The release of big Hollywood movie trailers is as much of an event as the movie itself nowadays, and with that increased attention has come some absolutely brilliant trailers over the course of this year, offering more than just a preview for the film, but another source of entertainment that we can watch again and again and again. So, here are my picks for the top 10 best movie trailers of 2017.
10. The Bar
Before we get into all the big Hollywood stuff, let’s start off with a trailer for a film you might not have seen: The Bar.
A Spanish thriller that took fifth place on my top 10 best foreign movies of 2017, its trailer works brilliantly as a preview to what is in effect an entirely insane film. With a slow but entertaining build-up set to a vocal rendition of Ode to Joy, the trailer bursts into ridiculous life as the clients of a Madrid bar find themselves stuck and forced to work both with, and against, one another. The trailer doesn’t spoil any of the film’s great twists, but it perfectly sums up an absolutely crazy movie, and makes for a massively entertaining watch again and again.
9. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri looks to be a hot contender this Oscar season, but its trailer has already cemented itself as one of the best of this year.
While its green band trailer gives the story a good overlook, it’s the foul-mouthed red band version that’s far superior, throwing all of Frances McDormand’s frustrated swears at you to emphasise her character’s anger, and as the trailer goes on and on, the tension grows and grows until it explodes into what looks to be the pure madness of the film itself. It’s funny, intriguing and very, very crude, but it really sets up for a potentially brilliant film in excellent fashion.
8. Blade Runner 2049
When a sequel to the legendary Blade Runner was announced, it was met with collective groans from the movie community. However, its trailer sparked intrigue and hope that the film may not be a Hollywood cashgrab, and in fact (as turned out to be the case) an absolute work of art.
Above all, the Blade Runner 2049 is notable for the incredible visuals it shows, and although it hints towards the film’s story, with a brief reintroduction to Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard alongside Ryan Gosling’s mysterious and seemingly exhausted new character, the trailer’s atmosphere is exactly what everybody wanted from a modern Blade Runner movie, featuring good action and sci-fi intrigue, but above all deeply unsettling and eerie dystopian vibes, all brought together by that classic Vangelis score from the original.
7. I, Tonya
Another movie vying for Oscar glory this year is I, Tonya, and its trailer is notable for the fact that it makes a typical sports biography look absolutely insane.
Exploding with life, energy, humour and violence throughout, this trailer is full of surprises, complete with what looks to be an off-the-wall performance from Margot Robbie, and emphasising that the story to be told here, about figure skater Tonya Harding, is a lot more than a simple biopic, and instead something that will have you on the edge of your seat with Goodfellas-like thrills and spills, and excellent dark comedy throughout. Above all, this trailer has really got me excited for a story that I personally have never heard of, which is always great to see.
6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Now we come to the absolute king of the hype train: Star Wars. Although The Last Jedi had nowhere near as feverish a level of anticipation as The Force Awakens, it was this trailer that managed to get the excitement and intrigue rolling well in mid-October.
For someone who was sitting on the edge of their seat from the first teaser trailer back in the spring, this main trailer had absolutely everything I wanted to see two months ahead of a new Star Wars movie. A small preview of the story and themes at hand, bursts of amazing action, beautiful and euphoric music, exceptional visual effects, and absolutely no spoilers to be seen. Although The Last Jedi may not have ultimately been on the same level as its predecessor, its trailer still had everything to make any Star Wars fan giddy with excitement.
5. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
The original Guardians Of The Galaxy trailer lives on in legend thanks to its perfectly chosen soundtrack: Spirit In The Sky and Hooked On A Feeling, great action and brilliant humour, and its sequel definitely didn’t fail to live up to the reputation.
With yet another brilliant song choice in Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain, the Vol. 2 trailer is a brief but insanely entertaining rollercoaster, added to by more great humour, adorable Baby Groot, and the absolutely gorgeous kaleidoscopic visuals that dominate the movie from start to finish. It’s much like the last trailer, but if it isn’t broken, there’s no need to fix an absolutely brilliant formula, and that’s why this trailer is so much fun to watch.
4. Dunkirk
There was a brief teaser for Dunkirk that was released in the summer of 2016, and that alone blew everyone away, so when it came to the full trailer, things just got better and better.
For what is undoubtedly one of the year’s – perhaps even the decade’s – best films, we have two and a half minutes of incredibly intense and heart-racing drama and tension that not only emphasise the importance of the historical event being told, but also bringing that combination of unbelievable drama, action and stunning visuals that only director Christopher Nolan can achieve. The film itself is insanely intense, but this trailer too will have your heart pounding, something that we don’t see all that often.
3. The Shape Of Water
I knew absolutely nothing about The Shape Of Water before watching this trailer, but afterwards, I felt like I had already been whisked away on a magical adventure.
While the following two trailers for Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming mystery thriller are a little darker, this first trailer is full of magic and joy, as well as a distinct air of mystery and drama. As a result, it makes for a massively entertaining watch, and set to the beautiful La Javanaise by Madelein Peyroux, the series of bizarre and still intriguing clips we see give the film an amazing vibe, and set it up to be not only a typical mystery, but the sort of enchanting and magical fantasy that you’d expect from the man who brought us Pan’s Labyrinth.
2. It
Of all the movies in 2017, It is definitely the one that took the internet by storm. With its first trailer receiving 197 million views in the first 24 hours (a new record at the time), the teaser for the big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s story got absolutely everyone talking, and no wonder.
The thing is, this trailer is like its own horror movie. Not only does it set up the actual movie brilliantly, and make you want to see the terror unfold on the big screen, but it also has a fully coherent beginning, middle and end, building tension, drama and horror throughout to the point that you may even be cowering behind your hands come the end. Of course, the fear in this trailer is nothing compared to the actual movie, but for a trailer to take you on a rollercoaster like that in such a short amount of time is no mean feat, and that’s undoubtedly why it set the world alight when it first hit the internet.
1. Thor: Ragnarok
But in the end, the best movie trailer of 2017 is the one that lets you have the most fun: Thor: Ragnarok.
With an amazing song choice in Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, this trailer single-handedly reinvigorated what was up to that point the most boring side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, changing Thor from a fairly wooden hero fighting generic villains to a man full of joy and energy, and in tandem with some insane visuals and 80s-style titles, the trailer is an absolute joy to behold from beginning to end, all the while bringing us some hugely entertaining set-pieces, including that now-legendary meet-up between Thor and Hulk in the battle arena. Above all, the Thor: Ragnarok trailer is just so much fun to watch again and again and again, and that’s why it’s my pick for the best movie trailer of 2017.
