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"Sequel- Does It Equal?"

Everyone wants to bring out a sequel to their films.
Is this really a good idea?

Are they just 'get rich quick' scams. Is it just because the first movie hit the big time, we'll make another and make even more bucks!

With some movies, like Austin Powers for example, we welcome the sequel with open arms (and to be quite honest I preferred The Spy Who... to the first Powers movie), but then we see the other movies like Speed for instance, and then came Speed 2 Cruise Control - I mean what was that all about? They couldn't even get Keanu Reeves to play his character again so they just decided to shoot the film anyway, maybe they were hoping nobody would notice!!!

The Police Academy saga was excellent in its day, we all enjoyed those movies, but come on - talk about milking something, the Academy films were eventually sucked dry.

What about the Nightmare on Elm Street movies? Well I think thats enough said already!

Now the Scream saga seems to be getting longer. Friday is joined by its Next Friday - which doesn't even compare to the original Friday.

Then we have The Godfather trilogy, which I believe was written to become a three part story. These are very well created films that follow each other with real meaning.

Now I hear of The Matrix 2. I hope Keanu is actually starring in this one!!! I adore The Matrix with its complex storyline and amazing effects. The extras on the DVD are certainly not to be missed. But seriously can this sequel equal?

I'm moving on to the TV Series now, which I missed because I don't watch TV. I'll be watching it from the very beginning.

I just rented this on DVD having never seen it before and I must say that I enjoyed it very much. It was also the only time that I have ever found James Spader attractive.

If you subscribe to the Montage Newsletter or visit the Right Brain Thinking section of the Montage Amazon Bookstore this film will make a whole lot of sense to you. Even if you do not believe in that kind of thing it is worth investigating just to gain some insight in to where the Hollywood gets its ideas from and then you will begin to see symbolism that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. This is really what gives this film its depth.

It was also nice to see Jaye Davidson once again - the camera so obviously loves him. Kurt Russell's hair is hideous in this movie; so much so that it is distracting.

I 'still' know what you did last summer was just as merde as the first one, maybe even worse, the title just summs the original ideas the script writers had left after the first, gee whizz, the only decent sequel that springs to mind is... Godfather Part II, well need i say more,

'(.)'

There arent that many good sequels to films. Like u said, Austin Powers 2 was much better and I think that the only good horror movie sequel is I still know what you did last summer. It's faster, more gory and a lot scarier.

Sequals have got to be better than the current trend of remakes...

The last Get Carter is a recent good example...

And the idea of remaking the likes of Ferris Bueller, the breakfast club, et al. gives me the willies! :)

The problem comes with why and how the film makers make their sequels. If they're doing it because they want to make a fast buck then nine times out of ten it will be a bad film, riding on the success of past incarnations. If they are seriously trying to continue a story because they care about the characters or it feels natural then it's more likely to work, or perhaps they make a new film based on the old one and just refer to the previous events. Aliens continued a story and was good, Police Academy two to a zillion was just an excuse to release the same film, with weaker jokes and characters, millions of times and make more money. There are always exceptions, where a writer wants to make a sequel because they think it will work, then it doesn't, or if they do it to make money and it accidentally turns out to be better than the original, but these are often just exceptions to the rule.

Yes the sequel to Matrix will equal! Like Godfather The Matrix was written in three parts and the film version is part two of these three. So unlike Silence of the Lambs the next Matrix film was not just pulled out of thin air as it will either conclude Neo's quest or be set before his time.
Nobody I know enjoyed the Police Acadamy movies, I thought they were supposed to be funny but the sheer 'cornyness' of them made all of them awful to watch and neither are better or more worse then the others.
A good point would be whether Leslie Neilson has had his day, he was amazingly funny in the series 'Police Squad' and in all the Naked Gun films, which are classics. However movie directors have been trying to re-create the humor he carries in his personna and it has not paid off (MR Magoo). So maybe its a question of using the same old formula which makes sequels in general, terrible. Lost World has Dinosaurs and stupid people like its prequel, and yes hopefully Matrix 2 won't have Keanu Reeves in it as his wooden acting spoils the film, they should have Jackie Chan or Jet Li playing Neo!

Congratulations Vicki, you got that filmaday win you were after.

I think the "is the sequel equal" line won it for you!

I totally agree with you on this one Meka_Dragon.

The Dusk Till Dawn follow ups were a complete let down to the original. I think it just spoils the whole idea of the movie in general. You think of the first and then you just recall how terrible the others were.

But we forgot to mention the Die Hard triology, which I think were excellent movies and then there's the Lethal Weapon films which are in a class of their own - brilliant movies. They never fail to impress.

The list goes on and on, we couldnt possibly mention them all but as a whole, does the sequel equal? I think not.

If no film ever had a sequel look at some of the greats we would have missed out on: The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens The Godfather 2, House 2, Toy Story 2 etc.

Then again we would never have been subjected to Weekend at Bernies 2, From Dusk Till Dawn 2 & 3 (and the original was so good!), Jaws The Revenge.

So sequels are a mixed bag.

I think it's a little different when the story is meant to be told over a number of films, such as the Star Wars Trilogy. It's when the first film was a success so some fans want a sequel, but the original cast and crew want to leave it well alone, but they go and make it anyway, using different actors, director, scriptwriter etc. This is just plain embarrassing!