Sadly it happens all the time. We hear about a movie that sounds great and we can’t wait to see it. We watch the trailers and it looks better and better. For whatever reason the film looks good to us. Maybe it’s because of the cast. Maybe it’s because of the story. Maybe it’s because if the director. Maybe it’s because the visuals look good… or maybe because it just does. Then we go see it… and it just sucks.
What’s worse, is that sometimes we see a terrible film and our disappointment is amplified by the knowledge that it COULD have been a great film. There were elements in it that were strong… and if the film just built itself around those strong elements, perhaps it could have turned out 100x better than it did.
Then we think that if they did a sequel… not a reboot… and focused on those strong elements, we might end up getting the kind of movie we were hoping for when we first went in to watch the first one.
I remember the first time I really thought about that was after seeing the first Underworld movie. I was not “thrilled” with the movie at all… but there were a few things there that made me want to see another Underworld film. Untapped potential that I thought a sequel could explore. Underworld had a great mythology behind it. A fantastic back story about the Lycans and the Vampires. It had a beautiful and dark style to it… and my goodness who didn’t like seeing Kate Beckinsale in that tight black leather outfit?!?! No, I didn’t really love the first Underworld movie… yet I still wanted to see a sequel. Too bad the sequel turned out to be 5x worse than the original.
As I thought about this the other day, I started compiling a list in my head about other bad films that had certain potential left unrealized. Waste of time movies that had seeds of greatness in them that PERHAPS if given another shot in the form of a sequel… could produce something special.
So now for your consideration I present to you my list of 15 terrible movies that deserve a shot at a sequel:
 | #1 – JUMPER Ok I admit that the fact that I was an extra in this movie added to my anticipation, but this film had a lot going for it as a starting point. A Sci-Fi movie about people born with the power to teleport anywhere in the world at any time known as “jumpers” who have been hunted down through the centuries by a group of normal mortals who call themselves “Paladins”. How freaking cool does that sound?!?! Add on top of that Samuel Jackson as the main bad buy, the website giving some cool background to the history of the Paladins and why they hunt Jumpers and some wonderful visual effects… you’ve got the making of a great movie right? RIGHT?!?!?! Wrong. This crap wasted all it’s time on a stupid and weak love story and gave absolutely ZERO time exploring the history and mythology of the Jumpers or the Paladins. All the things that COULD have made this movie cool were left out completely. I’d love to see a sequel to this with the focus on the right stuff. |
 | #2 – SWORDFISH Just look at this damn cast! John Travolta (before he because a joke again), Huge Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Sam Shepard and Vinnie Jones. A high tech heist style of movie with the promise of “Speed” type action hot on the heals of Jackman becoming an international star due to being Wolverine… this flick should have knocked it out of the park. Sadly though, the movie spends most of it’s time struggling through it’s piss poor dialog and meaningless side plots and only giving us tastes of the type of intensity and action a movie like this one COULD have provided to us. The thing that gives me hope for a sequel is that the premise and characters (the ones left alive anyway) still hold that potential to build on the strong points in the first film. I’d be in line to see a Swordfish 2. It may suck again… but I’d be there. |
 | #3 – K-PAX Seeing two certifiably GREAT actors in the same movie is always a good reason to be excited about seeing it. Throw in something of a sci-fi mystery with it and you COULD be in for something special. K-Pax was such a movie that offered all of that. Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey in a movie about a mysterious man who ends up in a Psych ward who claims to be from a far away galaxy. The doctors obviously don’t believe him, but they don’t really know who he is, or how he knows so much about astrophysics. Sadly, the movie just sort of trudges along at a snails pace without ever really developing the story or giving very revealing revelations. It feels like it’s the same 20 minutes repeated several times. The film ends (warning: this is a spoiler for those of you who haven’t seen it) with Spacey just disappearing and the mystery of if he was indeed an alien or just an unbalanced human being still lingering. I loved the ending… and I’d love to see a sequel picking up that story and going from there. Could be amazing… or awful. I’d like to see how it would play out. |
