The Phantom menace pops to mind. Just that teaser with the gungans on their mounts, walking in the fog was enough to get every one on board for a new star wars series.
It wasn’t a very good series, but it did lead to greater things and was a success by all accounts.
Weird how so many talked shit about Phantom Menace but I saw it 4 times in a packed theater and was pumped everytime.
I was 12 and I all I remember thinking was double sided lightsabers are cool. Which was disappointing as I was a huge Star wars fan. I don’t think I really liked it that much but going to the movies was always a big deal.
Took me about half a dozen viewings to come to terms with the fact that it’s not great, but I still enjoyed the nostalgia of the release and the hype around it.
Everything except the Gungans was top notch. I still think the fight with Darth Maul is one of the best in the entire series. The music was SO fucking good.
i think its a flick more than a film. visuals and audio were impressive, but almost none of the characters were developed or charming or even quotable. it even somehow managed to be more racist than should be possible.
The original Matrix trailer was such stylish mystery and intrigue. Media consumption volume of the average person was drastically less than today and its release predated wide broadband availability. IYKYK but that film dropped like an absolute hype bomb and deserved all the love & success it received.
Just to add to this… When I first saw the trailer, I became completely obsessed with the film. I visited the website and read a bunch of short stories on there about the world of the Matrix.
And besides all that, when I finally sat down in theaters and watched Neo take the red pill, I had absolutely no clue what was happening. Their marketing material 100% avoided even spoiling the very premise of the film. All they did was build a mystery.
Lion King, hands down. The trailer was just the entire opening scene, and seeing the trailer for the first time (in the theater, as was the style at the time), gave me chills. The scope of the animation was clearly something new, and Carmen Twillie & Lebo M fucking killed the vocals in Circle of Life
Cloverfield. It didn’t even contain the title, just the date. It ended up being the biggest January opening of any movie.
Independence Day. That shot of the White House being obliterated was amazing at the time.