Over on reddit, someone opened up on the topic of Terminator: Genysis having such a spoilery trailer (it revels who the villain of the piece is, something that probably should have come as a surprise to viewers), and asked which other movie trailers gave away too much of the movie they were trying to build up hype for:
When scrolling down on the comments, someone pointed out this link, to…
Mental Floss: 12 Trailers That Spoil The Movies
I was thinking of which trailers I personally found most spoiled the movie they were promoting and the one that to me was the worst in that respect had to be the trailer for another Terminator film, in this case Terminator 2:
I know there are those who really like Terminator 2 and consider it among the best action films ever made. While I enjoy the film, I’ve always felt it wasn’t as good as the original Terminator. Having said that, the above trailer, which was the official trailer for that movie’s release, gives away the movies BIGGEST element: That the Arnold Schwarzenneger machine was the good guy.
The fact is that the first half hour or so of Terminator 2 presents a near identical reprise of the original Terminator, complete with time traveling and acquiring a “target”. Director/writer James Cameron took pains during this segment of the film to NOT give away the fact that this time around the Schwarzenneger Terminator is good. In fact, it appeared he wanted audiences to believe him to be just as bad as he was in the first film, then surprise us when the “target”, a young John Connor, is trapped between what turns out to be (another intended surprise) two Terminators.
But of course, the above trailer gives all that away and all that work on creating suspense and surprise are effectively shot down.
In the end, Terminator 2 was a smash success so the spoilery trailer didn’t do much damage with audiences. Still, I really wish I could have seen the film upon its original release without seeing this trailer. I might well have come away with a higher regard for it and its biggest surprise.