Most misleading posters ever?

MakeEmLaugh

This should be interesting. What's the weirdest, most misleading poster for a film you've ever seen? Like, one that gave an entirely different impression of the film it was supposed to be advertising. For me, this is easy.

Has anyone every seen the Polish poster for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963)? Well, this poster (which is great, by the way) features some pretty damn abstract imagery, none of which appeared in Hitchcock's movie. Check it out, and post other examples of this here!

WatchWolf

Mother of god...

MrStuffins

This one, for some very interesting reasons:



Read about it here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/oct/03/pressandpublishing.sun

homerun_homer

If I remember correct, there was one dragon and one helicopter and not much action as this would have you believe.

Jumboman

Mades a **** film look like it could be good.

MrStuffins

Jumboman wrote: »

Mades a **** film look like it could be good.

I dunno, I think that poster sums up the movie nicely.

Massive Arnie head, couple of Helicopters, PBUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Nervous Wreck

He's wearing a jacket.

MakeEmLaugh

MrStuffins wrote: »

This one, for some very interesting reasons:

Read about it here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/oct/03/pressandpublishing.sun

Interesting article! I've always thought being the guy who peruses the press in search of quotes for a movie poster would be a great job!

e_e

Not a poster I know, but still a hell of a misleading quote!

melmoth77

Always loved the posters from this article

http://wellmedicated.com/inspiration/50-incredible-film-posters-from-poland/

some are great, like Rosemary's Baby, but Weekend at Bernies?

johnny_ultimate

The DVD cover for Lilya 4 Ever makes it look and sound like a hip indie crowd pleaser. I think it's completely at odds with what it actually is: a grim and depressing drama. I get that they were trying to 'trick' the audience, but I just don't personally think it works. Being more cynical, I think they were trying to appeal to the 'Together' and 'Show Me Love' fans, while somewhat misrepresenting the film they are actually selling. It's a striking cover, certainly, but one that doesn't suit the film IMO.



This is so much more accurate, and all that's really different is the cover photo:



While Tartan were never exactly the purveyors of subtle advertising, I would have loved to see a different take on the Audition marketing material. The iconic 'syringe' shot isn't misleading by any stretch, but I also think it puts audiences in the wrong frame of mind. The cover tells you it's a horror, which takes away the shock of what happens an hour into the film. The two films to me act as an interesting contrast: I think Lilya 4 Ever should have been more literal, Audition should have hidden its true intentions.

kitakyushu

Motorama had a poster with a large headshot of Drew Barrymore.

She's in the movie for around 15-20 seconds.

MakeEmLaugh

e_e wrote: »

Not a poster I know, but still a hell of a misleading quote!

I know! I've been trying to find the source of that quote for years! Surely Jonathan Ross, who has quite good taste in film, wouldn't say something like that! It must be a case not unlike that of Guy Ritchie's Revolver, above...

MakeEmLaugh

melmoth77 wrote: »

Always loved the posters from this article

http://wellmedicated.com/inspiration/50-incredible-film-posters-from-poland/

some are great, like Rosemary's Baby, but Weekend at Bernies?

The Terms of Endearment one freaks the crap outta me!

melmoth77

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

The Terms of Endearment one freaks the crap outta me!

Yeah, it's like some weird acid trip crossed with an animation from Pink Floyd's The Wall! :eek:

Thwip!

e_e wrote: »

Not a poster I know, but still a hell of a misleading quote!

TBF a few friends and I met him at his comic signing in Dundrum and he still stands by that quote.... saying "It's where you see Wobin become Wobin"

B.A._Baracus

Not sure if it classes as "misleading" ... But you have a standard horror movie and but they had to add a picture of the lead actresses ass :pac:

Sad Professor

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The DVD cover for Lilya 4 Ever makes it look and sound like a hip indie crowd pleaser. I think it's completely at odds with what it actually is: a grim and depressing drama. I get that they were trying to 'trick' the audience, but I just don't personally think it works. Being more cynical, I think they were trying to appeal to the 'Together' and 'Show Me Love' fans, while somewhat misrepresenting the film they are actually selling. It's a striking cover, certainly, but one that doesn't suit the film IMO.

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This is so much more accurate, and all that's really different is the cover photo:

<image>

While Tartan were never exactly the purveyors of subtle advertising, I would have loved to see a different take on the Audition marketing material. The iconic 'syringe' shot isn't misleading by any stretch, but I also think it puts audiences in the wrong frame of mind. The cover tells you it's a horror, which takes away the shock of what happens an hour into the film. The two films to me act as an interesting contrast: I think Lilya 4 Ever should have been more literal, Audition should have hidden its true intentions.

I agree about Audition. That's definitely a film that is potentially ruined by knowing too much. But I guess the marketing people have to weigh that up against revealing enough that people get a sense of what's in store, which is always an issue when it comes to horror.

I actually prefer the UK poster for Lilly 4 Ever. It's less revealing, more ambiguous. I spent the first half hour of that film thinking it was going to be like Together and Fucking Amal. I think the fact that there's a sudden shift half way through is part of the point, which the US poster is giving away. While the US poster is more accurate, it also makes the film look far less appealing.

e_e

Yeah I think an ultra minimalist approach should have been given to Audition's packaging. Making it look more ominous and mysterious.

dr gonzo

A fantastic movie but this poster is quite misleading. It looks a lot more light-hearted then the movie actually is, which as most of us (im sure) know, is pretty dark.

