Sequels That Surpass The Original & Visa Versa

The age old debate it usually goes like this

Guy 1: Sequels are never as good as the originals
Guy 2: That's not true
Guy 1 (Line optional): Name one
Guy 2: Empire Strikes Back
Guy 1: Part of a Trilogy technically not a sequel
Guy 2: Fine then Aliens
Guy 1: Good Point

Comments on Sequels, Second Parts of Trilogies, specific examples
How many squirrels can you fit in a barrel.

ok that Last one was a gag....

while most people have to agree that usually a sequel is not up to par with the original but there are plenty of sequels that are just as good or better than the originals.
I don't care about the part of a trilogy rule. I liked both Empire Strickes back and Return of the Jedi more than the original. other superior sequels are
Aliens
Terminator 2
Lord of the rings the two towers and Return of the King
Star wars episode 3 over episode 1 + 2
Toy Story 2
thats all i can think of off the top of my head

__________________
"A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theater admission and the babysitter were worth it."
- Alfred Hitchcock

Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure II

Alot funnier then the other one.

__________________
"No, we don't have any needles here... Just a big f*cking gun"

The Godfather II

I disagree with Terminator II, the original simply rocked and I didn't care for "new" Arnold.

__________________
"Here's to swimming with bow-legged women."

I assume you mean Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.. Cinematic masterpiece.

"Blade 2"
"Mission: Impossible 2"
"Lethal Weapon 2"

Thanks for the imput guys keep it coming

Big Mamma's house 2....

>_> WHAT?!?!?

ok ok seriously... i heard Saw 2 was way better then the original

I'll be in the minority with a few of these but here are mine

Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (both better than the first)
Terminator 2 (the best) and Terminator 3 (better than the first but all 3 are great)
Crocodile Dundee II
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey
Aliens
Another 48 Hrs.
Superman II
X2
American Pie 2
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Bourne Supremacy

__________________
DVD Aficionado Collection ll DVDSpot Collection ll DVD Profiler Collection

BEST: AS GOOD AS IF NOT BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL
The Godfather Part II
The Bride of Frankenstein
The Empire Strikes Back
Manderlay
Aliens
A Shot in the Dark
After the Thin Man
The Drowning Pool
Toy Story 2
Evil Dead 2
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
The Road Warrior
Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
The Bourne Supremacy
Ocean's 12
X-Men 2: X-Men United


WORST: MY GOD...WHY?!?
Jaws: The Revenge
Caddyshack II
The Exorcist II: Heretic
Highlander 2: The Quickening
Men in Black II
Batman & Robin
Batman Forever
Alien: Resurrection
Jaws 3-D
Conan the Destroyer
The Sting II
Fletch Lives
The Blues Brothers 2000
The Godfather Part III
The Dead Pool
Rocky V
Escape from L.A.
Grease 2
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
The Whole Ten Yards
Poltergeist III
Superman III
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace




NOT UP TO THE ORIGINAL, BUT VASTLY UNDERRATED
The Two Jakes
The Color of Money
Airplane II: The Sequel
Back to the Future III
Magnum Force
The Exorcist III: Legion
Dawn of the Dead

GENERALLY OVERRATED
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Return of the Jedi
Babe: Pig in the City
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
Spider-Man 2

WATCHABLE, BUT STILL VERY DISAPPOINTING
Ghostbusters 2
Beverly Hills Cop 2
2010: The Year We Make Contact
They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
Alien³
Another 48 Hrs.
Back to the Future II
Fright Night 2
Cocoon: The Return
Die Hard 2
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Ensign Pulver
The French Connection II
Hannibal
The Jewl of the Nile
Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom
Once Upon A Time in Mexico

WHY EVEN FU*KING BOTHER?/SHOULD HAVE BEEN STRAIGHT TO VIDEO (IF AT ALL)
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
Beverly Hills Cop III
Arthur 2: On the Rocks
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold
Futureworld
Shrek 2
The Odd Couple II
The Return of the Musketeers
U.S. Marshals
Men in Black II
Bad Boys II
Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
The Santa Clause 2

SPECIAL MENTION FOR SHEER BRILLIANCE IN CONCEPT & EXECUTION
Seven Plus Seven
21 Up
28 Up
35 Up
42 Up

MOST ILLOGICAL TITLES
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
*should be I Still Know What You Did the Summer Before Last
or You Remember, Like, Two Summers Ago? Well I Do, and I Know What You Did Back Then, Little Missy (and don't they sell T-Shirts in your size?)
Rambo III
*originally there was First Blood, then came Rambo: First Blood Part II. The next film, following that progressive logic, should have been Rambo II: First Blood Part III

BEST TITLE TO MAKE FUN OF
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo


And if you want to look at other responses, there are existing threads on this subject HERE and HERE.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I would have included Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to this list. It's not as good as the other two, but I think it's underrated simply because he's in India fighting cultists, not Nazis. There's some excellent stuff there, but it's somewhat far removed. For my money, the comedic chemistry is just as strong in that one as it is in The Last Crusade.

Agreed on all but T2. It had the same thrill and suspense as the first, but was a little more sophisticated, and there are some compelling scenes between John and the Terminator that just wasn't possible in the first.

Very much agreed on Spiderman 2.

Aww, come on!