 | #4 – REIGN OF FIRE Do any of you need more that this short description to get you pumped up: “In the modern world, an ancient sleeping breed of Dragon is awakened and it then proceeds to wipe out most of the civilized world leaving the few survivors to battle the monsters in the new post apocalyptic world for their very existence” FUCK YEAH!!!! The cast was just about as solid as you could get it too. Matthew McConaughey plays a cool as hell military character who is beyond bad ass, and Christian Bale is the leader of a small colony of human survivors who gets caught up in the McConaughey’s war with the Dragons. Sweet! Or at least it should have been. The movie ends with (spoiler) the humans killing off the only Male dragon, ensuring that eventually the species will become extinct since they can’t breed anymore. But there are still LOTS of Dragons out there… and even though there are no males left… like they said in Jurassic Park… Nature finds a way! Make this movie and focus more on the bad ass action that SHOULD have been in the first one and you’ll have a classic killer flick. Maybe. |
 | #5 – SHOWTIME Showtime is a little bit different of a film on this list. You see… unlike a lot of the other films here, this one NEVER looked good. Nothing about it looked appealing at all. Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy in a copy comedy??? No thanks. Sure enough the movie ends up being a total waste of time. But there was one unexpected positive point in it. The on screen comedic chemistry between Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy was surprisingly good. More than good… it was charming and had a charisma all its own. The interactions between the two main characters were by far the most entertaining points of the movie… and had it just focused more on that, the film may have ended up a lot better than it did. Make another Showtime, focus more time on these two characters interacting, and I think you’ll have a fine entertaining movie. Maybe. |
 | #6 – THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN I can’t even being to tell you how pumped I was for this movie. Hands down the most interesting mix of “hero” characters ever brought together for a comic style flick. Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Dorian Gray, The Invisible Man, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Tom Sawyer… and the bad guy ends up being (spoiler) none other than Professor Moriarty, the arch nemesis of the great Sherlock Holmes. All lead by Sean Conery as Quatermain… how wicked does that sound? I’ll tell you how much… and big old ass lot! Unfortunately they did just about everything wrong with this movie. I thought the casting was good… the idea for a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was excellent… but the wrote a terrible story that wasted all that great potential. I highly doubt we’ll ever see Dean Conery as the action adventure lead again… but man I’d love to see them take another crack at this one with the existing cast. |
 | #7 – TROY I can’t even put into words how disappointed I was with this potentially epic film. The cast was absolutely second to none (aside from the mannequin known as Orlando Bloom). It held the promise of a big sweeping sort of “Ben Hur” epic with massive battles, honor, glory and some killer performances. Yeah well that never happened now did it? Ok, I acknowledge there are several HUGE obstacles to making a sequel to this one. Not the least of which is the death of just about all the major characters except for that lamp post Bloom. Still… a sequel in that world that breaks into more fiction with a triumphant return to Troy would be pretty killer… with or without Pitt. Ok probably not… but I still think there is potential there. |
 | #8 – VAN HELSING A movie with Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale (again dressed in tight black leather) portraying a legendary hunter of evil who much combat Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and the werewolf all at the same time? How on earth could something this awesome be messed up? Well, they found a way to mess it up and turn it into one of the worst films of 2004. But come on… Jackman as Van Helsing fighting mythological monsters and demons with a hot as hell Beckinsale at his side could STILL be one hell of a ride. Do another one… only this time get anyone other than Stephen Somers to direct it, get a half decent story that doesn’t try to think too hard and just give us tons of popcorn fun. The movies don’t always have to be rocket science. I’d certainly give Van Helsing another shot. |
 | #9 – SKY CAPTIAN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW Aside from the fact that there were some big impressive names in this movie (Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, etc…), this was a very interesting project. Most of the entire film was shot on Green Screen and done with a very cool visual style that gave it a very great feel… and who doesn’t want to see a movie about giant robots mysteriously attacking major cities… and the one guy who can fight them is a dude in a 1950’s fighter plane! Totally bubble gum… but pretty cool sounding if you ask me. Well the film failed miserably… but all those things I mentioned above still carry a lot of potential in my opinion. Maybe this time spend pay some more attention to the Jolie character and that amazing battle ship of hers. Some more fights and maybe this time fight aliens! Well… whatever they do, if they did it again I’d give it a shot. |
 | #10 – SKY HIGH Yes I know that we’ve been getting bludgeoned over the head with Superhero and Harry Potter type movies for a few years now… but Sky High looked like it had a lot more potential than many of them. First of all, you’ve got Kurt Russell as a legendary superhero known as “The Commander”. Is any other reason really needed past that? Bruce Campbell as a superpowered gym teacher. Lynda Carter as the principle of a secret high school for young superheroes… and honestly a pretty good little bunch of kid characters (I especially liked the Warren Peace character played by Steven Strait). The film ended up being terrible… but I think there was enough potential in there to revisit it and take another crack at it. |
