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20 Incredibly Cool Movie Posters

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March 8th, 2010

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Throughout the history of cinema, posters have existed to promote movies, supporting material that has evolved into an art in its own right. The best posters reflect the content of the film and the art and design of the times. This post brings together 20 examples of cool cinematic posters, a personal selection set out chronologically to represent the evolution of the form.

1. Metropolis (1927)

Metropolis
Image: Jedimoonshyne9

Fritz Lang’s silent movie of 1927 is a classic science fiction and an exploration of contemporary social themes. The film itself is full of Modernist and Art Deco design, and the accompanying promotional material features beautiful, iconic graphics. Russian-born designer Boris Bilinsky produced a variety of posters for the film, including this design that inventively blends typography and architecture.

2. Doctor X (1932)

Doctorx
Image: thesilverlined

Doctor X is a Technicolor production following the story of a New York news reporter’s investigation into a series of cannibalistic murders.

3. King Kong (1933)

Kingkong
Image: Wikimedia

The original, and many would say best, appearance of King Kong was the groundbreaking stop-motion monster of 1933. This theatrical poster shows the film’s dramatic final scene, with the giant ape on the Empire State Building, holding the heroine and under attack from military aircraft.

4. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

The Lady from Shanghai
Image: cinemasterpieces.com

Orson Welles directed and starred alongside Rita Hayworth in this noir tale involving a complex murder plot.

5. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Image: circleboxblog.com

In The Day the Earth Stood Still, an alien craft lands in America and tells the people of Earth that humanity must live in peace or face destruction. A nervous soldier accidentally shoots the messenger, getting mankind’s extra-terrestrial relations off to a poor start.

6. Pickpocket (1959)

Pickpocket
Image: mommasboydesign.com

French illustrator Christian Broutin crafted this sublime poster for Robert Bresson’s influential tale of thievery and morality.

7. The Hustler (1961)

The Hustler
Image: pdxfilm

This stylish poster is for The Hustler, which follows the story of Paul Newman’s ‘Fast Eddie’ and his attempts to become the best pool player in America. The film is recognized as a modern classic, exploring the fundamental challenges of human fulfilment, played out in the context of pool hall competitions.

8. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Image: tofslie.com

Russ Meyer’s film features three strippers who take off in three fast cars to go on a murder rampage. The movie’s scandalous thrill seeking is reflected in the poster’s graphic montage.

9. Le Samourai (1967)

Le Samourai
Image: Jedimoonshyne9

This minimalist poster design is for Le Samourai, an equally minimalist French thriller starring Alan Delon as a perfectionist free-agent hitman. The film’s style, plot and characterisation have been highly influential on subsequent crime cinema.

10. Easy Rider (1969)

Easy Rider
Image: impawards.com

Easy Rider is the classic counterculture road movie, following two bikers, played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, as they ride through the American South searching for freedom.

11. Solaris (1972)

Solaris
Image: blapblapblap

Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris is a psychological science fiction film based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem. The story follows a scientist who is sent to investigate the fate of the crew of a mission to the Solaris Ocean. Designer Bertrandt Andrzej produced this beautiful poster for the film’s Polish release. In 2002, Steven Soderbergh remade the movie with George Clooney in the lead role.

12. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

Nosferatu the Vampyre
Image: impawards.com

This poster is for Werner Herzog’s version of Nosferatu, with Klaus Kinski as Dracula stalking 19th Century Transylvania and Germany, bringing plague and death in his wake.

13. Altered States (1980)

Altered States
Image: impawards.com/

William Hurt stars in Altered States as a psychologist submitting himself to experiments as part of his investigations into human consciousness. Director Ken Russell created a baroque psychedelic vision, often verging on the ridiculous.

14. A View to a Kill (1985)

A View to a Kill
Image: cinemasterpieces.com

Roger Moore brought his own touch to his portrayal of Bond; this poster reflects mid-Eighties design and glamour, with Grace Jones’ baddie May Day threatening the British agent.

15. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Ferris Buellers Day Off
Image: cinemasterpieces.com

‘While the rest of us were just thinking about it…Ferris borrowed a Ferrari and did it…all in a day’. In John Hughes’ film, archetypal Eighties high school wise guy Ferris Bueller is determined to take the day off and have some fun in downtown Chicago.

