The best (and worst) Second-sequel.
When a film series gets to #3, one of two things usually happen: It's either going to be the best of the series - as the company now know how to treat the characters and have built a substantial mythos to write around, or it's going to be a last-ditch attempt to cash-in on the franchise!
Here's what I consider to be the best Number 3s!
HALLOWEEN: SEASON OF THE WITCH.
No Michael Myres - Hurrah! Just a dark 'n' creepy Stepford-style classic 80's horror, akin to John Carpenter's 'The Fog.' Oh and it's got stonehenge as demonic power source!
TERMINATOR 3 - RISE OF THE MACHINES
Never liked the first film, and the second, although better - was a wasted opportunity. Here, everything is done properly, and negates the need to sit through the first two films, acting more like a total remake. Better robots, a more believable birth of Cyberdyne, and the end of the world as we know it. Brilliant.
JURASSIC PARK III
'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' had pretty much lost-the-plot, but here the balance is re-gained and we are treated to a film that sits more comfortably with the original. It's better too - It's got pterodactyls!
ALIEN 3 (but only the TV edit version)
At the cinema, this was an overdrawn yawn-fest, but ITV kindly cut out all the slapstick comedy and falling about, and they tightened up the pace. Okay, so it's now a very short film, but it oozes so much claustraphobic atmosphere, it becomes the best of the bunch.
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD Prt 3
Kitch cheapo horror - with excellently crafted characters and some really grizzly, scary-as-hell zombies! The first two films were good fun, but this one polishes up pretty good.
The Worst...
BLADE 3
Okay, it's Dracula - that much I can just about handle. Whistler's daughter and the rest of the 2 dimensional fill-ins? Not really. No pacing, no coherency, just a meandering bore. Thank heavens for Blade: The series!
JAWS 3
Just saying it makes me cringe. It could have been sooo good, as all the best ideas are in this film. Underwater Sealife tunnels? Excellent! Massive shark munching on water skiers? Perfect! Flooding complex and towing inferno style disaster? Yes! But, why did they make it so slow and dull? And in 3D? Remake please.
REVENGE OF THE SITH
Never have I been so embarrassed in watching a Starwars film. This horrifically low budget send off for the saga features all the mistakes that even Youtube fanfilms have surpassed. Watch (between the gaps in your fingers) as your favorite childhood villian becomes nothing more than a ham-acting pantomine goof. What a shame.
TRANCERS 3
Yes, I know, they're not meant to be taken that seriously, but the first two Trancer films were brilliant! Why oh why change the format so much? Surely they know that these sort of films gather very dedicated followers... so make it FOR them - I mean, who else is going to watch them anyway? :)
Unsure...
ROBOCOP 3
Y'what? Well, it's gained a bit of a poor reputation, and for fans of the original - I can understand why, but when it came out, Robocop 3 held the highest appreciation figures for the series. Personally I think the films got better with each one, and this has got all I want in it: Bolt-on weapons, a jet pack, splatter-punks and a more human story-line. It's still a little dull in places, but Robocop 5 onwards improved all that. 5 and 7 are my favourites!
Here's what I consider to be the best Number 3s!
HALLOWEEN: SEASON OF THE WITCH.
No Michael Myres - Hurrah! Just a dark 'n' creepy Stepford-style classic 80's horror, akin to John Carpenter's 'The Fog.' Oh and it's got stonehenge as demonic power source!
TERMINATOR 3 - RISE OF THE MACHINES
Never liked the first film, and the second, although better - was a wasted opportunity. Here, everything is done properly, and negates the need to sit through the first two films, acting more like a total remake. Better robots, a more believable birth of Cyberdyne, and the end of the world as we know it. Brilliant.
JURASSIC PARK III
'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' had pretty much lost-the-plot, but here the balance is re-gained and we are treated to a film that sits more comfortably with the original. It's better too - It's got pterodactyls!
ALIEN 3 (but only the TV edit version)
At the cinema, this was an overdrawn yawn-fest, but ITV kindly cut out all the slapstick comedy and falling about, and they tightened up the pace. Okay, so it's now a very short film, but it oozes so much claustraphobic atmosphere, it becomes the best of the bunch.
