The Dead Island trailer that tugged on our heartstrings in 2011 has been remade, shot-for-shot, in live action.
You remember that great Dead Island trailer that made such a splash back in early 2011, right? The one where everything happened in slow-motion, set to achingly melancholy music, and that plays out almost entirely in reverse, from the dead little girl to the happy moment of arrival at the tropical island paradise? It was a great trailer, no doubt about it, even if it had virtually nothing to do with the actual game and inflated expectations to the point that there was a certain degree of backlash against Dead Island when it launched.
Still, it was a great bit of game-inspired cinema, and now it’s been remade almost entirely in live action: same music, same sound effects, but with real actors running around, fighting and getting chewed on by the ravenous undead. The only part missing is at the very end, when the child is flung out the window and onto the ground several stories below, which is probably against child labor laws or something.
It’s cool, and it’s a great job of faithfully recreating the original trailer, but at the same time it just doesn’t hit me in quite the same way. Having seen the trailer as many times as I have no doubt lessens the impact, but there’s also something about it that’s vaguely akin to seeing real people dressed like superheroes: No matter how well done the costume may be, it just never feels exactly right. That’s just me, though, and whether or not it feels right, there are still plenty of “feels” to be had.
Source: Machinima (YouTube)
