that was used in the trailer for Babel.

Mondo Kane

They have nudity in them!

Well....The ones in the 70's did!

Trevor

I absolutely hate to talk about any part of a movie while it is playing or even in the days leading up to seeing it. Even if it is a movie I've seen a hundred times, I put myself in a mode where I forget everything I know about it and am "genuinely" surprised. For example, if I'm watching Jaws and someone says something as innocent as, "doesn't the shark die at the end?", it upsets me greatly.

With that sort of attitude, you would think that I'd hate trailers.

Nope, love em.

The reasons have been mentioned throughout this thread; deleted scenes, alternate music, quick reminder as to what the movie is about, marketing analysis, etc. In the theaters, I love seeing multiple trailers before the feature. Its a part of the whole experience that I've loved since my youth.

But I only like to see them either after I've watched the feature, or several months before, so I have time to forget about it.

Peep

Yet another reason why you might not see that trailer on the DVD of that same movie: music licensing costs.

tylergfoster

Actually, the real reason is probably this:

I've taken a bunch of surveys for studios before online and one of the questions always asks you to pick between "documentaries and commentaries" and "deleted scenes and trailers". This is a very stupid way to go about it. I always try to note it if they have a field where you can enter "more comments" or something.

DVDMagic

I don't mind both sets of trailers - both the ones previewing other movies and also the actual trailer for the movie itself as one of the extras.

On occassions it's been handy to have the actual trailer to show my wife before watching a movie. Even I insist that she'll enjoy it or even let her read the storyline, sometimes it takes the 3rd option of the trailer to finally convince her that it's worth sitting down to watch.