 | #11 – NACHO LIBRE Sometimes even just the concept of a movie is hilarious… and it doesn’t get much better than the idea of Jack Black as a masked super wrestler in Mexico known as Nacho Libre. How on earth could this thing miss right? Well… it did miss… by a lot. Just flat out no laughs as you quickly got the impression that they never thought they needed to actually write anything funny after coming up with that amazing concept. But even though the film failed on just about every single level, the concept is still sound and holds the potential for hilarity IMO. Get Black back in the tights again and take another shot at it… just… you know… make it funny this time. |
 | #12 – ERAGON Eragon is one of those films that did nothing right. No really… aside from a few decent visuals, I can’t think of one single redeemable thing about this train wreck of a movie. So why bother putting it on this list? Because even though it was terrible beyond description, the mythology and story behind the film is still solid. Come on… Dragons fighting armies… wizards… a big bad John Malkovich riding his own evil dragon going off to destroy his enemies? I mean… the movie did end with a huge open window to a sequel. Do it… only do it remotely right this time and I think you still have the potential for a winner. |
 | #13 – SNAKES ON A PLANE No single movie in history has been driven by online buzz and marketing like Snakes On A Plane. It pretty much targeted nothing but the online world for it’s marketing and made next to no money (but to be fair… it would have done much worse if there wasn’t so much online buzz about the movie). Throw Samuel L Jackson on a plane with a thousand snakes and you’ve got the makings of cinematic history I tell you. Too bad they just served up cinematic crap for the most part. Over the top can be fun and hilarious… when done right. Snakes did most of it wrong and the movie was quickly forgotten. I say do another one… this time even more ludicrous. Scorpions on a Boat. Wolves on a Train. Piranahs on a Cruise Ship. Something… anything. Get Sam back in there… only like John McClane, he’s been through something like this before. Get some solid comedy writers in there with some Die Hard style action and I think you can have a winner. |
 | #14 – DEATH PROOF If I had a list of the top 10 movies that left me the most disapointed walking out of a theater… this Grindhouse flick would be on it without a doubt. I fully expected to love Death Proof and it ended up being a complete waste of time. Instead of giving us glorious Kurt Russell going around killing people with his car… we spend 80% of the movie listening to 2 seperate groups of 4 girls sitting around talking about nothing. Wheee… what fun. Do this film again. I know that (Spoiler) the ending of Death Proof SUGGESTS that the girls kill Russell… but we don’t actually see that happen. Do another one where Stuntman Mike survives his ordeal and then goes off stalking the women who nearly killed him… only this time he targets a bunch of other women first to get his game back. Fuck this movie could be awesome. |
 | #15 – LADY IN THE WATER I, along with most of the world, had already started losing my faith in the mighty ShamHammer… but Lady in the Water looked just fantastic. It even made my “Top 5 most anticipated films of the year” list I did a while back. Wow… what a shit soufflé that turned out to be. Easily the worst film of the year. But here’s the thing. The basic idea behind the movie was great. The world that exists along side our world that Shammy tried to paint for us actually holds a lot of potential for great storytelling… you know… if a good story was there. You couldn’t really ask for a better cast. So yeah… as bad as it was, I’d actually give a Lady In The Water 2 a chance. As long as it wasn’t directed by ShammHammer that is. |
So there you have it folks. 15 terrible films that deserve a sequel. I’m sure there are much more that I’m not thinking of. What films did you hate but thought had enough potential to warrant another one?
league of extroadinary gentlmen- awesome movie
van helsing- awesome movie
swordfish-fucking rocked
The rest sucked
Lady in the water is the worst of them all
I like Sky Captain. I think it’s cool. The first time I saw Chick in the Pool I hated, but it grew on my after watching it a bunch of times on HBO. Paul Giamatti is a great actor.
In addition to my last post: I would definitely say that K-Pax isn’t a bad movie, but rather a pretty good one!
@ 3: K-Pax
Well I do also really liked the movie – and as someone else here said before, that is not exactly how the film ends. As far as I can remember *spoiler*, Spacey doesn’t dissapear in person (He’s still there.), but the movie leaves the possibility that the ‘alien’ just used Spacey’s body and left it as some kind of ‘immaterial spirit’. *spoiler ends* Without the open end, the movie would be not the same, so a sequel would probably also need one :-).
van helsing an nacho libre were good!!
xS
van helsing an nacho libre where good!!
xS
I want to see a blade four to make up for shitty number 3. o wait, snipes got locked up
Nice ideas John.
How about Master & Commander with Russel Crowe? The ending was quite interesting. Would be nice to see a #2.
I must also ask, Incredibles 2? When is that one going to come out?
I agree with part of the movies( Van Helsing, League of ex…) i disagree with others (k-pax it’s ok the way it is, a sequel is gonna destroy it).
About Eragon now. Maybe you don’t know but it s a trilogy, so the end wasn’t opened in the sequel. That’s how the book ended. I read also volume 2 and has great potential. The problem is in Eragon that the director eliminated different things that are important in the second one and the movie looks very tv.
I think Cristopher Paolini deserved something better!
Death Proof a bad movie?! Lady in the Water the worst movie of the year?!?!?
I don’t even know what to say, but I just lost so much respect for this blog.
SKY HIGH was a fun little movie, and that Warren Peace was a fucking BABE. Bring on a sequel!
“(Spoiler) the ending of Death Proof SUGGESTS that the girls kill Russell… but we don’t actually see that happen.”
Yeah we do, after the credits start to roll you see one of the girls raise her heal and caves his fucking head in with it.
That to me says DEAD.
Unless you can live with your brain outside your skull.
Awesome movie.
I’m so confused on why K-PAX is on there.
I mean, holy shit, K-Pax was an excellent movie. I don’t think you were paying attention during the movie, John, and – if anything – it doesn’t need a sequel. At all. That would just ruin it.
I enjoyed K-Pax quite a bit, including it’s pacing.
There is a sequel to the novel, called On a Beam of Light. Not sure if its worth adapting another film, but it was a decent read, and as far as I remember remained fairly ambiguous as to the origins of the protagonist.
My top 10 list for movies that i think deserve another sequel to prove himselfs right.
10. White Chicks – Look i know this movie sucks at every corner of sucking but i had a buddy cop potential, and i love to see The Wayans brothers giving thereselfs another chance to prove that even after Little Man they can save themzelfs from total flopnisation.
9. Dawn Of The Dead – Zack Snyder wanted to make the perfect zombie movie with zombies that could run !!!!! It turned out in a movie that was almost not using the zombies and putting a boring 30 minutes of shopping. A sequel where they find themselfs on a island should be better.
8. All the kings Men – This movie is perhaps the most good bad movie of this list. Sean Penn try to do a good job making a political icoon, is turned out in Cocoon 3 – the old bullcrap. It had something to say but it was just not good. A sequel where more stronger dialogs will explain more about the man should be better.
7. Elektra [2005]
6. Daredevil – in the same category as Elektra and they both deserve it.
5. Valentine [2001] – First we had My Bloody Valentine 3D next year Valentine 2 – Blood like Roses.
4. Black Knight – Where should we see Martin Lawrence next , in a funny sequel.
3. Matchstick Man – The movie had to much boring scenes and never wanted to come out of his cage [ little joke ] . We need for this movie a sequel where we will see more Ocean Eleven look alike scenes en a better cast.
2. The Siege – Perhaps Edward Zwicks worst movie [ i dont mean Defeance ], this movie had Denzel and Bruce Willis and still ended up as a F*cked movie with only bullcrap about terroist and no real actionscenes. Make a sequel with more explosions and perhaps more star cast.
1. The Mariage of Jenniffer Aniston with Brad Pitt vs Angelina Jolie. You got all the talks but i didn’t end up as good for Mrs. Aniston. Make a sequel movie to there lives and put a catfight in it with lot of guns and Michael Bay explosions.
So this is mine top 10 , i hope you enjoyed it.
I really can’t see anymore than DTV sequels for most of these. Jumper I wouldn’t mind. LXG & Sky Captain I would quite agree with. I really did like Van Helsing. So much so, that I have actually written a sequel.
Van Helsing is having second thoughts (real ones this time) about giving up his hunter life. He is contacted by his long lost son from his previous life. And all the while a megalomaniacal villain is gathering dark energies & attempting to open the gates of Hell, hidden in a forest fraught with monsters & beasts of myth. We see the return of Frank, Hyde, & Carl, with the addition of the Invisible Man, who band together with Van helsing to see this threat destroyed.
The more I think abut it, the more I think there should be more werewolves & recognizable beasts. Perhaps a Dracula ressurection?