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD Prt 3
Kitch cheapo horror - with excellently crafted characters and some really grizzly, scary-as-hell zombies! The first two films were good fun, but this one polishes up pretty good.
The Worst...
BLADE 3
Okay, it's Dracula - that much I can just about handle. Whistler's daughter and the rest of the 2 dimensional fill-ins? Not really. No pacing, no coherency, just a meandering bore. Thank heavens for Blade: The series!
JAWS 3
Just saying it makes me cringe. It could have been sooo good, as all the best ideas are in this film. Underwater Sealife tunnels? Excellent! Massive shark munching on water skiers? Perfect! Flooding complex and towing inferno style disaster? Yes! But, why did they make it so slow and dull? And in 3D? Remake please.
REVENGE OF THE SITH
Never have I been so embarrassed in watching a Starwars film. This horrifically low budget send off for the saga features all the mistakes that even Youtube fanfilms have surpassed. Watch (between the gaps in your fingers) as your favorite childhood villian becomes nothing more than a ham-acting pantomine goof. What a shame.
TRANCERS 3
Yes, I know, they're not meant to be taken that seriously, but the first two Trancer films were brilliant! Why oh why change the format so much? Surely they know that these sort of films gather very dedicated followers... so make it FOR them - I mean, who else is going to watch them anyway? :)
Unsure...
ROBOCOP 3
Y'what? Well, it's gained a bit of a poor reputation, and for fans of the original - I can understand why, but when it came out, Robocop 3 held the highest appreciation figures for the series. Personally I think the films got better with each one, and this has got all I want in it: Bolt-on weapons, a jet pack, splatter-punks and a more human story-line. It's still a little dull in places, but Robocop 5 onwards improved all that. 5 and 7 are my favourites!
Post edited by Graz on
Comments
I thought Robocop 3 was utter pants, and every film that followed was worse than the last. Awful!!
Anyways, here are my picks:
Best: The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather: Part II
Worst: Robocop 3, The Godfather: Part III
"Three... it's the tragic number"!! :grin:
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
Beanz 2 - My trip to Mars
Beanz 3 - Gets down and dirty
All three to avoid at all costs......................
I thought this was the best prequel by far, BUT the acting when Darth Vader realises hes killed Padme is ridiculous, yeah its meant to be a nod to frankenstein but still a terrible part. But i love the way it ends with luke in tatooine and with a young uncle owen/aunt beru. The way she suddenly dies after giving birth is odd as she looked fine !
But overall ROTS i found very good, a ton of battles, not too many annoying bits though. Phantom Menace had a ton of stupid scenes (a few good ones), i didnt mind Attack of the clones (some great parts and some poor ones). But honestly ROTS i thought was good.
Beverly Hills Cop 3 - loved the first two, second wasnt as good but thought the third was shocking.
Godfather II - Previous 2 were classics, found this shocking.
Alien III - Its not that bad but just compared to the other alien films i thought it was a let down. I read that Sigourney weaver was 'anti guns' back then and so didnt want any in the movie, its nice and dark and creepy but still a let down compared to Aliens II which was a classic. ( I liked Aliens 4)
Terminator 3 - Agree with this, 2 was a classic and a huge hit, 3 was alright but more a straight to video type film.
Other than that, I'm mostly with Dave and Green Card. Unless there's always been the plan to make three or more films, second sequels are almost inevitably sad grabs for a little more cash after an unexpected hit and what was good or original about the first film will have long been diluted beyond recognition.
Anywho, the third SW movie, I agree that it was a crap ending with whatsherface dying And a terrible Frankenstein moment ... but overall I enjoyed it.
OMEN 3: THE FINAL CONFLICT
Sam Neil is perfectly fine as the devil's lil boy, and there's a nice dose of real-life evil oozing from his actions - but the awkward pace and uninspired shock-deaths (apart from the wrecking-ball one) show all too well that the ideas are running out. Then there's the ending. Abrupt, pointless, and a kick in the ribs to anyone who liked the first two films. Ow!
Absolutely dreadful. The TV series though, after a start, was looking really good and then they cancelled it....
