As part of Wednesday’s news article about the trailer for Michael B. Jordan’s new movie, “Without Remorse,” the author of that post, Josh Carone, makes a keen comparison using the trailer for “Taxi Driver.”
He asserts that the two-minute trailer for “Without Remorse” lays out the entire plot of the movie in such a predictable and transparent way that there’s little reason to actually sit down and watch the full two-hour movie. The trailer for “Taxi Driver,” on the other hand, manages to give a sense of the story while introducing most of the characters all without giving anything away. Cool cool cool.
HOWEVER, in addition to giving the “Taxi Driver” trailer credit for not being spoiler-y, Josh ALSO points out that it just plain stinks, writing:
I re-watched the “Taxi Driver” trailer a few days ago and it’s horrible! There’s a cheesy voiceover, tacky music, poor editing …
Which is right about the time I realized that despite the fact that “Taxi Driver” is on my shortlist of favorite films of ALL TIME, I’d never actually watched the trailer.
Part of me felt guilty about this, like I’d somehow neglected the film for over half my life without even realizing it. But on the other hand, when and/or why would I have searched out the trailer in the first place?
For example, how many people have actually gone out of their way to watch the trailer for ANY classic films? Citizen Kane? The Godfather? Seven Samurai? Think about it. Who even knows how these films were presented to the general public at the time of their release.
As for the “Taxi Driver” trailer, I should actually be more specific with respect to the title of this post. I think the first half of the trailer is an insult to the overall film. Just as Josh mentions, there’s the cheesy Deep Voice Movie Trailer Guy, a weird setup, and unnecessary narration regarding Robert De Niro’s prior performances and critical acclaim.
The second half of the trailer I don’t mind so much, even if it does come off a bit too scattershot.
That being said, Josh has now forced my hand at rectifying a perceived wrong. Down the rabbit hole of watching trailers to classic films on YouTube I go …