Skeletor himself told us we would get a sequel to ‘Masters of the Universe’ at the very end of the film and after years of waiting for it, I learned the lesson that even our heroes lie to us :)
I always wondered what would have happened in a ‘Waterworld 2’ as well.
“Eragon is one of those films that did nothing right. No really… aside from a few decent visuals, I can’t think of one single redeemable thing about this train wreck of a movie. So why bother putting it on this list?
Because even though it was terrible beyond description, the mythology and story behind the film is still solid. Come on… Dragons fighting armies… wizards… a big bad John Malkovich riding his own evil dragon going off to destroy his enemies? I mean… the movie did end with a huge open window to a sequel. Do it… only do it remotely right this time and I think you still have the potential for a winner. ”
Well, If they actually bothered following the book, then Eragon would’ve been a success. The movie differs vastly from the book and they got virtually nothing right. I pray that FOX doesn’t get the nerve to ruin it’s sequels, Eldest and Brisingr, as well.
I liked Lady in the Water…you’re not alone. Even own the DVD. Of course, I also liked The Village….LOVED Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense. haven’t seen The Happening yet. I really wish they’d do a sequel to Unbreakable while Bruce is still young enough to be believable.
I think my wife and I are the only two people on the planet that really like ‘Lady in the Water’….oh, well.
Jumper should definitely have a sequel minus the love story.
And interesting read. And an even more interesting concept. I actually quite enjoyed a few (7 out of 15) of the films on that list though.
Death Proof is in my top 10 (if not 5) best films of all time! Best to be left alone… or have a second film with the group of “TOUGH Dames” driving around in the “StuntMan Mike” Car and killing men that go around doing wrong to women. That would be a film of sweet shear bliss. God I loved those women in that movie… so badASS and so much hot sex appeal! Plus the dialogue was so amazingly QT! Just a perfect movie.
“Moo… Muthafucka… MOO!”
i love deathproof and my brother and i thinks Troy is a classic, so meh what do you know
‘The Rocketeer’.
The Rocketeer is such a classic that i almost think a sequel could taint the original. BUT, i would love to see a sequel done right. Like, really love it, its just a scary thought of seeing it done wrong. id see it though
To each his own; I liked Swordfish, still love Deathproof, and, to some degree, enjoyed Snakes on a Plane. The end justifies the means though; I totally agree and think sequels could improve each of these films.
ok IMO all those movies sucked…if i had my way i would love a real howard the duck flick just cause it would be differant…funny thing is i always thought that the bad guy and in it who was the principal in ferris bueller looked like a pedophile….well ill be dam he was caught with child porn haha what a bastard.
Ey common, Death Proof wasn’t a bad movie. It would very well deserve a sequel, prequel and a whatever-quel.
Aren’t they making The Odyssey?
I’ve said it before, there is absolutely no way that Eragon’s sequel, Eldest will be made. I don’t usually like to compare book to film and I believe films should stand on their own, but the amount they cut outta the book, a sequel wouldn’t work. Plus with the box office and criticism, the only decision is to reboot.
Completely and utterly disagree with Nacho Libre not being funny, but hell yea it needs a sequel!
I must have watched Nacho about 20-25 times now, almost once a week when it was a regular on Sky movies back last year, I can’t get enough of it, I love it so much!
The sound track is fantastic, add’s so much to the movie, the ridiculasness of it, the fights, the charactors, the oneliners! I mean come on!!!
I have found from experiance that people just don’t get it the first or even second time, but people come round, and most of my friends and even elderly family get it now, and laugh just as much as me at the film.
Nacho: “Do you remember that one time when everyone was shouting my name and I used my strength to rip my blouse?”
Esqueleto: “Yeah. And I saw them knock you unconscious, alright?”
wow that movie blowed…i bet mexicans didnt even find it funny…..
Agreed… Nacho Libre RULES!
constantine. which wasnt godawful, but i expected so much more
samething goes for the punisher with tom jane
I agree.
I loved Sky High….thought it had some really funny moments in it and thought it was a very good script.
Death Proof is…I’m sorry, but it’s a piece of crap. The dialogue was boring, I actually LEFT THE THEATER on purpose to go use the bathroom, hoping something exciting would be happening by the time I got back…nope. They were still sitting/standing talking about boring crap I didn’t care about.
The difference b/t the dialogue in Reservoir Dogs and DP is that Reservoir Dogs was actually interesting.
Also, the fact that the film had the grainy/scratched look then completely stopped a quarter of the way into it??? What was THAT?
