Lying One-Sheets

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We all know how most movie trailers tend to sell the sizzle rather than the nutrients -- pushing the lowest-common-denominator elements with such emphasis that the trailer, in many cases, winds up ignoring what the film is really about, what it feels like to watch it, what the mood is, and so on. But the art of movie posters doing some of their own flat-out lying is pretty much a lost art. Or is it? I'm trying to remember recent examples as I write this and coming up dry.

This Beat the Devil poster is a good example of the bald-faced bullshit aesthetic that was commonly deployed in the '50s and early '60s, and perhaps before. Beat the Devil is a clever little intellectual-conceit adventure spoof, shot in southern Italy in monochrome and enlivened by a slight sense of its own absurdity and Truman Capote's witty dialogue. But the Beat the Devil promised by the above poster -- vivid, panormaic, colorful, erotic -- doesn't exist.

Another lying poster is this lobby card for the original 1951 The Day The Earth Stood Still, which adds a dark gray monster hand afflicted with psoriasis. Which, like, isn't in the movie.

Can anyone think of any similar-styled movie posters used recently, or even within the last ten or fifteen years? If you can, please (a) describe the lies as clearly and simply as possible, and (b) include a link to the poster being discussed.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 18, 2009 at 8:26 AM

comment #1

Wrecktem says ...

My favorite recent example is 2002's Reign of Fire, which shows a huge firefight between a group of dragons and attack helicoptors over a burning parliament in London.

The actual movie does not take place in London, has only one dragon, only one helicoptor and they never get into a fight.

I know people who went to see the movie just to see dragons fighting helicoptors. Suckers.

http://www.impawards.com/2002/reign_of_fire.html

Posted by Wrecktem at March 18, 2009 9:04 AM

comment #2

DavidF says ...

It might not be in that league but the original one sheet for Star Wars ain't bad either. It's got Luke, chest exposed, six pack on display, while Leia shows some leg and allllmost some cleavage.

http://tinyurl.com/c6xdde

(The corresponding trailer promising an exciting tale about "a boy, a girl and a galaxy," isn't bad either.)

Posted by DavidF at March 18, 2009 9:07 AM

comment #3

DavidF says ...

...also perhaps a lame submission but the "art" for the "Snowball Edition" of CLERKS is so hugely misleading it pissed of Kevin Smith.

http://tinyurl.com/cd5obp

A picture of topless girl's stomach and bikini bottom has nothing to do with the movie at all...except that the film includes dirty talk...

Posted by DavidF at March 18, 2009 9:14 AM

comment #4

Rich S. says ...

50s sci-fi one sheets were notorious for this. Always loved Forbidden Planet, showing Robby apparently abducting some voluptuous blond.

http://images.suite101.com/545193_com_forbiddenplanetonesheet.jpg

Can't really think of anything recent, though. One sheets, like most of the movies they represent, have become extremely boring and generic.

Posted by Rich S. at March 18, 2009 9:20 AM

comment #5

George Prager says ...

Foreign posters for American movies are usually misleading.

Look at this poster for *batteries not included:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1075944448/tt0092494

WTF?

Posted by George Prager at March 18, 2009 9:47 AM

comment #6

arturobandini2 says ...

"One sheets, like most of the movies they represent, have become extremely boring and generic."

Rich S., I was about to state the same. Poster art today often resembles the check-out stand at supermarkets. If the most provocative image a studio can come up with to sell a movie -- out of 145,000 frames to choose from, on average -- is a close-up of Reese Witherspoon smirking after a comb-out, then forget it. That's a movie I don't need to see.

The only on-topic example I can think of is the U.S. poster for Life Is Sweet, which plastered the heads of homely twins Jane Horrocks and Claire Skinner onto the bodies of bar sluts.

Posted by arturobandini2 at March 18, 2009 9:48 AM

comment #7

BrianRob says ...

Escape From New York is a good example as well. The severed head of the Statue of Liberty lies amid the ruins of NY and features nowhere in the movie. The guys behind Cloverfield say it was one the images whihc they wanted to actually include in their movie.

