I hate American Movie Posters

[AaronisMe]

the European/ International ones are always better looking and make more sense. The advertising people have a strange sense of taste. They always go for the lowest denominator of intelligence. If it's an action, make sure someone is holding a gun. If it's a comedy, make sure it's a weird picture. They are frightened of cross-genres. And it just keeps getting worse. From the 90s-onward. There was Prime, the DVD cover of Jersey Girl, the original Mallrats VHS cover, the Departed, Gigli, Swept Away, Just Married, the Marine, Man of the Year, etc.

[Kevin Lockard]

What are some European posters you're fond of anyhow?

I guess I might be 50/50 on this. I'll add more later (since none pop to mind immeditely right now but I know I can somewhat agree on the issue) but the Natural Born Killers American poster is way better than the European ones. Most of the Euro ones look.....bland, lol.

[AaronisMe]

Granted, there are some good American ones like Pulp Fiction and Fight Club. Scorcese usually puts out good ones.

The European ones? I like the Amelie one, the Rules of Attraction, the Departed, Superman Returns, Cabaret, etc. Japan has some good ones. The international strive more towards the art of it and not just the A-listers. They produce something cool to look at.

[Derek237]

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00005JLT5.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1101567897_.jpg

The Pianist- American. Ugh!

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00007KGC5.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1131984454_.jpg

The Pianist- European. Meh.


http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00009KO09.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1056802521_.jpg

Canada wins.


Thank you.

[Cottonmouth]

As for posters, I agree, but American trailers are really bad, too. If you watch the American cut of a foreign trailer, they try to make it look like one thing when really it's not. For instance, a while back, I saw the Japanese and American trailers for "Fallen Angels". The American one tried to portray it as an action or violent film, while the Japanese one had better clips and music to give a more accurate sense of what the film was about.

[Shockwave]

I just hate when they slap a stars face on the movie poster and call it a day.

..like most any TOM CRUISE movie...

[AaronisMe]

I think the whole American film advertising branch is cockeyed. It's less the old studio star system and more the 70s auteur time these days. At least, I hope it's heading that direction. I mean, stars aren't really opening up movies anymore. It's more about the content, quality, and....boobs.

[Badbird]

Do you like big, floating heads?

Do you like everything to be blue, or orange?

Do you like generic catch phrases?

Then you should love American movie posters!

[echo_bravo]

Originally posted by Shockwave
I just hate when they slap a stars face on the movie poster and call it a day.

..like most any TOM CRUISE movie...

LOL

Yep that is the worst. I usually :rolleyes: when I see those.

[ParileseMonster]

American Trailers and Posters never used to suck. I am quite fond of most from the 80's.

[Duke Nukem]

Originally posted by Shockwave
I just hate when they slap a stars face on the movie poster and call it a day.

..like most any TOM CRUISE movie...

The Last Samurai

It it had a nice, artistic poster when it was released in theaters (and was also an excellent movie). Why - oh fucking fuck why - they had to change that all around and plaster his mug in the middle of the DVD cover I'll never comprehend. If you have a good poster, why not stick with that for DVD cover? Huh? Hello? Any of you fuckwads in Hollywood getting that?

[Duke Nukem]

Originally posted by ParileseMonster
American Trailers and Posters never used to suck. I am quite fond of most from the 80's.

You know what random 80's movie one I just thought of? Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood - Dark background, half of Jason's hockey-masked face, half of the heroine's face, the title underneath, and blood spilling underneath the title. For a simple-minded (and pretty good for what it is) slasher movie, that was fairly creative.

What also comes to mind is the next F13 movie to follow - yes, Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. The movie could have been better than it promised (although I consider more watchable than many others claim), the poster art was phenominal. The dark background, thegreat view of New York City, a giant figure of Jason (!) and Jason's leather-gloved hand grasping the Twin Towers! Some might consider that controversial now because of 9/11, but it is still a great poster in my mind. Another great cover for another simple-minded slasher movie!

[LarrytheTVDemon]

If you have a good poster, why not stick with that for DVD cover?

I remember one perticular poster from the movie "Fly Away Home". It was just a blue background (for the sky) with a ultralight with a goose-shaped wing leading a group of geese in a V formation. I believe the tagline was something like "Sometimes to complete a task, one must do the incredible" That's it.

That poster in most eliquent way told me want what I needed to know about the film and wetted my appetite to see it. It gave it a heroic epic feel . It's what sold me on the film.


When I saw the DVD cover for the same film, it was completely different. It had the two main character's heads with a close up of a goose chick with a green meadow background. It look like a typical Disney flick. I thought that had they this as the theatrical poster, I wouldn't have seen it.

I wonder if the movie execs ever realize just what an impact on the person's perception a good poster has on a film?

[Shockwave]

The Last Samurai

Dont remind meDuke Nukem. I actualy own and love that poster, it pissed me off when they just slapped his face for the DVD cover.:mad:

Look as Vanilla Sjy. I never even saw that movie in theares because all the poster was...was his head! It told me NOTHING about the movie so i said "meh" and went on my way.