French Connection II: What's the best sequel ever, and why?
One nice touch: Bernard Fresson's Henri, as the colleague/adversary, physically resembles Eddie Egan's Simonson, the supervisor with whom Hackman clashes in the first movie. That's a much subtler tribute to the original than is the window-glancing in the foot portion of the sequel's climactic chase scene.
Now, here are your questions: 1) What are the best crime-movie sequels ever? (Extra points if you don't mention the obvious Godfather, Part II), and 2) What are the ingredients of a good sequel?
© Peter Rozovsky 2015
Labels: French Connection II, movies, sequels, The French Connection
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 4:58 PM
18 Comments:
Aliens
The Good The Bad & The Ugly
Road Warrior
Terminator 2
Bride of Frankenstein
After the Thin Man
From Russia with Love
Die Hard 2
Steve, I had not thought of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as a sequel, but why not? Good choice. Thanks.
Bill, I admit that I don't remember After the Thin Man, but Hammett wrote the story on which it's based, so I probably ought to watch it again. And I have a prejudice against any sequel who title is the original plus "2."
"The Color of Money"
Whatever the hell the second "Dirty Harry" movie was, assuming you can stomach the first one.
"The Silence of the Lambs" is a sequel to "Red Dragon," and much, much better than the execrable "Hannibal."
Good on "The Color of Money," which may set a record for longest time between an original and its sequel.
I've always wanted to write "Young Hannibal" or "Hannibal: The Early Years" so I could set the following scene in the Lecter family's kitchen:
HANNIBAL'S MOTHER: "Eat your vegetables."
YOUNG HANNIBAL: "No."
Crime sequels are tricky. Magnum Force (Dirty Harry 2), Ocean's 12, Infernal Affairs 2, Bourne Supremacy, Death Wish 2, They Call Me Mister Tibbs, Lethal Weapon 2, Die Hard 2. Add in remakes and you get even more.
MV, bring remakes into play, and I'll say I liked the second Ocean's Eleven, the first recorded evidence that Brad Pitt was capable of facial expression.
I really can't think of any movie sequels I've seen that equaled the first. In fact the only sequel I can think of is the next Pink Panther, and that was not better.
It's funny, though, that the second year of a TV series is really a kind of sequel to the first and often they hold up quite well. And even beyond the second year sometimes. Justified, Breaking Bad and any number of British mystery series come to mind.
I wonder how long viewers have thought of a television show's second season as a sequel. It has not been that long since season-long story arcs became a big thing.
I don't know that people really think of them that way even now. I think the concept is still "season" But they often are sequels anyway.
I liked Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The other two Indiana Jones movies not so much.
Seana, it seems to me that more television series these days bring their stories to an end when the series ends. That makes them more like novels, I suppose. What, if anything, it had to so with sequels I don't know.
Mary Beth: I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark and, in the first sequel, I noted the reference to the celebrated scene in which Indian Jones pulls a gun on his sword-wielding assailant. I'm not sure how much I like that sort of self-reference but in this case the original scene was so good that I gave the reference to it a pass.
A sequel by any other name would smell as sweet. Or not.
Rose II: The Smell
I had one more thought on sequels. To Kill A Mockingbird was such a faultless movie that I don't think there could have been a successful sequel. But I wonder about Scout. What kind of life did she live. I have always hoped she was waiting in the wings to tell her story (with flashbacks to Atticus of course.)
I wonder if Harper Lee ever thought about writing such a story.
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