Also, I happened to really really like The Happening…bad acting and all. The thing that ruined it for me was the second, revealing ending…STUPID. The fact that he TOLD US what WAS happening ruined the entire movie and made the entire thing not believeable. If he had left it open ended, it would have been cool to think about. But since he sealed the story, it just came off as dumb.
LOL! HUGE Jackman & DEAN Connery? New actors John?
John, you or one of your colleagues should right an article on the fall of Shammy explaining were he went wrong, why he went that way, and what he would need to do to regain his status as a good film maker. It would be kind of like the reflection of George Lucas without Starwars. Speaking of which I think The Happening could also go on the list.
I hated Troy, I thought Brad Pitt was horrible as the main star. Eric Bana was the only light that shined in that film.
Swordfish, get rid of Travolta and make a sequel. Travolta sucks as a villain and will never come off as believable, and that Pulp Fiction hair-due he had during the movie just pissed me off.
Of that list, Reign of Fire is my favorite. Come on, Christian Bale and Dragons! Why did this movie even make your list?
I could go on but its pointless.
Jumper was awesome. I liked it. It was a fun movie.
K-PAX. Did he leave the planet or did he leave his “body”?
I wished REIGN OF FIRE explained what happened to the rest of the world more. Show specific examples. Like the dragons destroying the Golden Gate bridge or something.
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN was fun. Leave it alone. No part 2 or a prquel.
TROY – leave it alone. Pitt died in the movie – duh.
VAN HELSING was cool. There were a lot of great effects.
SKY CAPTIAN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW – I stopped downloading it after about half hour into the movie – boring.
SKY HIGH – My 6 year old daughter and I would love to see a sequel to this. Maybe the son can be the new main hero?
SNAKES ON A PLANE – hell yeah it was so bad that is was good. Make Snakes on a cruise ship – yeah
Three words: HOWARD THE DUCK
Heh, Van Helsing was terrible – and I loved every minute of it!
Sequels to:
troy
van helsing
reign of fire
the lady in the water
sky captain
jumper
are movies I would love to see if done right!
I loved Death Proof (Ross Miller AMEN), and hate everytime John insults it, but that’s only because I like it. You have all the right to and I see your point as valid. Grrrrrr.
And I also liked Van Helsing, but I haven’t watched it in a long time. When someone makes comments like you did about a movie, I tend to watch it differently and then go “FUCK how did i like this?” so we’ll see.
Aaaaaaand it doesn’t bother me, but I think “The Anniversary” must be really burning you out, you can’t seem to type. Haha, but that is a GOOD thing, hard work.
Bad Movies That Deserve Sequels:
Catwoman, Gone in 60 Seconds, Captain America, Iron Man, Wanted, 8mm, The Rocker, etc…
K-Pax is a masterpiece and so is Death Proof. Beautiful work.
Iron Man was a bad movie..since when? But least it is getting a sequel.
8mm2 STV, Iron Man 2 in pre production, Wanted of course has a sequel coming out, Captain America new one of those coming soon, as for Catwoman and GI60S I dont feel those deserve sequels. Hell Gone was a remake of the original from I believe the 60’s. And Catwoman…well Catwoman needs to be forgotten with the likes of Basic Instinct 2.
i’d watch the sequels to
Van Helsing
Reign of Fire
LXG
Sky Captain
im not bothered with the others lol.
FYI, Moore is creating a new comic based on his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics.
Maybe instead of sequeling the League, maybe they should reboot the series and actually READ his books first. Then make a movie more like them.
The comics are amazing, the movie shared very little with the book aside from the idea of a world where fictional literary characters all co-exist.
And the title. That’s all.
You’re right. I had just discovered the comics a few months before the movie was announced. I was so excited…then deflated. The thing that bothered me the most is that it COULD have been amazing. Oh yeah, Tom Sawyer was a kid in the 1840s. How was he only 20 something in the 1890s? I know it’s picky; but that bothered me.
Yeah, That Movie is so fucking bad! SO FUCKING BAD! The books are some of the best written and drawn books out there with amazing and brilliant characters!
Of the list, one I could kind of see. As mentioned, “The Odyssey” (Troy), but I’d like the mystical/Greek Gods/creature feature left out, and simply have a different take on it. I actually loved the Hallmark miniseries back in the early 90’s w/ Armand Assante.
