A re-cut trailer, or retrailer is a parody trailer for a movie created by editing footage from that movie or from its original trailers, and thus are a form of mashup. They generally derive humor from misrepresenting the original film: for instance, a film with a murderous plot is made to look like a comedy, or vice versa. They became popular on the Internet in 2005.
- Wikipedia

Jerod at Midwest Sports Fan posted his list of The 15 Best Re-cut Movie Trailers:

One of the most clever and entertaining memes I’ve come across is the practice of re-cutting famous movies to create new, usually wonderfully ironic trailers.

Since there is nothing better to this morning, I have painstakingly watched as many of these re-cut trailers as I could find, sifted through the crap, and will now proudly present you with the following list of the best re-cut movie trailers.

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Popularity: 2%

“Poetry doesn’t belong to those who write it; it belongs to those who need it”
Release: 1995
Runtime: 1 hour, 48 min
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: Italian/Spanish, English subtitles
MPAA Rating: PG
Starring: Philippe Noiret, Massimo Troisi, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Renato Scarpa, Linda Moretti
Amazon Link: Il Postino

SYNOPSIS: Seeking refuge from an arrest warrant on this small Italian island, the exiled Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret) helps a simple man, Mario Ruoppolo (Massimo Troisi), find new purpose and joy through the beauty of poetry. Mario is simple man, resigned to the monotony of life on a quiet Italian island. All that changes with the arrival of Neruda, who suddenly becomes the island’s resident celebrity.

Based on the novel “Burning Patience” by Antonio Skarmeta, the movie details the life of Mario Ruoppolo who yearns for more than a fisherman’s life and dreams of better things.

Life in the simple fishing community takes on new meaning for Mario when he accepts a job as a postman for a single address, that of the famous Pablo Neruda. Everyone else on the island, we are told, is illiterate. Mario must bicycle to see Neruda at a remote hilltop outpost the writer shares with his wife, whom he treats grandly and addresses as “Amor.”

At first, Mario’s expeditions to see Neruda are cautious and polite, with Mario engaged in amusing rehearsals for each brush with greatness. Then the postman begins to grow bold. He’d like a better autograph than the “Regards, Pablo Neruda” that his first request elicits.

Touched by the younger man’s guilelessness, the poet is moved to show Mario that life on the island doesn’t need the services of a visiting poet: It already has a poetry of its own.

There’s a romantic subplot about Mario’s insistence that poetry have some practical application beyond the expression of one’s soul: For Mario intends to use poetry to win himself the beautiful Beatrice (Maria Grazia Cucinotta), who’s not much of a reader but likes being compared to a butterfly. In the process of winning her over, Mario uses a few of the Neruda’s lines to great success.

Eventually, Mario marries Beatrice and all seems to have ended happily. Unfortunately, the movie then proceeds through a series of tragic events culminating in Mario aligning himself with the Italian communists and participating in a fatal protest rally.

“The Postman” would be sickeningly sentimental if it hammered home its message too insistently. But in fact, the story is expressed with gentle grace, and it is tempered by the nuances of simple friendship between two people who both revere its own grace.

Note: There is a hint of Cyrano de Bergerac to this story, in that Mario relies on his friend’s words to seduce his love until he gains confidence in his own voice.

Awards Notes:
1995 Academy Awards Nominations
Best Picture of the Year
Best leading role actor – Massimo Troisi
Best Director – Michael Radford
Best Original Score – Luis Bacalov
Best screenplay based on previously published media – Anna Pavignano, Michael Radford, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli, Massimo Troisi

Goozlepipe Rating:Really Liked It

Popularity: 1%

“As you told me, I wanted to find out if he was my destination. But I didn’t think it was right. So I let go of him from my heart. And I walked for a long time.”

Release: 2000
Runtime: 1 hour, 50 min
Genre: Romance, Sci-Fi
Language: Korean, English subtitles
MPAA Rating: N/A
Starring: Ji-tae Yu, Ha-Neul Kim, Ji-won Ha

Amazon Link: Ditto

SYNOPSIS: Bearing a slight resemblance to 2006’s The Lake House, and the 2000 father-son film Frequency, Ditto follows college students So-eun (Kim Ha-neul) and In (Yoo Ji-tae) as star-struck lovers who can never be. So-eun, living in 1979 South Korea, begins using a ‘damaged’ ham radio and contacts In, who unbeknownst to her lives 21 years in the future. The two realize that they attend the same school, and still not aware of the time discrepancy, begin a friendship that leads to romantic feelings. As well as a love story, the movie touches on seminal political events occurring in 1979 South Korea.

If you have heard of this film, it may remind you of The Lake House, a cheesy love story starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra. It revolves around them communicating a year apart from each other by magic mailbox realizing they’re ‘meant to be’ love for each other.

The main difference between The Lake House and Ditto is the two characters are separated by 21 years. This allows the story to be handled less like a love story between the characters and more as an exploration of how their ‘long distance’ relationship affects the two characters lives and in unexpected ways.

After connecting via ham radios one night, college students So-eun and In, find with each other a willing confidante to share their burdens. However, when they decide to meet on campus and miss each other, it is revealed that they are separated by 21 years, with So-eun in 1979 and In living in the present day, 2000. Eventually, they reconcile themselves to accept the implausible reality that has brought them together. She relates her camaraderie with her best friend Seon-mi and her pining for fellow student Dong-heui, while he talks about the unwanted attention he receives from fellow a co-ed. However, as the on-air relationship deepens, it is revealed that their ties go far deeper than ever imagined. Yes, there is a twist to the story beyond the 21 year gulf between them.

Because it is a foreign film, most American viewers will fail to understand the significance of the two timelines in “Ditto”, 1979 and 2000. For those interested, Wikipedia’s South Korean entry can provided a starting point to recent South Korean history. In Ditto, the writer places the young So-eun in the month of October of 1979, a period of major political upheaval that was triggered by the assassination of President Park on the 25th of that month. Juxtaposed is In, a member of the Internet era, who perhaps takes the relative stability of modern South Korea for granted. As the story plays out, it is made very clear in one of the film’s genuine twists that the destinies of these two are irrevocably intertwined, with the decisions made and actions taken by So-eun having significant implications for In, paralleling how South Korea’s political strife during the 1960s and 70s helped set the stage for reform during the 1980s and 90. Unfortunately, like much of the ‘lost generation’ of Koreans during the Park and the ensuing governments, So-eun ends up becoming a casualty of history, which is eloquently conveyed in the film’s sad present-day ending.

In conclusion, Ditto is a better film than The Lake House, providing a more realistic foundation to the fantasy as well adding political and social commentary to the storyline.

Note: The subtitles, necessary unless you are fluent in Korea, were lacking at times: bits of the movie were ‘lost in translation’ with background details like signs not being translated to English and no translations for what characters wrote down. In addition, some of the language is awkward and ill fitting when translated; however, this is only a mild complaint because the events in the story were portrayed beautifully.

Goozlepipe Rating:Liked It

Popularity: 1%