superiour sequels

    in the wake of the release of avatar i had "james cameron" and his movies on my mind a lot recently and i remembered that years ago i read a review from some critic ( i guess it was about titanic ... ) who stated something like this:

    james cameron seams to be the only film maker ever who is capable of doing the impossible of making a superior sequel to an already excellent original ... and he even did it twice.

    that was sort of the gist of the claim and this statement has always bugged me because in alot of film franchises i have a specific favorite and it rarely is the first one

    example:

    i like:

    last crusade > raiders of the lost arc

    spiderman 2 > spiderman

    terminator 2 > terminator

    lost world > jurassic park ( haven't seen either in ages though so i could be wrong)

    aliens > alien

    godfather part 2 > godfather

    empire strikes back > a new hope

    evil dead 2 > evil dead 1

    dawn of the dead > night of the living dead

    x-men 2 > x-men

    batman returns > batman ( yeah its all about catwoman ^^ )

    dark knight > batman begins

    end of evangelion > death and rebirth

    die hard with a vengeance > die hard

    return of the king > fellowship of the ring

    first contact > generations

    back to the future II > back to the future ( thanks for reminding me seldoon ^^)

    the road warior > mad max

    while for the contrary i can only come up with:

    i like:

    matrix better than what came after

    speed better than what came after

    star trek the motion picture better than what came after but almost tied by the voyage home (... most people would argue that wrath of kahn is the best)

    ghost in the shell 1 better than what came after

    28 days later better than 28 weeks later (although still good)

    predator 1 better than what came after

    so yeah am i high on crack or are movie sequels often way better than the original ?

    ( i am not really into horror movies so all those 10 + movie franchises like nightmare on elmstreet or haloween or friday the thirteenth or hellraiser i have no opinion about i don't think i finished watching a single one of those) also i don't count direct to dvd sequels for obvious reasons !

    Quote from Warby

    i like:

    lost world > jurassic park ( haven't seen either in ages though so i could be wrong)

    aliens > alien

    so yeah am i high on crack or a movie sequels often way better than the original ?

    You're on crack

    Quote from Warby

    die hard with a vengeance > die hard

    Okay wait, maybe you're not.

    Though the rest could go either way.

    last crusade > raiders of the lost arc

    spiderman 2 > spiderman

    terminator 2 > terminator

    lost world > jurassic park ( haven't seen either in ages though so i could be wrong)

    aliens > alien

    godfather part 2 > godfather

    empire strikes back > a new hope

    evil dead 2 > evil dead 1

    dawn of the dead > night of the living dead

    x-men 2 > x-men

    batman returns > batman ( yeah its all about catwoman ^^ )

    dark knight > batman begins

    end of evangelion > death and rebirth

    die hard with a vengeance > die hard

    return of the king > fellowship of the ring

    first contact > generations

    back to the future II > back to the future

    Edited! ^^

    I'm with you on most of those, apart from Die Hard (Saying Die Hard 3 is the best is just ridiculous, even if its pretty damn good as well) and Star Wars (I actually prefer A New Hope to Empire Strikes Back). Also with BTTF, even though I think its really damn close, then the first movie is better, mainly because it just works as a standalone movie. Also I'd say Jurassic Park is better than the Lost World, but its nearly a tie in that case (Lost World has lots of Jeff Goldblum, which is awesome!).

    For a very long while I was also completely sure that Last Crusade was without a single doubt my favorite Indy movie, but when you watch Raiders today then I'd almost say thats a tie as well (Tie for my fav movie EVAH!).

    so i assume :

    red = you disagree

    green = you agree

    orange = you cant decide

    black = haven't seen yet ( which is strange since you purposefully added back to the future to the list why add a movie and make a quality claim if you haven't seen it ?!!?! than again having made it green wouldn't have made any sense either until i added it to my list in the first post via the edit button.

    Quote from Warby

    than again having made it green wouldn't have made any sense either until i added it to my list in the first post via the edit button.

    you're looking dor sense in mapcore?

    Quote from Mazy

    I'm with you on most of those, apart from Die Hard (Saying Die Hard 3 is the best is just ridiculous, even if its pretty damn good as well) and Star Wars (I actually prefer A New Hope to Empire Strikes Back). Also I'd say Jurassic Park is better than the Lost World, but its nearly a tie in that case (Lost World has lots of Jeff Goldblum, which is awesome!)For a very long while I was also completely sure that Last Crusade was without a single doubt my favorite Indy movie, but when you watch Raiders today then I'd almost say thats a tie as well (Tie for my fav movie EVAH!).

    Die Hard 3 has Jeremy Irons, it can't lose. Also it gets a lot of hate for some reason, so I may be acting disproportionately in its favor, but it's a smarter film and crafted with a lot of care, it's a true New York movie and it shows in a lot of ways (one being it's actually shot in New York) so, it ends up feeling like a far more personal film. The first Die Hard is pretty much the definitive 80's action movie, but that also sort of dates it in a way, and I just can't really get beyond that.

    Also, Lost World loses out instantly for girl doing gymnastics kick to a raptors face. I remember cringing in the theater seeing that when I was like 10 or 11. Though I imagine mostly because the entire theater was cheering and clapping when it happened. Yeah, I don't get that shit, sorry.

    you know, i've always had a difficult time deciding whether or not a movie was bad or not. can't we just leave it at that they are all just 'good' movies?

    Die Hard 3 is definitely the best in the series IMO, to throw that out there.

    But yeah I do find I enjoy sequels more than the original quite often, but I suspect there's more to it than the quality of the film itself. For example a sequel has to concern itself less with establishing all the backstory and shit the original typically has to, and also because you're generally already a fan of the series you're going to be looking forward to a sequel more and will probably be more into it.

    It's like how The Dark Knight is fantastic, but it's very much built on the foundation of Batman Begins which is a truly amazing standalone film. Take Batman Begins away and suddenly The Dark Knight doesn't have the same strength thanks to a lack of characterisation and backstory, yet the latter is arguably a more sharply produced film. In that specific example I can't actually choose one though because I love 'em both.

    So my general stance is I either like the film or I don't. Too much headache trying to rank them!

    Quote from DaanO

    Sentura: and all maps are good maps?

    i get immersed in almost every movie, which is why most movies are good to me. i don't get immersed into every map.

    I think your list is lacking the 936 movies on your imdb "What I've watched list" that has a sequel that you've either

    • 1. Not heard about (because its crappy).
      2. Not seen (because its crappy).

    Those movies that I think is best ever doesnt have a sequel (Gladiator, The rock, Avatar). Now I heard from my brother (unrealiable source) that cameron has stated that if Avatar does well he's gonna make it into a triology.

    I hope he does

    Quote from Skjalg

    Those movies that I think is best ever doesnt have a sequel (Gladiator, The rock, Avatar). Now I heard from my brother (unrealiable source) that cameron has stated that if Avatar does well he's gonna make it into a triology.I hope he does

    actually i do too. i think there were a few loose ends that could be tied up better... sort of like in the first matrix as well.

    Quote from DUFFY

    Because we all know Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions really made a neat bow out of those loose ends...

    i thought they were good. at least the story didn't stop at neo flying from a telephone booth, which tells fuck all. closure, goddammit, closure.

    I don't think you should include intended trilogies(or longer) in your list, such as LOTR. I don't really consider LOTR 3 separate movies. If you watch each one on their own, they make no sense and/or give no conclusion. They are one movie that is broken into 3 to make the viewing times reasonable. Another example is Kill Bill.

    Some stuff you forgot. I think all these go in the 'original better than the sequel' catagory:

    Ghostbusters and whatever came after

    Hellboy and etc

    Transformers(I haven't seen the sequel, as the first was awful. But the 2nd looked even worse.)

    Home Alone and whatever(although I quit watching them after the 2nd one sucked)

    Boondock Saints(again, haven't watched the sequel as it looked awful. I could be wrong. Anyone?)

    Jaws

    Toy Story

    And a thousand more.

    What about the bourne movies? I liked the first, don't remember the second, never saw the third but heard it was good. Anyone?

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