Those who know the book will see things in this trailer that Cormac McCarthy never explicitly described. It’s my understanding, from the feature article in Esquire we posted a few days ago, that the movie doesn’t show them either. So before we judge how faithful the film will be to the novel, please read this retroactive/preemptive explanation:
Bob Weinstein rolls those trailers, each one assumes the predictable arc of a story compressed to its essence. There is a speed to them that the actual movie — which I saw before seeing the trailers — does not possess or seek to possess, an urgency that feels manufactured. The music is pulse-pounding and urgent, driven to create absurd expectations of action in a movie that quietly elicits worry about the relative friability of the invisible paths that exist between people and what they need. Still, every utterance, every cry for help or hand clasped across the mouth of the boy to suppress a sob, is a fair-enough emanation from the heart of the movie.
The odd thing is, the start of each trailer includes glimpses of a storm, panicky news footage, little puzzle pieces of the world before it ended. No one — not the director or the myriad producers, not the novelist or the screenwriter — had ever even hinted at how it happened, until this.
For someone who loves the book, for anyone who knows the story going in, this is a moment you hoped would never come. Why remind us of the reductive logic of cause and effect? Before the question can be asked, Weinstein stands up, offers his hand, and says, “Okay, we’re going with the first one.” He gives no rationale. And so it seems the metonymic references to the national news, to the weather, to presumed military conflicts laid in as a tonally quiet explanation of what is never known in book or movie, for now will stay in the trailer.
On the other side of the planet, at home in Australia, Hillcoat’s been hearing about these trailers. “We’re so conditioned by postapocalyptic films to be centered on a big event, and they become this high-concept thing. And here there’s this total absence, this negation of explanation. We have to stay with that. So yeah. That’s gonna be a challenge.”
So Hillcoat had no control over this trailer, and it may have little resemblance to how the apocalypse is handled in the actual movie.
Dimension Films and the Weinsteins have more than one goal here. They want to produce a work of art, and they want to sell tickets. Remember, these are the masters of marketing who managed to sell a holocaust massacre as a steamy love story in the trailers. That resulted in $83 million at the box-office, 5 Oscar nominations, and a major Oscar victory.
Ye of little faith, let’s not make snap judgments. Hang tight while the trailer does its job to ensure the movie sticks around in theaters long enough for us to see for ourselves.
38 Responses for "The Road trailer"
Terrible trailer. If I hadn’t read the book and wasn’t already familiar with John Hillcoat, I would avoid this film like the plague. I at least expected bits of Nick Cave’s score. This is not an action movie, folks.
The only part of the trailer I didn’t like was the beginning. In the book, there is no explanation given for how the world came to be, none that I can remember. It’s been over 6 months since I read the book. I’m tempted to go back and read it again before October, but I think I’ll try to forget as much as possible.
Yep, the trailer emphasizes the action and suspense moments from the book and makes the film look like Die Hard: Post Apocalypse to lure a broader audience. But it shows off wonderful cinematography and what promises to be a fine performance by Viggo. I also like the casting of the ever reliable Garrett Dillahunt in that small role. And for a split second they showed the presence of another great character actor – Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire).
Candidate for most misleading trailer of all time?
If any of you read the Esquire piece on The Road, this is exactly the trailer that was explained, and it’s good to note that the news footage at the beginning doesn’t appear in the film at all, but is just there for the purposes of the trailer.
SPOILERS
I also love how they make it look like Charlize Theron has a substantial part throughout the whole film, when she’ll only briefly appear in flashbacks/dreams.
END SPOILERS
What a shitty trailer. This isn’t I Am Legend. Well, it isn’t supposed to be. It isn’t supposed to be a souped of Children of Men either. Ugh. I think Hillcoat was the wrong director for this.
Thanks for pointing that out, Ryan Griffin. I was going to mention that as an editorial sidebar to the trailer, but i wanted to get it up online ASAP. I’ll go back and quote the pertinent paragraphs from the Esquire piece now.
This is all well and good, Ryan, but can we get on to the new trailer for Precious and The Princess and the Frog? I want to see the AD discussions about those.
God trailer was bad
will do, Chance. I was just about to grab the embed code for Precious when I saw this one had dropped.
Didn’t we post the most recent trailer for The Princess and the Frog four days ago, right here? Is there another one?
meanwhile, before breaking out the torches and pitchforks, let’s check out the background info on The Road trailer that I’ve added above.
Haha, have you seen The Proposition? It’s unfair to judge a film based on the trailer no matter how bad it is. Gran Torino and In Bruges had horrendous trailers and yet they’re two of the best films of last year. I trust Hillcoat with the material but it doesn’t make the trailer any better.
Is this a Will Smith movie?
