Fun with ReCut Trailers

Recut trailers are great.

You know, those YouTube vids where someone takes footage from a particular film and creates a trailer that is radically at odds with the source material? I love ’em. Such great editing exercises, and the grasp their creators’ manifest when it comes to the beats and moods of particular genres often leave me speechless. (Plus, they’re funny. And it’s Friday.)

“Scary Mary’s” my favorite example ever, and I don’t expect that to change any time soon (despite a number of solid attempts to unseat it/her from the throne). But I must admit to a bit of a soft spot for this particular entry, due mostly to the fact that noir is very nearly my favorite cinematic genre. (That, or Westerns. And no, I don’t have a workable definition of noir. You’ll have to ask someone who actually knows what they’re talking about if you want one. I just like throwing the term around.)

Of course, Blade Runner is often sited as a prime example of Neo-noir — another term that I love-to-throw-around-but-can’t-possibly-define — so the step from the original trailer to this “plain ol’ noir” version isn’t a huge one. It doesn’t feel particularly sensationalistic/pulpy/”words zooming at the screen-ish” to me, either, and that’s such a big part of those classic trailers. And that ubiquitous combination of understated music and dreamlike mood is one that crops up in modern trailers all the time; not sure it’s distinctively noir-y.

So “Scary Mary’s” definitely safe. But I still think this is great, and not just because it’s in B&W and has people drinking Scotch. (Though those help, yes.)

I’d watch it.

BONUS: The original trailers for the Star Wars trilogy can be found here. No, they’re not “recut.” But they sort of feel like it, don’t they?

Somewhere in space this may all be happening right now. 20th Century Fox and George Lucas, the man who brought you American Graffiti, now bring you an adventure unlike anything on your planet: Star Wars. The story of a boy, a girl, and a universe. It’s a big, sprawling, space saga about rebellion and romance. It’s a spectacle, light years ahead of its time. It’s an epic of heroes, and villains, and aliens from a thousand worlds. A million years in the making, Star Wars.