Memorable Taglines

We're working on some poster ideas for our feature film Under Jakob's Ladder.

And with poster ideas come taglines. But finding a good tagline... not an easy task.

A good tagline sums up the plot, or maybe the movie's tone or theme. Usually, you got to do that in only a few words. It's meant to draw interest, to create a hey-I-got-to-see-that-movie response from movie-goers. It's got to be pithy. And memorable.

Some taglines from the early days of film would not be acceptable in today's movie world. For example, there's "Garbo talks!" from the 1930 film Anna Christie. (In 1930, that would have been a big selling point. But it doesn't really tell you much about was the story is about!) Then there's Citizen Kane's tagline from 1941: "EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT IT! It's Terrific!"

Nowadays, there are people who actually make their living writing movie taglines.

Here are some examples of the modern tagline. (Bonus: Can you guess what they have in common?)

"Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free."
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

"Put a fence in front of these men...and they'll climb it..."
The Great Escape (1963)

"No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz... And no one ever will!"
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

"His greatest fight was for justice."
The Hurricane (1999)

If you didn't catch it, all the taglines are from prison movies. Which, of course, is the genre of 'Under Jakob's Ladder'. Now, all we have to do is come up with a good tagline for our own movie...

Ideas, anyone?

(Too bad 'Citizen Kane' already took "It's Terrific!")