16. Empire of the Sun (1987)

Empire of the Sun
Image: Jedimoonshyne9

Empire of the Sun, based on JG Ballard’s semi-autobiographical novel, follows a British boy’s coming-of-age in Shanghai and surviving a Japanese World War Two prisoner of war camp.

17. My Left Foot (1989)

My Left Foot
Image: Jedimoonshyne9

This unusual painterly poster is for My Life Foot, in which Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an astonishing performance as a severely disabled man who paints with the only limb he has available: his left foot. The film is based on the autobiography of the same name by Irish author, painter and poet Christy Brown.

18. Fargo (1996)

Fargo
Image: Fargo/

This is another inventive poster design, created for the Cohen Brother’s thriller Fargo. The artwork has the appearance of a cross-stitched sampler, reflecting the ‘homespun’ feel of the American murder mystery plot.

19. The Cooler (2003)

The Cooler
Image: impawards.com

This striking neon-themed poster is for The Cooler, a film following the life of Bernie Lootz, the unluckiest man in Las Vegas.

20. Death Proof (2007)

Death Proof
Image: starstore.com

Death Proof is Quentin Tarantino’s homage to the grindhouse cinema of the 1960s and 70s. In keeping with the theme, the posters publicising the film’s theatrical release reflected the graphic design of the genre.

Self-referential, aware of its past and skilfully created, the Death Proof poster represents best in movie poster design, a constantly evolving and cutting edge art form.

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About Tom Walker

Blogs and designs for a provider of cheap HP OfficeJet ink, toners and paper print accessories. You can read more of his writing about print media and advertising on their blog, CreativeCloud.

31 Comments So Far

  • These are just awesome. Lovely inspiration here…. I like all of them. I am very impressed that you took time to describe each of them. Thanks a lot

    Richie
  • Nice collection..

    Rocky
  • Really love the Old Posters bro.

    Gives us a sense of inspiration we don’t receive through others.

    Cheers

    Jacques van Heerden
  • Awesome! I haven’t seen a lot of these because they are really old, amazing what they could do back then eh?

    Nice work!

    Andy Sowards
  • nice inspiration… I really like the easy rider one (maybe I can turn it a beautiful yellowish website

    webbografico
  • Nice work! :)

    Thanks for inspiration! ;)

    Simone D'Amico
  • big fan of the death proof poster :)

    jared thompson
  • Amazing list.. havent seen most of them but these are great. This is my first visit here, Looking forward for upcoming posts from webexpedition.

    Vikas Ghodke
    • Thanks for stopping by and commenting Vikas! I hope you will find much more quality content here :)

      Nikola Lazarevic
  • wow great collection :)

    Michelle
  • Love the Faster Pussycat poster….that movie is where the sleaze band took its name…great collection.

    Design That Rocks
  • Excellent list, my friend. I love the style of just about all of these!

    Mike Lane
  • Awesome, Most of them are unseen for me

    Raj_r
  • A brilliant selection of posters. It’s great how you have done a cross-section of posters from almost a century of cinema, which gives us a nice quick journey through how movie posters have developed over time. Cheers!

    Dan
  • It’s always interesting seeing work from the past. Especially during the times way before photoshop came into the picture..great artwork here..

    Melody
  • look at the oldest poster, doctor X, and easy rider is really inspiration. and most of them are not known by me !! thanks for sharing some cool posters

    sriganesh
  • Good list, King Kong ftw :P

    Teylor Feliz
  • Wow, those old school designers had some skills. Yeh, King Kong is my fave too! :-)

    Cre8ive Commando
  • Awesome stuff Nikola!! I love vintage and retro movie posters! So cool!

    Sneh Roy
  • Great post Tom :) :)

    Sneh Roy
  • Gotta love classic movie posters. Thanks very much!

    Duane
  • Wow, classic! Thanks for the list!

    kovshenin
  • Loving this!

    Andrea Olivato
  • Me favorite is Bond, yesterday i see it in TV
    Great list

    Voodoo
  • Great showcase!

    Mihai O.
  • Real cool to see all of these!

    Robine
  • Cool! I love seeing the work from the past. It reminds us of how far have we achieve. Las Vegas Web Design

    Las Vegas Web Design

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