Hrmmm…haha, Ryan, you’re right…don’t know how I missed that…
Shame on me.
But yeah, this trailer is a bit of a letdown…then again, I’m not crazy about Viggo so I maybe wasn’t exactly “let down”. Still, films are not trailers, eh?
Esquire article pointed out that the trailer is shameless bait and switch that makes the movie look like another generic post-apocalyptic actioneer. Which the movie itself is nothing like it. I`m just affraid that, like any bait and switch, it might backfire on the movie. You know, like bad buzz from the crowd expecting I Am Legend-meets-Road Warrior type of thrill ride. Not that it would hurt eventual critical acclaim but good boxoffice is always a plus when it comes to noms and wins.
Viggo looks spot on, though.
The only trailer I am/was looking forward to more than this one is Avatar, and WOW what a major disappointment this was. My mouth stood open in shock at the opening. WTF have they done is all I can say. W. T. F. Either they’re conning the audience on a massive scale or the movie is going to be horrible. Cormac McCarthy needs to consult a doctor before viewing this, I am not sure his heart can handle it.
I had high hopes for this with the director and the scorer; The Proposition was an amazing film. My expectations are severely dampened with this crap.
Ok, we’re not supposed to be making comparisons to the book, but this trailer evokes only about 1/3 of the sense of the book and that 1/3 was the whole book. Which means that 2/3 of this trailer is pure Hollywood/Weinstein work to get butts in the theatre.
I’m sorry they felt the need to add how what happened happened. Totally unnecessary. The action is what happens afterward without explanation.
Theron’s appearance in the trailer made me wonder if this was the same book I read. But what really leaves me curious – relative to the poster picture from a while back – is, where the heck is Guy Pearce?
According to the IMDb cast list, Guy Pearce plays The Veteran. One of the last characters to make an appearance the novel. His presence has been expanded from about 2 lines in the novel to maybe 10 in the final pages of script.
and for that he shares billing with Viggo?
I hope it’s a marketing trick,even if i hoped they wouldn’t consider people stupid…even if they are.
“An Epic Journey is About to Begin.” + Some shot of Viggo and a ring = ?
they did that probably after too many RETARDED people started complaining about WHY THIS? WHY THAT? in everything in BLINDNESS
Which was a GREAT FILM only for those who actually read the book beforehand.
” ‘An Epic Journey is About to Begin.” + Some shot of Viggo and a ring = ?’ ”
OMG, yes, so lame! I just coudn`t believe it. First they sell it as a Day After Legend-ary Road Warrior Stood Still and then they make a LOTR reference. Like, it`s Aragorn spin-off or something. So desperate. Too bad because the movie is supposedly awesome and deep unless Esquire critic is a studio plant.
They used action scenes in the trailer?!
HOLY SHIT!
It’s like they’re trying to get the average movie goer interested or something.
i wana sob… this looks like the bastard child of “blindness” and “the postman”– i’m trying to remain optimistic, but after witnessing the desecration of “blindness” last year i dont know what to expect anymore…
Since I had read that Esquire article, I was prepared for a lousy trailer, and yeah, it was lousy. I’m sure the movie will be good anyway. And hey, at least we got a brief glimpse of Omar.
Its a shame, I was really looking forward to this trailer.
Maybe there’ll be a more effective one between now and October (one that actually captures the feel of the novel).
wow…
Again, having loved the book:
The world of the road is a world covered with ashes; ashes everywhere; I don’t buy this “Storm” / “Nature” crap; they were nuked, simple. The author never actually defines the reason for the downturn of humanity, but its all there to negate this “Nature did this / hand of God / We are not to blame” crap that is oozing from this awful trailer;
The kid is too blonde and too fat; he is skin and bones on the book; whats with the barbie look? Give me a break.
This is edited like a trailer for Knowing; while I too think, lets not judge a movie by its trailer, I think what we’re seeing is what we are getting; the film experience of The Road will be ruined by a softening of the events from the book, an unfair bump to Charize’s character, and the beautification of the kid.
Nice cinematography, though, there’s an oscar nom right there, and *maybe* Viggo.
T.
Good ol’ Rollers! Just like a Southern boy. That bait just keeps getting bigger and bigger and flashier and flashier! Sorry I was late acknowledging it. I know how you boys are about your gear. ; )
Hmm…. Not sure. I’ll admit I did have that Blindness reflex from that trailer. Bit of a cringe at first. I’m glad I read that Esquire article before though (Thanks CJ and Ryan). But there also was a lot in that trailer that seemed very consistent with the novel. I am hopeful.
Viggo looks amazing! [Was there any doubt?] I mean, you can throw whoever you want in the cast list, but that film will belong to him before it’s done. There’s really no way around it. He has to be practically in every frame. I just can’t see him not being nominated for this one. You know when one of those parts just fits the actor or vice versa? When I first heard who was playing it, I was like, “Of course!” It’s in good hands.
