# Best sequels
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 18, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685 "2010-06-18T16:34:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/1 "2010-06-18T16:34:26Z")
Most sequels are… of a somewhat less-than-Oscar-worthy quality. A movie is made, people love it, the critics love it. Or maybe they just concede that it’s entertaining. Anyway, filmmakers distill the basic plot, mix it with a few new characters, add some heavy-handedness, drain out the originality and what made the movie good in the first place, and boil everything down into a bland Forgettable Film Pudding.
Once, on very rare occasions (you can tell by the blue moon, flying pigs, and the opening of skating rinks in Hell), the director will manage to make a second film that’s as good as the first. Sometimes even better. You can probably count them on your fingers, but they exist. _The Godfather Part II_ is often mentioned, and _Toy Story 2_. (In fact, I got the idea for this thread after reading an effusive review for _Toy Story 3_ in today’s paper. Which would make it a brilliant _threefer_).
So… pick yer best second acts.
(Books, of course, suffer from sequelitis as well. But the process that makes a bad written series is different from the kind of thing that goes on in Hollywood. So that’s for a separate thread).
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### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/2 "2010-06-18T16:39:09Z")
**Aliens
X-Men 2
Spider-Man 2
The Dark Knight
The Empire Strikes Back**
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/3 "2010-06-18T16:47:12Z")
Right off the bat, they took my fave – **Aliens**
I’ll add:
**From Russia With Love**
**Terminator 2**
\*\*Quatermass 2/Enemy from Space
Godfather II
The Road Warrior
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The Bride of Frankenstein\*\*
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/4 "2010-06-18T17:00:06Z")
\*\*Army of Darkness
Last Crusade\*\*
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/5 "2010-06-18T17:03:49Z")
\*\*Clear and Present Danger
Superman 2\*\*
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/6 "2010-06-18T17:09:59Z")
**Silence of the Lambs**
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/7 "2010-06-18T17:15:19Z")
_Aliens
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
From Russia with Love
Terminator II: Judgment Day
Toy Story II_
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### Author:  [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/8 "2010-06-18T17:36:12Z")
Uh…_Hardbodies II_?
As I recall, it had more knockers than _Hardbodies_ did.
That’s gotta make it “better”, right? 😃
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### Author:  [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/9 "2010-06-18T17:40:17Z")
**Before Sunset**.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/10 "2010-06-18T17:42:40Z")
The Four Musketeers (1974)
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### Author:  [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/11 "2010-06-19T01:29:25Z")
Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo!
😃
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### Author:  [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/12 "2010-06-19T02:22:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> \*\*Army of Darkness
>
> Last Crusade\*\*
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> \*\*Clear and Present Danger
>
> Superman 2\*\*
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#):
>
> **Silence of the Lambs**
Hate to be really nitpicky (I know how much that is frowned on here:))
Army of Darkness, Last Crusade and Clear and Present Danger were all part **three** of the respective movie series. OP asked for best **second** acts.
I might grudgingly concede that if you are talking about Tom Clancy movies starring Harrison Ford, then CaPD was a superior sequel, but only because Patriot Games was shit.
And while Manhunter was based on the novel Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs wasn’t filmed as a _sequel_, but as a film in it’s own right. In fact IMHO it was superior to it two true sequels Hannibal and Red Dragon.
I would like to nominate Star Trek II. As well as being a far more entertaining story to the first ST movie, I think it was one of the best Star Trek movies altogether.
I also liked what Blade2 did to the story. The first Blade movie was a nice take on the vampire genre, but I personally liked what they did with the reapers in the sequel (plus Ron Perlman).
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### Author:  [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/13 "2010-06-19T04:47:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> The Four Musketeers (1974)
I question whether The Four Musketeers is actually a “sequel” of The Three Musketeers. It was originally filmed as a single movie and the producers later decided to cut it in half and release it as two movies.
As I recall, the actors sued the producers, since they were only paid for one movie.
IIRC, BTTF II and III were actually shot at the same time and also The Matrix II and III.
It might also be an interesting discussion if LOTR should be viewed as three movies or one movie released in three parts, since the all the principal photography was done at the same time.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Lord\_of\_the\_Rings\_film\_trilogy#Filming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_film_trilogy#Filming)
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/14 "2010-06-19T13:58:46Z")
Without watching Clerks yet, I am sure Clerks 2 had to be better.
The first two I thought of have already been named- Superman II & The Bride of Frankenstein,
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### Author:  [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/15 "2010-06-19T15:23:01Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> Without watching Clerks yet, I am sure Clerks 2 had to be better.
Clerks 2 IMO was a terrible terrible movie.
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/16 "2010-06-19T15:32:54Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> Without watching Clerks yet, I am sure Clerks 2 had to be better.
Oh no, not even close.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/17 "2010-06-19T16:10:35Z")
I disagree. If I had thought of it, I would have given _Clerks 2_ as an example of a sequel that was better than its original.
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### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/18 "2010-06-19T16:22:50Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#):
>
> **Silence of the Lambs**
What I was going to say.
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### Author:  [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/19 "2010-06-19T16:27:41Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#):
>
> Uh…_Hardbodies II_?
>
> As I recall, it had more knockers than _Hardbodies_ did.
>
> That’s gotta make it “better”, right? 😃
Using this same logic, I have to put up _Cyborg 2_. While I did not see the original _Cyborg_, _Cyborg 2_ has Angelina Jolie naked.
Looks like any movies I’d seriously nominate have already been mentioned, so it’s just +1’s for _The Empire Strikes Back_, _Aliens_, and _The Wrath of Khan_.
What surprises me is how movie franchises can hit in an every-other-one pattern like Star Trek, Indiana Jones.
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### Author:  [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sequels/543685/20 "2010-06-19T16:41:08Z")
The New Testament.
It totally broke away from the established plot progression and epic scale of the Old Testament, and instead focussed on one protagonists personal development through the remininces of friends. Plus, I don’t want to use the spoiler tag, but it has a surprise ending.
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