GR Decides: Best Movie Sequel

Pretty simple really, choose your favourite sequel from the list in the poll. I've only included 1 film from each franchise to avoid the poll being too long, but I'm sure you'll all enjoy telling me how wrong my choices are

The Contenders:


Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her teenage son, John Connor, from a more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong


Aliens (1987)
Ellen Ripley is rescued by a deep salvage team after being in hypersleep for 57 years. The moon that the Nostromo visited has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, colonial marines have impressive firepower, but will that be enough?
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Sigourney Weaves, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton


The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood


Toy Story 3 (2010)
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.
Directed by: Lee Unkrich
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen


Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
After the Rebels are brutally overpowered by the Empire on the ice planet Hoth, Luke Skywalker begins Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued by Darth Vader.
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams


Mad Max: The Road Warrior (1981)
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Vernon Wells


The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall


The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless C.I.A. official and his Agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn


The Dark Knight (2008)
When the menace known as The Joker emerges from his mysterious past, he wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham. The Dark Knight must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal


Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.
Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nemoy, Ricardo Montalban


Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Peter Parker is beset with troubles in his failing personal life as he battles a brilliant scientist named Doctor Otto Octavius.
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef


Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
John McClane and a Harlem store owner are targeted by German terrorist Simon Gruber in New York City, where he plans to rob the Federal Reserve Building.
Directed by: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons


Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
In 1938, after his father Professor Henry Jones, Sr. goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Professor Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. finds himself up against Adolf Hitler's Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody


Back to the Future: Part II (1989)
After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson


Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
Directed by: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson


X-Men 2 (2003)
When anti-mutant Colonel William Stryker kidnaps Professor X and attacks his school, the X-Men must ally with their archenemy Magneto to stop him.
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry


Superman II (1980)
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
Directed by: Richard Donner Lester
Starring: Christopher Reeves, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder


Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
Directed by: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson


Choose your champion!

Thor: The Dark World

Don’t really consider infinity war a sequel, it’s part of an ongoing saga. Same could be said for empire strikes back and back to the future 2. A good sequel should build upon the first film but not be held back by it. You shouldn’t NEED to have seen the first, nor should you need to see any sequels. For this reason Aliens is the best for me. Pays homage to the first but goes its own way and is equally thrilling in its own way.

Depends how we're judging it. Going by sequels that build on the first film without relying on it, are notably sequels but still have their own distinct identity, and are great standalone films in their own right, I would put it between Aliens, Road Warrior and Blade Runner 2049.

Voted for Road Warrior in the poll.

Went for the Dark Knight, builds massively on what we saw in Batman Begins and is one of my favourite movies ever.

For me it's a toss up between Terminator 2 and Aliens. They're both just perfect follow ups to their predecessors, giving them enough reverence whilst also forging their own path and not just copying them verbatim. James Cameron really was a master in his prime

OrangeRKN wrote:Blade Runner 2049

gooseberry fool, I knew I'd forget one

I love the marvel sequels on the list, genuinely. But I can’t see past the James Cameron movies as the best.

My gut reaction on reading the topic title and before seeing the options was Terminator 2.

Still an amazing film and a benchmark the newer Terminator films just don't come close to.

The X-Men films are gooseberry fool. Days of Future past was ok( that the one set in the past with a young Magnito and Xavier?)

Logan is the best one.

Gremlins II

Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (I prefer it to Excellent Adventure as well.)

White Chicks 2 is the correct answer to this question.

Jenuall wrote:White Chicks 2 is the correct answer to this question.

I didn't even know there was a sequel. White Chicks is the only film I've ever walked out of

I'm gonna have to vote for Return of the King. That was tough, Aliens, Toy Story 3, Terminator 2 are all worthy.

My favourite sequels would be:

BTTF Part 2
Toy Story 2 and 3
Winter Soldier
The Dark Knight
Empire Strikes Back


I think I'd pick Empire Strikes Back as the best. The best Star Wars film and with huge cultural impact.

T2, hands down.

Supremacy is marginally better than Ultimatum, but the latter still gets my vote.

Lord of the Rings doesnt count.

OrangeRKN wrote:Depends how we're judging it. Going by sequels that build on the first film without relying on it, are notably sequels but still have their own distinct identity, and are great standalone films in their own right, I would put it between Aliens, Road Warrior and Blade Runner 2049.

Voted for Road Warrior in the poll.

If we're being real here, it's clearly Godfather II, followed by T2 and Aliens.

Better original movies
Terminator
Godfather
Die Hard
Toy Story
Raiders of the lost ark

Better sequels
Dark Night
Empire Strikes Back
Superman 2

Hard to call
Back to the Future
Aliens