Over the course of doing my "Diagnosis:Film" posts, I've seen quite a few movies. And by that I just mean I've seen their fully-spoilerific trailers. It seems like these days a trailer needs to give you every beat from the upcoming film, and it needs to spoil almost anything that might have dragged your butt into your local multiplex. The first example that comes to mind is the Iron Man 2 trailer, which shows perhaps the only awesome scene in the movie in which Tony Stark pulls out a travel-sized Iron Man suit and uses it to kick Mickey Rourke's (played by Mickey Rourke) ass. Wouldn't that have been quite the pleasant surprise? You expect to get your standard fare Iron Man action, but this blindsides you out of nowhere.

Yeah.

The moment I saw that trailer, I realized I had seen all the best bits. And it's true, all that was left were the uninteresting dialog moments and the forced chemistry between RDJ and GP. But I digress. Trailers have a terrible habit of giving you everything they can to try and get you into the seat, when perhaps the teaser trailer was more than enough.

Here are 10 teaser trailers that I thought best proved that you don't need to get all the best bits into the trailer to make the film look interesting. Granted, there are probably more out there, but these were easily my favorites.

List after the jump!

1. Psycho (1960)

This is perhaps my most favorite kind of teaser trailer. It's an entirely new piece of work that only makes passing reference to the film about to be released. And who better to deliver this than Mr. Hitchcock himself. I want to see this movie again.

2. The Shining (1980)

This trailer is comprised of one shot in slow-motion, set to creepy music. It has a text roll and that's it! Seeing this makes me want to go pull out my copy of the film and watch it.

3. Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999)

I remember seeing this trailer when it came out. I had a 56k modem and had to wait about an hour for the quicktime to finish downloading. As I watched the trailer, the promise of a new look into the galaxy I loved overwhelmed me. The annoying parts (ala Jar Jar and company) were toned down in this first look and all I saw was what made the originals great. Of course, I would end up being sorely disappointed later, but still. This teaser sold me and didn't give me any idea of what was to come.

4. Garden State (2004)

This trailer is nothing more than a Frou Frou song and a bunch of shots thrown in to fit the tempo. Nowhere do you get the actual plot details, which helped when I actually saw this film. And it still remains my favorite film of all time, at least according to Flickchart.

5. Ice Age 2 (2006)

Both this and the first film's teasers have nothing to do with their subsequent films, or the actual plots. It's just a very Looney Tunes-esque squirrel who desperately wants that last nut and can't get a break. The trailer to the first film was the only reason I ended up renting it in the first place. Since I couldn't find the first trailer on youtube, you'll have to be okay with watching the trailer for the sequel, which still retains a lot of the charm of the first one.

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

In a slightly similar vein to Psycho's trailer, Eternal Sunshine gives you a commercial for the company that Jim Carrey's character goes with to get mind-wiped. It's an interesting way to bring up the premise of the film without giving ANY details as to the plot. Even the shots they throw in at the end give you relatively little information other than Kate Winslet's dye-job is awesome. This trailer sold me completely on the film.

7. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

This trailer takes that idea of "the commercial" and uses it for the ENTIRE trailer, forgoing any footage from the actual film itself. I didn't even bother watching the other trailers. I went to this one in the theater as soon as it came out.

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8. Inception (2010)

Out of all the Inception trailers I saw, this one had to be my favorite. With such a high concept film, it's almost a detriment to the trailer to give you much more than some shots of the film and the tag line: "Your mind is the scene of the crime!" Coupled with that BWAUGH-WAUGHN sound, a fantastic trailer that solidified my ass being in the seat come opening weekend.

9. TRON: Legacy (2010)

This trailer has nothing to do with the actual film itself, instead acting like a kind of short film. And while the movie didn't quite live up to the promise of this trailer, this trailer was still what got me in the multiplex.

10. The Tree Of Life (2011)

I have no idea what this film is going to be about, and that makes me want to see it even more. Seriously, if the film can move me only a percentage of how the trailer moved me, this will probably be a REALLY amazing experience. Once again, we're not given much in the way of what the plot might be here.

In conclusion...

Trailers aren't meant to give you the entire movie, although most of the time they do. There's this notion that if they don't cram the best bits into the trailer, how are you going to be interested in the film itself? These trailers above offer an example of how well you can craft a trailer and not spoil anything about the movie itself. I wish more trailers would follow these examples. Save the plot for the actual film itself!

Welcome to a sophomore as well as sophomoric edition of Battle Royale. This time I come at you with a curveball: Young Jeff Bridges or Young Neil? It's up to you to decide which one is the better and on what merits. Personally, I think Young Neil wins, but just by a hair. There's no denying that the youthful Mr. Bridges was a great actor, but Neil is sort of an enigma wrapped in a mystery.

What say you?

Found via CBR (THANKS!):

The film looks like it will be pretty cool. I just hope it's not another Alice in Wonderland in that it's pretty but with no substance. That would just be a dick move on Disney's part, right? Also, who's the Bowie wannabe in this trailer? He seems interesting. Note: If the trailer doesn't work, just follow the link to the CBR site.