Galvasean

Jim Carrey has a brief cameo as a camera man. IIRC he doesn't even have any lines.

Galvasean

Me, in my ignorance, thought this might be a film about the Sue controversy...

Raekwon

The lead actress is called Bambi & it was shot on location in New York..............apparently *cough*

Ridley

DVD cover but there's a poster version on IMDB. So... is she the single mother ex-girlfriend, the psychiatrist or the writer?

MakeEmLaugh

jpcarlow wrote: »

TBF a few friends and I met him at his comic signing in Dundrum and he still stands by that quote.... saying "It's where you see Wobin become Wobin"

Really? He stands by that? Where was it taken from, I wonder. It must have been a soundbite on the Red Carpet after the Premiere, or something. There's no way he would have put that in print.

kitakyushu

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

Really? He stands by that? Where was it taken from, I wonder. It must have been a soundbite on the Red Carpet after the Premiere, or something. There's no way he would have put that in print.

I love the way people presume Jonathan Ross has some sort of code of ethics when it comes to reviews. To my mind he's clearly just one of the 'luvvies' looking out for his chums and always on the lookout to make new ones..

MakeEmLaugh

kitakyushu wrote: »

I love the way people presume Jonathan Ross has some sort of code of ethics when it comes to reviews. To my mind he's clearly just one of the 'luvvies' looking out for his chums and always on the lookout to make new ones..

"Jonathan is genuinely a film fan. He wrote the Incredibly Strange Movies (sic) book and he started out in Channel 4 doing two series of the Incredibly Strange Movie show, in which he interviewed people like Sam Raimi, Fred Olen Ray - I mean, really obscure cult movie stuff. He really knows his stuff in that area... And his knowledge of Japanese cinema is terrific."

- Mark Kermode

Zubeneschamali

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

There's no way he would have put that in print.

I've seen it said that Ross claimed he wrote that on a bet to see if he could get that quote onto the movie poster/video or whatever.

Mickeroo

another dvd cover not a poster but I thought it was great, some guy found this in Bangkok apparently:



If only it was an accurate portrayal!!

dr gonzo

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I've seen it said that Ross claimed he wrote that on a bet to see if he could get that quote onto the movie poster/video or whatever.

If this is true you gotta give it to the man, thats genius.

Quazzie

Galvasean wrote: »

Me, in my ignorance, thought this might be a film about the Sue controversy...

Another interesting this about this poster for me, that doesn't immediately jump out, was that they used the same tree for all three trees.

intbn

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

The Terms of Endearment one freaks the crap outta me!

some of them are class!

Skerries

those polish posters look like they have been sweded

MakeEmLaugh

Skerries wrote: »

those polish posters look like they have been sweded

I had no idea what 'Sweded' meant till I watched Be Kind Rewind for the first time last night!

Funglegunk

I once bought a DVD of Arrested Development in China and it had bicycle maintenance instructions for bullet points on the back. Really wish I'd taken a picture of it!

Nervous Wreck

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

I had no idea what 'Sweded' meant till I watched Be Kind Rewind for the first time last night!

That's where the term comes from. Which reminds me, I can't find my BKR dvd anywhere....

paulieeye

hope they do a cross over!!!

mike65

My favourite "exaggeration" is for Soylent Green which suggests something much more expansive/expensive than is the case

Kinski

The poster for Warriors of the Wind, a bastadized recut of classic 80s Japanese anime feature Nausicaa for the US market.

Only a couple of characters on the poster bear even a slight resemblance to any in the movie - otherwise who they're supposed to be and what the poster in general has to do with the film is a complete mystery.

OldeCinemaSoz

VIGILANTE FORCE paired with TRACKDOWN is one of my favourites.

:cool:

p to the e

I thought the poster for Scream did a good job of hiding the fact

Drew Barrymore gets killed in the first scene

Galvasean

p to the e wrote: »

I thought the poster for Scream did a good job of hiding the fact

Drew Barrymore gets killed in the first scene

Was that not a deliberate

Hitchcockian reference

?

OldeCinemaSoz

homerun_homer wrote: »

If I remember correct, there was one dragon and one helicopter and not much action as this would have you believe.

That is one cool poster!

And only the dragons hinted at!

:cool:

OldeCinemaSoz

mike65 wrote: »

My favourite "exaggeration" is for Soylent Green which suggests something much more expansive/expensive than is the case

Nice one!

I'm not that old to catch it first run but it's still a great poster
which captures a lot of the spirit of the film.

pah

Enjoyed the movie. Not a whole lot of driving in it though.

4zn76tysfajdxp

Mickeroo wrote: »

another dvd cover not a poster but I thought it was great, some guy found this in Bangkok apparently:



If only it was an accurate portrayal!!

The flash's reflection also makes it look like the guy on the left is holding some sort of futuristic laser gun too. :pac:

AoifeCN

De Niro's not even in it that much!

MakeEmLaugh

AoifeCN wrote: »

De Niro's not even in it that much!

What was this a poster for?

Otacon

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

What was this a poster for?

MoviePosterDB.com clearly

AoifeCN

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

What was this a poster for?

it was actually a dvd cover but it's for a bronx tale

DirkVoodoo