Film Franchises

LoveUniHateExams

So, I'm quite into films, and horror is my favourite genre.

I don't own many franchises in full or almost in full.

But when I first started collecting dvds, I did tend to buy every film in a particular franchise if I enjoyed the first film or two.

I bought Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) second-hand for 99 pence each (less than a dollar each!) and they're fantastic.

So, I went back to the second-hand shop and bought Alien 3 (1992), Alien Resurrection (1997) and Prometheus (2012) ... erm, yes.

Alien 3 (theatrical cut) was pretty good; Resurrection was so bad it's funny and despite the gorgeous shots and good acting by Michael Fassbender, Prometheus wasn't my thing.

But I guess I'm a slow learner. XD

I added the Star Wars prequel trilogy (mostly pretty crap), The Force Awakens (copy of Ep 4: A New Hope but with added SJW propoganda) and Rogue One (actually pretty good) to my original trilogy (excellent).

However, I am learning that just because a film is so good it spawns a franchise, it doesn't necessarily follow that the following films are gonna be any good.

As far as franchises go, I have all six films in the Alien franchise; the Star Wars franchise except for The Last Jedi and Solo; the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise except for Freddy vs Jason; the Terminator franchise except for Genesis; and the Jurassic Park franchise except for Fallen Kingdom, obviously.

I sometimes watch youtube film reviewers and they often have literally every franchise, in full - dvds and blu-rays worth thousands of dollars.

Some speak of their favourite franchise. I just can't get on board with that.

Take the Halloween franchise. I own the first two films, Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981) and saw Halloween III Season of the Witch (1982) when I was a kid. The first film is a masterpiece which I thoroughly recommend; the second film is ok in that it is, or should've been, a good conclusion to Michael Myers. But how the hell can you buy all ten films in the franchise?

Apart from Season of the Witch it's essentially the same thing: an escaped mental patient in a mask stalks and kills people. XD

Or am I talking crap? XD

All opinions welcome ...

days of future passed

I loved the first Star Wars (I'm not going to figure out Lucas's backtrack numbering) Liked the second one better. Hated the 3rd one. Nothing like making fun of your own series right? Chewbacca doing the Tarzan yell? Stormtroopers that couldn't hit the ground with their guns if they wanted to. End of that for me. Lost interest in it almost completely and haven't seen anything but snippets since.

Aliens. Watched it and loved it. Watched most of the series but not all. Got a little goofy with the one that had a half human/alien that chomped off a guys head. My favorite thing in the movie was the human forklift. Wish I had that.

Prometheus was just bad. Boring. The only interesting actors was Cherise (?) and the blond robot guy. Yes run in a straight line, exactly in the same path as a giant ship is crashing. Doesn't it make sense to run at a right angle? No? Well then, that is prometheus.

Bladerunner. Great first film. Was bored by the second. Wasted the opportunity to be interesting.

I don't love a series just because it is one. Individual movies have to stand on their own.

scratchme1010

Aliens is one of my favorite movies of all times. And yes, Resurrection was ridiculous.

freddo

Plus one on "Aliens". A rarity to have a second film that equals or surpasses an original.

Not over impressed with the other Alien films but I actually liked Prometheus. Not as much as the first two, but still watchable.

_Morpheus

Loved the original sw, empire was worthy if flawed (just how long was luke on dagoba??), the others i have no love for. Jedi ruined one of the greatest movie villains of all time, the prequals (aside from a few scenes) were bland and uninspiring. The empire was defeated by ewoks. Rouge one was good but again wasnt “new” so much as simply taking the one successful theme (the death star) and expanding on it.

loved the original alien, and aliens, while a different genre, was also well done and a good movie... went deeply down hill from there.

There is a franchise not mentioned that i can recomended in its entirety: the men in black franchise. All three movies were well done. Good mix of action, a certain self aware humor, good interaction between tommy lee jones and will smith, the plots were coherent and well excecuted... and all three held up.

Just one mans opinion, your results may vary.

