For many, trailers are the first introduction between a potential audience member and a film. While it’s the finished film that matters in the end, there’s a certain art to crafting a great trailer that can go unnoticed. Trailers can build anticipation for films audiences were wary of to begin with, or they can dash hopes in a matter of minutes. We saw plenty of both this year, but as we at Collider have taken to highlighting our favorite films, performances, etc. over the past week, we now wanted to take a look back at our favorite trailers of 2016. So take a gander below, and let us know your favorites in the comments.
20) Nocturnal Animals
While director Tom Ford’s follow-up to A Single Man, the thriller Nocturnal Animals, failed to hit the critical heights of his directorial debut, the film does have its fans (::raises hand::) and certainly made for one hell of a trailer. Impeccably shot by Seamus McGarvey, this trailer showcases Ford’s command of every frame alongside his terrific ensemble cast. – Adam Chitwood
19) Blade Runner 2049
This is a simple tease, but it’s a simple tease that features images from one of the all-time greatest cinematographers, Roger Deakins. Bright orange dust. Could an Oscar finally gather some dust on his mantle? – Brian Formo
18) The Witch
The first trailer for this year’s breakout horror sensation expertly uses sound. It kicks off with chopping wood and children whispering baah baah at a goat and then it gets all weird and chaotic when they repeat his name in a whisper, “Black Phillip.” Squeeze out some utter blood and with that, A24 expertly prepared us for the movie animal star of the year—and they still didn’t show us what he was capable of. – Brian Formo
17) War for the Planet of the Apes
I don’t really need a trailer to get excited for a new Planet of the Apes film. It’s one of the best franchises ever made, and director Matt Reeves hit it out of the park with his previous Apes film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. But that doesn’t make the trailer for his sequel, War for the Planet of the Apes, any less impressive. While the digital technology remains impressive, we’ve now reached the point where we can just tell a story, and it looks like this could be a powerful conclusion to Caesar’s journey. – Matt Goldberg
16) Kong: Skull Island
For the first 40 seconds or so this Comic-Con teaser for the King Kong sequel feels very much like Godzilla’s expert marketing (one of the best blockbuster trailers of the new century, hands down). There’s a beautiful sky, some radio conversation, a sparse score and pretty people who are about to be in peril. The first trailer for Kong: Skull Island gets a bit more into to the story than the initial Godzilla trailers did, but it’s still plenty gorgeous and plays like an Apocalypse Now mood board with a giant monster that’s not Marlon Brando. – Brian Formo
15) The Handmaiden
Filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden is a crazy movie, so this trailer fits right in with the film’s vibe. The narratively complex pic is an erotic thriller of sorts, with shades of romp, period drama, and romance scattered throughout. It’s one hell of a wild ride, so the breakneck pace of this trailer, showcasing the various striking images, accurately conveys to the audience the kind of experience they’ll get with The Handmaiden. – Adam Chitwood
14) Dunkirk
Trailers for Christopher Nolan films are events unto themselves, and Dunkirk was no different. This World War II action-thriller chronicles a major historical event in epic fashion, and the full trailer for the film does a tremendous job of conveying both the scope and the stakes of the movie, highlighting a number of different characters of different ages and backgrounds, all in the same harrowing position. – Adam Chitwood
13) The Shallows
A movie trailer is supposed to do more than just re-affirm your desire to see a movie that you’re already going to see because it’s the new Star Wars, LEGO Movie or whathaveyou. Sony took a page from this 1951 instructional video about self-reliance and inserted the voiceover over sunny and vibrantly blue images of Blake Lively surfing before a shark knocks her off her board. “You might think this is the end of our story, actually it’s only the beginning.” It’s a gamble for an under-the-radar movie without a movie-star guarantee and it pays off immensely. Trailer-cutters of 2017, please forgo another sad cover of a pop song and dig deeper. Be self-reliant. – Brian Formo
12) Get Out
Smaller films need great trailers to get on your radar, and Get Out definitely grabbed our attention. While some may have already been aware of the film because of the pedigree of writer-director Jordan Peele, Get Out got a massive signal boost thanks to its delightfully creepy teaser trailer that not only makes the picture look like a nerve-wracking thriller, but also one that wisely addresses racial subtext. It makes Get Out look like The Stepford Wives but dealing with racism instead of sexism, and the trailer has definitely made the film one our most-anticipated movies of 2017. – Matt Goldberg
11) La La Land
Selling a critical darling is always a tricky prospect, but Lionsgate/Summit knocked it out of the park with La La Land. Instead of trying to explain the plot or focus in one a big splashy musical number, the marketing for Damien Chazelle’s terrific musical is much more about feeling than any specifics. The film’s first trailer is elegant, set to Emma Stone’s showstopping number “Audition” as the gorgeous imagery that Chazelle and cinematographer Linus Sandgren crafted explodes off the screen. By going simple, Lionsgate/Summit sold La La Land as an emotion, and that was absolutely the smart play. – Adam Chitwood
10) The LEGO Batman Movie
