A very strong ad. It shows the story without revealing too much or going on too long.

I love the shot they chose to introduce Shelob - creepy.

Labels: Cate Blanchett, David Wenham, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, John, John Rhys-Daves, Karl Urban, movie trailer, Noble, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin

Unlike the trailer for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, which was well done, this trailer is below average. It goes on way too long, exposes too much about the story and lays down atmosphere or intrigue for the audience. This is simply a Cliffs Notes version of the film with titleboards tossed in to remind you it's a trailer.

This trailer also downplays the presence of Gollum in the story. He's in the a couple of times, but as one of the major players and one of the more visually striking ones at that, one would expect for him to be a bigger display in the ads.

Labels: Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Daves, Liv Tyler, Lord of the Rings, movie trailer, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen

I find it interesting how much the trailer relies on the heroic archetype to sell the movie. This is a perfect execution of how to sell a story based on the heroic journey. They establish the opening act conflicts

• Open with the normal, fertile world (shown in the opening shot of the trees)
• The conflict (read evil) enters into the clean world - via the ring
• The hero (Frodo) is told of the conflict
• He refuses
• He begins the journey and collects his allies
• End with a montage of conflicts and moments of peril with promises of strange and frightening villains.

Perfect.

Labels: Cate Blanchett, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Daves, Lord of the Rings, movie trailer, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Viggo Mortensen

Screenwriter: David Pliler
Director: Ryan Little (Saints and Soldiers)
Actors: Gary Cole (Office Space), Sean Faris (Never Back Down), Neal McDonough (Minority Report), Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King), Penn Badgley (John Tucker Must Die), and Arielle Kebbel (The Grudge 2)

Labels: film, Gary Cole, movie trailer, Neal McDonough, Sean Astin, sports