Movie sequels

[pfrduke]

Neverending Story 2 was bad. I really liked the first. One review said Neverending movie haha.

I have related this anecdote before on this board, but I saw Neverending Story 2 in the theater and the projector broke - we were thrilled that not only did we not have to sit through the rest of that truly awful movie, we even got tickets to another movie for our trouble. I have had projector malfunctions during the two worst movies I have seen in theaters - Neverending Story 2 and Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - which I believe is proof that inanimate objects can have sentience and wish to end human suffering.

[PackMan97]

I have related this anecdote before on this board, but I saw Neverending Story 2 in the theater and the projector broke - we were thrilled that not only did we not have to sit through the rest of that truly awful movie, we even got tickets to another movie for our trouble. I have had projector malfunctions during the two worst movies I have seen in theaters - Neverending Story 2 and Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - which I believe is proof that inanimate objects can have sentience and wish to end human suffering.

Gremlins was the first movie I saw without my parents in tow. I remember the scene where they are watching a movie and gremlins ruin the film. It really looked like the projector had malfunctioned and my friend and I were freaking out because we didn't know what to do. Should we hope they fix it? should we leave and talk to the manager? Did either of us have a quarter we could call our parents from a pay phone?

And then of course, the trick was shown for what it was, part of the plot. It remains to this day my single best movie going moment.

[BD80]

Grease 2!!! ... The fact that Michelle Pfeiffer survived that movie and had the career that she did is a testament to her skill as a thespian!

...

The Pink Ladies were NOT thespians!

And Top Gun ..., uh, oh, never mind.

I refuse to count any movie with Michelle Pfeiffer in tight pants as a "worst" movie. It is, however, WAY down the list from the best.

We also need to define "worst." Is it just a qualitative measure of how bad a movie is, the universe being restricted to movies related to other prior movies?

Or is there some comparison of how much worse the sequel is to a predecessor movie?

In the first category: Zoolander II.

In the second category: Blues Brothers 2000, Anchor Man II.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

The Pink Ladies were NOT thespians!

And Top Gun ..., uh, oh, never mind.

I refuse to count any movie with Michelle Pfeiffer in tight pants as a "worst" movie. It is, however, WAY down the list from the best.

We also need to define "worst." Is it just a qualitative measure of how bad a movie is, the universe being restricted to movies related to other prior movies?

Or is there some comparison of how much worse the sequel is to a predecessor movie?

In the first category: Zoolander II.

In the second category: Blues Brothers 2000, Anchor Man II.

Your definition excludes the Jaws sequels, as they were each "even worse" than everything after the first, which was one of the best films ever. Seriously, how can the same series have Quint's monologue AND the crap that was Jaws 3D?

[JasonEvans]

Grease 2!!! Now I'll have those songs in my head all day

"We're gonna score tonight. We're gonna score tonight. We're gonna rock, we're gonna roll, we're gonna bop, we're gonna bowl. We're gonna score tonight."

and of course

"I need a cool rider. A cool rider. If he's cool enough, he can burn me through and through."

The fact that Michelle Pfeiffer survived that movie and had the career that she did is a testament to her skill as a thespian!

I think it is very possible that many of the folks reading this thread have not experienced the utter ineptitude that is Grease 2. It truly must be seen to be believed. Most importantly, while the original featured some of the greatest songs of the era (Grease, You're the One That I Want, Summer Nights), Grease 2 contains stuff like this:


Please make note of the totally random nuns inserted into the action for... ummm... I have no idea why. Maybe because nuns are inherently funny or something.

-Jason "the cast's inability to tell that Michael is the 'cool rider' is right up there with Clark Kent's glasses disguising his connection to Superman" Evans

[PackMan97]

Please make note of the totally random nuns inserted into the action for... ummm... I have no idea why. Maybe because nuns are inherently funny or something.

It's hard to believe that was less than 3 minutes...felt more like 30.

[chriso]

It's hard to believe that was less than 3 minutes...felt more like 30.

Let's bowl haha. Be thankful you didn't sit through Neverending Story 2. Ok new category...sequel that was once considered bad but now is good. Gremlins 2.

[rasputin]

How about worst sequels? For me I'm placing emphasis on disappointment, as no one really expected Pumpkinhead 2 to be that good. And I'm cheating and including third entries and on. So for me it's Return of the Jedi (it's ok but Empire is my fav. movie ever and I'm still trying to recover from Ewoks) Alien 3, Beverly Hills Cop 3, Batman and Robin, Godfather 3, the second Matrix, Superman 3, and that's all I can think of at the moment. Oh Indy 4 too.

Worst sequel: how about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? Horrible.

A nominee (not yet mentioned) for best sequel: After the Thin Man.

[PackMan97]

Worst sequel: how about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? Horrible.

A nominee (not yet mentioned) for best sequel: After the Thin Man.

Temple of Doom wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't a good movie.

The Crystal Skull was a BAD movie and if you are going to flame an Indiana Jones sequel, that's the one you want.

