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Great films with dreadful pre/sequels


Spellczech

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To celebrate one of my favourite films Cross of Iron appearing on Amazon Prime, I thought I'd mention just how terribly bad the 1979 follow-up was even though it had a stellar cast of Hollywood's best functioning alcoholics in it - Richard Burton & Robert Mitchum - even Rod Steiger, but it was still utter crp and seemed to totally miss what the original was all about...I see that a newer film with the same name is also availble. Made in 2022, I've watched half of it and it too is also totally rubbish and should never have found funding!

 

As for the Sam Peckinpah original with James Coburn, Maximilian Schell & James Mason, if you've never seen it, I highly recommend it as one of the best anti-war war films!

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rudi must stay
Just now, AlimOzturk said:

Kick ass. 
 

1st brilliant second utterly shit. 

 

It's a bad film you're right but Jim Carrey is very good in it 

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Independence Day. 
 

Loved the original. Hated the sequel. The cast were so ******* annoying, that I was rooting for the aliens.

Edited by iantjambo
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I P Knightley

Jaws was great; the sequel was just cashing in lazily. Same can be said for Godfather 3.

 

Some of these longer running franchises like Rocky, Fast & Furious (not claiming any F&Fs to have been good!), Police Academy, 007 and others have to be taken with a pinch of salt and almost judged as fresh seasons of a TV show. 

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1 minute ago, I P Knightley said:

Jaws was great; the sequel was just cashing in lazily. Same can be said for Godfather 3.

 

Some of these longer running franchises like Rocky, Fast & Furious (not claiming any F&Fs to have been good!), Police Academy, 007 and others have to be taken with a pinch of salt and almost judged as fresh seasons of a TV show. 

Godfather 3 was all about "completing the story" - very Hollywood thing to feel the need to do...

 

The semi-incestuous love story, Sofia Coppola's acting, and the early ending of the US storyline were all big problems. Other elements like the nice old man who turns out to be the big baddie had already been done in Godfather 2...

 

Not sure what went wrong - perhaps Puzo was forced to be "Hollywood" and lost his way - I seem to remember they were still writing scripts during filming so perhaps it was a timing problem? or perhaps Coppola got too involved in the writing? 

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I P Knightley
16 minutes ago, Spellczech said:

Godfather 3 was all about "completing the story" - very Hollywood thing to feel the need to do...

 

The semi-incestuous love story, Sofia Coppola's acting, and the early ending of the US storyline were all big problems. Other elements like the nice old man who turns out to be the big baddie had already been done in Godfather 2...

 

Not sure what went wrong - perhaps Puzo was forced to be "Hollywood" and lost his way - I seem to remember they were still writing scripts during filming so perhaps it was a timing problem? or perhaps Coppola got too involved in the writing? 

I was trying to remember whether Mario Puzo had been involved in G3. If he was, I imagine it was just to have the name in the credits. 

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Highlander, I really enjoyed it, and when the sequel came out, it was utter drivel....pure tripe. I believe there was a 3rd one, didn't even bother with that one.

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1 hour ago, micole said:

Highlander, I really enjoyed it, and when the sequel came out, it was utter drivel....pure tripe. I believe there was a 3rd one, didn't even bother with that one.

there was even more than 3, the 4th and 5th in the series followed on from the awful tv series. the reason highlander 2 was so poor was the original director (who directed the first one) was removed and he was the main creative person behind it. They then changed the story to include nonsense like aliens

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2 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

Jaws was great; the sequel was just cashing in lazily. Same can be said for Godfather 3.

 

Some of these longer running franchises like Rocky, Fast & Furious (not claiming any F&Fs to have been good!), Police Academy, 007 and others have to be taken with a pinch of salt and almost judged as fresh seasons of a TV show. 

Jaws 2 is a masterpiece compared to the 3rd and 4th films. Two of the absolute worst films.

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The Matrix.

 

The subsequent films were interesting but nowhere near as good as the original, which would have stood on its own perfectly fine without any sequels.

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Malinga the Swinga

Avatar good, Avatar 2 shocking

Grease good, Grease 2 awful

Magnificent 7 tremendous, Return of the 7 okay, next 2 terrible

Exorcist 1 great, Exorcist 2 not so great.

Omen 1 & Omen 2 brilliant, Omen 3 a disappointment.

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5 minutes ago, redjambo said:

Alien. Same as above.

 

Everyone raves about Aliens. 

 

I see you're like me though. The first is undefeated. 

 

I'll say anything past Terminator 2 for my contribution here. (Although I prefer the first, the second is still very good.) 

Edited by BlueRiver
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Home Alone is a modern classic.

Home Alone 2 is more or less just a remake.

The less said about all the other sharted out sequels the better.

 

Ghostbusters was amazing.

Ghostbusters 2 was lacklustre.

 

Battle Royale was incredible (hunger games pretty much copied the entire concept)

Battle Royale 2 is a steaming pile of shite.

 

Robocop was a superb satirical character drama about a Christ-like figure regaining his humanity after resurrection.

Robocop 2 was a dumb action flick.

We don't talk about the 3rd film.

 

The Matrix launched a thousand imitations and was cool as all hell.

Matrix Reloaded was a bloated mess.

The 3rd film was even more bloated and up its own erse.

 

Blade was a great superhero action movie.

Blade 2 was a lazy cash in.

We don't talk about the 3rd film.

 

Sin City was one of the best comic book adaptations ever made.

Sin City 2 was like bad fan fiction.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, redjambo said:

Alien. Same as above.

 

Aliens was one of the best sequels ever made, because it was an entirely different film.

Alien was a claustrophobic horror film.

Aliens was Vietnam in space.

Both films excelled in their own genre.

Edited by Cade
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Just now, Cade said:

 

Aliens was one of the best sequels ever made, because it was an entirely different film.

Alien was a claustrophobic horror film.

Aliens was Vietnam in space.

 

I feel like Terminator 1 and 2 had a similar dynamic. 

 

The first was a neonoir horror film type thing and the second is an action blockbuster. 

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2 minutes ago, Cade said:

 

Aliens was one of the best sequels ever made, because it was an entirely different film.

Alien was a claustrophobic horror film.

Aliens was Vietnam in space.

 

Perhaps I should have posted my thought in the Things you hate but everyone else loves thread. :D Aliens was much liked, but not my cup of tea.

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5 minutes ago, BlueRiver said:

Halloween. 

 

First one is a great horror film imo. The follow-ups are patchy at best and downright abysmal at worst. 

 

I watched the first one recently. It hasn't aged well.

 

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rudi must stay
9 minutes ago, Cade said:

Home Alone is a modern classic.

Home Alone 2 is more or less just a remake.

The less said about all the other sharted out sequels the better.

 

Ghostbusters was amazing.

Ghostbusters 2 was lacklustre.

 

Battle Royale was incredible (hunger games pretty much copied the entire concept)

Battle Royale 2 is a steaming pile of shite.

 

Robocop was a superb satirical character drama about a Christ-like figure regaining his humanity after resurrection.

Robocop 2 was a dumb action flick.

We don't talk about the 3rd film.

 

The Matrix launched a thousand imitations and was cool as all hell.

Matrix Reloaded was a bloated mess.

The 3rd film was even more bloated and up its own erse.

 

Blade was a great superhero action movie.

Blade 2 was a lazy cash in.

We don't talk about the 3rd film.

 

Sin City was one of the best comic book adaptations ever made.

Sin City 2 was like bad fan fiction.

 

 

 

I saw Sin City 2 it is a boring film 

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3 minutes ago, Ray Gin said:

 

I watched the first one recently. It hasn't aged well.

 

 

Ah been a few years for me. Always were some bits I thought were really well done. 

 

I might just be kind on it out of nostalgia and knowing the budget it was on. 

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2 minutes ago, RobboM said:

Gregory's Girl
Fabulous film, ****ing car crash of a sequel

 

Completely agree. I went to a pre-release "feedback" showing of the sequel in Stirling and everyone was raving about the sequel in the foyer afterwards. I thought it was shite.

