THE 10 SEQUELS YOU GOTTA SEE

It's one of the safest bets you can make in Hollywood: find a movie that has earned tons of money, and make a sequel. Granted, it doesn't always work (Speed 2: Cruise Control, anyone?), but when it does, the results can be stunning: Two sequels released this year, Shrek 2 and Spider-Man 2, occupy the No. 4 and No. 10 spots on the all-time box-office-gross charts. With Alien vs. Predator and The Princess Diaries 2 opening in theaters and Kill Bill, Volume 2 newly released on DVD, we deemed it time for a quick review of the highlights of the sequel world. Here, then, is our list of the 10 sequels you gotta see. To make it interesting, we decided to limit ourselves to direct sequels (that means the second movie in a series); sorry, Jaws 3-D.


10. Dawn of the Dead
Dawn (and we're talking about the original, not the remake) is as good as its predecessor, Night of the Living Dead, upping the gore factor and satirizing rampant consumerism.

9. Back to the Future Part II
After the first movie, everyone was itching to see what happens when Marty McFly heads into the future. Two things don't change: Biff's still a bully, and Marty still hates to be called chicken.

8. Batman Returns
Take a great Tim Burton movie (Batman), lose Jack Nicholson, and add a sexy Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Oh, and a waddling, ugly Danny DeVito plays the Penguin. After this, it was all downhill.

7. Toy Story 2
This one's actually even better than the original, following Andy's toys as they try to recover Woody after a nasty collector absconds with him. Buzz Lightyear, to the rescue!

6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Effects, people, it's all about the effects. Not only does Ahnuld return as a good guy, but T2 broke all sorts of barriers with the nifty liquid-metal T-1000. Number of catchphrases spawned: 47.

5. X2: X-Men United
Wisely focusing on Wolverine but adding a few other new mutants to the mix (the delectable Nightcrawler, played by Alan Cumming, for instance), X2 pleased all the fanboys and -girls.

4. Aliens
James Cameron upped the ante when he took over for Ridley Scott, adding more aliens and making Ripley even more kick-butt. Best line: A wussy Bill Paxton whines, "Game over, man!"

3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Come on. It had to be on the list. Peter Jackson's trilogy was monumental, and this second flick introduced Gollum properly and got everyone excited to see Shelob in Return of the King.

2. The Empire Strikes Back
It's the best film of the original trilogy, darker and edgier, and it has some great scenes on the ice planet Hoth and the Yoda-inhabited Dagobah, plus a very substantial secret being revealed.

1. The Godfather: Part II
Francis Ford Coppola matched the achievement of The Godfather with this sequel, which flashes back and forth between the present and 1910 New York to flesh out the history of Don Corleone.

No "Grafitti Bridge"?

I agree pretty much with this list.

when did it come out?

I'm surprised that Back to the Future II made the list becasue it wasn't very good at all. Part III is a much better movie.

It wasn't a hit but Before Sunset was one of the best sequels I have ever seen.

JediMaster said:

I am sorry.. Dawn of the dead sucked in my opinion.. It was a waste of my 2 hours.. I could of been doing something more appealing like plucking my eyebrows or something..

BabyCakes said:

I could understand that reaction to the remake, but the original???

JediMaster said:

Honestly i never saw the original.. i was talking about the remake. god awful!

BabyCakes said:

The original is far superior!

FunkMistress said: