Which Movie Sequel Had the Biggest INCREASE in Quality?

[crazy canuck]

Wrath of Khan is an obvious answer.

[viper37]

In that case, Rocky IV.

No way it's better than the first one. 
Cheesier, more '80s action as in reaganian. Very entertaining of course, but not better.
It's like saying Rambo II (First Blood part II is better than the first).

Overall, the #1 has a better story.  #2 is a great sequel.  #3 could have been better, but it's still watchable.  #4 is a classic Reaganite action movie, but its production value is superior to all the 3 first ones.  #1 and #2 are barely understandable in English, for a non native at least.  Stallone must have had acting lessons after #2 'cause he speaks more clearly from then on.  His brother in law Italian accent was also extremely hard to understand in the first two.

[viper37]

In that case, Rocky IV.

No way it's better than the first one. 
Cheesier, more '80s action as in reaganian. Very entertaining of course, but not better.
It's like saying Rambo II (First Blood part II is better than the first).

Does Iron Eagle II belong here or in the other thread?

(I can't even remember the plot )

[Duque de Bragança]

In that case, Rocky IV.

No way it's better than the first one. 
Cheesier, more '80s action as in reaganian. Very entertaining of course, but not better.
It's like saying Rambo II (First Blood part II is better than the first).

Overall, the #1 has a better story.  #2 is a great sequel.  #3 could have been better, but it's still watchable.  #4 is a classic Reaganite action movie, but its production value is superior to all the 3 first ones.  #1 and #2 are barely understandable in English, for a non native at least.  Stallone must have had acting lessons after #2 'cause he speaks more clearly from then on.  His brother in law Italian accent was also extremely hard to understand in the first two.

There are always subtitles.

French dub of Stallone is even worse so I respecfully disagree (I won't even say the name of the culprit).  I believe francophone Canada got its own dub for Rocky Balboa. Did not recognize the usual voice anyways.
Paulie's dub is also more neutral so it's also a betrayal.

#2 is too much of a melodramatic rehash of the first for my taste.
#3 has a great Mr T as the villain Clubber Lang, but yes #4 has the only better villain with Dolph as Ivan Drago. Both movies are classic '80s cheese but that's not enough to say there is a jump in quality compared to the first one.

Unsurprisingly, the awful #5 is not even mentioned, for good reason.

Rocky Balboa is one of the best film series endings IMO.

[Barrister]

In that case, Rocky IV.

No way it's better than the first one. 
Cheesier, more '80s action as in reaganian. Very entertaining of course, but not better.
It's like saying Rambo II (First Blood part II is better than the first).

Overall, the #1 has a better story.  #2 is a great sequel.  #3 could have been better, but it's still watchable.  #4 is a classic Reaganite action movie, but its production value is superior to all the 3 first ones.  #1 and #2 are barely understandable in English, for a non native at least.  Stallone must have had acting lessons after #2 'cause he speaks more clearly from then on.  His brother in law Italian accent was also extremely hard to understand in the first two.

There are always subtitles.

French dub of Stallone is even worse so I respecfully disagree (I won't even say the name of the culprit).  I believe francophone Canada got its own dub for Rocky Balboa.

Unsurprisingly, the awful #5 is not even mentioned, for good reason.

Hey - you didn't even mention #6 either.

[Duque de Bragança]

In that case, Rocky IV.

No way it's better than the first one. 
Cheesier, more '80s action as in reaganian. Very entertaining of course, but not better.
It's like saying Rambo II (First Blood part II is better than the first).

Overall, the #1 has a better story.  #2 is a great sequel.  #3 could have been better, but it's still watchable.  #4 is a classic Reaganite action movie, but its production value is superior to all the 3 first ones.  #1 and #2 are barely understandable in English, for a non native at least.  Stallone must have had acting lessons after #2 'cause he speaks more clearly from then on.  His brother in law Italian accent was also extremely hard to understand in the first two.

There are always subtitles.

French dub of Stallone is even worse so I respecfully disagree (I won't even say the name of the culprit).  I believe francophone Canada got its own dub for Rocky Balboa.

Unsurprisingly, the awful #5 is not even mentioned, for good reason.

Hey - you didn't even mention #6 either.

I did actually. 

Rocky Balboa is one of the best film series endings IMO.

[Tonitrus]

Fury Road is as much a direct sequel of Beyond the Thunderdome as Road Warrior is a sequel of Mad Max. Continuity has always been extremely loose in the series. The framing device of 2-3 as legends being told in the future about Max Rockatansky was an elegant way to solve this.

I liken it a lot to the Dollars trilogy, in fact, where continuity is also extremely dubious (with Lee Van Cleef playing different characters in different movies of the saga, for example), and it's all about following a wandering main character.

One of the things that is intriguing about TGBatU, is that Eastwood's character steps back quite a bit from the main role to be really a 3-man ensemble cast.  I think it hard to really pick one out as the "main" over another.  Van Cleef's role is certainly the lesser of the three, and Eli Wallach's colorful performance definitely makes him shine brighter...almost to making it an Eastwood/Wallach anti-buddy film.

[Josephus]

Not sure about the unanimity about Aliens. I thought Alien was better.

[grumbler]

Not sure about the unanimity about Aliens. I thought Alien was better.

You definitely shouldn't be sure about "the unanimity about Aliens," because it isn't there.  I mentioned in post #18 that some people would prefer Alien.

[celedhring]

Yeah, I prefer Aliens but I think it's much a matter of opinion. They are different movies in the end, they scratch different itches (survival horror/sci-fi action).

Also, in snotty film critic circles Alien has a better reputation.

[Admiral Yi]

Alien has 3 ossum scenes and a lot of snoozer mood filler.  I've rewatched Aliens maybe a dozen times, Alien maybe once.

[grumbler]

Alien suffers a bit in modern times because so many of its innovations were copied so often that they became tropes and then clichés.

I saw it in the Mann's Chinese Theater on opening day (with all the sound channels making you think the alien was moving around behind you during that period when they are looking for it), and I can honestly say that the experience was so intense as to be almost traumatic.  It is absolutely my most memorable theater experience.

[Josquius]

Alien is better than Aliens by far.

Aliens is a worthy sequel. Gets out of how they couldn't just do the same again. But doesn't compare to the original.

On terminator vs terminator 2 I'm more torn on which is best.

[crazy canuck]

Put me in the liking Alien camp.  Aliens was good but not an improvement on the original

[celedhring]

Alien is better than Aliens by far.

Aliens is a worthy sequel. Gets out of how they couldn't just do the same again. But doesn't compare to the original.

On terminator vs terminator 2 I'm more torn on which is best.

They're similar cases. Both Alien/T1 are about unstoppable nonhuman forces (both chasing a woman), and work as horror movies. Then both sequels go more in the action movie direction.

In Alien you have different directors with different goals and sensibilities, but in the case of T2 I feel that it more fully realizes what Cameron wanted to do (with the caveat that Arnie was probably too much of a four-quadrant star to play the baddie again) The Terminator is a B movie (a great B movie), and it shows.

But preferring T1 is perfectly defensible. Again, Yi's criteria of "which one would I rather rewatch" makes me side with T2. I'll watch that film anytime, while for The Therminator I'll probably just youtube the Tech Noir / Police station scenes.