Sequels make us forget how great the originals were

[tuq]

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And do yourself a favour and watch BTTF2 + 3. 2 is a little disjointed, but 3 is a terrific movie, just as good as the first one.

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By the way, and I think wiki or some other source could verify this easily, but the second movie was made at the same time as the third IIRC. Something like, they simply had too long of a screenplay for a single film and saw a chance to make $$$ by parlaying it into two sequels. As a consequence I think II disappoints because you knew going in it wasn't going to end, it was merely a setup for the next film.

I remember seeing the original in the theater with my mother. I was probably twelve or so at the time. Packed house, absolutely electric atmosphere. The applause for the movie at the end was the loudest I've ever heard in a theater.

[Kimbell175113]

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Silence of the Lambs fits here, IMO.

That last installment, Hannibal Rising , is not in the same universe. Easily the worst movie I have seen in the last 5 years, if not my life.

Although Hannibal (2nd installment) did give us: "...cornpone country pussy.." and "... good old trailer camp tornado bait white trash..."

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While in my nittiness I can find ways to not count these as true 'sequels,' this one still saddens me quite a bit. Red Dragon and Silence are fun little books, Manhunter's a fine film (though it hasn't aged well), and Silence (the film) a great, scary, well-done experience and one of the few times "psychological thriller" didn't imply "bad late-night Cinemax movie."

The problem is when our kids see this movie it's going to be cheapened by the fact that Hannibal and the whole story has been turned into a joke. I love Hannibal the movie, but it's effect on the series is overall -EV, I think, and yeah Red Dragon and Hannibal Rising are ignorable on Star Wars prequel levels. Quite sad.

[odellthurman]

Debbie Does Dallas kept me entertained for hours, but Debbie Does Dallas 2 and subsequent movies left me feeling empty and ashamed.

[Blarg]

If the first one didn't leave you feeling empty, it must not have been very good either.

[BigPoppa]

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The worst sequel ever just has to be Caddyshack 2, it's just terrible.



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Luckily, it was so bad that it killed any idea of a Caddyshack "franchise".

[disjunction]

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Most people love all the Rocky's (barring part V). Not that they think it's a cinematic masterpiece, but it's great entertainment. As my friend Troy always says, "You can't have a bad night out when you've just been watching Rocky IV!" Maybe a little too inside. But if someone had never seen the Rocky series I can think of worse things to waste a day on than run through the whole series. Just my two cents.

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The Rocky series hits a nerve with me. It doesn't even have to do with the merits of the sequels. It's the mere fact that they exist.

Rocky was a movie about the American dream, written in the bicentennial year. Rocky wasn't meant to be an undiscovered great like the rest of the movies would have you believe. He was supposed to be a aging club boxer, a slow bruiser, somewhat talented but who had never lived up to what limited potential he had.

In Rocky I, his goal was not to beat the world champion, because how could some nobody from nowhere hope to do that? His dream was to make it through 15 rounds with the best fighter in the world, and still be on his feet. So he worked and he worked and he worked, and he did it. He didn't win, he couldn't win, but he made it through 15 rounds and for one day in his life, he stood toe to toe with the best.

[gusmahler]

Oceans 11 (the one with George Clooney) is one of my favorite movies in recent history. Both 12 and 13 were disappointing (12 moreso).

[DarrenX]

First one I thought of which was mentioned was The Matrix. Amazing concept- the subsequent sequels seem to throw in too many additional characters (without any background) and extended fight scenes for my taste.

I loved Back to the Future I, and #2 was amazing. #3 was just a bit above terrible in my book, but I've never been partial to Westerns.

And while we're on Michael J. Fox, how about Teen Wolf? Brilliant! [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[dylan's alias]

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And do yourself a favour and watch BTTF2 + 3. 2 is a little disjointed, but 3 is a terrific movie, just as good as the first one.

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I remember seeing BTTF2 in the theater, was thoroughly confused and bored, and have never seen the third (I'm sure I've seen parts on TV). I'll give it another shot, but I'm not optimistic.

As for the Matrix, the problem there was that the original has no story. The whole movie is just exposition. Neo is discovering what is really going on. You discover that along with him and it is very compelling. Then, 2 and 3 come along and they are forced to write an actual plotline, which is much more difficult. Plenty of promising books/movies die about halfway through because the setup is the only interesting part. The Matrix avoided that trap by having no plot. This isn't bashing the original, which was great.

[gusmahler]

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As for the Matrix, the problem there was that the original has no story. The whole movie is just exposition. Neo is discovering what is really going on. You discover that along with him and it is very compelling.

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How does "exposition" = "no plot"? Neo's journey certainly seems like a plot to me.