[Agustus]

When Cloverfield first trailer came out, there was a shot where the Statue of Liberty's head was flung into a street. The first version of it appeared to be a rough cut CGI [1], then the second version came out of the trailer and the head was thoroughly improved[2].

I know that there is a need for buzz to be created, but where does the line between changes and false advertising occur. If for some reason I was super psyched about the dinosaur jumping out of the water and eating the shark and the scene is cut from the movie, then how is this different from car sales saying they have a car with a/c on the lot and then finding it never existed.

1. Trailer 1 screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/bqkryTL.jpg

2. Trailer 2 screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/A9uVtnx.jpg

[Goladus]

Back in 1991, the trailer for Star Trek VI had a clip of Captain Kirk being shot and vaporized by a phaser [1]. The actual clip of this happening in the movie looks much different [2].

1. Trailer: http://youtu.be/638S8n2_Ab8?t=1m44s

2. Spoiler: http://youtu.be/s2wBtcmE5W8?t=1m28s

[kbenson]

Movies posters generally don't represent a real scene in the movie, but are staged for a reason. That could be to relay who the actors are, or to set a tone. I'm not sure how trailers are different. I think the problem is that you believe something about them that is not true, which is that they are made up entirely of scenes from the movie. Historically that may have been the case, but it was almost purely because that was the easiest and cheapest way to get a high quality trailer. We've moved past that now, and it's possible to easily represent the feel of the movie using custom material in trailers, like it's always been for movie posters.

[psykovsky]

Great pro-piracy argument you have in there. Try before you buy, you know, 'cause things aren't how they used to be anymore...

[robterrell]

Happens all the time, for lots of different reasons. The first time I noticed it was in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" The trailer had a show where Bob Hoskins was wearing a cartoon pig mask, but it wasn't in the movie. The sequence was cut to improve the pacing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJfateiaasY

[72deluxe]

Very interesting! Thanks!

I didn't notice this in the film because I was too busy fighting back the vomit from motion sickness.

Driving home that night wasn't fun.

[nitrogen]

Wasn't there a Bourne movie trailer that contained a scene or quotation that never occurred in the movies?

[bentcorner]

Just last night I watched the Tangled trailer with my daughter. A large portion of the trailer never happens in the movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCxuxrLNrsw

My guess is that it was going to be part of the movie but ended up getting cut for editing reasons. (The whole "hair as weapon" bit is probably inconsistent with character for the rest of the movie)

[hullo]

I'm not familiar with Tangled, but by the time Disney got to Frozen, there was a trailer with Olaf & Sven that is basically a stand-alone scene not in the movie at all (intentionally). It's impressionistic more than trying to represent the film literally.

[Agustus]

I am okay with that as a teaser, as long as it is billed as a short or it is made to be characters doing something.

Doing scenes within a movie and making it feel 100% as a trailer and then cutting it out is different.

[oconnor0]

Probably. Just like there are movies where their funniest line is only in the trailer.

[ashark]

I was really bummed when Song 2 by Blur wasn't used at all in Starship Troopers. Lying trailer!

[err]

you are not alone.