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by Desire
Do you think films should stop after they are succesful? Are sequels just a way of cashing in?

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Pretty much.

If you look at films like the Rocky series and the Police Academy films (), many people forget that the first were actually quite good. Unfortunately it's the poor, later films that are more fresh in people's memories.

Best trilogy IMO: Indiana Jones

Billy Complete agreement best is Indy Jones. one of the longest running must be Bond though 20 is the next I think.

It depends on whether the films are any good look at the last star wars it was basically an advert for the merchandise.

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by Desire
Are sequels just a way of cashing in?

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Yes. Completely. The original films were about cashing in. Hollywood is about making money, pure and simple. It produces some (stress the word some) good films along the way, but Hollywood's aim is to make money. Hence, if a film is succesful and it can continue the formula, it will.

There is only one reason Hollywood makes movies ... to make money.

If a film makes a lot of money, it is a reasonable bet that a sequel will also make money but the law of diminishing returns tends to kick in so the solution is to spend a little less money and time on the second film ... ad infinitum.

That doesn't mean sequels can't be good but it does rig the table against them.

Superman 2, Batman Returns, The Godfather part 2 are all arguable as good as or better than the movie that preceded them.

Police Academy 5, Jaws the Revenge and Friday the 13th Part 8 (Jason taken Manhattan) are not.

Other than the precedent set by Star Wars, I cannot think of a reason for trilogies to be especially suited to film story telling and I suspect most trilogies are coincidences and not the result of a grand design.

Best trilogy - The Godfather

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by Incandenza


Best trilogy - The Godfather

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Don't you mean the Back to the Future trilogy

I like the one where they tell part of a much larger story, as that's the only way you can tell the rest of the story, Star Wars being the most obvious

Although the primary interest in Hollywood where sequels are concerned is money, they do provide the audience with continuing some of the stories

I for one have watched some films and wondered "What happens next?" or "What about x, y or z?" I think it's just a matter of quality control really