Empire Strikes Back named greatest movie sequel

[marmar]

Empire Strikes Back named greatest movie sequel
By Press Association Reporter

Thursday, 29 April 2010


The Empire Strikes Back was today named the greatest movie sequel of all time.

The 1980 film - George Lucas's follow-up to Star Wars: A New Hope - drew almost a fifth of all votes.

DVD rental firm Lovefilm launched the poll to celebrate the release of Iron Man 2 this week.

The Empire Strikes Back, which featured the battle on ice planet Hoth, Lando Calrissian's cloud city and the shocking moment Luke Skywalker discovered Darth Vader was his father, is favoured by some fans as the best film in the original Star Wars trilogy.

It landed 19% of the votes, beating movies such as Terminator 2 and Aliens.

Fourth-placed film The Dark Knight was actually the sixth film of the Batman franchise which began in 1989, although it was the second to feature Christian Bale.

Helen Cowley, editor at online rental service Lovefilm, said: "There's no beating Star Wars, and fans have been very vocal in our poll to establish its place as the top sequel of all time.

"Film sequels give us the chance to see our favourite characters back on the big screen but it's rare to find a sequel that truly does its predecessor justice. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/empire-strikes-back-named-greatest-movie-sequel-1957807.html

[itsrobert]

1. Smokey and the Bandit 2?

didn't crack the top 10?

[gratuitous]

2. Okay, WORST sequels of all time

Hands down: The Two Jakes.

[marmar]

3. Dumb and Dumberer

nt

[gratuitous]

15. Nah, the original movie had to be good

So neither Dumb and Dumberer nor Weekend at Bernie's 2 qualify.

[neverforget]

4. How about Weekend at Bernies 2?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

6. The Two Jakes is a good film.

Try Ghostbusters 2.

[Johonny]

16. I agree

It's only bad compared to the original and the bad rep it got due to all the production problems. It's no Zapped Again! or Meatballs II.

[Viking12]

8. Attack of the Clones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfBhi6qqFLA

[PCIntern]

9. I agree with "The Two Jakes"...

it was utterly mystifying to me that it could be that bad, having waited for it for what seemed like forever. Good call.

[marmar]

10. Oh, I forgot.....Blues Brothers 2000

nt

[slampoet]

14. Leonard Part Six

[fishwax]

18. I thought The Two Jakes was okay, though not nearly as good as Chinatown

As far as decades-later updates of seventies classics go, I'd go with Texasville.

[Bert]

27. I got one for you

The entire 3 movie prequel to first star wars triology. Though I was somewhat dissapointed in Return of the Jedi, the three movie prequels are so bad in my opinion they make me wish they had never happened because they are the kind of sequel that actually drags down the original trilogy.

Other bad sequels or series, even though the original may not be considered particularly good. Iron eagle, rambo, death wish(sorry Charles), the sequel to the fugitive, the third movie in the blade series. before I get flamed, it's all subjective folks.

[Bert]

31. Sorry cant edit

I liked the first rambo and consider the sequel to have diminished the somewhat serious nature of the first movie for a pure popcorn spectacle. Rocky 2 I believe is another sequel that didnt need to be made but made a lot of money. 2010 both the movie and the book didn't need to be made and both somewhat seems to me to have diminished the original movies, though 2010 did have some good visuals, 2001 is the type of movie that really shouldn't have a sequel as it's true sequel would be the evolvement of mankind. I guess Arthur C. Clarke felt he had to write the book though, even though it totally takes away from the ending of 2001.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. "Caddyshack II"

Beat that.

[The Gunslinger]

37. I don't think you can beat that one.

First thing that came to my mind.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

5. Um... Godfather II? Bride of Frankenstein? Diary of a Lost Girl?

Oh, sorry. It's a poll.

Well in that case we're lucky it wasn't something worse.

[paulsby]

7. godfather 2? was it not considered a sequel, since it came from the same

book as GF1?

i think terminator 2 is a good choice because while T1 was a GOOD movie, T2 was a GREAT movie.

star wars was much better than T1, though but in terms of sequels and superiority to the original T2 wins hands down imo

[Bert]

23. gotta disagree with you

Terminator was a great movie, terminator2 was an attempt to cash in and suffered from being essentially a rehash of the first movie and had no originality to it. I know it is just my opinion but I think T1 is ranked higher than T2 on both rotten tomatoes and metacritic, it is bettter than your average sequel though. It is all subjective. Speaking of Cameron remakes has anyone mentioned Aliens? I prefer the first movie and the creature was changed somewhat for the second movie so that we could have a big showdown but it does have to rank as one of the better sequels in modern times.

