Rotten Tomatoes & The Fifty Best Sequels Of All-Time List (2012 Version)

[Mitch Henessey]

A while ago, I posted RT's list for the top seventy-five horror films of all-time, and now it's time for sequels!

Grading sequels can always be a tricky task. In some rare cases, a sequel can surpass the original in terms of quality (The Empire Strikes Back), but most of the time, sequels are just a shameless attempt to cash in on the success of the original (Bad Boys II). And some sequels can provide a successful or respectable follow-up to the original (Aliens, Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade).

First of all, Rotten Tomatoes didn't make the actual list. This list is based on the weighted formula of their Tomatometer. Each film must have at least twenty reviews to qualify, and the year of release is taken into account. And here's the list:

#50- Kill Bill, Volume 2 (2004)
#49- Thunderball (1965)
#48- Fa Yeung Nin Wa (In the Mood for Love) (2000)
#47- The Curse Of The Cat People (1944)
#46- Superman II (1981)
#45- Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince (2009)
#44-Three Colors: White (Trzy kolory: Bialy) (Trois Couleurs: Blanc) (1994)
#43- Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
#42- Saraband (2003)
#41- Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade (1989)
#40- X2: X-Men United (2003)
#39- Shrek 2 (2004)
#38- Star Trek- First Contact (1996)
#37- Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982)
#36- Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire (2005)
#35- The Color Of Money (1986)
#34- A Shot In The Dark (1964)
#33- 49 Up (2005)
#32- Triad Election (Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai) (2006)
#31- Flirting (1990)
#30- The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
#29- Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
#28- Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)
#27- Supercop (Police Story 3) (Ging chaat goo si 3: Chiu kap ging chaat) (1992)
#26- Baisers Volés (Stolen Kisses) (1968)
#25- Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
#24- For A Few Dollars More (1965)
#23- Before Sunset (2004)
#22- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
#21- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
#20- The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)
#19- From Russia With Love (1963)
#18- Goldfinger (1964)
#17- Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
#16- Evil Dead 2 (1987)
#15- The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
#14-Sanjuro (Tsubaki Sanjûrô) (1962)
#13-The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
#12- Apur Sansar (The World Of Apu) (1959)
#11- Three Colors: Red (Trios Couleurs: Rogue) (1994)
#10- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
#9- The Dark Knight (2008)
#8- Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows- Part 2 (2011)
#7- Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
#6- Aliens (1986)
#5- The Godfather, Part II (1974)
#4- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)
#3- Toy Story 3 (2010)
#2- The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)
#1- Toy Story 2 (1999)

RT's slide show list includes the synopses and cool movie posters, and you can take a look at it here: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/best_sequels_2012/

Of course, I haven't seen every film on this list, but I disagree with some of the selections and rankings here.

I've been a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino's work for years, but I don't have a problem with Kill Bill, Vol. 2's #50 spot. It's not Tarantino's best film by a longhsot, and this list features a handful of films that are much better overall.

But I strongly disagree with Toy Story 2's #1 spot. It's a very good film, the animation is superb, and anyone can enjoy this film, but you can make a serious argument for the original Toy Story as the best film in the franchise. Plus, I finally got a chance to watch Toy Story 3 a few weeks ago, and you can say the same thing about that film. The Toy Story franchise is loaded with great films, but as far as quality goes, there's no clear-cut choice for the best film in the entire series.

As far as the rest of the list goes, I do have a big problem with the appearances from Harry Potter here. Look, I enjoyed the entire Harry Potter franchise, but four selections? Seriously??? The ONLY Harry Potter film that truly deserved a spot on this list is The Deathly Hallows Part 2, and you might be able to make an argument for The Goblet Of Fire. Again, I love Harry Potter, but four selections is just beyond ridiculous.

So far, Back To The Future Part II is my only complaint for snubs. I don't care what the critics say. Back To The Future Part II is one of the greatest sequels ever, and this film deserves a spot on this list.

Spider-Man 2 and X2 could move up higher. Both films are serious contenders for the best superhero film of all-time, X2 and Spider-Man 2 are EASY choices for the best film in their respective franchises, and neither film deserves such a low ranking (no, #21 isn't good enough for Spider-Man 2).

And I still haven't seen this film yet, but The Dark Knight Rises #30 spot doesn't surprise me at all. The Dark Knight Rises was going to find a spot on this list somehow, but is TDKR really better than Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade or Superman II? I just can't believe it.

The top ten isn't perfect. Aliens, The Godfather, Part II, and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly made the cut, so I can't complain too much. Although, The Dark Knight shouldn't be in there, the same thing can be said about The Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Toy Story 3 and Max 2 are both questionable picks.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with this list? Would you add any films that didn't make the cut?

 

[klunderbunker]

There are a few flags here for me but nothing jumps out as crazy.

First of all, I'm in the minority on this but I've always like Toy Story 3 better than Toy Story 2. #2 is good but I would think it's the third best of the three movies. It's certainly great but I like the first and last ones better.

Another issue I have is James Bond movies being on here. They aren't really sequels but rather stand alone films with the same characters. I don't see how you can call Thunderball and From Russia With Love sequels to Dr. No.

As for the rest of the list, it seems fine although I was surprised Godfather II is so low.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's wrong, but lists like this usually are.

Kill Bill Volume 2 isn't a sequel and neither are Letters From Iwo Jima, The Two Towers or Return of The King. And I think I'm correct in saying that the only Bond sequel is Quantum Of Solace. The others are just instalments in a franchise.

There have been several good Potter films but no great ones. So only one should maybe scrape into the top 50. M:I Ghost Protocol is high considering it is enjoyable and nothing more.

I'm surprised The Dark Knight isn't in the top spot considering every other list of its type I've seen recently.

 

[jmt225]

Well, it's obvious that the Rotten Tomatoes way of listing is not the right way. Anyone who sits there and tries to tell me either Toy Story sequel is better than The Godfather 2, Terminator 2, or Aliens needs to have their head examined.

Overall the list is horrendous. The only bright spot is that they included Triad Election. Other than that though... just horrible. Shit they even have James Bond movies on there. How can people count James Bond movies as sequels? They're not continuing any kind of story... they're their own separate stories. So even what Rotten Tomatoes considers to be sequels is wrong.

It blows my mind how stupid this list is, but it's just another example of how statistics don't always tell the truth. It's just an awful, awful list. I'd go as far to say it's worse than any list WWE.com has ever put together; it's that bad.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I'm fairly sure all they do is rank their RT scores. Not a whole lot of editorial work for whoever put this together. And it's RT, so it's not even like "person A gave this a 4/5 rating" and "person B gave this a 5/5 rating" and together they get ____. The critics themselves do give their scores, on their own website, by RT only looks at if they liked it or not. It's either a tomato, or a squash. You can't really blame them for this list, all it does is rank movies based on whether people liked them or not.

Toy Story 3 was a far better film than Toy Story 2. The catch is, according to them 99% of people liked Toy Story 3, while 100% of people liked Toy Story 2. There could have literally been ONE guy who didn't' care for it, that screws up the entire list... My guess is if you took all those critics and averaged their real scores together - not possible; everyone has their own system - movies like Aliens and The Godfather II would win every single time.

And I completely agree that the Bond series has no place on this list.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Jake raised an interesting point about differing between 'sequels' and 'franchise installments' before and I've racked my brain trying to think of films that could just be thought of as sequels. So far I can only think of The Color of Money, City of Men and Day Watch. Of those 3 it doesn't take much thought for me to give the nod to The Color of Money as its the sequel to one of my favourite films (The Hustler), allowed Paul Newman the chance to reprise one of his finest roles and is one of Scorsese's under-appreciated gems.

As for the whole Toy Story 2 or 3 thing, I much prefer 2. Its one of the best follow-ups but in no way should be number 1. Toy Story 3 however... I just don't know. I liked it in the cinema and I liked it when I watched it again at the weekend but there just seems to be something I'm missing from what makes it so beloved. (Needed to get that off my chest)

 

[GrandSword]

Yeah, it's just as HGR says, it would be what their score is on RT and then just put into the list. I'm not an expert on the site, but if it works anything like IMDB, then more recent movies will get better scores as they are fresh in people's minds (which explains to me MI: Ghost Protocol's placing which for me was very boring).

It has been widely regarded for most of my life that the Godfather Part II is the greatest sequel of all time. It has been said time and time again. Personally I don't think it is the #1 but it sure is close, but I'm no movie critic expert.

I'd also challenge the whole sequel vs. franchise thing as well and KB's thoughts oin the Bonds. As JMT said only Quantum of Solace can really be considered a sequel, however the earlier movies do build on certain relationships such as Bond and Leiter.

Oh and what about Temple of Doom???