"Is there anymore Phil? Ooh, pass the Phil! Mmm! He's even good cold! Great party...all thanks to Phil!"

Nice.

It always surprises me how many people I run into who think the first film was called Rambo. They're like, "I can't find it anywhere!"

Excellent stuff Holden, but I still think you and I are the only people on the planet who like Back to the Future Part III. Glad to see Exorcist III getting some love, as well.

I like The Terminator the best in that trilogy... T2 is more sophisticated in some ways, and has some killer sequences, but I abhor the kid and his annoying voice...

Return of the Jedi is WAY overrated in my book...

__________________

hehehe That is hilarious. I love it.

I prefer Meet the Fockers, over Meet the Parents. I am probably alone here, but it drove me nuts watching Ben Stiller take so much grief from Robert DeNiro. Watching DeNiro have to tolerate 3 Fockers was allot more entertaining for me.

National Lampoon's Vacation is great. The European Vacation is just OK. Christmas Vacation is a holiday must for me. I love that one. Vegas Vacation was no doubt the worst of the bunch.

Wayne's World 1 & 2 are both OK.

Austin Powers, I get a little tired of all of the sick jokes. They seem to get worse for each film that comes out.

I love Kiss the Girls, but Along Came a Spider didn't really do much for me. It is watchable, but nothing I have had a desire to run again, as of yet.

I love all of the Scream movies, but none beat the first.

I love Psycho, and I do like how the 2nd one connects, and shows more about his true past, but after that, it is just Norman getting away with well more than anyone should be allowed to.

I love both Stakeout movies. You gotta love "Brain freeze!" hehehe

I love Alien, but Aliens is my favorite. Vasquez is so bad.

Rush Hour 1 & 2. I love them both, and was very much anticipating the 3rd installment, but that is starting to look very doubtful. For all I know, it isn't happening now.

Charles Bronson in Death 1-5. I love the 1st three. The fourth is pretty good, but the 5th just didn't do anything for me.

Speed, a great movie. Speed 2, just so so.

I have a million sequels. This could go on forever. My favorite genre is horror, but they are known for making many installments. That could be one huge post.

No, I own the trilogy on DVD. We love them all.

__________________

I'm not sure if you'd consider this a sequel, but I saw Madea's Family Reunion over the weekend, and while it has the same kind of family drama storyline (a bad fiancee instead of a bad husband), it was better than Diary Of A Mad Black Woman. Though it wasn't like the all time greatest sequel ever...

Saw 2 was a good sequel. I liked it more than the first one. You don't really need to see the first one to see the second one, but it still connects to the first one.

Yea, I was trying to recognize it as the sequel.

Yep, because his voice was the most pertinent aspect of the story, as you know.

I love Part III. Personally, i love them all. can i join your club?

I suppose your one of them 'its just a bunch of muppets' kinda people, eh?

Empire is a fantastic installment, beautifully crafted and carried out. Love the tone. Love the twists. All in all- I have no problem whatsoever with people who choose ESB over ROTJ, (And Sedai, im only assuming ESB is your fav.) I would choose ROTJ, however. Would it make sense to anyone if i said that i think ESB is a better movie, but I like ROTJ a hell of a lot better?

I like Return of the Jedi enough, and feel it contains some of the best drama th Star Wars series has to offer, but the palace scene is corny, the care bears are goofy, and I even find the speeder bike chase to be tedious at this point. Out of all the added footage in the "special editions", RotJ is definitely the film that was the least tastefully done, as far as I am concerned. I ....loath... the Max Rebo band. I wish to see Max get mashed in the gears of a sandcrawler...The song Jedi Rocks(W.T.F.??) is the WORST song in any film, ever.

That said, the final space battle is incredible, the development between Vader and Luke is interesting and tense, and the scenes on the Death Star with Luke, Vader, and Palpatine are great. I don't hate the film, but just going strictly by which of the Star Wars films I enjoy watching the most these days, Star Wars comes in first, The Empire Strikes Back second, and Revenge of the Sith Third, with Retun of the Jedi right behind it. I don't enjoy watching either of the first two prequels really at all...

*spoiler for Revenge of the Sith*


I thought Palpatine looked more menacing in Return of the Jedi than he did in this last one. He wussed out after Windu kicked his arse. And i'm not so sure he allowed himself to get defeated either.

Kill Bill Vol.2 over Kill Bill Vol.1
Devil's Rejects over House of 1000 Corpses
Desperado over El Mariachi
Evil Dead 2 over Evil Dead
Bourne Supremacy over Bourne Identity
X2 over X-Men
The Empire Strikes Back over A New Hope
Gremlins 2 over Gremlins
Last Crusade over Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom
The Exorcist 3 over The Exorcist and probably The Exorcist 2
Leprechaun 4: In Space over Leprechaun 2
Scream 3 over Scream 2
xXx 2 over xXx
Bill and Ted 2 (Bogus Adventure?) over Bill and Ted 1 (Excellent Adventure?)
Alien: Resurrection over Alien 3

Alien and Aliens draw even


If these count:

Oldboy better than Sympathy for Mr Vengeance
Dogma better than Mallrats and Chasing Amy
Hard Boiled better than The Killer


Holden, just curious about how come you chose Ocean's 12 over Ocean's 11.

__________________