F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton has dropped another trailer in anticipation of its August release. While it's obviously not as intense as its Red Band counterpart, it's still pretty epic looking. Check it out for yourself below.
MTV broke the trailer through their YouTube channel, which has a lot of the same footage that's been shown in the previous Red Band trailer. While the Green Band obviously has to leave out any of the swearing and nudity that are included in the previous trailer, it does still manage to convey a sense of historical importance that a film such as Straight Outta Compton would want to reflect.
I will say that this new trailer does do a bit to underemphasize the scope of the film with some editing that makes the film look like it could be more in line with Ray, except set in the world of rap music. While Ice Cube's line about speaking a little truth feels like a less than stellar moment in the telling of NWA's history, it seems a little more manipulative after seeing Paul Giamatti defending his artists against arrest. Go back and watch the Red Band trailer in the video below, and compare the two approaches yourself.
For as much difficulty as Straight Outta Compton has suffered while trying to become a full-fledged motion picture, the overall product looks really slick. Music, much like cinema, is a universal language that at its best can help people decode the human experience. NWA used their music to paint the portrait of a world as they saw it, and the struggle to get that message across is the main thrust of this film's story.
It's a story that honestly could land F. Gary Gray's latest film in the running for an Academy Award if it plays its cards right. Academy voters love history, and in the case of Ray a couple years ago they showed that they love a good music film as well. Straight Outta Compton could be the next music biopic that makes Oscar voters stand up and take notice, which would be a very welcome change of pace from the typical film you'd expect to find on the nominations list come next January.
Straight Outta Compton raises its voice on August 14th.
