'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' Trailer Comes Online in High-Def, Unrestricted Form (Watch it Here!)

When the trailer for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" hit the web over the weekend, it came in the form of some dude with the video camera recording it off of a theater screen. Many suspected that it was a secret leak from Sony themselves, and the evidence is certainly piling up in favor of that, but wherever you stand on that, the trailer has been officially released and it is officially awesome.

It does differ slightly from the leaked version, which bore the MPAA-issued red band to "ensure" no one under 17 saw it (this one is green band, which means it's safe for "appropriate audiences," whatever that means), but the main thrust is the same - quick glimpses cut to the Karen O./Trent Reznor cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song."

On the whole, it sure is an effective teaser, and any new David Fincher film is worth paying attention to, but anyone trying to make claims at the film's quality based on this will have a tough time convincing me.

Already you can tell the difference a sure directorial hand makes, though. The Swedish version was a little on the sloppy, derivative side, constantly searching for a suitable tone amidst the chaos. There are moments in this teaser alone that, if you know their place in the story, land a lot more effectively. Hopefully Fincher and screenwriter Steve Zallian can cut through or more fully embrace the story's inherent silliness when it comes to the final product.

Here's the full teaser, courtest of Movie-List. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" comes out December 21st, and stars Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard, and Christopher Plummer. I could tell you the basic plot outline, but honestly, it sounds a lot more boring than it's supposed to be, and this trailer gives a much better sense of the appeal.

Image from W Magazine shoot.