Sequels make us forget how great the originals were

youtalkfunny · #1 08-26-2007, 05:34 AM

I caught parts of two different 80's movies this week. I hadn't seen either in at least 15 years. Each spawned a series of sequels, which ran the respective franchises into the ground--which is a dirty shame, because it made me forget how great "Back to the Future" and "Police Academy" were.

Yes, I just called "Police Academy" a great movie. I watched about 45 minutes of it today, and I LOL'd at least once a minute. This was a great, great comedy. Because I haven't had to endure a sequel in several years, the jokes (and the characters) seemed fresh again.

"Back to the Future" has one of the most intricately brilliant plots I've ever seen. Ten thousands little details seem to become relevant as the movie progresses. Whoever wrote that script was a genius.

"Rocky" won Best Picture, but when I think of "Rocky", I think of the ridiculous franchise. I think of Clubber Lange and Ivan Drago. I don't think about any of the things that made "Rocky" a special picture.

(Believe it or not, I never watched any of the "Back to the Future" sequels--and in a way, I'm glad of it.)

BOO, Sequels.

HOORAY, beer!

Dominic · #2 08-26-2007, 05:40 AM

actually the Back to Future sequels are fantastic.

Abones · #3 08-26-2007, 05:46 AM

I thought it was a known fact that Rocky IV is the pinnacle of sports-movie achievement.

In all seriousness Godfather Part 3, Speed 2, and most of the Batman movies stand out for me.

mrbaseball · #4 08-26-2007, 08:16 AM

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actually the Back to Future sequels are fantastic

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Totally agree here. These are great and practically seemless and really neccessary. I like the Rocky sequels as well (2,3,4) anyway. And in other threads we have been discussing Beyond Sunset. What a terrific (and neccessary) sequel although I'm not sure it would work if you didn't have the history from Beyond Sunrise?

Lots of sequels do suck though. Indiana Jones sequels come immediately to mind as well as the forementioned Police Academys and then all of those horror films (freddie, jason, micheal etc). Most sequels aren't very good and simply money grabs but sometimes they are welcomed and neccessary.

Idiotex · #5 08-26-2007, 08:37 AM

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.

NotFadeAway · #6 08-26-2007, 01:54 PM

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actually the Back to Future sequels are fantastic.

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Agreed.
I think that a lot of sequels get underrated when compared to outstanding originals. Terminator III, Rocky II (as well as some of the others), and Lethal Weapon 3 are examples of this (I don't mention T2 or LW2 because those are probably considered better than the originals.) So I disagree on the whole "Boo Sequels" mindset. Many are good and are actually better than they might appear when compared to originals.

Borodog · #7 08-26-2007, 02:54 PM

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actually the Back to Future sequels are very, very good.

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/nit

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But yeah; one of the few franchises that were not destroyed by subsequent sequels. Very good call.

Another would be the Indiana Jones films. While the second one was weak, the third completely redeemed the franchise in my opinion.

I love that phrase, by the way. "Redeemed the franchise."

tuq · #8 08-26-2007, 03:08 PM

Agree with Borodog regarding the Indiana Jones thing, three being better than two and really good. Even if he photoshopped my undertitle in an ATF thread as "too gay by thrice".

I was one of the minority who preferred Die Hard 2 to the original. YTF, of course most sequels aren't going to hold up to their original (Caddyshack, anyone?), but it's worth a shot and it's not like it's sullying the franchise beyond redemption. I don't see how it makes the original film less watchable. And don't most people consider Wrath of Kahn (Khan? WTF, don't remember, not going to search) to be way, way better than its predecessor?

EDIT: and of course there's Empire Strikes Back. Awesome stuff.

Blarg · #9 08-26-2007, 03:57 PM

I thought Aliens, Godfather 2, the other Dirty Harrys, the other Raiders of the Lost Arks, the other Rocky's, the other Halloweens, the other Nightmare on Elm Streets, the other Jaws, the other Batmans and Supermans, the other Evil Deads, the other Internal Affairs, the other films Stuart Gordon did after Reanimator, and countless other sequels were either simply lesser movies or actually made the originals themselves start to look bad by association, or made us forget how startlingly original and good the first one in the series were.

For sequels that stand out over the original, only Terminator 2 immediately comes to mind, and The Empire Strikes Back. Terminator 2 actually makes the first one look better by association. Oh, and I like Romero's zombie flick follow up where everyone was in the shopping center better than the original -- think that was Day of the Dead. I'm also on the fence about Bridge of Frankenstein, which I usually like better than the original but occasionally change my mind about. And The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a clear stand-out over the other spaghetti westerns.

youtalkfunny · #10 08-26-2007, 05:40 PM

I'm not saying sequels are a bad thing. I'm just saying that "Police Academy" might be remembered as a comedy classic, if it wasn't turned into a crappy "franchise".

Imagine if there were nine awful sequels of "Animal House". The original would certainly lose much of its luster.

(And now I'm going to have to watch the McFly sequels.)