Tractor Tire Award of the week

A ongoing documentation of missing trailer scenes.

SKYLINE

This scene didn't quite look like this in the actual finished film...

I have to hand it to whomever was responsible for Skyline's trailer because they definitely pulled the wool over my eyes. While I absolutely hate when a film is completely misrepresented by its trailer which is what has happened here but I also have to admire what they did here as well. They completely retooled the entire film and showed us what it would have been if the film makers had a proper budget. After seeing the finished film I am simply amazed that they did not put one single image of that dam telescope anywhere in the trailer. For a quick comparison, the Skyline trailer without the telescope is like a Harry Potter trailer without a wand.

Well, how exactly does this qualify as a Tractor award? This one may be kind of a stretch but I believe it still qualifies as something that was shown in the trailer and didn't appear in the finished film. All through the trailer you either hear or see news casters reporting on the alien attack. Now, the one thing they did that I thought was kind of unnecessary and was the main reason I even thought about bringing this up was they show a shot with our survivors looking at a television monitor where it looks as though they are watching a newscast of the invasion. Don't be fooled though because there isn't one moment in the entire film where any type of news is reported. It is probably one of the first alien invasion films I have ever seen where there is a complete media blackout.

I am not saying having no media present is a bad thing and I am not saying this is really that big a deal, cause it isn't (the bigger deal is how bad the movie is). What I am saying though is that we have reached a point in film marketing and advertising where you just can't believe what you see anymore. Sure, I admit that this isn't anything new, but when you have a trailer that manipulates the end product as much as they did here it is quite astounding. It even begs the question why? Why did they have to digitally replace the actual image on that TV screen with news footage that doesn't exist in the film? Why did they feel the need to sell this as some sci-fi epic when it clearly isn't that at all? Finally, why didn't they make the film we saw in that trailer instead of the drivel we got here?

Trailer for Skyline:

Posted in: Tractor Tire Awards