We had to, of course—pick our favorite trailer of all time, that is. It wasn’t an easy decision. Besides the 150-plus trailers we analyzed for this story, we’ve seen thousands in our lifetime. Many stink; some are great. A few are even better than the movies they’re teasing. (Two recent examples? Previews for Cloud Atlas and that Zack Snyder talking-owl movie, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. You might even forget the bad reviews and see the films. Don’t.)
And that’s the thing: You can’t judge a trailer by its movie. Nobody loved the Star Wars prequels. But the trailer for Phantom Menace? “A phenomenon,” says Keith Johnston, author of Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology. “People flocked to cinemas in November 1998 to see that trailer—not the film it played in front of!” We asked Johnston, along with the rest of our academy of experts, what they’d pick as their best-evers. From there, we proposed a final 10.
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Damon Lindelof | Writer and Producer
Psycho (1960)
“Hosted by Hitchcock, it’s hands down the greatest trailer of all time.”
Keith M. Johnston | Author, Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
“The work of Pablo Ferro, this is the trailer as modern art.”
Keith M. Johnston | Author, Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology
Star Wars: Episode I— The Phantom Menace (1999)
“An amazingly crafted tease that reintroduces the universe, with old and new pleasures on display.”
Mark Woollen | Mark Woollen & Associates
The Shining (1980)
“The perfect tease. King, Kubrick, Nicholson, and a tsunami of blood.”
Mark Woollen | Mark Woollen & Associates
Sleeper (1973)
“Simple and silly but makes me smile. Wish we could see more of these ‘concept’ trailers again.”
Wheeler Winston Dixon | Film Professor and Coeditor, Quarterly Review of Film and Video
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
“The invention of a genre, as well as a franchise, delivered with a maximum of suspense and a minimum of gore.”
Wheeler Winston Dixon | Film Professor and coeditor, Quarterly Review of Film and Video
Point Blank (1967)
“Bold, time-shifting, pop-art action. It brings home the full impact of the film.”
Nick Temple | Wild Card
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
“Transportive. Made you feel like a kid. Perfect music.”
Chase Casanova | Mark Woollen & Associates
Little Children (2006)
“The one that inspired me to pursue trailers as a profession.”
And then…we had to decide. So we debated, considered, watched and rewatched. Psycho’s trailer is classic. But six and a half minutes, Hitch? That’s cheating. Horror films (The Shining, Texas Chainsaw) are too easy—they have built-in suspense. And artsier fare, like Wild Things and Little Children, impress more than they excite.
No, our winner is clear. When it came time to choose, we went with the best egg to ever hatch on the big screen: the original teaser for Alien. A masterpiece at under 2 minutes, it says so much with so little. Even the title cards create suspense. Put it next to any contemporary sci-fi trailer—After Earth, Star Trek—and it looks that much better. More than 30 years after it first startled audiences, it remains the perfect tease.
Think we’re wrong? Tell us which trailer tops your list in the form below, and vote on what you think is the best trailer of all time.
