Do epic movie trailers inspire us to buy movie tickets?

I'm a big, big fan of movie trailers. I am the person that follows all the movie studios, and the biggest sources of movie news, all in hopes of catching my first glimpse of an upcoming movie - any upcoming movie, really. It doesn't even have to be good, just new. Trailers are fun. And yeah, in case you were wondering, I'm that dork in the movie theater way before the films start, all excited because I'm about to see...new trailers!

With that in mind, I've seen a handful of excellent new movie trailers hit the web in recent weeks, so I thought I'd present them for you here, so you can (if you're like me) kind of plot and plan your future movie-going experiences. How much will these trailers inspire us to forgo waiting for DVD releases and actually get our posteriors in the theater seats? We shall see, but I suspect that several of the movies I'm talking about today will indeed be true blockbusters.

For those not in the know, CinemaCon happened this past week. This usually means a slew of trailers come out, all designed to build buzz before the films get released later in the year. In this case, several of these trailers I'm highlighting were indeed featured at CinemaCon - and some weren't.

First, let's discuss the epicness that is Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, shall we? This movie looks incredible. The first two trailers were solid, but this last one? Blew. My. Mind. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for this movie. June 14, 2013, cannot arrive soon enough. You can watch the extended trailer here:

Man of Steel - Official Trailer 3 [HD]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm glad to see Lois Lane (Amy Adams) acting like a real reporter. That sexual tension between Lois and Superman is clearly undeniable. But hey, it's Henry Cavill, after all. Sadly, we only get a brief look at General Zod (Michael Shannon), but it's enough to give us an idea that big trouble is coming. I hope that this film is, in fact, a little darker than past Superman films. The trailer certainly suggests that it is. I fully expect Man of Steel to rake it in at the box office in 2013, and these great trailers we're getting only fuel the frenzy.

Next up in Laurie's favorite trailers is the last (and final) trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness. We get our best look yet at the showdown that's coming between Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the evil villain John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch and yes, the villain finally has a name). Check out the last trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness here:

Star Trek Into Darkness - Official Trailer #3 (HD) Benedict Cumberbatch

I'm counting the days until May 17, 2013, when Star Trek Into Darkness hits theaters. I cannot wait to see where J.J. Abrams takes this one.

Okay, I saw two other new movie trailers that caught my attention recently. This first one is the first trailer for the big screen adaptation of R.I.P.D. It's definitely solid, and a bit hard to describe. Anyone that's familiar with R.I.P.D. already gets it, but for those who don't: Ryan Reynolds is out to find and kill the people who killed him. He's in the R.I.P.D. (Rest in Peace Department), signing up to exact revenge. He gets help from Jeff Bridges' older and presumably wiser character, Roy Pulsipher. So here's the trailer:

R.I.P.D. - Official Trailer

Not bad, huh? R.I.P.D. hits theaters on July 19, 2013. I'm still not 100 percent sure I'll see this in theaters (yet). It might be the kind of film where I wait to see what the major movie critics think before I deplete my movie fund any more than I already have. I'll confess that I wasn't familiar with R.I.P.D. until the movie was announced, but it seems very different from a typical comic book adaptation. Can any comics fans out there comment? Am I off base?

And finally, last but certainly not least, let's discuss The Hunger Games: Catching Fire's first trailer, which debuted during the recent MTV Movie Awards. Here it is:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Exclusive Teaser Trailer

Yes, the trailer is painfully too short, but I fully expect more, longer trailers will trickle out in coming weeks and months before the film's November release. Katniss and Peeta are back, on their victory tour, post Hunger Games. Something is happening, though: Somehow, Katniss has become the symbol for citizens of Panem to fight back against the evil Capitol government. Effie Trinket is back, looking as gloriously twisted as ever, and Donald Sutherland returns as the evil President Snow.



What do you think? I love it. I think this movie has the potential to be just as good at Hunger Games, and the cast is remarkably great. I'm particularly pleased with the casting of the always brilliant Philip Seymour Hoffman as the new Head Gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee. Good call. Sadly, we've all got to wait until November 22, 2013, for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to come out.

Movie fans, which trailers did you like/dislike? If you weren't about seeing any of these films, now that you've seen the clips, are you more likely to hit the theater now?  I'd love to hear your opinions in the comments.

Photo courtesy of CBSNews.com and FilmSchoolRejects.com