Movie Marketing... Spoiler Alert!

This is the story of the greatest plot twist in cinema history.

Our tale starts in 1984 with a small sci-fi horror film, from a relatively unknown filmmaker. With a budget of just $8.4 million dollars and a lead actor with such little mastery of the English language that he was dubbed over in his previous film (hence only being given 14 lines to say in this movie), no one expected it to be much of a success.

Then came the tagline:

In the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable.

The trailer, too, tapped into the zeitgeist of the mid-80's - technophobia was on the rise as the world took its first steps into the digital age, while interest in sci-fi was at an all time high due to the imminent release of the final (well, back then it was) Star Wars movie.

The amazing hair also added to the appeal (and still does)

The film was, of course, The Terminator. Strong box office and even stronger home video (still in its infancy) sales created a smash hit. It earned over 12 times its budget and made household names out of director James Cameron (who would go on to make two of the highest grossing films of all time) and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who became among the highest-paid actors of all time and, of course, Governor of California).

However, I promised that this was a story about the world's greatest plot twist and, for that, we need to wait 7 years for the sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment (not Judgement) Day.

In the original, Arnold Schwarzenegger played one of the most terrifying screen villains of all time - a cold, ruthless killing machine, sent from the future, that will stop at nothing until it completes its murderous mission. The handsome soldier, Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn), was sent back in time to protect the key to humanity's survival, Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor.

The sequel began in a very similar vein as its predecessor. The sinister Terminator and an apparently-human soldier, played by Robert Patrick, arrive from the future and start tracking down Sarah's son, John Connor. Many of the plot beats are the same in the opening act and the audience is captured by the already-palpable tension - clearly we're in for another two hours of terror and hiding behind the sheets.

Then comes the twist, as Patrick and a shotgun-toting Schwarzenegger both bear down on John, the Terminator fires into our 'hero' protector, who then rises from the ground revealing his true nature with spectacular shape-shifting visual effects. Arnie is there to protect John, while Patrick plays the menacing, liquid-metal T-1000. Not only was this twist unlike anything that came before it, it also heralded a shift in the film's tone - no longer horror, Terminator 2 is one of the greatest action films of all time.

How incredible it must have been to be in the movie's initial screenings - with all your expectations and preconceptions subverted!

Unless, of course, you happened to have been one of the millions to have seen the film's trailer:

The words "once he was programmed to destroy the future, now his mission is to protect it" might have given the audience a hint as to what's to come - significantly reducing, in my opinion, their enjoyment of the movie.

I can only think of a few industries in which marketing plays such a great role and yet the more of it there is, the worse the consumer's enjoyment of the product will be.

Take, for instance, the trailer for Rocky, which manages to essentially tell the entire story, including the ending.

Trailer is maybe the wrong word - maybe 'summary'

At least the Terminator franchise leaned its lesson and began producing subtle, plot-light trailers that capture the essence of a film and raise excitement, without ruining expectations. It's not as though they gave away the movie's twists...

Sam Worthington's robotic acting was deliberate (for this film at least)

Twice more...

It takes a lot to make a plot twist more dumb than that title

I may be picking on the Terminator Franchise too much. After all, the trailer for 2012's The Avengers contains the final action shot of the movie, while, that same year, the marketing team for The Amazing Spider-Man released a grand total of 25 minutes of footage in various trailers and clips. Perhaps most infamously, the trailer for Cast Away shows Tom Hanks reuniting with Helen Hunt after getting off that island!

With movie studios spending approximately the same amount on marketing a movie as they do on filming it, is it any wonder that trailers are releasing key twists and action moments to entice the paying public? After all, the filmmakers themselves have relatively little power over what the marketing team release (as seen with director Alan Taylor's anger at the Terminator Genisys trailer).

In this era of multi-billion dollar franchises, in which sequels are green-lit before the original is even released (not a smart move, Fantastic Four), getting bums on seats has never been more vital. We live in a world in which we are endlessly bombarded with movie trailers and posters (try not watching a Star Wars trailer at the moment - trust me, it's not possible). Even though they risk spoiling the very product that they are trying to sell us, studios will do everything they can to get us into theatres (where we can also bankrupt ourselves at the concessions stand - $8 for a tiny bottle of water New York, seriously!?).

Sadly this strategy works, and until the audience starts voting with its feet and seeking out films that offer an element of mystery and intrigue (such as the work of Christopher Nolan), nothing will change. If only Terminator 2 had given audiences a bit of credit, the greatest plot revelation in cinema history would be remembered as such.

... Although maybe the best plot twist ever actually involves Darth Vader's relationship with Luke Skywalker - what do I know?