Posted by BrianRob at March 18, 2009 9:59 AM

comment #8

qwiggles says ...

The most blatant example for me is Dirty Pretty Things:

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/IMAGES/153/421586.jpg

Lies are numerous. For one, Audrey Tautou is a co-lead at best. Second, she is not the femme fatale the poster makes her out to be (what is she wearing?!) but a Turkis immigrant seeking asylum, working as a maid and in a sweatshop. (She's also a virgin.) Third, who the hell is the man in the trenchcoat, why does he have a gun, why is he approaching her, and why is he in silhouette? Fourth, where is he coming from? The film is set largely in a hotel but this looks a still from the apartment chase in Seven. Fifth, the tone is *completely* off. Sixth -- "Some things are too dangerous to keep secret?" What, theorgan trade? The film makes it very clear that what goes on in the hotel is a secret to no one except maybe the protagonist, Okwe, and where is he, unless the silhouette is made to represent his blackness? And if so...shudder.

Posted by qwiggles at March 18, 2009 10:02 AM

comment #9

qwiggles says ...

Erm, Turkish.

Posted by qwiggles at March 18, 2009 10:04 AM

comment #10

Vennard says ...

Doesn't totally fit the criteria but funny nonetheless:

Minnie & Moscowitz: The Action Movie

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINNIE-MOSKOWITZ-1971-Cassavetes-POSTER/dp/B001Q2U4AM

There's a quote from Cassavetes in Carney's Cass on Cass, something like: "Their faces were sideways and in black and white! They even made it look like Seymour was a gangster!"

Posted by Vennard at March 18, 2009 10:04 AM

comment #11

Gabriel says ...

I can't wait to see Minnie & Moskowitz (and Love Streams again) at the New Bev next month.

Posted by Gabriel at March 18, 2009 10:52 AM

comment #12

Sabina E says ...

I can't think of any examples right now, but Bollywood is notorious for always making misleading posters.

Posted by Sabina E at March 18, 2009 10:56 AM

comment #13

Manitoba says ...

That color-filled "Beat The Devil" poster is hilarious. In 1980's "An Open Book", John Huston talks about Humphrey Bogart nagging him to shoot the film in color. Bogart remembered African Queen, had money in the film and owned one of the pioneer color tv sets. He later did a live 1955 tv version of The Petrified Forest in color. A black and white kinescope found by Lauren Bacall is the only known record of it. In the same book,Huston admits he should have shot Night of The Iguana in color. Ironically,Huston did live long enough to get upset about eary efforts to colorize black and white films.

Posted by Manitoba at March 18, 2009 11:09 AM

comment #14

Ben C says ...

From IMP Awards:

"Most Contradictory Posters: Goes to Marley & Me for two completely incompatible taglines. The first one says "They had the perfect relationship until one thing came between them." The second one says "Their relationship wasn't going anywhere until one little thing tied it all together.""

http://www.impawards.com/2008/thumbs/imp_marley_and_me_ver5.jpg

http://www.impawards.com/2008/thumbs/imp_marley_and_me_ver2.jpg

Posted by Ben C at March 18, 2009 11:15 AM

comment #15

shermy says ...

The practice is still alive and well. It's merely been adopted by the dvd industry. I'm sure everyone here has seen dvd covers that promise a completely different experience from the actual film.

Off the top of my head, here's an example using Burt Reynolds' Hustle. The film is a mid-70s effort directed by Robert Aldrich. It's a slow-paced detective film that is character-heavy and talky. The original poster actually did a relatively good job of conveying this tone:

http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/49492.1020.A.jpg

Even the VHS cover neglected to stray too far:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PKT8W4YDL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

However, the dvd makes it appear that Burt has made a generic action flick- either for cable or the direct-to-dvd market. (To be fair, I believe the car explosion was in the film, but it's hardly representative of the film's tone.)
http://images.dvdempire.com/gen/movies/677858h.jpg

Not really the best example- or even a particularly good film- but you get the idea.

Posted by shermy at March 18, 2009 11:23 AM

comment #16

Floyd Thursby says ...

