Favorite Movie Poster

[M.A.C.O.]

Nice. I've never seen that one before. Looking at the international posters, some of them have some unique designs. Except that awful 2009 international poster. Where it's just a space laser hitting San Francisco Bay.

Spoiler

I didn’t even need to think about this one. Instinctively clicked TMP. The most iconic of the lot and the one that actually got reused for the latest release.

Don't forget the poll is multiple choice. Feel free to vote for more than one.

 

[Qonundrum]

Never saw that one before either.

The tagline isn't quit centered (horizontal or vertical) and the day-glo green halo isn't a true circle (it's just enough to remind that this was concept art), but - dang - it's otherwise the best design concept - by far - for that movie's posters. Sorta surprised they didn't green-light this one* and authorize the time needed to brush up the rough bits.


* no pun intended

 

[Ensign Dunsel]

I had the Empire Strikes Back album when I was a kid and when I saw the poster for TSFS it always reminded me of the cover for that album.

 

[Qonundrum]

I had the Empire Strikes Back album when I was a kid and when I saw the poster for TSFS it always reminded me of the cover for that album.

Were you ever a fan of Joan Jett? Because here's an album cover that is even closer a homage:

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"Darth Jett". (The idea was to sell her punk 'bad person' image, I guess, but it doesn't quite come off like that. Great music and instrument arrangement, though...)

 

[Ensign Dunsel]

Were you ever a fan of Joan Jett? Because here's an album cover that is even closer a homage:

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"Darth Jett". (The idea was to sell her punk 'bad person' image, I guess, but it doesn't quite come off like that. Great music and instrument arrangement, though...)

I'm pretty sure Darth Vader was a fan of Blondie though, not Joan Jett.

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[Qonundrum]

The Wrath of Khan

Spoiler

So I found out more about that version of TWOK's poster - it's the UK release. The US one has the photo montage. As with "Death Becomes Her", the UK wins the round of "which country got the best movie poster", though I saw a couple Japanese poster designs that were rather excellent as well. (Some are on eBay...)

Looks like folded editions of the original UK poster cost $300 if you can find them, so rolled ones are bound to be worth a lot more. If any can still be found!

 

[FederationHistorian]

Artist Matthew Ferguson does his own posters for all sorts of movies.
https://www.cakesandcomics.com/


These are the ones he did for Trek. Superb adaptations.

Spoiler

Every single one is brilliant.

 

[Ensign Dunsel]

On TWOK poster, I've always wondered who the two shadowy individuals are at the bottom of Khan's image. His gang is represented behind them in their desert scavenging garb and our hero's appear at the right side. I'm not sure if those two people are supposed to be crew fleeing explosions during a space battle or what. They almost look like zombies to me or something. Reference pics are below to explain what I'm referring to. Regardless, I love the first two movie posters the best, this one and TMP.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

On TWOK poster, I've always wondered who the two shadowy individuals are at the bottom of Khan's image. His gang is represented behind them in their desert scavenging garb and our hero's appear at the right side. I'm not sure if those two people are supposed to be crew fleeing explosions during a space battle or what.

Terrell (front right) and Chekov (back left), maybe? In their spacesuits but helmetless? Admittedly, the only reason I think this is because the man front right appears to be a black man, and I can't think of any other black male characters in the film.

The other possibility, it occurs to me, is that it's the Regula crew from the (unused? unfilmed?) sequence where they're killed.

 

[Vger23]

Sometimes a poster is just a poster.

 

[somebuddyX]

I think my favourite is The Final Frontier, followed closely by First Contact and Generations. I like Into Darkness and it's a nice one to do parodies of. All the original series ones are nice but I find the later TNG ones and Kelvin timeline ones a bit much.
There's also the teaser for 09 that I like a lot.

Thefirstfleet did a version of First Contact but with the E-D that I love.

 

[mb22]

On TWOK poster, I've always wondered who the two shadowy individuals are at the bottom of Khan's image. His gang is represented behind them in their desert scavenging garb and our hero's appear at the right side. I'm not sure if those two people are supposed to be crew fleeing explosions during a space battle or what. They almost look like zombies to me or something. Reference pics are below to explain what I'm referring to. Regardless, I love the first two movie posters the best, this one and TMP.

The figures look like they are wearing engineering suits. It may be based on this publicity still of Scotty and Peter Preston running from the explosion in Engineering during Khan's attack:

 

[Ensign Dunsel]

The figures look like they are wearing engineering suits. It may be based on this publicity still of Scotty and Peter Preston running from the explosion in Engineering during Khan's attack:

I think you cracked the code, mb22. On the poster it looks like the shadowy figures are caught or are fleeing from an explosion. It's either Scotty and his doomed nephew as you said or two nondescript crew members walking the halls of the Reliant towards the end of the film where the corridor explodes after the Enterprise fires a volley in a quick cut scene. Thanks!

 

[Qonundrum]

On TWOK poster, I've always wondered who the two shadowy individuals are at the bottom of Khan's image. His gang is represented behind them in their desert scavenging garb and our hero's appear at the right side. I'm not sure if those two people are supposed to be crew fleeing explosions during a space battle or what. They almost look like zombies to me or something. Reference pics are below to explain what I'm referring to. Regardless, I love the first two movie posters the best, this one and TMP.

I think they're running away from the movie TRON - not sure why, it's a classic... but in seriousness, I first thought they were Enterprise crew being turned into toasted marshmallows, except the foreground person is wearing a mask similar to Khan's. Which is okay, lots of people fry in this one so it doesn't matter either what which side they're on, I guess.

It's almost funny that Kirk is pointing at them by accident. That's the thing with montages; mixing disparate images together can have an unintended result. (Spock didn't do that pose in the film, but it is a Spocky pose for him to be in.)

If nothing else, the space station that Enterprise is firing on didn't happen in the movie either. It's like a bunch of random elements painted/brushed onto a canvas, and then the canvas was photographed and enlarged with title and other text applied from their elements. Which puts another tease into the poster, which is supposed to tease and allure people to go see it.

Still love that tagline, regardless if it's the UK or US poster... Why the UK got a stylized painting, and the US got a gaggle of clips in a generic montage...

 

[Qonundrum]

Sometimes a poster is just a poster.

With peptide mint frosting.

 

[mb22]

I think the US got the photo poster because after TMP, Paramount wasn't taking any chances -- they wanted to let the general public know that unlike that film, TWOK would be an ACTION movie and the photo poster expressed this better (even if the scene of David a knife over the prone Kirk was redone in the final release). However, the Bob Peak painting art was used for newspaper advertising in the US, though (along with photo ads).

Held Over! Newspaper Movie Ads: Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (heldovermovies.blogspot.com)

 

[Qonundrum]

I think the US got the photo poster because after TMP, Paramount wasn't taking any chances -- they wanted to let the general public know that unlike that film, TWOK would be an ACTION movie and the photo poster expressed this better (even if the scene of David a knife over the prone Kirk was redone in the final release). However, the Bob Peak painting art was used for newspaper advertising in the US, though (along with photo ads).

Held Over! Newspaper Movie Ads: Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (heldovermovies.blogspot.com)

Good point! It did show Paramount was wanting the franchise to succeed and I think you nailed it - complete with their having to compensate for TMP's snoozefest.

 

[mb22]

Here is the interior of an advertising insert placed in People and Variety a few weeks before TWOK premiered in the US (note that there is no 'II" after "Star Trek" in the title). It expands on the action-packed scenes featured in the poster. The Scotty and Preston photo (in color) can be seen, along with silhouetted crewmen in engineering (near bottom right) which may also have influenced the Bob Peak poster imagery.

Here are the covers of the insert: