Hundreds of movies are released every year, and for every movie that’s released, there’s a movie poster to go along with it.
While these movie posters typically do a great job of advertising the film for a few weeks prior to release, very few of them end up being remembered for more than a few seconds, let alone months or years.
But, there are some movie posters that stand the test of time, and over the years, have become iconic works of art in their own right. We’re talking about films like Jaws, Titanic, and the many others featured below which you can purchase at any time at great sites like fastprint.
#1 – Trainspotting
Trainspotting is a dark, twisted British movie released in 1996, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Ewan McGregor.
It’s become one of the most iconic films of all time over the years, and it’s also a film that was advertised with an iconic, highly unique movie poster.
As you can see, the poster is largely text-based, and features the strapline “Choose your future. Choose life”. It features only text, and absolutely no imagery whatsoever, which is an odd choice for a movie poster.
It’s certainly memorable, though, and also embodies the styling of the movie itself.
#2 – Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction is arguably Quentin Tarantino’s (Director) greatest movie; it stars some big names including Uma Therman, John Travolta and Samual L. Jackson.
The movie poster used to advertise the film is perhaps just as iconic as the movie itself and features an iconic shot of Uma Therman smoking a cigarette.
It’s a bright and colourful poster, making predominant use of yellow and red, which really helps to grab your attention.
#3 – The Exorcist
Designed by Bill Gold, this movie poster for the Exorcist has a strange haunting quality to it, much like the film itself.
Bill Gold was given a strict brief when creating the poster, as he was told that the poster should not feature the possessed girl (from the movie) at all. He was also told that the poster must have nothing to do with religion.
In the end, Gold opted for the image of the priest’s first arrival for an exorcism, which invokes a sense of mystery and curiosity.
#4 – Silence of the Lambs
This poster for Silence of the Lambs has become one of the most iconic movie posters of all time, as it features nothing more than a shot of Jodie Foster (an actress starring in the movie), with her mouth being covered by a moth.
The American Film Institute actually named this poster as one of their 100 best movie posters recently, and numerous other critics have praised the poster over the years, as well.
It’s a classic poster, partly thanks to the cold, haunting nature of Jodie Foster’s blood red eyes.
#5 – Vertigo
Vertigo is one of Alfred Hitchcocks most famous films, and it has a famous movie poster to go with it, too.
Renowned graphic designer, Saul Bass, who also created the opening sequence for the movie, designed the poster. It’s a bright, flat and somewhat hypnotic poster, to say the least.
It features sharp, jagged typography, alongside the iconic spirograph in the centre of the poster. It’s a poster that really pulls you in and captures your attention from afar.
#6 – Usual Suspects
Usual Suspects is perhaps one of the most interesting movie posters of all-time, due to the fact that there’s nothing usual about it at all.
Typically, a movie poster will be designed after a film is written and shot but, in this case, the movie poster was actually designed before the film was written.
It was an idea created by Bryan Singer (the writer of the movie) and the actor, Kevin Spacey.
They came up with the idea of five men on a police line-up, and the script followed from there.
#7 – The Social Network
The Social Network is one of the most iconic movie posters of recent years, which features the strapline “You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies”.
The genius of this strapline is that in one sentence, it tells you everything you need to know about the movie itself.
The movie depicts the life of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, during the start-up years. You’ll also notice that the poster appears to depict a web browser, with Facebook loaded within it, too.
#8 – Forest Gump
Forest Gump, released in 1994, is one of the most famous movies of all time, starring Tom Hanks as Forest Gump.
It’s a film that depicts multiple decades of Gump’s life, all of which is presented in the form of a story being told by Gump himself, whilst sat on a park bench.
The movie poster (above) is extremely minimalistic and features nothing but a photo of Tom Hanks (Gump) sat on the aforementioned park bench, looking a little bemused to say the least.
#9 – Titanic
Titanic is one of the most successful films of all-time, being the highest grossing film ever for a period of more than 10 years from 1997-2009, when James Cameron’s, Avatar surpassed it.
It’s also a film with an extremely memorable and iconic movie poster, depicting DiCaprio and Winslet’s love, above the boat, Titanic.
It runs the strapline “Nothing on earth could come between them”, which combined with the imagery, helps to invoke a sense of mystery about the film.
#10 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is one of the most well-known movies from the 1980’s, starring Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller.
It’s quite a clean and minimalistic poster, featuring nothing more than the straplines “Leisure rules” and “One mans struggle to take it easy”, alongside a rather relaxed looking photo of Ferris Bueller.
The typography used throughout the poster is somewhat quirky and fun, much like the film itself.
#11 – The Terminator
The Terminator is one of the most iconic movies of all-time, and was a defining role for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The movie poster for the film features nothing more than an image of Schwarzenegger himself, wearing his trademark sunglasses and holding a gun.
It gives you a brief introduction to the Terminator character, and gives you a sense of the action you’re about to witness (should you happen to see the movie).
#12 – Jaws
Tony Seiniger was the man behind this movie poster for the film, Jaws, and it’s become one of the most iconic posters ever produced.
Seiniger has two simple rules when it comes to creating an iconic movie poster like this. Firstly, he says it must be different, and depict something nobody has seen before.
Secondly, he says that it must tell the story in seconds, as many people viewing movie posters are either driving or walking past, and therefore they don’t have long to take things in.
This poster does all this and more, depicting a terrifying looking shark about to embark on an attack.
Bio: Joshua works for a print and graphic design company in the UK, and has always had a distinct love for film and TV. His favourite movie of all-time would have to be Good Will Hunting.