Best Sequels Ever?

Roc Ingersol was wondering about this.

Speaking of Roc Ingersol, there's a related question-- Which movies most deserved a sequel and never got one? Galaxy Quest must be very near the top of that list. (Although, as with many good movies, it finishes so well and so thoroughly that it doesn't really admit of a sequel. Still-- that never stopped them before, did it?)

And of course Spinal Tap. But as one of the guys from that movie said (Michael McKean, I think), "When you do a movie exactly right, and it still doesn't make any money, there's not really a good reason to make a sequel."

Which is why we never got a sequel to The Thing, either.

Best sequel ever? Not the Godfather II, which is, I hate to say it, a big jumble with no strong through-line as the first one had, and is often, umm, boring. The first movie focused on the Corleones, who were interesting, and vengeance, which is compelling; Godfather II focused on Hyman Roth and the mafia turncoat and something or other going on in Havana.

No, the best sequel ever was Superman II.

Second best: Rocky III.

Third best: Star Trek II, which is very nearly not a sequel, because most people basically know this as the first Star Trek movie, completely ignoring the pajama-clad borefest called Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Fourth best: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Fifth: Either Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. I still really don't get the whole anti-RotJ thing. Ewoks? Well, come on, the SW universe has always had a little too much cuteness -- look at R2-D2, for example.

Someone brought up the Evi Dead sequels, but the best one (Evil Dead II) isn't a sequel, it's a remake, and the last one is great up until Ash stops being Ash and becomes a more-standard action hero.

Sorry, that's just the way it f'n' is.

Major Correction! How did I forget Aliens?

Aliens is the best sequel ever, easily. Everything else gets moved down the list one step.

Man, I Keep Forgetting: Road Warrior-- also easily the best sequel ever. Tied with Aliens.

I tend to forget that's a sequel, becuse I didn't see Mad Max before it (who the hell did, outside of Australia?) and it's even set in an entirely different world.

Honorary Mentions: Magnum Force, which I personally like better than Dirty Harry. It's just more fun. And "Otter" plays a bad guy. (Of course, Dean Wormer played the mayor in the first one. And, if I'm not mistaken, Flounder played a charismatic revolutionary in The Enforcer.)

And Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Great movie. Almost better, in ways, than the first one. Love them mutants and their Atomic Bomb God. And I love Charleton Heston blowing the earth up at the end.

posted by Ace at 01:29 PM

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