Sequels over originals

[Ordinary Guy]

These days you can probably bet at least 80% of movies that come out these days already have sequels in the works.

Generally sequels are not better than the original.

Me and bunch of my friends go through this topic a number of times, but I want to hear from you guys. Can you name any sequels you thought were better than the original. I'm talking 2's vs. 1's.

Here are some my friends and I came up with:
Empire Strikes Back-Star Wars
Die Hard 2-Die Hard
Lethal Weapon 2-Lethal Weapon
The Mummy Returns-The Mummy
T2-Terminator
American Pie 2-American Pie
Beverly Hills Cop 2-Beverly Hills Cop

That's just a few.

Holla!

[Marc]

Here's just a few that I can think of:

The Empire Strikes Back > Star Wars
The Road Warrior > Mad Max
Die Hard With a Vengeance > Die Hard 1 & 2
Aliens > Alien
Nightmare on Elm Street 3 > Nightmare 1 & 2 (Actually, I thought Wes Craven's New Nightmare was the best, but it's so different from the others I consider it separate movie.)
Evil Dead 2 > Evil Dead
Dawn of the Dead > Night of the Living Dead
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan > Star Trek: The Motion Picture
From Russia With Love > Dr. No
Godfather parts 1 & 2 are too close to call

[James]

ESB I agree with. And Evil Dead 2. Oh, and Star Trek II. Not sure about Aliens over Alien. I prefer Aliens, but I think Alien is a better movie. Aliens is just Vietnam in space. It's fun, but nothing mindblowing. I thought Terminator was better than T2 too...

Perhaps this 'fall' will offer me some more candidates... :)

[Floydian Slip]

Chasing amy>mallrats.
not funnier, but just a better overall movie then mallrats.

[Jedigreedo]

Episode II> Episode I
Die Hard with a Vengence> Die Hard 2 (I liked Die Hard 1 the same as Die Hard 3)
Back to the Future 2> Back to the Future

[Ruffian]

Toy Story 2>Toy Story

I found both enjoyable, but Toy Story 2 more so. :)

[Fallout Boy]

Gotta disagree on American Pie 2, I found it to be sorely lacking and very derivative of the first one. It had none of the first movie's charm. :)

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Have to think Godfather 2 was a more polished project than Godfather 1.

[Joker85]

Aliens> Alien
From Russia With Love>Dr. No
Attack of the Clones> The Phantom Menace
Wrath of Khan> The Motion Picture

and then there were some movies that I thought the sequels were equally as good as the first, like:
Die Hard 2= Die Hard
Lethal Weapon 2= Lethal Weapon
Rush Hour 2=Rush Hour
Empire Strikes Back=Star Wars

[Dark Vicious]

The Mighty Mutant Ninja Turtles II The Secret Of The Ooze

[Fayina]

I enjoyed Evil Dead 2 more than Evil Dead (with Army of Darkness being my favorite in the Trilogy)

I enjoyed Terminater 2 over Terminater when I was a kid, but now I prefer the original.

I like Ghostbusters 2 a little more than Ghostbusters, but I absolutely love BOTH movies. :)

I agree with Larry Leaping Jojo about the Godfather movies.


With most of the rest that were listed I prefer the first movie to the sequal(s).

[Sandoz]

Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead are two of the best horror movies ever made, but I think Dawn is superior to Night. It was refreshing to see characters do smart things in a horror movie, instead of just bicker and get killed.

[TimTwoFace]

Austin Powers 2 (The Spy Who Shagged Me) over Austin Powers 1.

-Tim

[randomguy]

Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead are two of the best horror movies ever made, but I think Dawn is superior to Night. It was refreshing to see characters do smart things in a horror movie, instead of just bicker and get killed.

Funny thing, but I liked Night a bit more. I guess it's darker ambience is more my thing (I remember watching Dawn and saying to myself "Why are the zombies blue?"). That being said, Dawn is still very cool. And you gotta love its materialism criticisms. Boy, and Romero thought things were bad in the 70's...

Anyhow, I prefer ESB and Aliens over the originals, as well as Predator 2 (and yes, I am the only one). Tough call on Terminator, though.

[Mad Scientist]

I was going to say, "originals," but I think it's starting to change now.

Is it just me, or are sequels starting to become better than the original movies? It used to be the opposite years ago, but I think that there was a turnaround somewhere down the line. It's almost as if movie directors are studying sequels more than usual before putting out a final release nowadays.

We used to be tortured to death with the concept of original movies being really good franchises, and the sequels are sadly inferior, but it's not really happening anymore. Now the franchise is good with both its original movie AND its sequels.

We all know that The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions are going to kick ass, as well as The Two Towers and Return of the King. The Austin Powers movies are doing really good, and I'm having high hopes for the rumored Unbreakable sequels and the long-held-back Indiana Jones IV.

Yes, this will definitely be a great decade for sequels.

[JDuncan]

Gremlins 2>Gremlins
Escape from the Planet of the Apes>Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Space Ghost:Coast 2 Coast>Space Ghost and Dino Boy
Life of Brian>Holy Grail
Halloween 4>Halloween 3
Leprechaun 3>Leprechaun 1, 2
Terminator 2>Terminator
Citizen Toxie>Toxic Avenger 2,3
AOTC>TPM
ESB>ANH

[Algernon]

First Contact > Generations
T2 > Terminator
ESB > ANH
Back to the Future 3 > Back to the Future 2
AOTC > TPM