Moviegoer complains about missing ‘Jack Reacher’ explosion, gets refund

Trailers are supposed to give moviegoers a taste of the full film. And to a large extent, they do the job. Sure, there are exceptions. Sometimes a comedy puts all the good jokes in the trailer or an explosion gets cut from an action film.

Most of the time, moviegoers don't care. Most of the time. One New Zealand man, identified as J. Congdon, takes his explosions very seriously. The man was apparently so distressed by the fact that the 2012 Tom Cruise thriller "Jack Reacher" did not include an explosion that was featured in the trailer, he complained to his country's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The complaint from the movie buff referred to the missing explosion "where the whole cliff comes down" as "the defining part of the ad that made me really want to go see the movie... aside from having Tom Cruise in it."

Paramount defended itself, citing a "usual and longstanding practice in the film industry that cinema trailers and television advertisements" are made long before the film receives its final edit. "Thus," Paramount continued, "despite our best intentions, it is always possible that certain scenes appearing in an advertisement or trailer may not appear in the final version of a film."

Nevertheless, Paramount has given the disappointed moviegoer his money back. According to the New Zealand Herald, the ASA now considers the complaint settled. Just wait until the complaints about "Cocktail" come rolling in.

The missing cliff explosion occurs at around 1:18 in the trailer: