# Sequels that are better known than the original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2019, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798 "2019-09-25T10:43:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/61 "2019-09-26T14:40:05Z")
What about that great science fiction epic about visitors banished from their home planet being pursued by their enemies, _Highlander II_? I looked up the prequel, _Highlander_, and it had none of that wonderful futuristic multi-planet stuff going for it-just a bunch of old guys sword fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/62 "2019-09-26T15:04:58Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > 9999 for [Myriad](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9879612/), from before those other movies and over in [Greece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myriad). Then I have to mention [One Million B.C.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032871/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) A middle part of a several billion sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/63 "2019-09-26T15:11:57Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Then I have to mention [One Million B.C.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032871/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) A middle part of a several billion sequence. It was supposed to be the opening movie in a long series. But they never even made the second movie, _Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine B.C._ They couldn’t get the financing for the title card. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/64 "2019-09-26T16:27:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Then I have to mention [One Million B.C.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032871/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) A middle part of a several billion sequence. Zatoichi, I presume? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/65 "2019-09-26T16:30:20Z")
_Mr. Billion_ 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/66 "2019-09-26T19:31:25Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Dunno. My brother and I (36 and 42) had seen The Rescuers before Down Under came out. It _might_ be a function of availability in the 80s give the whole Disney vault bs. We saw it primarily because we went to an independently owned video store owned by someone who got **every** Disney movie he could get his hands on, which is also why my favorite Disney movie as a little kid was one almost no one I’ve mentioned it to is familiar with: **Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus**. Yes, it is a generational thing. I saw “The Rescuers” when it first ran in the theaters as a kid and had no idea before this thread that there was a sequel, because at that time I wasn’t exactly in that target group anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/67 "2019-09-26T19:34:29Z")
How about _Five Million Years to Earth_ (aka _Quatermass and the Pit)_? At least to American audiences, the two previous movies are mostly unknown. 5MYtE was shown on TV a lot when I was a kid (and it made quite the impression) but I still have never seen the first two. Outside of maybe TCM who would show them? I don’t see them available on Amazon at all. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/68 "2019-09-26T19:52:04Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Dunno. My brother and I (36 and 42) had seen The Rescuers before Down Under came out. It _might_ be a function of availability in the 80s give the whole Disney vault bs. We saw it primarily because we went to an independently owned video store owned by someone who got **every** Disney movie he could get his hands on, which is also why my favorite Disney movie as a little kid was one almost no one I’ve mentioned it to is familiar with: **Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus**. I’m almost exactly in between the two of you (I’m 39). I’m guessing the difference is the fact that I never had the opportunity to see _The Rescuers_ as a kid for whatever reason, and you did. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/69 "2019-09-26T20:33:42Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How about _Five Million Years to Earth_ (aka _Quatermass and the Pit)_? At least to American audiences, the two previous movies are mostly unknown. 5MYtE was shown on TV a lot when I was a kid (and it made quite the impression) but I still have never seen the first two. Outside of maybe TCM who would show them? I don’t see them available on Amazon at all. I grew up watching _The Creeping Unknown_ (AKA _The Quatermass Xperiment_ – the first Quatermass movie) on WPIX’s _Chiller Theater_ many, many times. Chiller Theater had a way of showing the same movies over and over and over, so I eventually figured they probably simply owned copies and tossed them in at random\*. This Quatermass film was arguably the classiest of their low-budget bunch. I don’t know if anyone outside the New York Metropolitan area broadcast it, but, if it was that cheap, my guess is “yes” I saw _Enemy from Space_ (AKA “Quatermass 2”) on the Late Movie on CBS the first time, and was riveted by it. I hadn’t known there was a sequel at first. I own a copy now, but I taped it from TNT, then transferred it to DVD. All three films are available on DVD, if you look for them. In fact, the original BBC serial versions are available, too (except in the case of _The Quatermass Experiment_ – the TV version wasn’t cute with the spelling – only two episodes survive. You can find them on YouTube). But it’s true, they’re not shown much anymore, especially with things like Monstervision and MST3K off the air. Who wants to watch black and white 1950s movies with poor special effects when you can rewatch Star Wars? Even science fiction conventions rarely run these films. For that matter, who shows _Five Million Years to Earth_ anymore? (AKA _Quatermass and the Pit_) It’s just as obscure as the first two films these days. \*Some of Chiller Theaters offerings: The Ape Man The Cyclops Cape Canaveral Monsters The Black Sleep Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman Voodoo Island ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/70 "2019-09-26T21:43:57Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > How about the horror movie _ **Ben** _? I suspect most people who have seen it have never seen (or maybe never even heard about) its predecessor, _ **Willard** _. One data point to the contrary: I’ve never seen either, but I am aware of _Willard_ being a horror movie involving rats and I had never heard of _Ben_ before now. For a sequel to be better known, does it literally have to be that people don’t know the earlier book/movie exists, or just more people have seen the second? If it’s the first, you pretty much need it to not be something that has a number in the title. Something relatively recently released that doesn’t have a number is going to be known by more people than know of the original. So _Mad Max: Fury Road_ likely qualifies. I bet there are more young people aware of the recent one and unaware of the older ones than there are old people aware of the old ones and unaware of the new one. In the 80s, _The Color of Money_ might have qualified? These days _The Hustler_ is likely better known. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/71 "2019-09-26T22:11:15Z")
