Trailers that ruined movies

We all know film studios feel they have to spell out the film’s premise to us, the humble and evidently slightly simple audience. But at times they overstep the mark.

Instead of setting up the film and making us quiver with excitement, they sometimes just tell us the ENTIRE FILM in two minutes. Here are some of the trailers that gave too much away.

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Oh and there’s spoilers ahead obviously.

‘Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance’

Nicolas Cage’s ‘Ghost Rider’ franchise has never been one for subtlety, but giving away the ending before the film is released is pretty blatant. Having set up the preposterous plot in blistering fashion with more CGI than ‘Avatar’, the two minute trailer ends with Cage’s flaming alter-ego killing off the bad guy (Ciarán Hinds’ Satan) by slamming him back into hell.

Now we were pretty sure Cage was going to win, given that he’s said in interviews he’s keen for a part 3, but it would have been nice not to actually see it happen before hand.

‘Free Willy’

The question in ‘Free Willy’ is: 'can a young boy free a whale in captivity?' The answer is obviously ‘yes’ - as the rescue and money shot – in this case a whale jumping over the young boy on his way to freedom – closes the trailer and is plastered all over the posters.

Terminator Salvation

One of the big surprises in 'Terminator Salvation' was Sam Worthington's death row inmate character, who finds himself reawakened in the post apocalyptic world. Found by the human resistance, they (and he) are stunned to find out that he is in fact a terminator.

However, inexplicably, one of the film's trailers revealed this fact - and ruined what would have been a neat twist. Check it out below…

Cast Away

Until a certain point the 'Cast Away' trailer is perfectly serviceable — it sets up Tom Hanks’ character and his relationship with his wife, played by Helen Hunt. We see his plane crashing, his escape to a desert island and subsequent dramatic weight loss.

Why the marketing bods felt we also needed to see him being rescued and then meet up with his wife, we'll never know.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

While there are legions of 'LOTR' fans, the first movie drew in not just avid readers of the books but a whole new audience. So it’s puzzling why whoever cut the trailer showed a scene featuring Gandalf – who the uninitiated thought had died in the first film. 

What Lies Beneath

What begins as a decent horror trailer, showcasing the array of spooks awaiting cinemagoers, quickly ruins the entire movie.

Michelle Pfeiffer is seen scrambling around trying to make sense of the eerie goings on, seemingly, for the entire movie. If only she’d seen the trailer as it clearly signposts that the scares are down to the ghost of her hubby's (Harrison Ford) suicidal mistress.

The Sum of All Fears

What was great about Tom Clancy's book was the tired old ‘we must stop a bomb plot’ was given a fresh twist by having the bomb actually go off, resulting in the aftermath being the main storyline.

It was a ballsy move that was ruined by the trailer. Bang goes the tension.

Does this annoy you as much as it does us? Can you think of any more trailers?