Super Bowl Trailers
02-Feb-09 12:13 PM by Ken GagneFiled under Trailers; 2 comments.
So I guess there was some sort of game on television last night, and it was supposed to be a big deal. Or something. I must've missed whatever it was — but when I woke up the next day, I found a bounty of newly-released movie trailers. Let's take a look at a few of the geekier ones.
First up is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Though I'm encouraged to see one of my favorite actors, Dennis Quaid, the team he's leading does not have much chance to shine in this particular trailer. We see too little of the colorful heroes and villains like Snake Eyes (played by Ray Park) or Destro that made the cartoon so memorable.
Next up is the return of G.I. Joe's Eighties contemporaries, those robots in disguise, in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Readers to Showbits will recall that I absolutely loathed the original film, and nothing in the sequel's trailer indicates a departure from that model — though the scope of the new robots piques my interest:
Finally, there's yet another adaptation of a television show, this one a live-action series from the mid-Seventies: The Land of the Lost. With few exceptions, almost anything Will Ferrell stars in is going to be a silly spoof, and this film looks to be true to that trend. Though the original series could definitely be described as campy, it was no Gilligan's Island, which this version appears to be:
The above movies are just three of the many upcoming films being adapted from television shows. Other trailers that debuted yesterday and are now available online include a mix of new and old:
- Star Trek XI, technically another television adaptation. (for the highest quality trailer, a 73.9 MB QuickTime version is available)
- Up, the latest Pixar film.
- Monsters vs. Aliens, also an animated film.
- Race to Witch Mountain, the classic Disney film remade with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
- Angels & Demons, the sequel to The Da Vinci Code (although in Dan Brown's original books, The Da Vinci Code is actually the sequel).
- Year One, a Jack Black comedy set in the time of Moses. Both Michael Cera and David Cross of Arrested Development appear.
- Fast and Furious 4
02-Feb-09 3:34 PM
While I have fond memories of Land of the Lost, Transformers, Escape From Witch Mountain, and G.I. Joe from my youth, none of those trailers looked particularly promising.
I'm of course cautiously optimistic about the Star Trek reboot, and computer-animated Monsters vs. Aliens and Up looked interesting. Year One reminded me of Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I.
06-Feb-09 5:43 PM
I think GI Joe and Land of the Lost have some potential. I'm not sure I like where Transformers has been or is going with this movie series, but GI Joe should make up for anything else that comes out this summer, it looks pretty sweet, and it's about time they made a comeback. I just wonder what other cartoon gem will be next to receive a makeover.