Reviews and Star Ratings in Existing Action Film Trailers and Posters

Action films and their hybrids sometimes have reviews throughout the different elements of their marketing campaigns, to influence audiences to go and watch the film. When it comes to making my marketing campaign I will think about including a number of reviews/star ratings to make the poster/trailers feel authentic and to try and ‘sell’ the film to audiences. 

Having looked at the different reviews from the action film posters above, I have identified a few conventions that frequently crop up time and time again. These include:

• Hype and exaggerated praise - ‘the greatest action film ever', 'the best action movie in decades', 'a monumental experience', 'one of the most impressive action films of the decade', 'the action genre will never be the same’
• Thrilling language to excite audiences - ‘a hell of a ride', 'will have audience members at the edge of their seats', 'an exhilaratingly exciting thrill ride', 'this film is about to blow your mind', 'jaw dropping’
• Sometimes include star ratings to emphasise how good the film was

Additionally, the reviews come from mostly mainstream media companies such as The Telegraph, Variety, Empire, Digital Spy and The Hollywood Reporter - therefore, audiences will respect their opinions. There are also reviews from smaller film publications and online reviewers which include Twitch Film and We Got This Covered.

However, after researching action posters and looking at different TV spots, it’s clear that the majority of action films don’t have reviews on their marketing campaigns. This could be because they usually have such big stars that they don’t need critical acclaim, or it could be that because the genre is all about high-stakes intense action scenes, the movie depends much more on this than a positive review.