Sequel Exceeds 1st Installment (List)

[soundmotor]

I'll start -

Bourne Supremacy

IMO, the 1st, Bourne Identity, was fairly forgettable to me. One scene rushed into another and a lot of stuff in-between. When it finally grinds to a halt & the credits roll, I was not left wondering. In fact, I didn't think much about it at all. So, along comes the sequel as the first was commercially successful enough to get someone's notice and it seemed to me a completely different film altogether. So much so that I had to check & see if the same director was involved, (he was)!

I am not a huge Matt Damon fan. The way he was in "The Departed" is pretty much the performance he turns in everytime. But, not here. In the first film to me he never really owned the role whereas in the second he is Jason Bourne. The film does have a relentless pace but it also has something else, a tight plot. Damon does a terrific job as coming across not only as a trained killer but as a man slowly coming to grips with whom he is as well as the desire to stay alive and get even. Apparently Damon can act when required to do so and quite convincingly too. Even in its chopped up, cable movie form it holds my interest.

Any sequels for you that exceed the first in the series?

[HomerJ]

I found the second one unwatchable. Nearly puked from the camera motion. Why do directors do this shit? In real life we don't see things like a Parkinson's victim; shaking all the time... Stupid.

[John in MA]

Godfather Part II
Aliens
Terminator 2

[geespot]

Empire Strikes Back
Clerks II

[John in MA]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

[barrynsue]

Godfather II was equal and maybe better than I IMHO.

But this comes from someone who likes all of the Austin Powers movies.

[John in MA]

Originally Posted by barrynsue

But this comes from someone who likes all of the Austin Powers movies.

We'll have to void your opinions, then.

[Holst]

Ditto on Aliens and Terminator II..... and that's all I can think of.

[Arkay]

I thought the first Alien film was the best of the series ... but then again, I saw it in a theater when it first came out, not knowing what to expect. I saw it with some friends, and we sort of guessed it would be an updated spoof of the 50s horror flicks. With that expectation, and nothing remotely like it ever having been released before, the film blew us out of our seats - sometimes literally, with surprise/shock!

Anyone seeing it later, or today, after so many imitations and variations/derivatives have been made. and with modern CGI making everything possible visually, will never recapture that impact/effect. The second movie, Aliens, already suffered likewise from 'familiarity syndrome' -- it was good, but one already knew too much what to expect, knew the formula, so to speak, so it just wasn't as enjoyable. Yes, they had a bigger budget for the second one, so technically it is better-made - but it wasn't as good when I saw it first, for the reason I've just explained; there wasn't as much suspense and shock involved.

Only a few movies in my life were "quantum leap" films -- that is, films that "blew me away" by how good they were for the time that they were released, or how different/creative they were. Star Wars and Alien are at the top of that list, Predator a close second. I doubt I will ever see another movie with remotely the same impact, now that CGI has made "anything" possible on a screen. Perhaps if they perfect 3-D "holographic immersion" movies that surround the moviegoer with a realistic filmscape, of maybe if the talkies we now enjoy are superseded by "feelies", then I'll enjoy that kind of impact again. [Oooh, porno flicks in feelie-vision! Or murder movies - ouch! } Otherwise, every movie is now "just another movie" to me, even if it might be "a good one".

[mg196]

Empire Strikes Back is the first one that came to my mind.

And Arkay, i see your point...but the new Transformers movie blew my brother and I away. I know that CGI makes anything possible now, but while we were watching Autobots battle Decepticons, we could not believe what we were seeing. It was THAT good...and light years ahead of Jurassic Park's CGI.

[drknstrmyknight]

I had to put The Bourne Supremecy in the 'car chase' section with Bullitt, The French Connection, Ronin, The original 1974 Gone in 60 Seconds, Vanishing Point, etc. The rest of the movie was so-so, being a Ludlum fan I thought the mini-series did the books more justice.

[Jack Lord]

Spiderman II was better than I which was itself excellent.

I think it is an oft repeated booze conversation amongst guys as to which Godfather (I or II) is better. Always begins with the quick and agreed upon elimination of III. Then it becomes a duel of quotes from both. Always ends indecisively as nobody can agree and some change opinions several times. Always succeeds in motiving you to go out, rent them and watch them for the 1023rd time.

"I didn't ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business!"

Agree on Spiderman 2 -- at least, the CGI was definitely better. I kind of got tired of Peter Parker getting crapped on from every direction. But it was still ultimately a better movie.

Don't know about Aliens being better than Alien -- they were just different. Alien was a horror film, Aliens was an action movie.

The Road Warrior (sequel to Mad Max) -- Mad Max was low budget fun, the Road Warrior was the movie they meant to make.

Ditto 'Desperado' (sequel to El Mariachi) -- a real sequel, but basically remaking the film with a real budget.

Batman Begins (prequel to the Batman franchise) -- just superb, easily the best of the entire franchise. It was a brilliant thought, whoever had it, to reimagine the entire history -- that's the sort of creativity I usually only see in books and graphic novels.

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (2nd installment in the Star Trek franchise) -- not saying much, the first movie was tepid, but the 2nd remains quite possibly the best of the old school franchise.

I can list a few movies whose sequels I thought were as good as the first:

T2 (sequel to Terminator) -- different budgets, not really comparable.
28 Weeks Later (sequel to 28 Days Later) -- completely different story, same great concept (zombies, sort of)
Toy Story 2 (sequel to Toy Story) -- they were both great.
Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2/Army of Darkness -- what, are you kidding me? Some of the greatest moment in celluloid are in these films.

[deaner33]

Chalk, I was going to say The Road Warrior - light years better than Mad Max (and it was a pretty good movie itself). Too bad Thunderdome sucked so bad.

Dawn of the Dead - Night of the Living Dead is a classic and started a genre, but Dawn of the Dead is even better.

[donoghue]

Friday the 13th 2,3,4,6,7 ALL better than the Jasonless original (algae covered kid in dream sequence doesn't count).



I am a child of the eighties