The trailers for The LEGO Batman Movie have been so good that they’ve pretty much quelled my disappointment that we’re not getting a sequel to The LEGO Movie until 2019. If anything, these trailers show that The LEGO Batman Movie might end up being a surprisingly astute dissection of the beloved superhero. While director Chris McKay has billed the film as “Heat meets About a Boy”, these trailers show that the film will have no problem lovingly poking fun at the Dark Knight. Every time I see a trailer for this film, I just get a big smile on my face. – Matt Goldberg
9) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
I’m not really that surprised Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had one of the best trailers of the year considering that Marvel is pretty good at cutting trailers and that the trailers for the first Guardians were pretty outstanding. But none of those trailers had this one’s secret weapon: Baby Groot. It’s going to take a lot of restraint on Marvel’s part not to overuse Baby Groot in the marketing so that audiences aren’t tired of him before they even see the film, but for the time being, his adorableness could sell just about anything. And even if the trailer didn’t have Baby Groot, you’d still have the great capper where Drax laughs in Star-Lord’s face. – Matt Goldberg
8) 10 Cloverfield Lane
The 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer is great for so many reasons. John Goodman dancing, of course. But lest we forget, the trailer also served as an announcement of the film’s existence. It came out back in January, revealing the title of this contained thriller as being part of the Cloverfield universe—surprise! So that in and of itself warrants consideration, but it’s really just an impeccably crafted trailer that sells the popcorn movie factor of the film as it goes from joyous to terrifying in a few seconds.
7) Wonder Woman
The first footage from Wonder Woman debuted at Comic-Con this summer, and while an official trailer subsequently followed it, the Comic-Con cut remains superior because it doesn’t have to be concerned with plot or introducing the villain. It’s all atmosphere and iconography, and director Patty Jenkins plays with male superhero conventions both in narrative and visual form to delightful results. – Adam Chitwood
6) Fences
When you’re working with material as stellar as August Wilson’s Fences and you have performers as talented as Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, it’s not terribly hard to sell your film. But the teaser trailer for Fences go all in with all of the above, taking a breath to showcase one single interaction from the film which colors the rest of the images and footage we see. It’s deeply unsettling and highly effective—Washington and Davis bring it, and you can’t wait to see more. – Adam Chitwood
5) Logan
It’s almost cheating when you use Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt” for your trailer because that rendition of the song is so emotional, but boy does it work wonders on the first Logan trailer. The clip previews a very different kind of X-Men film with a stark landscape and our heroes in dire straights, but “Hurt” is fitting because director James Mangold isn’t crafting some high-flying, world-at-risk superhero epic. Instead, Logan is a much more intimate, character-centric “superhero movie” with highly personal stakes given that it’s Hugh Jackman’s last go-around as the character. – Adam Chitwood
4) Suicide Squad
How good was the Suicide Squad trailer featuring Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”? Good enough to basically change the film itself. The sizzle reel that played at Comic-Con in 2015 was probably a more accurate representation of what director David Ayer was going for, but when the “Bohemian Rhapsody” trailer hit and people went nuts for it, Warner Bros. pushed to have the final film bear a stronger resemblance to the tone of that trailer. Unfortunately, the finished movie is nowhere near as good as the trailer, but so it goes. – Matt Goldberg
3) Silence
It was a long, long wait for Martin Scorsese’s passion project Silence, but the highly anticipated first trailer was well worth it. The film itself may follow a more languid pace, but this trailer is absolutely full of bombast and vigor, teasing cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s lush visuals and impeccable framing. – Adam Chitwood
2) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Lucasfilm and Disney took their time in marketing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, mostly because they didn’t want to overshadow the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens as J.J. Abrams’ film continued to dominate the box office throughout January. But when the time finally came to introduce audiences to Rogue One, this teaser trailer did the trick in the most remarkable way. By infusing the trailer with a familiar soundscape that was distorted in a disturbing way, it telegraphs to the audience that while this is still Star Wars, it’s a very different kind of story. The pace of this trailer is phenomenal, and while a number of the shots teased here would not make it to the finished film, it remains one of the best pieces of blockbuster marketing in recent memory. – Adam Chitwood
1) Moonlight
Trailers can do one of two things really well: increase hype for an already anticipated movie, or create anticipation for a film that’s brand new to audiences. The latter is much more difficult to accomplish than the former, and while we went back and forth over whether Moonlight or Rogue One deserved this top spot, we landed on Moonlight because it succeed on a much higher difficulty. This film was on very few people’s radar when the trailer first debuted in August, but it instantly became a must-see ahead of its film festival bow. It’s now one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, but this introductory trailer from A24 does a tremendous job of highlighting Barry Jenkins’ stunning filmmaking, a uniquely told story, and universal themes. That it was able to build anticipation instantly based off one piece of marketing for a movie many didn’t even know existed makes it that much more impressive. – Adam Chitwood
For more of COLLIDER’s Best of 2016 coverage, click here or on the links below.