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Author	Topic: "Main Titles" SPOILER or NOT?

Gae Standard Userer	While watching "San Francisco" on TCM today I remembered how shocked I was when I first saw the movie as a child with the earthquake happenening at the end. I really was'nt expecting it!! There was no evidence of what was to happen in the film by the Movie "Title" itself. Unless you'd read a review on it before, then like my first viewing, you'd be totally oblivious to the events to follow. And boy was the surprise effective. I was watching the shenanigans of Gable, McDonald and Tracy as though it were just another old movie and then suddenly.... This was a very clever device as obviously the audience would feel the same feelings of shock as those people on screen who weren't expecting the quake. It made me think that this element of surprise and mystery is missing in most of todays movies. There is so much pre-publicity build up and endless spoilers in the trailers etc that we feel like we already know the movie before we even enter the cinema. Obviously there is more pressure on Studios to promote and sell their movies to recover the costs and of course make a huge profit. Anyway, which films do you think have a SPOILER in their Main Title and which dont. BY SPOILER I mean they give away a vital element of the narrative which would have been effective had it been kept as a surprise. Here are a few of my own to begin with...... Keeping on the idea of "San Francisco" my first is..... "EARTHQUAKE" MEGA SPOILER Now if they'd have called it "Los Angeles" "California" or even "Quake" boy would the earthquake have come as a powerful surprise!! VOLCANO MEGA SPOILER The first half an hour of the movie is spent building up the tension of what is happening under the streets of Los Angeles...but where is the element of surprise when the Volcano erupts? We know what it is already dont we? THE TOWERING INFERNO SPOILER Now if they'd called it "The Tower" or "The Glass Tower" like the novel, the breakout of fire would have worked so much more dramatically. Even though time is spent to build up the characters and tension at the early stages of the movie we know what is to be their fate. Where's the surprise and shock value there? JAWS Not a SPOILER If you'd been living on Mars in 1975 and missed all the publicity build up for the movie you'd be unsure as to what the movie was about and the early fate of Chrissie would be a mega shock. You may after all have thought the movie was a training film for Dentists!! MYSTERIOUS ISLAND SEMI SPOILER We have had the destination of the escaping convicts told to us which spoils the initial surprise, but we dont know what will be on the Mysterious Island...e.g. Harryhausen's fantastic creatures!! STAR WARS A NEW HOPE NOT A SPOILER A new hope could relate to anything..O.K. So we know that its something to do with a battle in space!! THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK SPOILER We know what the Empire is going to do dont we??? RETURN OF THE JEDI SPOILER DITTO....It tells us that at some point the Jedi will return!! THE PHANTOM MENACE NOT A SPOILER WE know he's a Menace but we dont know what will happen do we? ATTACK OF THE CLONES SPOILER Need I say more? SPARTACUS NOT A SPOILER Usually an Eponymous Title is not a spoiler as all we get to know is the name of the main character. We dont know what that person will do unless we've ready the history books of course SHAFT Not a spoiler Could be a pornographic movie. KING KONG NOT A SPOILER It could be a film about a boxer couldn't it? The beauty of King Kong is that we never actually know what he is until we see him. Theres a great build up of tension in the first half hour and shock when Kong first appears. THE GETAWAY SPOILER DO they actually GETAWAY or is this a red herring spoiler? I cant remember. THE GREAT ESCAPE SPOILER We know the whole movie dont we? Now if they'd called it P.O.W. then the attempts at escape would have been a nice surprise. MAGNIFICENT SEVEN NOT A SPOILER WE know that there are seven of them and they are great, but we dont know what they are or what they do... TREMORS NOT A SPOILER All we know is that it has something to do with vibrations. I remember when I first saw the movie I was genuinely surprised to see the Giant Worm creatures appear. I didn't know anything about the movie before I watched it and it made it so much more exciting and surprising. THE MARATHON MAN Not a spoiler Could be a movie about athletics couldn't it? SCHINDLER'S LIST NOT A SPOILER Unless you've read the books this could be a film about a German persons trip to the Supermarket!! Can anyone think of any more and what they qualify as...SPOILER or NON SPOILER. Have FUN!!! Gae NP The Ultimate Phantom Menace [Message edited by Gae on 04-18-2002]
posted 04-18-2002 02:50 PM PT (US)

Graham Watt Standard Userer	Here's a REAL spoiler of a title, Gae. In Spain, ROSEMARY'S BABY was released as LA SEMILLA DEL DIABLO - literally "The Devil's Seed". Duh, thanks guys!
posted 04-19-2002 02:34 PM PT (US)