Now, here’s my “bad” 15:
15) Ghost Rider
I sort of liked the film, I liked Fonda, I thought Ghost Rider looked bad ass. The FX were not outstanding, but okay. The story was weak, the “comedy” seemed awkward, and Wes Bentley camps it up while overacting. But I feel that the character is worthy enough to continue- and that proposed idea of the alleged sequel being set in Europe? Ghost Rider among castles and stuff? I’m down! Speaking of Nic Cage…
14) The Wicker Man (remake)
Okay, so his character won’t be back. But I wonder, the ending left with a strong hint of a circular pattern; the process will soon start again. James Franco visits this time, and he might just get away in time.
13 Cobra
Stallone revisits Rocky. Checks in with Rambo. Why not Marion Cobretti? At the end of Cobra, the serial killer Manson-y cult was still banging axes. Remember; Crime is The Disease; he is the cure.
12) War
I hate to say it, but there were some loose ends in that awful disappointment w/ Jet Li and Jason Statham. I wouldn’t mind seeing another Jet Li pic- and with Devon Aoki as a mob boss bad girl? ALRIGHT!
11) Troy
See above.
10) Prom Night (remake)
An actual remake this time, or at least, a remake of Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou.
9) Sky Cap’n and The World Of Tommorow
I actually liked the way this shaped up overall. I felt it was a nice effort, and I would like to see Kerry Cowan get another shot at directing. It was hokey, but an impressive effort.
8) The Sword and The Sorcerer
A camp cult flick from 1982; highlights of this include:
* a hero with a three blade sword
* a footchase which crashes into a harem of topless women
* blood, blood, and more blood
* blood
* a story of two characters seeking revenge on a corrupt king- and those two characters have a fight to the death at the end.
A sequel was once promised and never received. Instead, Al Pyun goes of to be a low rent B film director, with only “Radioactive Drams” and “Nemesis” that I remotely liked. Now Pyun is ready to screw up one of my favorite film w/ a DTV sequel, Streets Of Fire Way to go!
7) Nightbreed
Clive Barker’s second directorial effort has quite some things in common with X-Men, but its based off his novel Cabal. The film was badly advertised by Fox at the time, and some 20-25 minutes of character and plot were chopped out. Since we are on the subject f Clive Barker…
6) Lord Of Illusions
The Harry D’Amour character, either reprised by Scott Bakula or not, I feel needs another flick. Clive’s third helming effort.
5) Ghosts Of Mars
The John Carpenter film w/ Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge. When we last left our survivors, the base was under attack by the people newly possessed by the Martian alien evil spirits!
4) Blue Monkey
A cult classic ‘so bad its bad but still damn good’. Features a young Sarah Polley at the start of the film. I always liked the film for its nilihistic camp gusto. Oh, I know its about this funky maggot that kills folks and grows into this nasty killing insect that terrorizes a hospital. But the silly G’vmint EPA types kill MORE people than the giant bug.
3) The Perfect Weapon
C’mon, Paramount, convince Jeff Speakman to do a DTV sequel with his Eskirma sticks again, will ya? Please?
2) Reign Of Fire
Great concept, but I had a mixed reaction in the theatre. I agree that there are more dragons out there, and they might not go down quietly.
1) Howard The Duck
Only this time, they treat the first film as “fiction” and Howard, now a cigar smoking, fowl mouthed smart aleck of a humanoid duck. Redemption.
Missing the 15: Krull (but could be remade), Shocker
krull was bad ass…leave it how it was in all its fuzzy playboy porness and shocker? the one with the black guy who gets electricuted? that shit was classic alone too haha
“Sometimes even just the concept of a movie is hilarious… and it doesn’t get much better than the idea of Jack Black as a masked super wrestler in Mexico known as Nacho Libre. How on earth could this thing miss right?
Well… it did miss… by a lot. Just flat out no laughs as you quickly got the impression that they never thought they needed to actually write anything funny after coming up with that amazing concept. But even though the film failed on just about every single level, the concept is still sound and holds the potential for hilarity IMO. Get Black back in the tights again and take another shot at it… just… you know… make it funny this time.”
Agreed 100%, Nacho Libre was stupid
agreed..pure lame
Hey john, do you have face time in Jumper.. timestamp? Would be cool to see you in it..
Bad movies I’d want to see a sequel to:
Steel – They didn’t do this character justice and no Shaq!
Osmosis Jones – No live action parts! The animated parts were really innovative.
Doom – Doom 3 was awesome, make adaptation off of that.
