Alien 3 & 9 Other Threequels Better Than The Original
Sequels tend to be a commercial way to extend a franchise for financial reasons, and many times Hollywood should have stopped with one movie. If a movie is a hit, a sequel is a given, and if that's a hit, a third is planned. Unfortunately, usually, the third entry is produced not because there is a story to tell but because more money can be made.
Often by the time franchises reach the third film, it's become tired. It's rare the third entry has any new blood in it to tell a fresh story, but it has happened where they are not only good but, perhaps, even better than the original.
10 Alien 3
Following Aliens, the Alien franchise takes a dive in terms of critical praise, however, David Fincher's first film, Alien 3, is actually quite good. Alien 3 takes place on a prison planet Ripley has crash-landed on and she finds herself working with former murderers and rapists to fight off a real monster. Critics and fans hated it killed off Newt, thus, making Aliens pointless.
However, of all the Alien movies, Alien 3 has the most introspection. It's about the monsters within, literally and figuratively. It also boasts perhaps Sigourney Weaver's best performance. It's beautifully photographed by Alex Thomson and wonderfully scored by Elliot Goldenthal. Unlike the first and second movies, Alien 3 has real depth to it, haunting audiences long after they watch it.
9 Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
After the classic that is A Nightmare On Elm Street, creator Wes Craven walked away from the franchise. The result was the much-maligned Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, but Craven returned to write the third installment.
Heather Langenkamp's Nancy battles Freddy alongside teens at a mental hospital. The film became a fan favorite and critics praised it for its ingenious and imaginative dream sequences as well as for breathing new life into the slasher franchise.
8 Thor: Ragnarok
The first Thor movie is highly regarded for its great world-building and for putting Thor in a fish-out-of-water situation. However, fans largely considered the following film, Thor: The Dark World, a disappointment.
However, for the third installment, the franchise went in a very different direction. Taika Waititi directed the film and he raised the humor element. The result was a refreshing, feel-good adventure. Thor had been portrayed too seriously and didn't become interesting until Ragnarok when he became funny. By upping the humor and creating a better story and villain, Thor: Ragnarok surpassed the first two entries and is now considered one of Marvel's best.
7 National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
The first National Lampoon's Vacation was a box office hit and well-received among critics but, the sequel, European Vacation, leans more heavily into slapstick comedy that many critics and fans grew tiresome of.
However, writer John Hughes returned for the third entry. This time the Griswolds would not be going anywhere, but instead having a Christmas vacation at home. While it includes wacky shenanigans, it's more grounded and the humor is exaggerated real-life, making the movie feel tonally completely different from the first two. The movie was a box office hit and has become a Christmas classic, even more fondly remembered and viewed than the first movie.
6 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Clint Eastwood first starred as the "man with no name" in Sergio Leone's spaghetti western, A Fistful Of Dollars which was followed by For A Few Dollars More. Despite being poorly received upon release, its popularity grew, eventually becoming known as one of the greatest films of all time.
It's considered the definitive spaghetti western, influencing the western genre from then on. The film has been an inspiration for countless filmmakers, including director Quentin Tarantino, who called it "the best-directed film of all time."
5 Harry Potter and The Prisoner Of Azkaban
After the first two Chris Columbus-directed installments, Warner Bros. switched things up and hired the acclaimed director of Y Tu Mama También, Alfonso Cuaron, to direct the third. The result is the most highly regarded film in the franchise.
Like the characters themselves, Azkaban is a more mature film. The look and tone are much darker, with complex storytelling that pays more attention to character than the previous two. Fans considered the film a great adaptation of their favorite book in the series, making Azkaban their favorite film in the franchise.
4 Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
Rarely are sequels considered better than their originals. Rarely do sequels win the Best Picture Oscar, and rarely is the winner a movie franchise's third entry. In Return Of The King, audiences witnessed the bar of epic storytelling being raised as Frodo finally completes his journey.
What's different about this film is that it's based on a book and was not an attempt at continuing the franchise for commercial reasons, instead, critics and fans found the film to be an emotionally satisfying close to the series.
3 Toy Story 3
The Toy Story series is a franchise that seemed to get better with each subsequent movie. The first Toy Story is a revolutionary classic and Toy Story 2 is just as good, if not better. But after an 11-year hiatus, Toy Story 3 brought the franchise to new emotional heights.
In Toy Story 3, the toys haven't been played with for years, and their "kid," Andy, is going off to college and they face being left at a daycare center. Toy Story 3 plays with ideas of love and loss, leaving many audience members exiting the theater in tears. Ultimately, it made history for not only being nominated for the Best Animated Film Oscar but the Best Picture Oscar as well.
2 Goldfinger
While Dr. No and From Russia With Love were hits and established James Bond, Goldfinger is responsible for making him a phenomenon. Many of the elements associated with Bond originated in Goldfinger like the prologue, the opening credit musical sequence, the gadgets, and the humor.
Also, Goldfinger had triple Dr. No's budget so the action sequences are much more elaborate and spectacular. Goldfinger was a huge box-office hit and it's still considered by many as the best of the entire series.
1 Die Hard With A Vengeance
After audiences and critics considered Die Hard 2 a carbon copy sequel, producers decided to change-up John McClane's next outing in a big way. Gone was the first two's isolation and now John McClane was in a race against time and the location was New York City.
This time he has a partner in Samuel L. Jackson's Zeus and their chemistry is incredible. While Die Hard was a down and dirty action 80's action movie, Die Hard 3 gets even grittier on the streets of 90's Manhattan. McClane is a gruff, hungover, unshaven cop who really doesn't want to deal with this. The movie moves like a bullet, never letting up and the action scenes are thrilling. Die Hard 3 is its own movie and if the first Die Hard never existed, it would probably be far more acclaimed than it is.
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