Simon

I actually liked Prometheus - I thought it was a decent 'origin' story for Alien. And Aliens (II) was the best film of the franchise, better than the first, different and a decent story in it's own right and the sequels just felt like cashing in, like too many sequels do.

The prize of most disappointing sequels has to be "The Matrix". So sad.

Star-Wars is unique and benefits from people's memories of original movies being better than they really were but the originals were good and still watchable and most of the sequels have been decent. Again, you want to see the gaps filled in and the origin stories are great for that plus you like the characters and want to see the rest of their story arc.

LoveUniHateExams

I actually liked Prometheus - I thought it was a decent 'origin' story for Alien - although Prometheus isn't my thing, I can see that there were good aspects. It's a great-looking film (so is Alien Covenant). I like the character of David, and Michael Fassbender played him brilliantly. I think it was mostly the pseudo-science that put me off. I did Biology so when I hear that stuff it's like somebody running their fingernails down a blackboard. XD

Aliens (II) was the best film of the franchise, better than the first, different and a decent story in it's own right - yes, when people talk about sequels surpassing the original, Aliens is one of the first films mentioned. There's also The Godfather Part II, The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2 Judgement Day and Evil Dead 2.

Star-Wars is unique - yes, I agree that people's memories of the original trilogy are better than the films actually were. I was a kid in the 80s, I grew up on those films. When I was four (in 1983) I remember getting a Star Wars duvet and pillow case. I guess millions of other kids got the same. I also think there are other things that help make Star Wars unique. The Star Wars universe is so large, diverse and interesting - that has to be a factor. I'm not a big fan of the prequel trilogy but the worlds, aliens, ships, clothes designs, etc. were new but they kinda fitted into the Star Wars universe very well.

TD

Unless we're talking about a screen adaptation of an existing book series (i.e. Tolkien, Rowling etc.) it's tough to make a sequel, because more often than not, the original story must be written to stand alone if necessary.

The writers have to undo the sense of closure given us by a complete story without doing violence to it.

My problem is when they are either incompetent or don't respect their audience enough to accomplish that task.

For example, in the first Star Wars (Episode IV - A New Hope 1977) the "Jedi" are all but forgotten:

"Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebel's hidden fort" - Motti

"Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field controls my destiny! It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense." -Solo

But as the story progresses, we find out that the Emperor himself is a devotee to this ancient religion; that Vader, as his right arm, is in the habit of killing people for far less than Motti's impudence; that the Jedi were keeping order just sixteen years prior to this, which both Motti and Solo were certainly old enough to remember.

A great big chasm opens up in the basic foundation of the story. You could argue that this flaw existed from the beginning and I would agree, but part of a writer's job is to close these cracks in plausible ways; not drive wedges into them.

Vidiot

I'm enjoying starting classic franchises anew with my kids, now that they're old enough to watch them.

Case in point; my teenage daughter recently asked to see the original Blade Runner, and commented repeatedly throughout, "this doesn't look like an old movie!".

neat blue dog

Star Wars:

Love Lucas's originals (1-6), 7 was disappointing and derivative but still fun, 8 brought it back to where it needs to be. The spin offs are good too, I thought Rogue One was amazing, and the new Solo, while not a necessary masterpiece or anything, was still a solid film that I'd want to watch again.

The Matrix:

The first one was a true masterpiece, with references that strike many of us even more so now that we've woken up to TTATT. Was not crazy about the two sequels. They were interesting and had some world building and neat cinematography, but dragged too much.

Men in Black:

Again, loved the first one. I hated the second one. To me it just seemed to be gratuitously aiming for shock value in the vein of the first but without earning it story wise. And the very fact that Tommy Lee Jones came out of retirement completely ruined the character arc from the first film, rendering it meaningless and undoing the first films perfect ending just for the sake of another outing. I like time travel, so I did enjoy number 3, and also thought the actor impersonating his younger version did a good job. But since it was built on the premise of number 2, which ruins number 1, that dampened my enjoyment. Also, I thought the ending was pretty convoluted and shoehorned, about him knowing Will Smith as a child, and it totally didn't mesh with the original.

Film Franchises

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