Also I do believe godfather 2 is a sequel as I read the book and dont remember anything in the book concerning godfather 2, just a couple of minor dropped story lines. Definitely one of those movies that are better than the books.

[paulsby]

28. i have to say

i don't care HOW the critics rated it. it is just my opinion

t1 looks extremely dated (and scifi doesn't HAVE to look dated - see: blade runner) and isn't very good. arnold speaks just a few words for pete's sake

aliens was the one cameron directed, but ridly scott directed alien. ridley scott is one of my all time favorite directors and imo runs rings around cameron. blade runner is one of my all time faves.

i read the book a long time ago, but i remember a fair amount of what i saw in godfather II was in the book.

fwiw, there was a version of 1/2 godfather that released and remixed the scenes so they were essentially chronological, etc. it's called "the godfather epic" and well worth it

aliens had better humor, but alien was VISIONARY. t1 wasn't visionary, it was just fun.

[Bert]

29. Agree with you on Ridley

Ridley Scott is probably my favorite all time director and Alien, Blade Runner are probably the most visionary sci fi movies Ive ever seen. If you watch the director's cut of alien you see that dallas the captain is impregnated by a face hugger, which means it came from the alien, which means no need for a queen. However when cameron made aliens he thought the queen would make a good ending which I cannot deny. I swear to everyone I see that Alien was better than aliens not to mention it has the advantage of being origninal and has a somewhat more brooding feel. Blade runner of course is awesome, saw it in the theatre when it came out even though I was only 10. Couldn't believe the reviews it got from the likes of leonard maltin and roger ebert and I still dont forgive either of them for trashing it, especially ebert who seems to have a vendetta against Scott, gave the phantom menace 3.5 and gladiator 1.5. Aliens was visually similar to alien but the aliens were essentially just enemy soldiers with the humans being soldiers at the alamo.

Ridley scott is reportedly doing a two movie prequel to the original alien, making his own sort of trilogy with alien beingg the third. I wonder if he'll keep the queen element or not, it is a weakness for the aliens if they require a queen and they were supposed to be a biological weapon if I remember right. The only director I can compare to Ridley Scott is Stanley Kubrick for 2001 and Barry Lyndon. I am glad that scott is going back to sci fi because while I enjoyed gladiator I miss his sci fi touch that everyone tries to copy but few come close to, and in my opinion Aliens was the only other one of the series of alien worth watching besides the original of course. Another good movie by scott is his first movie that is a historical epic called the duelists that won the cannes award when it came out. scott is like kubrick in that a movie for him is like painting a picture and his better movies are truly unique and groundbreaking. Blade Runner is still in my opinion probably the best sci fi movie(not cowboys in space movie) ever made with 2001(and alien of course) being it's only real rival. I am glad that blade runner is finally being recognized as the masterwork it is after all of the bad reviews it got when it came out.

As for T2 it does look a little dated but I guess I just enjoyed Arnie more as a heavy in that movie and he played the part brilliantly. Maybe I just blame T2 for helping him win the governorship though as republicans go he is one of the better ones.

[paulsby]

34. have you seen the director's cut of blade runner?

it eliminates the voice over narration. it also has a slightly more ambiguous ending, suggesting decker might be a replicant himself

sometimes director's cuts are a bit indulgent, but it's GOOD

my understanding is that ridley wanted to release blade runner w/o narration, but the studio thought it was too confusing

not sure one way or the other, since by the time i saw the director's cut, i had wseen the original a dozen times, so i couldn't watch it as a first timer and see if it was.

T2, fwiw, also had a GREAT soundtrack. guns and roses and a terminator movie were just perfect

the worst part of T2 imo was the kid's acting. it reminded me of sofia coppola in godfather III although hers was worse.

fwiw, as for the bad reviews of blade runner, i don't think many reviewers "get" scifi and god knows ebert didn't. he famously HATED clockwork orange, and he gave PHANTOM MENACE a good review (blech)

blade runner was so atmospheric. it reminds me of chinatown in that respect, except the former took place in the past, obviously.

not to mention the whole snake thing and the super sweet outfit that daryl hannah had etc. could have shown a little more boobage but it was still really cool as a teenager

that scene where he shoots her and she crashes through the glass. i have seen AT LEAST a dozen movies rip that off

[Bert]

35. Yes I have

I gotta say I like the directors cut or final cut better of blade runner, my dad disagrees and likes the voice over and happy ending, the directors cut for alien wasnt really a directors cut or wasnt called that, just expanded. An example of a directors cut I dont like is the one for last of the mohicans. Should have left it alone. And Peter Jackson I think took it too far by taking out the death of Saruman, apparently just to hype out the directors cut. He could have easily found 3 minutes to cut out of the movie and later put it in the directors cut. In some ways the theatrical version feels like it moves quicker, though I do prefer the directors cut but then I am a movie junkie and a tolkien junkie.
l
Yeah, as for blade runner I too have seen it endlessly copied but never equaled. If you get the final cut they go into the shooting of it and it sounds like it was hell on earth. And what is more amazing is he did all this with zero computers. It will be a while I think before we see anything remotely like it. I had this book on the making of blade runner, cant remember what the title was. I have also read a little phillip k.dick and he is one out there author. What got me the most about blade runner is it showed what you never see in sci fi, and that is a sprawling, dirty, city scape usually at night with the rain.

Speaking of terminator what did you think of the latest one? I saw it in Imax and actually thought it was underated. I heard there was one possible ending where the character played by sam worthington killed off John connor at the end, then fade to black. I suppose that wouldnt have been good for the franchise though.

Back to Ebert, he really doesnt get sci fi, he is now criticizing Avatar for being 3-d. although avatar is the only 3-d movie I have ever seen where the 3-d was really a whole element to itself throughout the movie. He has tried to cover his ass recently and gave blade runner a new review, something like 3 stars while admitting he didn't initally like it. I have come to the point where if Ebert likes a sci fi movie it is a bad sign for me. Blade runner to me has come to signify a future noir type of movie, kind of like Sam Spade if the 1920's noir movies were in the future. That's it, Future Noir if you can find the book is all about the making of the movie.

Also Sofia Copolla helped ruin Godfather 3, wsa supposed to be winnona ryder who got sick, should have just delayed it a little but I guess it is an example of nepotism that is also apparently prevalent in the mob. Anyway, shes not hurting now though. Glad we share similar tastes.

[paulsby]

36. and w/o computers

yea, it is amazing how good blade runner looks w/o computers. i am reminded of the exorcist. in the exorcist, in order to create the appearance of an ice cold room, they CREATED an ice cold room. that created mass suckitude for the actors, but it LOOKED real. and probably improved the4 actor's performance. contrast with tons of movies i have seen where they created CG vapor to make it look like people are exhaling in a cold environment. it always look fake

i DID like the latest terminator. i rented it three times. it's just so far removed from the previous terminators, i don't really think of it AS a terminator movie. I/II are a due. III stands alone. kind of similar to godfather in that respect.

we can both agree ebert just doesn't get scifi. heck, he probably gave black hole a good review :)

blade runner is of COURSE future noir. it's frankly, a classic noir detective movie, except decker is looking for a rather unconventional type of criminal.

fwiw, a really fun (but hardly great) movie i watch over and over again is "doomsday". it's like escape from new york meets road warrior meets a good romero movie.

i also LOVE infernal affairs which is the movie they remade into "the departed"

oh, and for the record, mad max was good, road warrior was great, and beyond thunderdome was crap

the exorcist is the greatest horror movie EVER although rosemary's baby is damn close

[LaPera]

38. Godfather 2 is considered a sequel by everyone but you!

The Godfather was released in 1972

Godfather 2 was shot in 1973 and released in 1974....There is not a single shot in Godfather 2 that was in the first Godfather....in fact even the scene where they flashed back to a diner table conversation from the first Godfather was shot exclusively for Godfather 2 and was never in the first Godfather years earlier and Marlon Brando refused to shoot that scene (or any scene) because he wasn't paid for Godfather 2. (Marlon wanted a million bucks back then, if I recall correctly just to film that one short dinner table scene)...Brando didn't get the bucks so he refused to do the scene and they shot around him, as one was made to believe Brando's character was coming in the front door, but Brando of course was never seen.

The tapes and DVDs that came out of both the Godfather movies were re-cut to be viewed in chronological order came out many years after both Godfather & Godfather 2 were released.

Godfather 2 is in my opinion by far the best sequel ever made, and won the Academy Award for the best picture of 1974 (The Godfather won the best picture award for 1972).

[LaPera]

39. Godfather 2 - No doubt the best sequel..... Al Pacino, Robert De Niro & Diane Keaton are excellent.

And it's the only sequel to ever win an Academy Award for Best Picture - (1974).

[paulsby]

41. it was a question not a statement. the use of a question mark should have

tipped ya off

hth

[lefty2000]

11. I liked it, but....

My favorite sequel is "Manon of the Spring." Prequel, "Jean de Florette" had an unhappy ending, but Manon turned the tables on the bad guys.

