Sequels/Remakes that surpassed the originals

[Ortizmo2000]

They're few and far between, but what sequels or movie remakes were an improvement over their predecessors?

The first that leap to my mind are "The Empire Strikes Back" as a superior film to the original "Star Wars", and I thought "Attack of the Clones" whomped over "The Phantom Menace".

James Cameron's "Aliens" was also quite a roller coaster compared to the quieter and more sinister "Alien" (which was still quite good).

[disneyguy247]

Spiderman 2 whomped Spiderman............X-Men 2 whomped X-Men..............Shrek 2 whomped Shrek.............LOTR: Two Towers whomped LOTR: Fellowship.........to name a few.

[dsnylndmom]

They're few and far between, but what sequels or movie remakes were an improvement over their predecessors?

The first that leap to my mind are "The Empire Strikes Back" as a superior film to the original "Star Wars"

First thing I thought when I saw this thread, especially since we just finished watching Empire

[Ortizmo2000]

First thing I thought when I saw this thread, especially since we just finished watching Empire

That film is the DEFINITIVE Star Wars flick....it just kicked butt on all levels. An awesome land battle, character development and introduction of new allies and enemies, suspense, and a dark, dark ending. Even the acting was somehow over the top in all the right places.

[Jennidisneyfer]

^ AAAAND, Luke wasn't such a whiner anymore! :lol:

First thing I thought of was Toy Story 2. Clever!

[Gwyren]

I do not say that Aliens is better than Alien. Both were equal in different ways.

X-Men 2 was slightly superior to X-men.

I prefered Spiderman to Spiderman 2.

LoTRs became worse, movie by movie. Return of the King started out great, but then they forgot to queue the rooster and Theoden had to give a speech. <sighs>

While not a movie, the 2nd season of Alias was better than the first.

Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban has, in some ways, been the best of the three.

And we ALL know that Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money would be infinitely superior to Spaceballs.

[quasimodo1384]

The Mummy Returns...and I was going to say "Empire Strikes Back" but you beat me

[captveg]

IMO,

Sequels:

Spider-Man 2
X-Men 2
Toy Story 2
The Bourne Supremacy
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Many Bond films are better than Dr. No
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Remakes:

Ocean's Eleven
A Fistful of Dollars

Films superior to previous adaptations of the same source material:

The Thing
Peter Pan (2003)

Sequels/remakes that are equal in quality to their predecessors:

Aliens
The Godfather Part II
Kill Bill, Volume 2
Scarface

[Tom Chaney]

Shrek II

[Captain Zissou]

woah woah, when the heck did a fistfull of dollars get remade? im a huge fan and never heard of it. unless youre talking about yojimbo.

[ah schucks]

Trilogy:
I have to say Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the definitive Jones film for me! I love the first and we get a lot of imagery for the ride from the opening scene of that film and the jungle mythos of the second but the third has such a great sense of humor its hard to beat!

Franchise:
In likewise fashion...I think we can easily all pick out Bond films we loved more or less. IE most people loved Brosin in Goldeneye but less and less with each passing film. Dr. No is fantastic but certainly some of Connery's later Bond films has more gadgets and more intrigue.

Sequels:
Easily the most superior sequel to it's predecessor was "Desperado" don't get me wrong, I loved El Marche but Desperado was this amazing stand alone film that blew me away. Sadly "Once Upon A Time in Mexico" just couldn't hold up against Desperado and ended the would be trilogy on a very strange note.

Revisit:
Hook is the model by which all films which attempt to "revisit" source material should be judged!

[Nephythys]

I totally disagree on HP- POA as being superior. I can not see why anyone thinks that movie was the best. Events happened in the wrong places, scenes were butchered by the screen writers and important info was totally left out.

[ah schucks]

I totally disagree on HP- POA as being superior. I can not see why anyone thinks that movie was the best. Events happened in the wrong places, scenes were butchered by the screen writers and important info was totally left out.

Phew glad I wasn't the only biting my tongue! I was sorely disappointed with this film and am highly nervous for the next. The tone and art direction of the last film was more stylish but better? I dunno about that.

[ni_teach]

I thought "Attack of the Clones" whomped over "The Phantom Menace".

That's not saying much. let's face it, "The Phantom Menace" sucked in a very major way. Almost anything would have been better.

[cellarhound]

I am always amazed at how many versions of the Japanese film "the Seven Samuri" there are... Magnificant Seven, A Bugs Life, Three Amigos...

Also the stories of Wyatt Earb... Gunfight at the OK Korral... Tombstone... And the Kevin Cosner vehicle that bares his name...

[Speedway]

Films superior to previous adaptations of the same source material:

The Thing
Peter Pan (2003)

I enjoyed Cruel Intentions much more than Dangerous Liaisons even though both are in my top 10 fave flicks. Both were adapted from Les Liaisons dangereuses.

[captveg]

woah woah, when the heck did a fistfull of dollars get remade? im a huge fan and never heard of it. unless youre talking about yojimbo.

I'm talking about Yojimbo. Like both films a lot, but FoD a bit more.

However, Yojimbo got remade again as Last man Standing.

Hook is the model by which all films which attempt to "revisit" source material should be judged!

Couldn't disagree more. Hook, while it has some good moments, is a mess in many respects.

I totally disagree on HP- POA as being superior. I can not see why anyone thinks that movie was the best. Events happened in the wrong places, scenes were butchered by the screen writers and important info was totally left out.

It's a fair complaint, but I didn't find it a troublesome issue. Some things left out that will be important to Goblet of Fire will be brought up in Goblet of Fire, and the other changes from the novel did a good job of showing things to you instead of telling them to you, which is what my main beef with the first wo films was - it followed the book too strictly. It's a film, not a book, and you have to use that medium.

And this is from someone who's favorite book in the series is Prisoner of Azkaban.

As for Star Wars films, I'm just gonna post this and let it speak for itself.

1. ANH - 10/10
2. ESB - 10/10
3. AOTC - 8/10
4. TPM - 7/10
5. ROTJ - 7/10

[Nephythys]

Phew glad I wasn't the only biting my tongue! I was sorely disappointed with this film and am highly nervous for the next. The tone and art direction of the last film was more stylish but better? I dunno about that.

Don't get me wrong- I loved the movie, mostly because I LOVE Harry Potter- but the things they left out should have been in POA not GOF! They butchered the Shrieking Shack scene- and the whole Firebolt thing was totally out of place.

[cellarhound]

As for Star Wars films, I'm just gonna post this and let it speak for itself.

1. ANH - 10/10
2. ESB - 10/10
3. AOTC - 8/10
4. TPM - 7/10
5. ROTJ - 7/10

Attack of the Clones was better than Return of the Jedi, eh?

I don't know if I can agree with that...

[Cuzco-topia]

Ok, I'm going to have to disagree that Shrek 2, Spiderman 2, and especially Mummy Returns was considered better than the first. I also feel Fellowship of the Rings was the best, followed by RoTK, then Two Towers.

I agree that Desperado was MUCH better than El Mariachi, and the third (i can't even remember the name) was horrible.