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Awesome video/entry posted by shesawhesaw:

Trailer Flashback: Back to the Future (1985)

Robert Zemeckis has an annoying tendency to reveal nearly everything about his films in their previews. The twist of What Lies Beneath was revealed long before its release. Cast Away arrived in theaters with no doubts about its ending. Forrest Gump was spelled out point by point for a waiting audience, allowing them to enter the theater with no surprises or shocks in front of them. He sells movies like McDonalds sells its hamburgers, pitching to an audience that wants to know exactly what it will get as it enters the establishment.

It’s refreshing, then, to see that his greatest triumph was sold on barely any information. Within this minute of footage, we have three pieces on which to base the film. The first are the gratuitous and luxurious shots of the famous time-traveling DeLorean. These are reminiscent of the high-end sports car ads of the period, lingering over every detail as if to demonstrate that this car’s seat leather is superior to the competitor’s seat leather. We begin simply: the gull-wing doors, the tires, the shot of the hip Nike shoes next to the car to denote the style and cache that goes with this particular vehicle. Then we move on to the specific features of the car: the LED speedometer, the yards of wires, the ever-glowing Flux Capacitor. Sure, it nominally looks like a sports car, but what’s with all the extra technology? 

The face of the young driver turns to us. Even under the gigantic glasses, audiences of 1985 would recognize Michael J. Fox, then one of the biggest television stars in the world. He snaps us back from possible science-fiction to comedy. “How far you going?” asks the narration. With his best wink and a smile, Fox answers with the kicker: “About thirty years.” Thirty years? What does that even mean? We’re vacillating back and forth between teen racer flick and high-tech science-fiction picture.

Then the car takes off, exploding into fire trails and disappearing from view. With that the horn section from Huey Lewis’ “Back in Time” bursts onto the soundtrack, just as it does at the film’s ebullient conclusion. Within sixty seconds we’ve been given an enormous amount of information. We know about the famous DeLorean, we’re introduced to Marty McFly, and we grasp the basic concept of time travel as it appears in the film. That’s enough to get audiences intrigued and in the theater. However, there’s still much that hasn’t been revealed: no George, no Biff, neither of the twin dilemmas of both fuel shortage and an Oedipal Complex. Not even Doc Brown, arguably the most well-regarded character from the film, makes an appearance. The audience enters the theater with “Great Scott!” and talk of Gigawatts and lightning strikes in Hill Valley totally unspoiled.

Did it work? Audiences and critics raved about Back to the Future, and the film exploded past its competition. Two sequels, an animated television series, and a quarter-century later, the film is a cultural institution, and still among the Top 100 grossing films ever made. As for the films Zemeckis set forth to spoil before audiences made it to theaters…well, when was the last time you thought about Beowulf?