Has There Ever Been a GOOD "Threequel"?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Has There Ever Been a GOOD "Threequel"?#1

Posted: 7/22/07 at 1:28pm

Why is it that the third film in a given series, outside of a planned trilogy, is usually the worst in the series? Spiderman 3 was just a pointless cash machine. Shrek the Third was completely without merit. The Matrix Revolutions? Horrible. X-Men: The Last Stand? Abominable. Even something that looks as inconsequential as Austin Powers in Goldmember ended up being one of the worst comedies I've ever experienced and that is not hyperbole.

So can you think of one film that came third that was actually decent or possibly the better of its forbears? This does not count planned sagas (LOTR, Harry Potter, The Bourne series).

[Weez]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#2

Posted: 7/22/07 at 1:34pm

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. Back To The Future III. And, depending on your mood, perhaps Army Of Darkness (aka Evil Dead III; but you do have to be in a silly mood to favour it over its darker forebears).

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

[polly2]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#2

Posted: 7/22/07 at 1:57pm

LOTR: Return of the King


edit oops didnt see the outside of a planned trilogy part!

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Updated On: 7/22/07 at 01:57 PM

[GuitarGirl]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#3

Posted: 7/22/07 at 2:00pm

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End? Though there are so many opinions on whether this movie was good or not. I, for one, really liked it.

"I'm sort of like a child genius without being a child or a genius."~Tim Rice-Oxley

[Roscoe]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#4

Posted: 7/22/07 at 2:19pm

Those PIRATES films are kind of an anomaly. They don't really feel like trilogy, more like a prologue and a two-part follow-up.

The only threequel-series-trilogy thing I can think of that gets progressively better is Episodes One - Three of those STAR WARS things. None of them are particularly good, and they have some of the worst acting ever, but I don't think there's any denying that REVENGE OF THE SITH is better than THE PHANTOM MENACE.

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/

[Mandi Moo]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#5

Posted: 7/22/07 at 2:40pm

The Godfather Part III.

[folkyboy]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#6

Posted: 7/22/07 at 2:50pm

Back to the Future III was already setup. and HORRIBLE.

ditto to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

i can only really think of good porno threequals honestly.

[Taryn]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#7

Posted: 7/22/07 at 3:00pm

Indiana Jones seems to be the best one that comes to mind. Last Crusade is really my favorite; Sean Connery and Harrison Ford have AMAZING chemistry.

[baddadnpa]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#8

Posted: 7/22/07 at 3:21pm

Godfather 3 was a travesty that diminished the reputable of 1 and 2. Poorly cast it was laughable. Having Michael fall out of his chair ala Arte Johnson from Laugh In at the end of the movie was an unintentional riot. One of the worst films ever.

The truly beautiful should be lawfully restricted from wearing clothing; and the truly butt-ugly should be lawfully mandated from going naked.

[SeanMartin]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#9

Posted: 7/22/07 at 4:19pm

STAR TREK III was the first in that franchise to figure out how to make a good flick, so I'd put it up there.

http://docandraider.com

[YouWantitWhen????]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#10

Posted: 7/22/07 at 4:29pm

I have a feeling that Bourne 3 is going to be good.

[JohnBoy2]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#11

Posted: 7/22/07 at 4:32pm

Spiderman 3 is my favorite of the three of them. Also, my favorite Indiana Jones, is the 3rd one, and Jason found his hockey mask in part 3, plus the 3D was among the best I've ever seen in a film. So, I suppose I don't agree with your assessment, Cruel.
Updated On: 7/22/07 at 04:32 PM

[Cruel_Sandwich]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#12

Posted: 7/22/07 at 5:38pm

Really? What did you like about SPIDERMAN 3? I was really really really disappointed.

[americanboy99]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#13

Posted: 7/22/07 at 5:38pm

SCREAM 3.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#14

Posted: 7/22/07 at 6:01pm

Definitely RETURN OF THE JEDI.
I disagree Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, I found it to be mundane, terribly acted, too CGI-packed to care about storytelling. When first-rate actors like Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman sound like they deserve a Razzie, you know there's a problem with direction and script.

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

[Taryn]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#15

Posted: 7/22/07 at 7:09pm

"STAR TREK III was the first in that franchise to figure out how to make a good flick, so I'd put it up there."

Seriously? Wrath of Khan is one of the best in the whole series.

[SeanMartin]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#16

Posted: 7/22/07 at 7:18pm

WRATH OF KHAN is good (I dont know that I would call it the best of the lot -- I'd reserve that for VOYAGE HOME), sure, but we're talking about the Threequel Curse and how the ST franchise got past it. With ST III, it was left with a dynamite cliffhanger.

http://docandraider.com

Updated On: 7/22/07 at 07:18 PM

[Jon]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#17

Posted: 7/22/07 at 7:36pm

Austin Powers - Goldmember was pretty damned funny.

With Gwyneth Paltrow as Dixie Nourmous.

[pab]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#18

Posted: 7/22/07 at 7:43pm

"Godfather 3 was a travesty that diminished the reputable of 1 and 2."

Part three did not in fact compare to the first two but it was still better than many other movies. Having to live up to two of best films ever made is a tall order but the movie should not be diminished because it was not Godfather I or Godfather II. Very few movies will ever compare to those two.

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[Cruel_Sandwich]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#19

Posted: 7/22/07 at 8:02pm

I hated Goldmember. Such an awful awful film. The movie can't even do a fart joke properly, dragging it out to almost a full minute.

[Plum]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#20

Posted: 7/22/07 at 9:56pm

...I like the third Aladdin movie better than the second. If you count the Red Curtain Trilogy as an actual trilogy, than Moulin Rouge! was a fine way to finish. And I heard Ocean's 13 didn't stink.
Updated On: 7/22/07 at 09:56 PM

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#21

Posted: 7/22/07 at 9:58pm

I feel like I am the only person alive that liked Pirates 3, but I really loved it. It wasn't quite as good as 1, but still really good

[Plum]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#22

Posted: 7/22/07 at 10:01pm

I liked At World's End, too. It was a very zen experience- as soon as you relaxed and stopped trying to make sense of it, it all flowed very nicely.

[kjklo]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#23

Posted: 7/22/07 at 10:08pm

Two that immediately come to mind:

Jean Cocteau's Testament Of Orpheus
Fritz Lang's Thousand Eyes Of Dr Mabuse

[dfwtheatreguy]

re: Has There Ever Been a GOOD 'Threequel'?#24

Posted: 7/22/07 at 10:25pm

Return of the Jedi rocked the casbah

Ocean's Thirteen didnt suck too bad

Cinderella 3: Lost in Time sucked big balls though

"The theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life." - Arthur Miller

Updated On: 7/22/07 at 10:25 PM