[Tesha]

13. That's kind of a rarefied taste, though.

We couldn't have any frog films making it to the top of a Red-Blooded
'Murikan "Best" list now, can we?

(Jean de Florette was sooo sad! Thank goodness that sequel was made!)

Tesha

[Bert]

32. Please elaborate

I love all kinds of movies, be they hollywood, french, bollywood or what have you. I cant say I am familiar with the movies you are talking about. What is the general plot?

[BootinUp]

12. What about Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Star Wars choice is a good one though too. :)

Going back a little farther, Magnum Force. What about THAT ONE????!!!!!!!!!!!

[slay]

19. That would be very close

i liked all the even numbered star trek films.. heh

[gratuitous]

17. Where's Army of Darkness ranked?

The Two Jakes still sucked Shetland pony wang.

[bridgit]

20. Side by side with Brisco County Jr.

[slay]

22. That and Evil Dead II

that whole trilogy is awesome

[bridgit]

21. Hoth Snow Battle Star Wars Episoe V The Empire Strikes Back

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWjj8EKTkWE

[Bert]

24. My favorite sequels

Well there is Empire Strikes back, I would like to vote for the good, the bad and the ugly though it is third in the series and also one of the first prequels though I guess you could say For a few dollars more was pretty good, Aliens, Godfather part 2, Evil dead 2 is awesome though more of a remake than a sequel, Star Trek 2 was pretty good. How about some older movies like Hopper returns? I read the godfather book and dont remember there being much that was in the book that dealt with godfather 2, mainly just a bit more detail about Michael corleone's new main henchman and a side bit about Johnny Fontaine. Also there is Superman 2 and Spiderman 2 and Dark Knight, though I personally liked Batman Begins better(yes Dark Knight is essentially a sequel in my opinion). How about The Two Towers, shame we couldnt find a way to throw Return of the king in there. I guess if were going back a little ways we could throw in From Russia with love as being a very good sequel to Dr. no.

Oh yeah, Hellboy 2, The road warrior, Bourne 2 anyone? actually it was about the same as the first movie which was pretty good, definitely influenced the new Bond.

Bride of Frankenstein. Any real movie buffs here who can tell of us some old sequels or foreign movie sequels? I suppose were going to be getting sent to the entertainment forum here momentarily.

I have high hopes of the thing prequel that is being made as well as the alien prequel and the avatar sequel. We shall see. Iron Man 2 appears to be good but slightly inferior to the original but I cant say as I havent seen it yet.

As we live in the age of sequels and remakes I am sure I am missing some. Harry Potter 2 was about the same as the first.

How about this for a survey: top modern reboots. In my opinion gotta be Casino Royale, Batman begins, Star Trek

[Dr Morbius]

33. Since you mention it...

In The Godfather, Part II, the story of young Vito Corleone (played by Deniro) was included in the novel, The Godfather. All the other stuff in the movie, like the fall of Havana and Michael having his brother killed, was new.

I think it's hands down the best sequel ever. It actually makes the original movie better, more complete.

[Morning Dew]

25. In my little corner of the world

all sequels are

__________________________2: Lost In New York.


Just because.

[RandomThoughts]

26. Maybe that is why there was the post about the Dos Equis commercial comment, about it being arrogant

And the arrogance of some people.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=9347951&mesg_id=9349013

Two strikes on the score board, for those that think empire is better then representative democracy for the people





Although some that think in terms of culture, or race, might want to think it means something about a group of hard working people, don't know why people would think that.

I think it is about arrogance and excess regardless of group or race.


Although the beer itself is probably pretty good, but was not commenting about the beer, or the company or even individuals or groups, just about concepts of arrogance and lack of moderation.


Return of the Jedi, I liked that film :)

Peace and Love, no anger, no hate.
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2806439/8136573

(and I do feel the multiple shock attacks altered in the video posted, using the comments, the side, the turning, the power regulator to create an attack. I feel them and can see them also. But the dark side is not stronger, for it can not change truth of heart of spirit. Only a person can do that to themselves.)



I always thought that when the bad emperor said 'lack of vision' he was wrong, he could not see what Luke could, he thought Luke having a different vision, meant he had none, but Luke's vision was not to destroy but to save.

Note that posting the clip, is refusing to fight using hate, refusing to be part of the dark side.


A song I always have liked. Especially for those that can find something to help let them stand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVbl0CulcZg

[GreenTea]

40. Glitter II