You're not suggesting that Bogart was not really a two-fisted he-man who could take down that bully Capote anytime he wanted?

Posted by Floyd Thursby at March 18, 2009 11:29 AM

comment #17

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Can't believe someone has not put up the "king" of all misleading poster art from recent decades.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/CJBarnette/1Kjm-397_King_Kong_1976.jpg

Where the hell were those fighter jets???

(very strange, I was just looking around Jeff Bridges site a few minutes ago and he referenced the movie which I always forget he was in)

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at March 18, 2009 11:54 AM

comment #18

Marty Melville says ...

Bogart got similar treatment in this
highly romanticized poster art from African Queen... so romanticized, in fact, that it could be seen as the dream conception that Allnut and Rosie have of themselves.

And this German poster for Bava's Kill Baby Kill probably had irate vampire fans demanding their Deutche Marks back.

Posted by Marty Melville at March 18, 2009 11:54 AM

comment #19

bmcintire says ...

The second-wave poster for THE HAPPENING made it look like the thing was set in Manhattan, not out in the Pennsylvania woods where all the Killer Trees were. Unfortunately, there was no hiding the fact that the movie was a steaming pile.

http://www.startv.com/blog/vipaccess/images/First%20Look%20Images/thehappening1_large.jpg

http://rikaty.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/the_happening_movie_poster31.jpg

Posted by bmcintire at March 18, 2009 12:34 PM

comment #20

hcat says ...

There was a cheep horror movie in the early 80s called Screamers that had cover art that claimed 'people would turn inside out, and they were still ALIVE'. Nothing remotely like that happended in the movie and it was the whole reason we rented it.

Posted by hcat at March 18, 2009 12:56 PM

comment #21

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Slightly different, but still related...

Best, creative poster for a movie that ended up being a real disappointment?

My vote:

http://www.impawards.com/1999/star_wars_episode_one_the_phantom_menace_ver1.html

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at March 18, 2009 1:24 PM

comment #22

tommune says ...

Swimming with Sharks.

A dark descent into Hollywood manipulation and cruelty, and the DVD cover/poster is this.

Posted by tommune at March 18, 2009 2:35 PM

comment #23

tommune says ...

http://film.asu.edu/files/swimming%20with%20sharks%202.jpg

Posted by tommune at March 18, 2009 2:36 PM

comment #24

Gaydos says ...

Sure it's my favorite cos I worked on the film:

http://www.impawards.com/1974/born_to_kill.html

Still pretty funny to this day....

Posted by Gaydos at March 18, 2009 3:11 PM

comment #25

crazyeight says ...

qwiggles: looks to me like someone was inspired by Leon/The Professional-- is that Gary Oldman walking down the hall, perhaps?

Posted by crazyeight at March 18, 2009 4:09 PM

comment #26

GSL says ...

I agree with the comment that the 1976 version of "King Kong" must have the most misleading poster in memory. Not only do the fighter jets never appear, but the action on the Twin Towers takes place at night, not in broad daylight. And Kong is not big enough to straddle the two buildings as shown in the poster; he has to jump across them. I distinctly remember my great disappointment as a kid when I walked out of that movie. You never forget your first screw.

Posted by GSL at March 18, 2009 4:47 PM

comment #27

LFF says ...

The Constant Gardener one sheet: "Love at any cost" with fiennes holding a gun.

that's a different movie than what I saw.

Posted by LFF at March 18, 2009 4:48 PM

comment #28

BurmaShave says ...

I've noticed a lot of the Tyler Perry posters seem much more serious than the films he's making, like he's adapting Zora Neale Hurston or something:

http://www.impawards.com/2009/madea_goes_to_jail.html

Posted by BurmaShave at March 18, 2009 5:22 PM

comment #29

hcat says ...

I was four when the king kong remake was released and my dad gave me that poster as a present and we hung it above my dresser across from my bed. At night the lights from passing cars would move across the walls of my room and land on his snarling face and it completly freaked my shit out.

Posted by hcat at March 19, 2009 10:48 AM

comment #30