My Top 10: Sequels/Prequels

Some people may believe sequels and prequels are a new concept to story-telling. But to be honest, they have been with us since the beginning of story-telling in any format.
Sequels are best known for not being as good as its predecessor. But every now and then, there is the odd exception to this theory and it sometimes creates a terrific and highly successful film franchise.

As for prequels, they have a more recent history. From as early as the 1950's, the phrase prequel has slowly come into the mainstream society. From the late 1970's, prequels were becoming more commonly used in film franchises. But since the start of the 21st century, it has become more of annual occurrence. With film franchises like Star Wars, Alien, X-Men, Wizard Of Oz, Planet Of The Apes, Hannibal Lecter, Monsters, Inc, The Hobbit, Infernal Affairs, Underworld and many others doing prequels, I think it is safe that these forms of story-telling will not be leaving us anytime soon.

As for my top 10, they consist of eight sequels and one prequel. The one prequel will probably surprise you of it being a sequel.
One film that I must give an honorable mention to is Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom which sadly missed out. It may come as a surprise to you that this is actually a prequel to Raiders Of The Lost Ark. When you actually see the film, the year that this takes place is actually before the first Indiana Jones film.

With that missing out on the top 10, you can probably imagine that this is a high-calibre list. Here is my top 10:

10) For A Few Dollars More - After his adventures in A Fistful Of Dollars, 'The Man With No Name' played by Clint Eastwood returns.

However, whilst on the trial of a notorious outlaw. A bounty hunter is on the same trial. Will they team up?

9) Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Associated with many people as the greatest sequel, director James Cameron managed to surpass his own efforts with the first Terminator film.

After failing in his efforts in the first movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back and is now looking for a different target.

8) Return To Oz - For regular followers to my blog, this was always going to feature.

Despite not being a direct sequel i.e. made by the same studio, it still follows on from the events in The Wizard Of Oz.

Six months after the tornado, Dorothy is back in Oz with a enemy to face. There is also some new allies at her side for what is a very dark take on the land of Oz by director Walter Murch.

7) The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - Believe it or not, this is a prequel to A Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More.

We found out the beginning adventures of The Man With No Name as he and two others on in a race to track down buried gold. Expect a lot of unlikely alliances, and backstabbing.

6) The Dark Knight - Seen by many as the greatest film of our time, Batman is back, as him and the police launch an attack on the entire Gotham City mob scum.

But one mysterious character arrives with the intention of turning Gotham on Batman and causing complete chaos.

5) Aliens - Director James Cameron is back after the success of Alien.

With the alien planet now colonized but losing all contact, a team of soldiers and the lone survivor from the incident in Alien come to the rescue.

This time, it's war.

4) Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back - After destroying the Death Star.

Luke Skywalker decides to go on his Jedi training whilst the rest of his friends battle to escape from Darth Vader and the surviving armies of the Empire.

3) Toy Story 3 - With Andy growing up and heading off to college, the toys are in a dilemma.
With they be thrown out, kept in the attic or given to kids who cannot afford toys?

Woody, Buzz and the gang have an adventure of a lifetime and meet some new friends along the way.

2) The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers - With the fellowship now split, Frodo and Sam continue onto Mordor with the help of a former owner of the ring.

Whilst, the rest help gather an army against Sauron's new ally, the evil Saruman and his army from Isengard.

1) The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King - With Frodo and Sam getting ever close to destroying the ring.

The surviving colonies of Men take one final stand against Sauron's orc army in a battle to save Middle Earth from falling into darkness.

Winner of an unprecedented 11 Oscars, this is one grand finale to the perfect trilogy.