12 Movies with Ridiculously Misleading Marketing

01/07/2015 in Features by Isaac Simpson

Share with friends

Perhaps nothing frustrates an audience more than a disconnect between the marketing of a film and the actual product. I'm still haunted by the tragedy that was Halloween III, which didn't just have a misleading poster, but an entirely misleading brand and title too. It was like going to a restaurant called "McDonald's" that only serves Chinese food.

Marketing people manipulate us into seeing their client's films with misleading movie posters and DVD covers. They can stretch the truth about an actor's role in the film, obfuscate the subject matter or setting, and even make a certain character or monster look much cooler than it does in the actual film.

Here are other times when we've been duped into watching something based on a poster or cover. For shame I say, for shame!

Subject Matter Misleading:

WORLD'S GREATEST DAD (2009)

Poster makes it seems like a charming father son film, possibly starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Actually it's a pitch black comedy - the son is a perverted psychopath who kills himself through auto-erotic asphyxiation, and the father, Robin Williams, sets about trying to save the son's reputation, but inadvertently ends up exploiting his own sons death to revive his career. I still wish it starred Jonathan Taylor Thomas...

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION (1993)

The poster depicts Will Smith as the lovable main character in an outrageous slapstick comedy. The real thing is a dark, dialogue-based exploration of race, class, and sexuality, more like a David Mamet play than an Adam Sandler flick.

VALHALLA RISING (2009)

You think "ooh, a 300-style war epic from the director of Drive, don't mind if I do!" only to be duped into a ridiculous actionless dialogue-free meditation on conquest that makes Terence Malick look like Michael Bay.

Misleading Actor/Actress:

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004)

I remember this one vividly. I was all excited to see Jolie (who I had a major crush on at the time), only to find out she had no more than a cameo in the mediocre film.

LEPRECHAUN (2003)

This one is less egregious than some of the others, because Jennifer Aniston is character in the movie, but the DVD poster makes it seem like she, who plays no more than a fringe character, is the main protagonist.

DEF BY TEMPTATION (1990)

Samuel L. Jackson is front and center on the poster, but he's in only one scene of the movie.

Misleading Setting:

GODZILLA VS. MEGALON (1973)

The twin towers-centric poster makes it seems like we'll see two monsters tearing apart New York City. Nope. The whole thing takes place in Japan!

INVASION USA (1985)

We see Chuck Norris defending both Washington D.C. and New York, yet the plot never leaves Florida.

Misleading Character or Monster:

SAW 3D (2010)

Looks like there's a giant robot. There is not a giant robot.

KANGAROO JACK (2003)

A movie about a talking Kangaroo? Nope, the Kangroo doesn't show up until 30 minutes into the movie, and he never talks.

47 RONIN (2013)

By far the most memorable poster for a film that was by all accounts terrible. I didn't see it, but apparently this skeleton warrior only shows up for a minute or two.