[IrishDevil]

It's hard to believe that was less than 3 minutes...felt more like 30.

Has that been edited in some way? Or did they really recycle footage in that single musical number to make it longer? Yikes. It was bad enough to begin with, but more, really?

[BLPOG]

Return of the Killer Tomatoes!

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Temple of Doom wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't a good movie.

The Crystal Skull was a BAD movie and if you are going to flame an Indiana Jones sequel, that's the one you want.

All of this. Crystal Skull makes Prometheus look like high cinema. Crystal Skull and Jaws 4 are on my most amazing list.

[Wander]

I know the Jaws and Alien franchises have been mentioned, but nearly every single classic or fun horror movie you can think of has a horrible sequel. Even something like Sharnado was a clever idea in its first form.

But yeah, Matrix Reloaded is probably the easy winner here using the definition of biggest drop off from 1st to 2nd movie.

[Blue in the Face]

Crystal Skull and Jaws 4 are on my most amazing list.

For those who aren't familiar with Jaws 4, you should be aware the the plot centers on Mrs. Brody leaving Amity Island after her son is killed by a shark, which she takes to be retribution for the prior sharks taken out by her husband (now deceased). Not retribution like the Universe is out to get her. Retribution like the shark is specifically out to get her family. So she moves to the Bahamas, as one does. And the shark follows her. (Let that sink in). Michael Caine is involved somehow - I know that Michael Caine was generally pretty gung ho to take on most scripts that came across his desk, but even for him, it's a puzzler. Presumably when he read the script, he was indulging on whatever cocaine was left over from the writers' room. I only wish there had been a little bit left when I watched the film.

[BD80]

It's hard to believe that was less than 3 minutes...felt more like 30.

It is Dunbar's favorite film clip. He watches it multiple times daily.

[rasputin]

It is Dunbar's favorite film clip. He watches it multiple times daily.

Well played. (What else is there?)

[PackMan97]

Is Catwoman a sequel to Batman forever? or a spinoff?

Artist and graphics designer Patience Phillips is a meek people-pleaser whose main support is her best friend Sally. She works for a cosmetics company called Hedare Beauty, which is ready to ship a new skin cream, called Beau-line, that is able to reverse the effects of ageing. However, when Patience visits the R&D laboratory facility, she overhears a discussion between the scientist, Dr. Ivan Slavicky, and Laurel Hedare, the wife of company-owner George Hedare, about the dangerous side effects from continued use of the product. Laurel's guards discover Patience and are ordered to dispose of her. Patience tries to escape using a conduit pipe, but the minions have it sealed and flush her out of it, drowning her. Washed up on shore after drowning, Patience is mysteriously brought back to life by an Egyptian Mau cat, which had appeared at her apartment earlier; from that moment on, she develops cat-like abilities.

Hey...girls like super heroes, so lets make a super hero movie with a famous female lead and the plot can be about something girly, like an evil cosmetic company!

Thank goodness DC isn't doing the same crap with Wonder Woman this summer. Just a good ol fashioned action/war movie with a feamle lead.

[brevity]

For those who aren't familiar with Jaws 4, you should be aware the the plot centers on Mrs. Brody leaving Amity Island after her son is killed by a shark, which she takes to be retribution for the prior sharks taken out by her husband (now deceased). Not retribution like the Universe is out to get her. Retribution like the shark is specifically out to get her family. So she moves to the Bahamas, as one does. And the shark follows her. (Let that sink in). Michael Caine is involved somehow - I know that Michael Caine was generally pretty gung ho to take on most scripts that came across his desk, but even for him, it's a puzzler. Presumably when he read the script, he was indulging on whatever cocaine was left over from the writers' room. I only wish there had been a little bit left when I watched the film.

Michael Caine solves the puzzle. (Don't know the original source, but CNN has the quote.)

mycocaine.jpg

[fidel]

For those into foreign films, Manon of the Spring was an excellent follow-up to Jean de Florette.

I thought the Bourne series was well done. Not sure if that qualifies.

Deathly Hollows part 2?

[davekay1971]

As a niche, there's the absurdly low-budget to less-low-budget category.

I submit 2 entries:

El Mariachi to Desperado. El Mariachi being filmed, as far as I understand it, off the money generated by Robert Rodriguez and his friends signing up for a variety of medical testing protocols and whatever else they could scrape together. This gets us the wildly fun and silly Desperado, which introduced the world (me at least) to Selma Hayek at her most breathtaking gorgeous. Thank you, world.

Evil Dead to Evil Dead 2. Evil Dead being filmed off of a few thousand bucks, the crazy creativity of Sam Raimi, and the gleeful spirit of Bruce Campbell at Michigan State. Which led to sequel/remake/insane genius of Evil Dead 2, one of the most rewatchable horror comedy spectacles I have ever seen. That even got us Army of Darkness and some of the best cheesy one liners of all time.


Disappointing sequels category:
Escape from LA. Needs no explanation.