Sequels of Bad Films

[snoopy1239]

I'm sorry, I know this is abruptly off topic, but it's been bugging me for a while recently.

I was flicking through Empire Film Magazine when I noticed that a new Garfield film was being released. Now, if I remember rightly, the first one was rubbish, and the general concensus between film buffs and casual viewers alike was that it was a poor film.

So, the question is, why is there a bloomin sequel?

If I remember correctly, this film wasn't the financial success that the studios hoped it to be. Yes, it made a half-decent profit, but it certainly didn't break any records.

Also, a similar thing happened with the Steve Martin Film 'Cheaper by the Dozen', another crappy flick rewarded with a sequel. Legally Blonde 2, The Whole Ten Yards, Tomb Raider 2, Miss Congeneality 2, Be Cool - all spring to mind as shoddy remakes that shouldn't have been made. Simply a case of the film making some money, so let's shove it out again. A decent story to go with it would be nice!

They're even coming up with sequels to films where the original makes it tricky to actually make a sequel. Did we really need an Ocean's 12? The first was cool, why ruin in? What's next? Ocean's 13? 13 Monkeys? The Seventh Sense? 8ight?

When exactly did the film industry start producing sequels of crap films or, even worse, sequels of good films that they know will be crap? Is this a new phenomenen? Is it a case of 'If it made a profit before, make a sequel, regardless of how good the film is.'

If this is true, then, as a film fan, it saddens me deeply to think that this is the new method of thinking.

I'm sure that a decade or two a go the majority of sequels released were on the back of good films. Alien, Indiana Jones, Terminator, Back To The Future, and so on. And at least these films had a story line where a follow-up plot could be legitamly weaved in, rather than forced.

I wonder if films like Usual Suspects, Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, had been made today, if the studios would have pushed for some half-assed sequel. To be honest, I'm not even sure these films would have been made today. Where's the cartoon animation, the superhero, the giant unnecessary explosions, the car chase, and so on? It's not even a remake!!!

It seems to me that the film industry is swiftly heading downhill, with the focus 100% on making a profit from commercially viable films. But to blame the industry for trying to make money would be naive, it's us who're to blame for the shower of poo that hits our screens, we're the ones that go and watch them!

One day, I hope the general public change their mind on films, perhaps in the same way they became bored with the 90s 'boy band' era. Perhaps if they're fed enough of the same ol crap, they'll suddenly start pining for something different. Maybe then we will see new material from up and coming writers.

Is a return to the days of 90s cinema when we were treated to Trainspotting, American History X, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Heat, Casino, The Crow, Carlitos Way, Donnie Brasco, Wayne's World, Silence of the Lambs, Groundhog Day, Good Will Hunting, Leon, Truman Show, Speed, Se7en, and so on still possible?

... or do we carry on down this slippery slope of unoriginality and tedium?

'The Whole Ten Yards' for heaven's sake, I mean... come on?!

rant over

[Rod Paradise]

  now Breathe Snoopy, deep breaths...you've let it all out.

I agree btw

[I, Zimbra]

Snoops, I agree, they shouldn't remake good films and they shouldn't make sequels to poor ones.

However, if Garfield made money from kiddies dragging parents along to see it, regardless of how bad it was, then they will make another. Ditto Steve Martin's "cheaper" and so on. Kid-movies often get sequels, they don't have to 'break records' to get their sequel. The fact that they get double revenues from kids dragging parents to watch is enough.

Every now and again though, a film that shouldn't have a sequel gets one anyway, and no-one can really explain it: e.g. 'Be Cool', an extremely belated follow-up to Get Shorty. Presumably the script was sitting on a shelf for a while, and someone had a word with Travolta, telling him "it's been a while, you know? perhaps you'd better get back out there..."

Every few years people ask if film is dead, where's the originality, and so on. They were probably saying it during the nineties as well, except that we don't remember it.

Incidentally, I think they actually are making Ocean's 13 at the moment... 

[Trace]

My 10 year old loved the Garfield film!


How many Friday the 13th's were notched up in the end?

[Jim-D]

My 10 year old loved the Garfield film!


How many Friday the 13th's were notched up in the end?

So did my Girlfriend,  She was in tears when he does that dance!!

[I, Zimbra]

Friday 13th movies... I think they did about ten of them? Jason X was probably the tenth one and then 'Freddy vs Jason...'

[bolt pp]

be cool was watchable.

[I, Zimbra]

I'm sure that a decade or two a go the majority of sequels released were on the back of good films. Alien, Indiana Jones, Terminator, Back To The Future, and so on. And at least these films had a story line where a follow-up plot could be legitamly weaved in, rather than forced.

Rose tinted, I would say?

Films from (roughly) the same period that also spawned sequels: King Solomon's Mines, Ghoulies, House, That Ninja Turtles Movie, Piranha (thank you James Cameron and Lance Henriksen), to name but a few.

Also never forget that good films spawn bad sequels as well: e.g. Jaws 2-4, all of the subsequent National Lampoon Vacations, etcetera, etcetera...

[lazaroonie]

be cool was watchable.

I think the "be cool"  sequel was more to do with Elmore Leonard writing it , rather than the studio comissioning it.

[snoopy1239]

I just don't like the fact there are so many talented writers out there with incredible ideas that are getting grossly overlooked. For a script writer to break into the movie business is nigh on impossible as the industries are simply rehashing/remaking/copying older films, producing sequels to any film that made a dime, shoving out the same old poo, and using proven writers to do so.

If we didn't go and see these crappy films, then perhaps the talent would be allowed to emerge, thereby producing some decnt films for a change.

Just think, instead of 'The Whole Ten Yards' (a sequel to a shockingly bad film that took the cool out of Willis and the funny out of Perry), we could have seen less money spent on an innovative film from an up and coming talent. But that's not worth the risk for the studios when they can release virtually the same film, but stick a new number in the title. And the reason for this is that we still go and watch them.

People go into films expecting them to be crap and come out saying it's crap. Put your hands up, who had read poor reviews of a film but still went to see it, afterwards coming out of the cinema and agreeing that it was shocking? So why did they go see it then?? Guess that's the power of marketing.

I've done it myself. Hype gets people into the cinema these days, not a good film. That's the real shame.

[TightEnd]

Poseidon....all I can say that Richard Dreyfus must have trouble with the IRS and needs the $$$

Omen remake? why?

I tell you what, it really is just lazy/unimaginative/pressured studio bosses not wanting to spend time and money on original screenplays or take the risk on new talent. Better for them to rebadge old screenplays for remakes and get screenplay writers of the newer crappy films to make sequels. Often the acting talent signs contracts that lets the studio get them very cheap for the sequels troo.

It's a lowest common denominator thing


Just occasionally I come across a gem like Hard Candy or United 93 but most new stuff available for me to see these days in unadulterated pap.

[NoflopsHomer]

Weekend at Bernies 2 wasn't made for artistic merit?

[Scottish Dave]

personally i thought the whole 9 yards was a good film as was get Shorty, and Oceans 12.

big fancy explosions make for good entertainment, i mean look at Bad Boys 2! - astounding film!

[AndrewT]

If you have commissioned something which made a profit, which course of action do you think the average movie executive would pursue?

a) Trawl through the legions of scripts submitted each year, rejecting anything which seems unoriginal and uninspiring, searching for the elusive diamond which enthralls you

b) Say 'Make that film again, except with more explosions and nudity. And see if Adam Sandler is available'.

[littlemissC]

loved garfield,loved be cool,and loved both whole 9 yards and ten yards.guys,its all down to preference and people will always have different views on films.