# What is the WORST immediate sequel to a great film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 11, 2025, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246 "2025-05-11T07:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/121 "2025-05-12T19:08:01Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Oooh…so right about this. Not sure if Robocop 2 is worse than Highlander 2. Close call. Both are awful. Robocop 2 didn’t completely trash the entire fundamental premise of the original movie. Highlander 2 can’t exist if we accept the first movie on its own terms. It wasn’t “The Gathering”, Macleod isn’t the last of the immortals, now mortal with other kinds of superpowers, and everything. At least with Robocop 2, Robocop still existed, and was an exceptional police officer and robot. The second movie accepted the point that making that particular cop into Robocop is what made the whole program work. They couldn’t just swap out any old cop for Murphy. It was Murphy’s qualities as a man that made Robocop as good as he was. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/122 "2025-05-12T19:09:09Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > added a sickeningly glurgy subplot about a kindly old man I thought you were talking about the first one for a second. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/123 "2025-05-12T19:13:02Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’ve also not seen [the sequel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010:_The_Year_We_Make_Contact) to **2001: A Space Odyssey**. I just can’t imagine it being in the same ballpark as the original. But the reviews are not _super_ bad, so perhaps I should give it a watch. It’s not written on the epic and psychedelic scale of the original, but if approached as a mid-80s attempt at a (mostly) hard sci-fi space movie, it’s a decent movie. Very Cold War in its politics, of course, but the space adventure scenes are pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![TheTyrant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thetyrant/32/19111_2.png) [@TheTyrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTyrant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/124 "2025-05-12T19:22:56Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Having seen them again recently, yeah, maybe by modern standards the bloom is perhaps a bit off the rose? > > But that sequence with the T-Rex in the rain is still phenomenal. Yeah, like I mentioned in my post about the original JP–I’m really not sure if it was that great a movie or if the effects were just something we’d never seen before. My litmus test is generally _“do I remember anything from it?”_ I remember a _lot_ of scenes from the original Jurassic Park but staggeringly few from any of the subsequent movies. ---
**Author:** ![TheTyrant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thetyrant/32/19111_2.png) [@TheTyrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTyrant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/125 "2025-05-12T19:25:00Z")
I only saw 2001 and 2010 _after_ reading the books. Frankly, I’m not entirely certain how enjoyable I would have found 2001 otherwise. Were viewers expected to understand what’s going on or were they just expected to marvel at the effects? Because the overarching plot of the books doesn’t really seem entirely clear to me from the movies alone. (In fact, I’d say 2010 is probably easier to follow in that regard.) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/126 "2025-05-12T19:32:08Z")
> [@TheTyrant](#): > > Were viewers expected to understand what’s going on or were they just expected to marvel at the effects? Because the overarching plot of the books doesn’t really seem entirely clear to me from the movies alone. I’m too young to have seen 2001 in its original run, but from what I’ve gleaned, a lot of people at the time didn’t really get it. I recall one of my friends dad, who was an engineer in the 60s, complaining that, when he went to see 2001 in the theatre, the place was “full of hippies smoking dope”, which he seemed to consider to be a negative. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/127 "2025-05-12T19:59:20Z")
Hot Tub Time Machine while not a “great” movie was definitely one of the better juvenile gross-out comedies. A lot of people took a pass on this one on the name alone but it was really well written, creative, and funny. Hot Tub Time Machine 2? Oh geez… just.. no. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/128 "2025-05-12T20:12:29Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Robocop still existed, and was an exceptional police officer and robot. The second movie accepted the point that making that particular cop into Robocop is what made the whole program work. They couldn’t just swap out any old cop for Murphy. It was Murphy’s qualities as a man that made Robocop as good as he was. _“They’ll fix you,”_ he told Lewis. _“They fix everything.”_ ---
**Author:** ![TheTyrant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thetyrant/32/19111_2.png) [@TheTyrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTyrant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/129 "2025-05-12T20:14:04Z")
I gotta give Robocop 2 a thumbs-up just for the amusing stop-motion “failed Robocops.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/130 "2025-05-12T20:18:19Z")
How about **Cannonball Run II**? Younger generations may recognize it from _The Good Place_ as one of only two movies available for viewing in the Medium Place, the other being **The Making of Cannonball Run II**. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/131 "2025-05-12T20:26:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If we toss out the requirement for cast continuity (which seems to have happened) then I’ll nominate _It Runs in the Family_ aka _My Summer Story_ (1994), the really bad sequel to _A Christmas Story_ (1983). The “sequel” is an Okay film, but the Original was a truly great classic. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/132 "2025-05-12T20:28:49Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > How about **Cannonball Run II**? The worst offense in an overall offensive film is that they reduced the actual race to a one-minute cartoon sequence. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/133 "2025-05-12T20:44:55Z")
What about Halloween II. In my mind, the original Halloween is one of, if not the best, horror movies of all time. The second is not out and out horrible, but significantly worse in every way. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/134 "2025-05-12T21:06:24Z")
**The Blair Witch Project** (1999) was flawed but interesting. It’s hard to call it a great film, but it became a cultural touchstone even if it ultimately didn’t deliver on its promise. **Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2** (2000) is a complete crapfest with no redeeming features. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/135 "2025-05-12T21:09:52Z")
I admit I liked that montage. It was probably the only good part of that whole film (and the little league team mentioned above). ---
**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:** [May 12, 2025, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/136 "2025-05-12T21:10:07Z")
My biggest issue with The Lost World is that the book had one clear setup for a sequel, but the movie had a different clear setup for a sequel. So which one do they use? Neither, of course. Wait, no, that wasn’t my biggest issue. My biggest issue was with them bringing a dead character back just because he was popular. “Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated”. Yup, and so were rumors of your burial on an island which was then rumored to have been firebombed into oblivion. Wait, no, fear, surprise, AND a fanatical devotion to the Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/137 "2025-05-12T21:23:12Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > What about Halloween II. In my mind, the original Halloween is one of, if not the best, horror movies of all time. The second is not out and out horrible, but significantly worse in every way. I mean, I like Halloween 2, but even if someone didn’t, it’s hardly the worst immediate sequel out there. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/138 "2025-05-12T21:26:33Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > **Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2** (2000) is a complete crapfest with no redeeming features. The goth girl was cute. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/139 "2025-05-12T21:27:47Z")
I don’t know if Weekend at Bernie’s qualifies as a good enough original but the sequel was definitely awful. ---
**Author:** ![Awb78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Awb78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Awb78)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246/140 "2025-05-12T23:37:30Z")
While your opinions on the X-Rated porn film _Deep Throat_ may vary, it is very much a pop culture milestone, and even a political one. The sequel, which brought back Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, is a lame R-Rated softcore comedy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-immediate-sequel-to-a-great-film/1018246.md?page=8)