FilmJabber Movie Blog » movie trailer review

Movie Trailer Review: Outlander (2009)

Erik Samdahl — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:27:36 +0000

What happens when you put Jesus, Vikings and a dragon together? You get Outlander, the new sci-fi action flick that opens this coming Friday in limited theaters. Its limited release, combined with its January date and not-so-big distributor (doesn’t Third Rail Releasing sound like Third Rate?) does not bode well for the picture, but it looks like given the right marketing and distribution, Outlander could make a bit of money.

Sure, it looks like it could end up being rather cheesy, put the special effects don’t look awful, it stars Jim Caviezel and the thought of Vikings battling a dragon sounds like a lot of fun. The new movie trailer does nothing that screams “horrible” – had this same trailer been advertising a June release date, I’d potentially think it was a blockbuster film. Alas, it is not, and it most likely will suck, but Outlander looks fun.

Here’s the Outlander movie trailer:

Movie Trailer Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Erik Samdahl — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:37:54 +0000

I, like many people, have been skeptical about the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie. After all, it’s an animated film, and Star Wars isn’t meant to be animated, at least not on the big screen.

Thankfully, the new movie trailer actually makes the movie look pretty decent. The trailer is treated no different than the previews for any of the other Star Wars film, with brooding music that leads to the standard Star Wars music. There’s very little dialogue – playing it safe, I see – and lots of long distance shots, which is where the visual effects look the best. All in all, this is a very good movie trailer, especially given the footage.

Unfortunately, I still think releasing this film to the big screen is a mistake. Yes, it’s going to make much more money than it would have on TV, but there’s just something about releasing an animated Star Wars to theaters that seems damaging to the series as a whole (yes, even given the fact that the prequels weren’t exactly fabulous). Star Wars: The Animated Series is a great idea, and as long as it stays on TV it can remain fairly independent from the movies. However, with its theatrical release upcoming, it’s going to be very hard to separate it out. And considering that the characters look pretty silly, that’s not good.

Movie Trailer Review: Elegy (2008)

Erik Samdahl — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:28:17 +0000

The new romantic drama Elegy stars the unlikely duo of Sir Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz. I’m not completely sure who’s getting the better deal here, but I’m pretty sure the much-older Kingsley is getting an unfair benefit. And that’s what the movie is about. He has a perfectly fine but ultimately loveless relationship with Patricia Clarkson, who still looks pretty good for her age, but is absolutely enthralled by the younger Cruz. And you know what? Cruz digs his skinny little frame, too.

As far as romantic dramas go, Elegy looks pretty good. The movie trailer is pieced together well, with tantalizing music and a clean, solid look. The trailer maybe shows a bit much, but for movies like this, that’s OK – as long as the ending isn’t revealed, a movie like this can show all the scenes in the world. And the great thing about Elegy? It could go many ways. Given the age difference, it’s possible Kingsley and Cruz won’t live happily ever after. Hell, Kingsley may even die.

Elegy looks pretty good. Kingsley has tainted his reputation so much over the last few years that it’s nice to see him in something a bit more respectable.