Most people in the U.S. know Final Fantasy 3, which was actually the 6th game in the series. Strangely they corrected the numbering for FF7. Anyway, I believe very few Americans ever played 1-4, although I do remember playing FF5. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/72 "2019-09-26T22:11:54Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I’d say The Road Warrior almost qualifies as a remake of Mad Max rather than a sequel. Desperado the same for El Mariachi. Road Warrior has already been mentioned. Desperado not only had a different story than El Mariachi, it literally had a flashback to the first. In Desperado, the Mariachi is seeking revenge for what happened to Domino in the first film (as well as the damage to his hand). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/73 "2019-09-26T23:22:32Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Most people in the U.S. know Final Fantasy 3, which was actually the 6th game in the series. Strangely they corrected the numbering for FF7. Anyway, I believe very few Americans ever played 1-4, although I do remember playing FF5. IV came out in the US as II (though it was originally the dumbed down “kids” version) and was very popular. 5 never came out in the US until later. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/74 "2019-09-26T23:23:47Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Most Americans associate _The Avengers_ with Emma Peel (played by Diana Rigg). > > That was actually the fourth season. Less well-known are the second and third seasons, which had Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman) and a couple of others. > > Most Americans are unaware of the first season, in which John Steed was the sidekick, and the leading role was David Keel (played by Ian Hendry). To be fair, it’s really hard nowadays to get familiar with the first season with David Keel, because only three full episodes still exist. And the _fifth_ season is probably the best-known one. Seasons four and five had Emma Peel, but season 4 was in black and white; season 5 was when it moved to colour. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/75 "2019-09-27T00:59:15Z")
I think “familiarity” has to go a little further than “knows it exists”. I mean, I know that the two Ultima games I played were numbered III and IV, so logically, I know that I and II exist. But all I know about them is what others have mentioned in this thread, so I’m certainly more familiar with the sequels than with them. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/76 "2019-09-27T11:22:37Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo? I long ago forgot about the original, but remember the sequel because of the expanded title. > > I admit I didn’t actually see either of them, though. I think the original was just called **Breakin’** , but I’m too lazy to look it up. The title of the sequel is epic! Up there with **Pootie Tang** on the list of memorably outlandish movie titles. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/77 "2019-09-27T15:21:38Z")
> [@MacSpon](#): > > To be fair, it’s really hard nowadays to get familiar with the first season with David Keel, because only three full episodes still exist. > > And the _fifth_ season is probably the best-known one. Seasons four and five had Emma Peel, but season 4 was in black and white; season 5 was when it moved to colour. For Americans, the introduction to _The Avengers_, as with _Doctor Who_, came late in the series. The b&w Avengers season four was the first one shown. And Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor, was the first one shown. You would have to have made an effort years later to see any of the earlier episodes. Unseeable programs aren’t going to make any impression. BTW, as I point out in my robot book, the first episode of each shown was a robot episode. _The Avengers_ started out of order with “The Cybernauts” and _Doctor Who_ led off with a four-parter called “The Robot.” ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/78 "2019-09-28T01:14:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not sure about this one, but I _think_ that the Voltron that was most familiar to American audiences, the one with the five lions, was Voltron 3, and the one with the twenty assorted vehicles was actually Voltron 1. But don’t ask me where I ever heard those numbers attached to them. Voltron was a combination of two Japanese cartoons that were only connected in the sense that they starred a giant robot made by combining smaller vehicles. The producers had already bought the rights for a third similar Japanese show and would have grafted that one on to the other two, but the show got canceled. The 1,2,and 3 designations for the three series are in-house for the production staff and are geographical (near/far from Earth), not chronological. The Voltron with the lions was the first one broadcast in the US and the oldest of the three shows in Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/79 "2019-09-28T01:37:59Z")
The best-known Sherlock Holmes story is probably\* The Hound of the Baskervilles\*, but the first is _A Study in Scarlet_. Not really sure how to rank Sherlock Holmes stories. James Bond was mentioned upthread. The books came out in one order and the films in another, which really murks things up, but I would say objectively that _Goldfinger_ is better-known than either _Dr. No_ or _Casino Royale_, as it’s the first of the films where all the classic Bond elements were finally in place. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798/80 "2019-09-28T05:31:41Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > The best-known Sherlock Holmes story is probably\* The Hound of the Baskervilles\*, but the first is _A Study in Scarlet_. Not really sure how to rank Sherlock Holmes stories. Your username and post gives rise to the following question: What’s the best-known Horatio Hornblower book? If it’s not the first, then it might qualify for this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sequels-that-are-better-known-than-the-original/840798.md?page=5)