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We all know there is a tendency for sequels to suck, but now and again one outdoes the original. Any nominations?

Me, I vote Aliens. Alien was a wonderful movie, very suspenseful. Aliens is a very different type of movie, so it's actually hard to compare the two because they are setting out to do two very different things... but for me Aliens just edges out Alien. It's one of my all time favourite movies.

Any others?

The Wrath of Khan - TMP wasted the potential of its beautifully done scenes by its somewhat wishy-washy plot. TWOK sorted that problem out, with one of the best villains in any sci-fi film.

The Empire Strikes Back - Star Wars was good, so something special was needed to top it - and ESB did that, complete with the best lightsabre duel of all six films and the most famous twist in film history.

You know that twist never really struck me as a bg deal. I remember seeing it as a kid, and I wasn't spoiled in advance or anything, but it was like "Yeah? Okay then."

Hmmm, another thread beckons...

Two good examples, Seafort, because I can think of very few other cases where this holds true. The only other sequel I can think of off the top of my head that might qualify is Rocky II. And I do mean might, because it sure would be close.

Rocky II bothered me... it was basically just a remake of Rocky with a "he wins!" happy ending tagged on. I thought the fact that he lost the fight in the first movie but gave it his all and went the distance was a much more poignant and interesting.

Then Rocky III is like a remake of I and II combined.

Rocky IV is so awful it's entertaining in a kind of I-can't-believe-I-am-seeing-this sort of way.

Rocky V sucks.

Rocky Balboa is actually quite good...

Dammit, I was going to say, in order, Aliens and then Wrath of Khan... I'm just too slow I guess...

Your assessment of Aliens pretty much covers my opinion exactly.
I haven't seen either in years (a DVD and beer session awaits, methinks) but Terminator 2 may be better than the Terminator. Or just louder.
Personally, I prefer The Two Towers to The Fellowship Of The Ring.
I'm embarrassed to say it, but the most often sited example of a rare better sequel, and according to some the best films ever, I've never seen: The Godfather and Godfather Part 2.

Enkidu wrote:Personally, I prefer The Two Towers to The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Ugh. While I'm not sure if TTT should be considered a sequel to FOTR, given that all three films were done simultaneously, I am sure that it was a steaming pile of shite. If Jackson was going to make a LOTR trilogy, he should have read the books before doing so, and made at least some effort to stick to the actual plot. TTT was easily the worst offender when it came to abusing Tolkien's work, while FOTR was pretty faithful - sufficiently so to draw even solid fans of the books back to watch the next one.

I read the books when I was eleven, and as I'm 33 now, it's fair to say my memories of them are pretty hazy at best. Therefore I didn't really take any preconceptions to the films - other than the belief that all high fantasy (Elves, goblins, magicians etc) films are shit. (I was going through my D&D stage when I read LOTR, so I'm not against high fantasy in principle; Just all the films and 90% of the books in the genre where awful) The film of FOTR blew away this notion by been good. When I'd seen all three of the films, TTT was the one I enjoyed the most.

Graham Kennedy wrote:Rocky II bothered me... it was basically just a remake of Rocky with a "he wins!" happy ending tagged on. I thought the fact that he lost the fight in the first movie but gave it his all and went the distance was a much more poignant and interesting.

Then Rocky III is like a remake of I and II combined.

Rocky IV is so awful it's entertaining in a kind of I-can't-believe-I-am-seeing-this sort of way.

Rocky V sucks.

Rocky Balboa is actually quite good...

Rocky II perhaps didn't break any new ground, but the quality of the film was at least on par with Rocky. Rocky III was awful with the only decent bit being Mickey's passing and Rocky trying to recite the Mourner's Kaddish in Hebrew. IV was fair, mostly due to Apollo's death and a fair set of chops turned in by Creed's old trainer. V was an absolute abomination, which should be expunged from the annals of filmmaking. Rocky Balboa was decent, but it's time for Sly to stop taking off his shirt.

And Aliens was a good shoot-em-up, but for a suspenseful, thoughtful, and brain-stimulating film it can't hold a candle to Alien. I get a little defensive of Mr. Scott, Kingdom of Heaven notwithstanding.

I thought that POTC: Dead mans chest was better than Curse of the black pearl. But it is a very close call...

lol, gonna say Empire Strikes back, Wrath of Kahn too.

I liked The Two Towers more than Fellowship as well. Especially the Battle at Helm's Deep.

The Two Towers is my fave of the triology, especially the Extended Editions.

The deviations from the books don't bother me as much as they did, I've learned to appreciate them for what they are.

Have to say I prefer Alien and Terminator to their sequels.

I'd say the Godfather Part II is slighty better then the original, but its a very very close call.

Captain Seafort wrote:

Enkidu wrote:Personally, I prefer The Two Towers to The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Ugh. While I'm not sure if TTT should be considered a sequel to FOTR, given that all three films were done simultaneously, I am sure that it was a steaming pile of shite. If Jackson was going to make a LOTR trilogy, he should have read the books before doing so, and made at least some effort to stick to the actual plot. TTT was easily the worst offender when it came to abusing Tolkien's work, while FOTR was pretty faithful - sufficiently so to draw even solid fans of the books back to watch the next one.

What's wrong with TTT? I know they had to make some adjustments, but all in all it follows the book pretty well, i think. Where do you thinkit goes wrong?

One word: Faramir.

I like the movie versions quite a bit, but there are a few things I wish they'd stuck closer to the book on, and Faramir's character is the biggest one.