Discuss: Trailers Full of Deleted Scenes
Filed under: Action, Animation, Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Disney, Warner Brothers, Fox Searchlight, Trailers and Clips
Last year, when I interviewed Kimberly Peirce for Stop-Loss, I asked why a relationship played up between Ryan Phillippe's character and Abbie Cornish's in the trailer seemed absent from the final film, not to mention a confrontation between Phillippe and the senator he's driven cross-country to reach coming to a close over the phone and not in person. She explained that about as soon as they had to start editing the film itself, they had to turn over the footage to the promotional department for them to work with simultaneously, and that things don't always match up as a result.
Now, every once in a while, usually in regard to Apatow's oft-tested and whittled-down comedies, absent jokes and alternate takes come as a little surprise. But the year-old teaser for Terminator Salvation capped itself by showing Christian Bale facing off against a robot hiding underwater -- a scene that should appear early on in the film, but doesn't. In Disney/Pixar's Up, our geriatric hero doesn't blow a raspberry as he departs with his house (perhaps for the best), and in 500 Days of Summer, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does not in fact board a bus filled with Zooey Deschanels (certainly for the worst).
What's the most striking occasion you can think of where a scene regularly flaunted in the trailers or TV spots was nowhere to be seen in theaters, and was clearly part of a scene and not a one-off teaser like Pixar themselves so often indulges in?
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams Reunite for 'Mission Impossible 4'
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
5-24-2009 @ 4:38PM
Edgardo said...
In Lord of the Rings trailers we see a group of elvish girls running in the forest and they never show up in the movie.
Reply
5-26-2009 @ 11:10AM
Kevin said...
in the fellowship trailer theres also a quick shot of an enormous marching army that wasn't in any of the movies. I'm trying to remember if they added it to one of the extended editions, but it definitely wasn't in the theatrical cuts. I remember it always bugged me, cause that scene from the trailer really jumped out at me.
5-26-2009 @ 11:10AM
Edgardo said...
It was a test shoot of their special effects engine for massive battles. I think I watch it in one of the specials in the extended fellowship box-set.
5-24-2009 @ 5:27PM
Valeozza said...
in the trailer of Don Juan De Marco Johnny Depp is riding a horse... NAKED... nowhere to be seen in the film...
in the trailer of Chocolat, Depp and Binoche are clearly doing the nasties, but in the movie the scene is cut (you just see some shadows)....
what is it with editors and naked Johnny Depp? :)
Reply
5-26-2009 @ 11:28AM
keek said...
The trailer for I Am Legend had a clip from the alternate ending where the lead male is snarling right next to Will Smith's face. I waited the whole movie for that part.
Reply
5-24-2009 @ 6:21PM
eli glasner said...
I had a blog post about this recently.
http://glasneronfilm.blogspot.com/2009/04/smart-movies-vs-dumb-trailers.html
State of Play and The Soloist both played fast and loose with the trailer. And I think in the case of The Soloist, it hurt them, and made the movie appear more formulaic than it actually was.
Reply
5-24-2009 @ 7:27PM
Chris said...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0tFOuCoT8c
2:06
Bruce Willis' little "Inspiration Speech" in Armageddon. That one always bugged me.
Reply
5-24-2009 @ 7:35PM
Jay said...
In previews for Twilight they show kristen stewart's ass as she goes up to kiss whats-his-name. No ass in the movie.
Reply
5-24-2009 @ 7:53PM
Sawyer. said...
Oh I beg to differ sir, they're all asses!
8-18-2009 @ 5:07AM
Curunir said...
@ Sawyer
and you just made my day sir! ha!
5-24-2009 @ 8:40PM
Dustin said...
In early trailers for Kill Bill, Uma is shown fighting a bald-headed African American man. No such character or fight was in the movie(s). I was looking for it.
I hate when stuff like this happens with trailers.
Reply
5-24-2009 @ 8:42PM
William Goss said...
If you were still looking for it, I believe it was included as a deleted scene on Vol. 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouFLD3lMTVU
5-24-2009 @ 10:26PM
J. Bryant said...
The original trailer for Windtalkers had tons of deleted stuff in it. As a matter of fact, the trailer had scenes that made it look like Nic Cage made it back from the war and that the movie was his memories.
The remake of Black Christmas trailer had a bunch of stuff in it that wasn't in the movie, but, from what I've read, it was all stuff shot purely for the trailer to sell the movie.
Affleck jumping from a cliff, CLIFFHANGER-style, was in the trailer for REINDEER GAMES but not in the finished version. But, my personal all-time fav, was the trailer for HALLOWEEN: CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS that was on the original VHS release of PULP FICTION. Nothing (absolutely nothing) that was in the trailer ended up in the movie, including the original title of the movie HALLOWEEN 666: THE ORIGIN OF MICHAEL MYERS.
The trailer for WANTED had a nice bit of banter between Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy ("Are we bonding?") that never ended up in the final cut too.
Reply
5-25-2009 @ 3:09AM
LeJoq said...
In Mr & Mrs Smith I really missed the scene from the trailer where Brad Pitt is on a kid's tricycle and shoots baddies with a machine gun. It was just the right kind of silly, and wasn't even on the dvd, as far as I can recall. Bleh.
Reply
5-26-2009 @ 11:11AM
L.G. said...
This was actually something that made me want to see the movie, as I thought it was going to be a part of some larger, ridiculous, memorable setpiece.
I was looking forward to it the whole movie and nothing. Utterly lame. Much like the movie, overall.
5-25-2009 @ 11:30AM
Richard said...
I recall earlier trailers for Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian where the resurrected pharoh faces Darth Vader, "chokes" for a moment, then says "just kidding, that doesn't work." Not in the movie.
Reply
5-25-2009 @ 11:30AM
Kristopher said...
Man, I'm impressed that so many of you guys remember obscure snippets from trailers of so many movies. Hocus Pocus? That's awesome!
Good on ya, fellows!
Reply
5-25-2009 @ 2:56PM
Wendy said...
This one is slightly embarrassing, but when I was a young girl watching the Spice Girls trailer, there was a clip of Posh Spice saying "Is my mini skirt too short?" and the girls replying "Nah," to which Posh opted to hike up her skirt even higher. A joke I thought was SO FUNNY when I was about 8. Alas, it was not in the film.
Reply
5-26-2009 @ 11:11AM
L.G. said...
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I do recall this little exchange, too. I was in the 5th grade and the Spice Girls were monsters of pop culture at that moment in time. Plus, they were smokin' hot.
I saw that trailer a bunch of times and somehow actually wound up seeing the entire movie on more than one occasion.Not exactly proud of that.
5-30-2009 @ 9:11AM
Lisa said...
That was the exact example I was going to give! I was a massive Spice Girl fan when I was 12 (and admittedly still am). Back then it was very in vogue to act as the Spice Girls for any school talent show. I remember doing that little exchange before we broke into our rousing rendition of Wannabe. Then the movie came out and there was no sign of any of that bathroom scene in the movie and I though WTF!
PS. Is it bad that I own that movie on VHS... and then bought it when it came out on DVD. Oooohh yeah.