Ken S Standard Userer	Thanks, Gae, for the thread that brought smile on my face after an annoying evening with closing of the books of my company. YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES (No spoiler), but in Finland the movie was released under the title THE PYRAMID OF FEAR (spoiler? stupidity? originality?) and I, for one, thought the movie to be just another Indy Jones plagiation and didn't even go to see it.... WHAT LIES BENEATH doesn't actually have spoiler in its title, but the biggest spoiler and the stupidest mistake the marketing people made for this movie was to give away half of the plot in the movie's poster. (For me the movie was a great experience since I hadn't even peeked at the movie's poster before seeing the movie). DRACULA ..? HORROR OF DRACULA ..? THE MUMMY ..? THE WOLFMAN ..? Pure spoilers for title, that's for sure FRANKENSTEIN on the other hand is quite a different case, because so many people think it's the monster's name, although it's really the creator's name THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS (Definitely no spoiler - a HOOK/E.T./AMAZING STORIES lover could easily expect this Spielberg movie to be something about the sugarplum fairies in a train ) That's it for now. I'm going to bed. KEN
posted 04-19-2002 03:14 PM PT (US)

Gae Standard Userer	Good ones Ken, thanks!! Yes Graham. After all, Rosemary's baby could have been a training movie about childbirth couldn't it? I see what you mean about "The Devil's Seed" although you could be forgiven to think it was a gardening programme presented by Alan Titchmarsh!! Keep them coming. "The Night they Raided Minsky's" SPOILER Is it actually worth watching the movie? "The Beast from 20,000 fathoms" partial SPOILER If I remember well ,the first part of the movie builds up the tension of uncertainty as nuclear testing is done. But we know where the beast will come from dont we? The word BEAST is a bit more vague though. A title like "Creature" or "Dinosaur" or "Monster" or "Attack" is a lot more vague overall. O.K. not very good titles, but you get my point. It Came from Beneath the Sea partial SPOILER DITTO above. The IT element is also a bit more vague and we are'nt certain what IT is. Could be an aquatic alien from outer space or a giant man-eating jellyfish for example We just dont know do we? More later.... Gae [Message edited by Gae on 04-20-2002]
posted 04-20-2002 04:21 AM PT (US)

Andr� Lux Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by Ken S: YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES (No spoiler), but in Finland the movie was released under the title THE PYRAMID OF FEAR (spoiler? stupidity? originality?) and I, for one, thought the movie to be just another Indy Jones plagiation and didn't even go to see it.... This title change happened worldwide because the studio felt that younger audiences of the time had no knowledge of who the hell Sherlock Holmes is... Embarrassing! I have a good spoiler title for you: It's a movie which original english name I can't remember, but it tells the story of 7 friends who go to war - the main role is played by James Caan (if I am not wrong) and one of the friends is a very young and dumb Harrison Ford. The title they give it here in Brasil? "SIX DIDN'T RETURN" Amazing!! [Message edited by Andr� Lux on 04-20-2002]
posted 04-20-2002 08:41 AM PT (US)

James Standard Userer	"Journey to Shiloh" was that film's original title. It's been out of print for some time (here in the States).
posted 04-20-2002 11:16 AM PT (US)

Ken S Standard Userer	MOUSE HUNT was released in Finland as "THE MOUSE THAT WE WEREN'T ABLE TO KILL"... and even the critics thought the name to be a silly one. However, I don't think it can be called a spoiler, because REALLY, would anybody expect the lead character to get killed in a Hollywood-kiddie's film ? HOW TO STEAL A MILLION - no spoiler actually, because Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn steal a statuette (although it is worth of a million). SOME LIKE IT HOT - is this a film about coffee or pizza ??? (Obviously no spoiler). PETER BENCHLEY'S THE BEAST (about a squid) PETER BENCHLEY'S THE CREATURE (about a genetic-engineered shark) (both for television) - the author of Jaws ran out of good titles; apparently no spoiler, and the title may suggest Benchley being a character in the film, not the author YES, GIORGIO (was released in Finland as BRAVO, GIORGIO - another silly "translation"). No spoiler - and not even a hint about the upcoming operatic extravaganza - and nobody ever even say "yes" for Giorgio in this film. AIRPORT. AIRPLANE. I have always wanted to change these movies' titles vice versa. ...Ken GO TO BED !!!
posted 04-20-2002 03:02 PM PT (US)

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