I hated it at the time, having seen it subsequently I can't understand why I didn't like it more the first time around.
Joinnnn ussss!
I didn't like Resi 1. I loved Nemesis in part 2, but yes, Resi 3 is certainly the best of the films so far.
indy 3 was good and so was die hard 3.
hellraiser 3 was pants.
Watching all three back-to-back tonight. The series: "Beanz licks the sauce off" starts next Tuesday.
So Vader dies before he is born? Hmm, I suppose this is right... from a certain point of view. :D
Ok ok i dont usualy get hot under the collar and i think everyone is entitled to their opinion but ARE YOU SMOKING CRACK!. Wtf.OMg.lol and indeed rofl.
I take it you didn't like it? :lol:
Funny. I liked 1, and hated 2 so much I didn't bother with three, but I'll give it a go now.
Oh god yes - Dream Warriors is excellent! Good call! :D
Love the veins as puppet strings! :lol:
DAY OF THE DEAD
:D
Matrix - "What the hell have I just watched? It was amazing!!" type film
Matrix:Reloaded - "Lovely fight scenes but, errrrrrmmmm, yeah"
Matrix:Revolutions - "How the hell do I go about suing these fooktards for wasting a good couple of hours of my life?!?!"
I did, however, really enjoy the Animatrix.
On the flip side, for me, a trilogy that got better was The Chronicles of Riddick trilogy.
Pitch Black - Nice idea, portrayed a genuine sense of helplessness. Nice use of colours to get the "alien world" thing down as well.
Dark Fury - Hey! A half hour or so cartoon to link parts 1 and 3 - cool. And it's really well animated as well?? I'll have me some of that...
The Chronicles of Riddick - Oh lovely. A dark invading army whose chief priest (Linus Roach) is from Manchester! Yes please!! I can't say I fully understand what the "Underverse" is all about, but Thandie Newton looks gorgeous, Karl Urban plays a great part as a general manipulated by his scheming mistress...and Judi Dench is there to add a touch of class as well.
Totally totally agree with your 3 reviews of those films. The last one was just dire, shame
OMG!! You've just listed some of what I consider the absolute worst second sequel films ever, especially T3. Still it's all a matter of opinion ;-) I know 99.99999'% people don't agree but I think Return Of The Jedi's the best Star Wars film. And I love Rocky III not matter how badly it's aged.
Return of the King has got to be my all-time fave second sequel, though.
I'd forgotten about this. It's a seriously bad movie. And just when you think it can't get any worse the ending where they've been shot to pieces and are giggling like school girls. Pathetic.
OH YES!!
Don't watch the remake though, it's horrific, which is a shame as the Dawn remake was very good.
I always felt they tried to be too clever instead of just giving answers. As a result the third film was a total turkey.
At the risk of cross-threading, I have a feeling that Lost will go the same way - either be too clever with its "answers" or just be a really lame ending.
My pick to, it's a great film in it's own right, then there's zombies.
Aww, I really enjoyed the remake. HOWEVER - it wasn't Day of the Dead. If they had ( and they really should have ) called it something else I think it would have been a lot better recieved.
Highlander - WOW! Great idea, well done. Great setting. The Kurgan - a great baddy..some nice lines "I'm from lots of different places...", "Why Garfield? You cruising for a piece of ass??". Nice fights...and they got rid of the strings in the digital remaster as well. Nice mix of flashback and modern day...
Highlander:The Quickening - I don't have too many quibbles with this film, in fact I have a major crush on Virginia Madsen to this day because of this movie! But it was universally panned and even the actors distanced themselves from it.
Highlander:The Sorceror - A slight return to form, but Mario van Peebles sounds far to ghey sometimes...not what you want from a bad guy - Kurgan would have kicked his ass, he should count himself lucky he was trapped under a mountain whilst Connor dealt with him! And what the hell were they thinking casting Kara Unger as the love interest? Couldn't they find a hot actress who wasn't busy??
Highlander:Endgame - Nope, run this one past me again?
Highlander:The Source - Never seen it. Not breaking a sweat to see it. Not bothered.
They should have left it at the first one instead of shamelessly milking it!