Over the years, the Super Bowl has played home to some of the best commercials in history, with advertisers pulling out all the stops for TV’s most expensive real estate.
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This year was no exception and, in addition to the numerous ads for Tide that had viewers rolling, the big game delivered quite a few exciting trailers and TV spots for 2018’s most anticipated movies.
From expected trailers like Jurassic World, to surprise announcements like Netflix’s Cloverfield debut, movie fans around the world had plenty to talk about. A lot of these trailers were worth the hype. However, there were some that could only be referred to as massive disappointments.
With that in mind, we took a look back at all of the trailers that aired just before, during, or just after the Philadelphia Eagle’s dethroning of the Patriots, and ranked each one, from worst to first.
11. Skyscraper
There’s no dancing around it, this trailer just looked bad.
The newest film starring The Rock looks like a weird mash-up of his San Andreas disaster movie and Die Hard. That almost sounds like a good thing, but this trailer proves that it’s definitely not.
It started by building a thin plot that no one really invested, introducing shallow characters, and showing off the fact that not every movie The Rock touches turns to gold. However, as the trailer continued, things got worse.
The entire disaster ended with The Rock leaping from a crane back over to the building, and logic states that there’s no chance he makes the jump. Somehow though, we all know he will.
10. Red Sparrow
It wasn’t that the Red Sparrow trailer was bad, it’s just that there wasn’t really anything new to get excited about.
The mysterious movie revolves around Jennifer Lawrence as a dangerous assassin who’s trying to break free from the hold of a lethal organization. With every trailer that’s been release, the movie looks a little bit more interesting.
That’s the problem, though. There have already been plenty of trailers and teasers released for this movie. By the time the Super Bowl TV spot rolled around, thereย wasn’t any room for new footage.
Red Sparrow hits theaters in just under a month, bowing in the U.S. on March 2.
9. A Quiet Place
Again, like Red Sparrow, the new spot for A Quiet Place ranks low on the list just because it didn’t show anything off.
The horror/thriller stars real-life married couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, and tells the story of a family living in a dystopianย world. Something is out in the wilderness and, if it hears you make any sound, it will begin hunting you. The family in the film must stay quiet at all times in order to continue surviving.
Save for one scare at the end, and a little bit of backstory as to what happened to the world, the new TV spot didn’t include much that we didn’t already know. However, with a movie like this, it seems like the less you know going in, the better.
8. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom debuted its second trailer on Sunday night, and it was honestly a bit better than the film’s first trailer. Still, despite the improvement, the whole thing felt a little lackluster.
The biggest thing worth noting in this trailer was the introduction of another created dinosaur, the Indoraptor. It’s teased to be just as dangerous as the Indominusย Rex from the first Jurassic World, and the new footage revealed that these terrifying creatures are being auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Sadly, it looks like that part of the storyline could deliver another “Lost World goes to San Diego” moment for the Jurassic franchise. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
7. Jack Ryan
While movie trailers typically dominate the Super Bowl advertising space, TV has been getting into the action over the last couple of years. No one will soon forget the Stranger Things 2 teaser that first appeared during last year’s big game.
The first TV series to get a spot on our list this time around is Amazon’s Jack Ryan.
Starring John Krasinski, this take on Tom Clancy’s classic action hero looks to be the next big hit on Amazon Prime Video. The trailer didn’t show too much, but gave fans a taste of what the could expect from the series, and went a long way in proving that Krasinskiย is successfully making the transition into a bonafide action star.
6. The Cloverfield Paradox
Netflixย blew the minds of movie fans by surprise announcingย the newest installment of the Cloverfieldย franchise, and releasing the first trailer for the movie at the very same time.
In the world of multiple trailers and ads, this kind of marketing is unprecedented, showing that Netflixย is willing to take risks with its properties. While there wasn’t anything particularly special about this new trailer, the surprise alone was enough to rank it at number six.
The surprises didn’t end with the trailer for the space station-set thriller. Netflixย made the movie available for streaming immediately after the game.ย
5. Castle Rock
The second TV series to get a trailer during the big game, and coming in at the fifth spot in our list, is Hulu’sย Castle Rock.
This show has intrigued horror fans since it was announced a while back. The idea is that Castle Rock will tell an original story set in the world of Stephen King’s greatest works of fiction. The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, IT, and many other King books will have a part to play in this universe-building series. To top it all off, the series is produced by none other than J.J. Abrams.
Only one thing was able to out-shine the mystery built by this trailer, and that was the cast itself. The all-star line-upย of Andre Holland, Jane Levy, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgard, Sissy Spacek, Terry O’Quinn, and Scott Glenn absolutely brought it in this trailer, and horror fans are here for it.ย
The show is set to premiere on Hulu this summer.
4. Avengers: Infinity War
Yes, number four does seem a bit low for a movie like Avengers: Infinity War, but that’s simply because it was a TV spot instead of a full trailer.
The actual trailer for Marvel’sย biggest blockbuster to-date was released a while back and fans loved every second. After that incredible footage, this 30-second spot just didn’t feel quite as exciting.
Still, this is Infinity War we’re talking about, and everything Marvel has shown from that movie has been awesome. This spot is no exception.
This outing was highlighted by the first look at Nebula in the film, Captain America’s new shield, and Tony Stark’s improved Iron Man technology.
May 4 can’t come soon enough.
3. Mission Impossible: Fallout
Whether you knew about this movie because you’re a die-hard fan of the Mission Impossible franchise, or you were a bitter comic book fan wondering how good Henry Cavill’s mustache looked, there’s a good chance you were waiting on this trailer.
Unlike most franchises, Mission Impossible has found a way to actually get better with each new film it releases. Both Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation quickly became two of the better installments in the series, and this Fallout trailer made it seem like Tom Cruise’s sixth outing would do the same.
Cruise is joined by franchise vets Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Michelle Monaghan, Vingย Rhames, and Rebecca Ferguson, as well as newcomers Henry Cavillย and Angela Bassett.
2. Westworld
HBO’sย second-hottest series is finally back, and fans are certainly glad for that.
After the twist-filled mystery that was 2016’s first season of Westworld, audiences were disappointed to learn that they would have to wait until 2018 for a new season. By the looks of this trailer however, the wait has been worth it.
HBO’sย first Super Bowl ad in 20 years showed off the insanity that Westworldย has in store for Season 2, but didn’t give a single plot detail away in the process. It was the perfect mix of give and take.
After a 30-second ad that aired on TV, HBO released a full-length trailer on YouTubeย that contained even more action, including a few shots of Thandieย Newton basically wrecking everything.
The best part about this trailer? It revealed that Westworldย will be returning on April 22.
1. Solo: A Star Wars Story
Has there ever been a trailer that’s been talked about as much as Solo: A Star Wars Story?
After going through a director change, and delivering absolutelyย zero marketing materials to this point, fans began to wonder if the Han Solo origin film would even make its May 25 release date. Fortunately, the movie is still on, and the first trailer got people excited for a movie that many thought would be a flop.
While this movie is about Han Solo and the events that led him to become the infamous smuggler that we all love, the supporting characters from the movie are what stole the show in this trailer. Emiliaย Clarke, Thandie Newton, and Woody Harrelson all got the people buzzing, but it was Donald Glover’s take on Landoย Calrissianย that had every fan cheering. Is it possible to have more hype surrounding a sidekick?ย
People weren’t all that excited about Solo: A Star Wars Story. Now, following the trailer, no one can stop talking about it. This debut trailer did it exactly what it set out to do.
