Best sequels

[ShiroiHikari]

See, in The Empire Strikes Back, our brave knight descends into Hell to fight his Demon who has killed his mentor, family, and two of his closest friends. Despite his valiant efforts, he loses, his innocence lost with that slash that removed his right hand.

In The Phantom Menace, some random dude with facepaint and a black cloak shows up and kills a dude before being killed to keep continuity.

That pretty much sums up how I feel about it.

[Radical Dreamer]

I also kind of have a problem with Duel of the Fates because even though it looks cool and all, Darth Maul really is a meh villain. Someone once argued that Vader was the same way, he was originally all about presence and not depth, but Vader was actually in the plot. We rooted against him as he continued to fight our heroes and strike down good people.

See, in The Empire Strikes Back, our brave knight descends into Hell to fight his Demon who has killed his mentor, family, and two of his closest friends. Despite his valiant efforts, he loses, his innocence lost with that slash that removed his right hand.

In The Phantom Menace, some random dude with facepaint and a black cloak shows up and kills a dude before being killed to keep continuity.

Agreed 110%. Honestly, when I think about things like this, it gets easier and easier for me to forget that the prequels ever existed. XD

[rocklobster]

Ah, I guess different strokes. At least you folks stil accept me.

[Cognitive Gear]

I think I didn't like Duel of the Fates beause if Darth Maul hadn't pussyfooted around and just killed Obi-Wan, he would have won. It's one of the most avoidable deaths ever, and falls into the same kind of bad cliched death where the bad guy is struck down while monologuing.

The worst part, to me, is that in the third movie they make this scene even worse. During the climax of the evenly matched Obi-wan and Anikin duel, Obi-wan says something to the effect of, "Don't do it. I have the high ground." The idea is that having the high ground is a significant advantage.

This is a mirror of the situation found in episode one, in the duel between Darth Maul and Obi-wan. The differences here are that Darth Maul is obviously a more skilled swordsman than Obi-wan, given that he was able to fend off Obi-wan and Qui-gon at that same time. So at the climax of this duel, we have Obi wan down at the low ground, jumping up at Darth Maul.

Somehow, despite his complete disadvantage in both combat prowess and his position, he jumps up, over Darth Maul's head and slices him in twain.

So which is it? Is the advantage really the high ground, or the low ground? This is only the beginning of the problems this sequence has.

[Scarecrow]

The worst part, to me, is that in the third movie they make this scene even worse. During the climax of the evenly matched Obi-wan and Anikin duel, Obi-wan says something to the effect of, "Don't do it. I have the high ground." The idea is that having the high ground is a significant advantage.

This is a mirror of the situation found in episode one, in the duel between Darth Maul and Obi-wan. The differences here are that Darth Maul is obviously a more skilled swordsman than Obi-wan, given that he was able to fend off Obi-wan and Qui-gon at that same time. So at the climax of this duel, we have Obi wan down at the low ground, jumping up at Darth Maul.

Somehow, despite his complete disadvantage in both combat prowess and his position, he jumps up, over Darth Maul's head and slices him in twain.

So which is it? Is the advantage really the high ground, or the low ground? This is only the beginning of the problems this sequence has.

Simple... Destiny. That's why it was called duel of the fates... He could have had both arms chopped off holding the saber in his mouth and still won cause he was destined to defeat Darth Maul and train Anakin. If destiny wants you dead, you're screwed so Darth Maul was out of luck. And Anakin need to become Darth Vader in destiny's plot to bring balance to the galaxy.

[Radical Dreamer]

Simple... Destiny. That's why it was called duel of the fates... He could have had both arms chopped off holding the saber in his mouth and still won cause he was destined to defeat Darth Maul and train Anakin. If destiny wants you dead, you're screwed so Darth Maul was out of luck. And Anakin need to become Darth Vader in destiny's plot to bring balance to the galaxy.

In other words, "because it was in the script."


George Lucas, you have cheated us all. XD

[TWWK]

See, in The Empire Strikes Back, our brave knight descends into Hell to fight his Demon who has killed his mentor, family, and two of his closest friends. Despite his valiant efforts, he loses, his innocence lost with that slash that removed his right hand.

The Empire Strikes back is a better film...MUCH better, for sure. But we'll all enjoy what we'll enjoy. I liked The Phantom Menace so much because it met my expectations of how cool the Jedi would've been back in the day. I enjoyed it thoroughly. And to this day, I've never had as much fun at a theater, as the audience cheered loudly many times throughout - it was just a great experience.

[Nate]

A great experience doesn't make a great movie. Otherwise Rocky Horror Picture Show is the greatest film ever created by man, and Citizen Kane is the worst if we go by audience reactions during the movie.

Not that I ever saw Citizen Kane in the theaters, mind you, but I can't imagine anyone applauding or cheering during that movie.

[Cognitive Gear]

A great experience doesn't make a great movie. Otherwise Rocky Horror Picture Show is the greatest film ever created by man, and Citizen Kane is the worst if we go by audience reactions during the movie.

Not that I ever saw Citizen Kane in the theaters, mind you, but I can't imagine anyone applauding or cheering during that movie.

[TWWK]

A great experience doesn't make a great movie.

True, but it can help make for a favorite movie...not that this thread is about favorites.

[Rocketshipper]

I think Terminator 2 and Aliens together are the greatest sequals of all time.

Some other ones

Movies where I think the sequal is BETTER than the original...

-Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (the first one felt too mean spirited towards the franchise. part 2 actually felt like a REAL Scooby Doo movie)
-Temple of Doom and Last Crusade
-All the Die Hard sequals (Yes, Die Hard 1 is my *least favorite* of the movies. *hides*)
-Transporter 2 and 3
-Toy Story 3
-Batman Returns
-Most Godzilla movies (just love all the big monster fights!)
-Pirates of the Carribbean 2
-Spider-man 2

Movies where the sequal lives up to the original
-HSM 3
-Killer Tomatoes sequals
-Gremlins 2
-Halloween 2 (the old one, NOT the new Rob Zombie one) and H20
-Elm Streets 3, 6, and 7
-Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day
-Child's Play 2
-Ghoulies 2
-The Dark Knight

I'll probably end up thinking of more later.

I'm hesitant to put movies like Star Wars and LOTR on the list because of the whole Trilogy thing; I don't really see them as "sequals" as more like smallers parts of a whole. Thinking of them as "sequals" to me feels like thinking of the later episodes in a TV series as "sequals" to episode 1.