# Most Successful Sequels?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 5, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766 "2017-11-05T14:00:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/1 "2017-11-05T14:00:53Z")
In general, sequels tend to be (a) less successful, and (b) of poorer quality than the original. So I was wondering if anyone can name some sequels that were truly high quality sequels. I know the term high quality is somewhat up for interpretation. I don’t want to define the term too much, but essentially, I’m looking for books and movies (or anything else that has sequels) in which there was merit to the follow-up, and its success wasn’t almost entirely due to the first one in the series.
---
### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/2 "2017-11-05T14:06:23Z")
_Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_
_Aliens_
_From Russia with Love_
_X-Men II_
I liked _Superman II_ more than the first film because much of the first film was spent on the character`s origin, which got tedious.
---
### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/3 "2017-11-05T14:08:14Z")
Just as a start:
Godfather II (one of the best movies ever made)
Star Trek II Wrath of Khan (Far superior to the first and maybe the best Star Trek movie)
Empire Strikes Back (the best Star Wars movie)
[_From Russia with Love_ (1963)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_James_Bond_films#From_Russia_with_Love_.281963.29) \*James Bond
-
---
### Author:  [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/4 "2017-11-05T14:21:59Z")
Since you mention both books and movies in the OP, then Silence of the Lambs should definitely be mentioned. The book was a sequel to the book Red Dragon. [Red Dragon was made into a movie named Manhunter in 1986.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091474/) Then a second movie named Red Dragon with Hopkins as Lecter was made in 2002. I just watched Manhanter a week ago in a Horror/Thriller movie marathon and my friend and I both had to laugh, but feel a bit bad for the actor that played Lecter.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/5 "2017-11-05T14:28:52Z")
Each CAPTAIN AMERICA movie has gotten better reviews than the prior one; plenty of folks will argue that WINTER SOLDIER was actually _better_ than CIVIL WAR, but either way I doubt you’ll find a lot of takers when it comes to the original.
(The original was fine for what it was, but WINTER SOLDIER – c’mon.)
---
### Author:  [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/6 "2017-11-05T14:31:23Z")
_The Road Warrior_ was much better than _Mad Max._ It could be argued that the budget of the original impacted quality.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/7 "2017-11-05T14:33:04Z")
> [@txjim](#):
>
> _The Road Warrior_ was much better than _Mad Max._ It could be argued that the budget of the original impacted quality.
And \*Fury Road \*was better than either.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/8 "2017-11-05T14:33:07Z")
_Toy Story 2_ and _Toy Story 3_ were as good as the original.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/9 "2017-11-05T14:48:18Z")
_The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_
---
### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/10 "2017-11-05T15:27:57Z")
I liked _Father’s Little Dividend_ as much as _Father of the Bride_. (I am, of course, talking about the Spencer Tracy movies, not the Steve Martin movies.)
Some people like _The Bride of Frankenstein_ better than _Frankenstein_.
I liked _House II: The Second Story_ as much as _House_. (Technically, that is not really a sequel, just a second movie with a similar premise.)
_Elizabeth: The Golden Age_ was just as [del]good[/del] entertaining as _Elizabeth_.
---
### Author:  [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/11 "2017-11-05T15:46:18Z")
Lot’s of good examples so far.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
---
### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/12 "2017-11-05T15:50:57Z")
Roderick Thorpe wrote the novel, [The Detective](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Detective_(novel)), and its sequel, [Nothing Lasts Forever](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_(Thorp_novel)).
The first was made into the 1968 movie [The Detective](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Detective_(1968_film)), starring Frank Sinatra.
The second was made into the 1988 movie [Die Hard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard), starring Bruce Willis.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/13 "2017-11-05T15:54:10Z")
_Spider-Man 2_ was an improvement over the first.
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/14 "2017-11-05T22:28:06Z")
**Bride of Frankenstein** was certainly great, as good as or better than the original.
The second Pink Panther movie, **A Shot in the Dark** was certainly successful and lead to the string of sequels. It introduced Herbert Lom’s character, Dreyfus, and a host of other features of the series, and was critically better regarded than the original _Pink Panther_.
I think that **Quatermass 2** \* was as good as or better than the original _Quatermass Xperiment_. It certainly did wel, enough, and allowed for the thirs TV serial and film, **Quatermas and the Pit** , which I think the best of the three.
\*The first film I know of after the silent era to proclaim itslf a sequel with that “2” in the title, beating _Godfather II_ by decades.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/15 "2017-11-05T22:39:27Z")
It’s cheating, but Richard Lester’s _The Four Musketeers_ is better than his _The Three Musketeers._
For that matter the Discworld. Just about every book is better than _The Color of Magic_.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/16 "2017-11-05T22:41:31Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#):
>
> I’m looking for books and movies (or anything else that has sequels) in which there was merit to the follow-up, and its success wasn’t almost entirely due to the first one in the series.
In my opinion – though I can, just off the top of my head, give you half-a-dozen reasons _why_ – Angelina Jolie’s second outing as Lara Croft was better than the first; but while I figure that flick got made due to the financial success of the first one, I also figure its _lack_ of financial success was because folks didn’t love the first one.
---
### Author:  [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/17 "2017-11-05T23:51:33Z")
\*Lord of the Rings \*started out as a sequel to _The Hobbit_, and evolved in a new direction.
---
### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/18 "2017-11-05T23:52:30Z")
Possibly controversial: _Gremlins 2 The New Batch_ embraced the silliness a lot more and that made it a better movie.
---
### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/19 "2017-11-06T00:02:28Z")
[The New Testament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament) has billions more followers than the [Tanakh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh).
---
### Author:  [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766/20 "2017-11-06T00:37:16Z")
_Star Crash II_ (alternate title _Escape from Galaxy 3_) was pretty-well as successful as _Star Crash_, except there was no Marjoe Gortner, Christopher Plummer, or David Hasselhoff.
And no Carolyn Monroe.☹
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-successful-sequels/800766.md?page=2)