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The sequel to Ted. I quite liked Taken but the second one was maybe the worst film I’ve ever seen. Godfather 3 easily the most disappointing sequel, partly because the first two were so good. All the follow ups to Jaws. All Rocky films after Rocky 2. Staying Alive. 
 

Edit. The third Omen film was terrible but looks like a masterpiece compared to the 4th one. The 2nd Exorcist? The one where Richard Burton is the priest was dreadful. 

Edited by GinRummy
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1 hour ago, milky_26 said:

there was even more than 3, the 4th and 5th in the series followed on from the awful tv series. the reason highlander 2 was so poor was the original director (who directed the first one) was removed and he was the main creative person behind it. They then changed the story to include nonsense like aliens

Such a shame as the original idea had so much potential but,as you say the introduction of aliens ect totally fell of a cliff....pure shit.

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Exorcist 2 : The heretic was laughable , Richard Burton shouting all the way through it and a ludicrious plot. Poor choice of a follow up role for the fine actress Louise Fletcher who had won the Oscar for "One flew over the cuckoos nest" just before this film but her career tanked after this film.  Linda Blair came out of it ok though. 

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2 hours ago, redjambo said:

Alien. Same as above.

 

I'm quite the opposite. 

 

Aliens is pure joy. Easily watched it into triple figures.

 

Alien is good but I dont think its the cult classic many think it is.

 

Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection are utter Hibs.

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il Duce McTarkin
3 hours ago, redjambo said:

Alien. Same as above.

 

Aliens is a terrific movie. All subsequent sequels are gash.

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il Duce McTarkin
3 hours ago, Cade said:

 

Aliens was one of the best sequels ever made, because it was an entirely different film.

Alien was a claustrophobic horror film.

Aliens was Vietnam in space.

Both films excelled in their own genre.

 

:spoton:

 

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Police Academy.

 

By no means a "great movie" but, if it was a stand alone film, with none of the abysmal follow ups, I think it would be much more fondly remembered 40 years on.

 

It's good fun.

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15 hours ago, William H. Bonney said:

First blood is a superb film. 

The sequels, not so much. 

Saw an interview recently with Stallone who said when he first watched the uncut edit he tried to buy it back so it would not be released as he thought it was so bad. They made it better by basically cutting all his dialogue from the film and shortening it by an hour.

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16 hours ago, William H. Bonney said:

First blood is a superb film. 

The sequels, not so much. 

 

First Blood is a dark, sombre, mainly psychological drama about PTSD, the abuses of power and the terrible long term effects suffered by ex soldiers.

All the other Rambo films were gung-ho, hyper-nationalistic cold war propaganda pieces.

 

Much in the same way, the first Rocky film is a solid character drama and all the others are just stupid.

Edited by Cade
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17 hours ago, RobboM said:

Gregory's Girl
Fabulous film, ****ing car crash of a sequel

I didn't even realise there was a sequel. I won't be looking for it based on this. 

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18 hours ago, BlueRiver said:

 

Everyone raves about Aliens. 

 

I see you're like me though. The first is undefeated. 

 

I'll say anything past Terminator 2 for my contribution here. (Although I prefer the first, the second is still very good.) 

 

Alien is, IMO, the best horror film ever made. 

 

Aliens is a brilliant action movie. 

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On 23/11/2023 at 15:15, Spellczech said:

Godfather 3 was all about "completing the story" - very Hollywood thing to feel the need to do...

 

The semi-incestuous love story, Sofia Coppola's acting, and the early ending of the US storyline were all big problems. Other elements like the nice old man who turns out to be the big baddie had already been done in Godfather 2...

 

Not sure what went wrong - perhaps Puzo was forced to be "Hollywood" and lost his way - I seem to remember they were still writing scripts during filming so perhaps it was a timing problem? or perhaps Coppola got too involved in the writing? 


im pretty sure Francis Coppola did it as his film studio was in dire straits and he needed money.  
the new CODA cut of the film definitely improves it and cuts out a lot of the ridiculous scenes and adds in some decent stuff.

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