Sequels

[poliphilo]

It's the conventional wisdom that movie sequels are a bad thing.

Only they're not.

Lots of sequels improve on their originals.

Here are some good movies with even better sequels.

Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein.
A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.
The Godfather and Godfather II.
Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.
Toy Story and Toy Story II

The problem isn't with sequels. The problem comes when the series gets extended into a trilogy.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly just about holds its own, but Godfather III and Army of Darkness show a distinct falling away of inspiration. I forget what the third Frankenstein movie was called, but I know I've seen it and it wasn't much good.

The original movie is experimental. The sequel gets it right. The third is almost always a mistake.

Comments

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

*pendantic*

Army of darkness wasn't in the 'day of the dead' series. It was the evil dead series. Much less serious and a lot more fun.

But zombies are always cool. Or at least room temperature.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Damn, you're right.

But the point holds because Army of Darkness isn't nearly as good as Evil Dead and Evil Dead II

[isoldout.livejournal.com]

Back to the Future?


fafa

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Oo...er

I've seen I & III, but I've never caught II (for some reason.)

I like III. I'm going to be Jesuitical here and suggest that the reason III works is because II and III were conceived and filmed together, so, in fact consitute one long, double-length sequel.

[isoldout.livejournal.com]

Very true.



fafaf

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

But consider the Indiana Jones trilogy, where the first is excellent, the third excellent (arguably), and the second horrible (IMHO).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, pretty much.

But I think the first film is greatly superior to both its sequels. Three is better that two, but neither is really necessary.

I believe there's a fourth in the pipeline. I wonder how they'll cope with the fact that Harrison Ford is now in his 60s.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Incontinence

[ibid.livejournal.com]

I havn't see for a few dollars more but I thought the good, the bad and the ugly was way better that the first!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

On the whole I think Leone got better and better.

Once Upon A Time in the West is better than any of the Dollars trilogy.

And his masterpiece is his last film, the gangster epic, Once Upon A Time in America.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

And as for the fourth and fifth Star Wars!

But I can't wait to see what happens to Anakin Skywalker in July in the sixth movie.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've given up on Star Wars.

I saw the Phantom Menace- and that killed any desire I might have had to further explore Lucas's universe.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I think he should go in another direction. The Star Wars films were lots of fun, at first. Then they got...bloated? Lucas could probably find another universe to inhabit and explore....or pay someone to help him locate it, he's got enough money.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

He should pay someone else. I think he's an artist in decline. i seriously doubt if he's got it in him to make good movies any more.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

I gave up on Star Wars after Empire Strikes Back. I never forgave Lucas for those damn Ewoks.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I didn't mind the ewoks at the time, but in retrospect they seem like a prophecy of Jar Jar Binks.

my .02

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

hmmm...

1st Matrix great, 2nd and 3rd progressively worse
Raiders of the Lost Ark great, 2nd and 3rd unnecessary
Alien was great, Aliens was fantastic, the rest of them...eh.

And although Tolkien probably rolls in his grave everytime someone calls them sequels, I would say that all three LOTR movies were great.

Re: my .02

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, the Matrix...

Re: my .02

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but the Tolkien films were made as one film. It's a huge nine hour epic (or whatever) chopped up into three parts.

[manfalling.livejournal.com]

back to the future 2, yeah better,3 not so good.
indiana- raiders number 3 the best.
matrix- oh my god- 1 the best, 3 paling, 2 awful.
army of darkness- the BEST.
terminator 2, i like better than one, and 3 isn't as good- but not bad.
aliens better.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I reckon Army of Darkness is flabby. It starts well, then runs out of steam.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a perfect film. The sequels don't do anything new with the concept.

I liked Back To the Future III, but then I love westerns.

[pickwick.livejournal.com]

To add a totally un-intellectual tone to the debate, I liked Toy Story FAR better than TS2. The best bit in TS2 was the traffic cones, but all of 1 was amazing!

But I think Shrek 2 is better than Shrek, probably.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think both Toy Story films are pretty good, but I reckon the sequel shades it. I thought it was a great idea to have the villain be a toy collector instead of just a mean kid.

There is a vein of melancholy in the sequel- about the inevitable end of childhood- that reminds me of Alice and Pooh and Peter Pan.