And I’m going to have to disagree with you on the boy, Tufas. First, there’s a progression to the character’s physical state. Most of those pretty scenes are with him and Charlize. Second, you’d be hard pressed to find a boy that age, actor or not, and make him get to the skin and bones of the book. An adult actor can make that kind of decision for himself, but someone of that age, well… The most important thing is that you find a young actor who can hold his own in the film. A lot of the weight (sorry) of that story rests on those little shoulders. So foremost, you gotta find an actor with chops. From what I’ve heard Kodi Smit-McPhee is quite a talent. And really, how were Charlize and Viggo not going to have a blond kid? Are brunets more tragic?
I’m still pretty excited. If they stick to the book, they’ll do fine. The good thing is that you can tell from the trailer what is part of the film and what is not. Most of that apocalyptic tease is music and captions and what looks to be docu-footage. Even the scenes with Charlize seem to stem from the dialogue in the flashbacks in the book. My hope is as Summer gives way to Fall, we’ll see the trailer take on a more somber and devastating tone. This one seems geared to be shown during the summer movie bonanza. I’m sure that will all change by Oscar time.
I will say this: I am SO glad this is coming out in October and that it didn’t get released in April (Hi, The Soloist). When they postponed it last year, I was so very afraid. But I think October is the best release time for this film.
“I don’t buy this “Storm” / “Nature” crap”
And I also don`t understand why they though Nature-turned-on-us allusion in a trailer is a good idea after The Crappening became the butt of jokes. It`s one thing to ape a hit, but a notorious dud? :puzzled:
I got bored with this trailer. It felt like I seen the premise before (3 version of I am Legend, 28 Days Later, Blindness) and done in a more entertaining fashion.
There’s some really evocative imagery in the trailer and I love some of the settings (and the Coke scene is there!), but there’s something very strange and awkward about seeing the ACTION MOVIE version of The Road.
I really hope this is just trailer-cutting and Weinstein’s way of manipulating the celluloid, because I have high hopes for this movie based on the cast, the director, and the source material.
I especially hate the opening moments showing us the world in the midst of its apocalyptic transformation. In the book, I loved that there was no explanation and that this story wasn’t about big scenes of destruction and exposition, but rather a moving tale of father and son told against the backdrop of the end of the world.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that Hillcoat still does the book justice.
Jack STark – Since you obviously never read the book, you sorta missed the whole fucking point mate.
What distresses me the most about this trailer is the blatant disregard that this is a well known book; one with gravitas and ardent supporters. I know that Hollywood is dollar driven but, honestly, from the moment they decided to make this film everyone involved had to know that this was a tough sale to the mass market. While I never expect a film to be exactly like its source material, I can truthfully say I would never have expected such a horrific misrepresentation. Making this film appear to be something it supposedly is not is extremely unsettling. It cheapens and diminishes the importance of the book and perhaps the film itself. For what reason? To appeal to an audience that would hate it anyway? Very strange.
I am legend meets The Happening = YAWNS!
“Since you obviously never read the book, you sorta missed the whole fucking point mate.”
Yes I did not read the book, but that’s besides the point. The point here is that the movie doesn’t look very good. The second trailer or third trailer might change my mind.
Jack – Why must people still insist on that nonsensical notion that trailer=movie?
And trust me, as someone who did read the book, this aint MAD MAX or ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK or whatever the fuck.
Its sorta the anti-apocalyptical story.
I really, really, really hope that the movie is nothing like the trailer. Trailers are usually not good barometers of the quality of the film. I would say that 90% of trailers now are misleading in some way, some more than others. As long as the movie remains mostly faithful to the mood and story of the novel, I’ll be happy.
Weinstein obviously chose this version of the trailer to attract those who stay away from “artistic” and good movies. But, this is AN AWFUL TRAILER. The music and huge one word descriptions flashing to a exaggerated beat is OVERKILL.
Let’s just hope all this hate for the trailer stays with the trailer.
Great points tmoves, all of them, especially about the casting and the release dates.
I looked at the trailer as nothing more than an early marketing vehicle. There will be other, more somber and book-referential (and reverential) trailers and teasers later, I’m sure. This one was just to capture a Save the Date space in the minds of the average moviegoer. Yes, it’s misleading. Very much so. I don’t have too much problem with letting the marketing folks have their way with it as long as they also let Hillcoat have his way with it.
The scenes of the trailer that I loved were the ones I recognized from the book. I think the film has a lot more potential than someone looking at the trailer as a truly representative summary of the film would expect.
Did you read the screenplay, Ryan? How’s the adaptation look, if you can spare a breadcrumb for us?
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