Deep Rising – Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, and Kevin J. O’Connor versus whatever monsters on the island. Throw in Chuck Norris and they’re unstoppable.
Cool World – This time give Ralph Bakshi full creative control of the movie and we could get an animated horror movie.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within – Computer animation has gotten better since 2001, so the humans won’t emotionless and get some FF characters in there.
An American Werewolf in Paris – in Rome, Tokyo, LA, NYC, Egypt, etc. The possibilities are endless.
The Island – This Michael Bay movie didn’t suck entirely, but it’s still bad. The clones are free, do something with it.
Swamp Thing – This is more of a reboot, but it needs one because I thought it was bad. The reboot could be awesome if done well.
i would rather have them make a sequel to another FF game as a film, the same way they made advent children, which was a fantastic movie.
That is not how K-Pax ended…(got characters mixed up)
But anyway I do believe in story telling in general and extending a story helps provide a deeper portrait of that universe.
Say what you want of Episode I to III, but to me they improve the overall series.
@John,
Er, shouldn’t that be Michael Bay? Ooooooooo!!
Btw great idea for an article, John, and loved what you came up with.
Ahhh the beautiful subjectivity of movies, eh?
Death proof was a GREAT movie I watched it 3 times and it was entertaining all 3 times I watched it
How about Silk Spectre II in “Showgirls II – The Pole Murders”..heh? I betcha Nite Owl would be a good tipper!
SILENT HILL. This movie had the most awful dialogue ever. A well-written Silent Hill movie would be terrifying. Also, the ending actually sets up a sequel!
I just watched this movie again this afternoon and I was just telling my friends that they should totally make a sequel but chances are they won’t.
i think they still are making a sequel to silent hill its just slowly being developed
i want a sequel to silent hill.
In 10 years, DeathProof will be re-found, and the newly exposed masses will think the movie was made in the 70s. It’s that perfect. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s exactly what QT was going for.
Well… if QT was going for total boring crap… then yes, he succeeded beautifully.
:)
it was boring til that final car chase
I love how when John states an opinion he makes it sound like a fact. Just because he’s good at doing it. John, never apologize. You’re inspiring in a completely heterosexual way.
van helsing with a hard r.
that would rock.
none of that juvenile stephen sommers dorkery.
just van helsing and vampires as in father marin and pezuzu.
I loved Death Proof. It’s actually my second favorite of his films with Jackie Brown at #1.
I LOVE Reign of Fire. Haha, yeah it’s cheesy as hell, but I remember being a kid watching that movie saying FUCK.YEAH! But, seeing it now, it really could be miles better. I never know why Dragon movies fail to ignite at the box office, I love those movies.
I was actually excited for Lady in the water, but man, one of the single WORST movies I’ve EVER seen, NOTHING but the visuals were redeemable. The trailer looked good, but the story was a mess and pointless and Shyamalan giving himself a big acting part was ridiculous. I had faith in this but it was just a mess, and I’m also loosing faith on him, I loved Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, liked The Village, and HATED lady in the water and the happening (better than lady in the water, but still BAD, i mean.. air attacking people???? AIR?!?!?!!)
Oh and I completely disagree on you Death Proof take, I fucking love that movie! I thought it was AWESOME, The last parts of it are genius, I remember being in the (empty) theater with my friends watching the whole Grindhouse features and by the end of Death Proof the (few) audience was cheering and clapping at that kick ass ending. I seriously loved the experience of Grindhouse, it’s sad that it won’t be repeated probably, but the whole two features thing with the fake trailers and all was awesome.
i found nacho libre totally funny and enjoyable! maybe in the sequel, he and the nun could finally get it on… almost.
I must have spent 50% of my movie commenting time defending Death Proof, but here goes again.
DP is an awesome movie, for all the reasons that it’s Grindhosue counterpart Planet Terror isn’t as good the more you watch it. It was purely and utterly what Tarantino was aiming for, truly reminiscent and a complete embodiment of the type of grindhouse flick he was going for.
I don’t understand how people can complain about the dialogue between the two groups of women. Isn’t that what some women talk about? Why is it the Reservoir Dogs can talk about what they talk about around the table in the diner scene? Why is it Jules and Vincent can talk the way they do to one another in Pulp Fiction? And yet the women of DP CAN’T talk the way they do in the film throughout? Those scenes of the women just talking like they would (being the type of women that they were) is the female equivalent of how the Reservoir Dogs talked. Thinking within the realm of “how would these women talk”, Tarantino did an amazing job of capturing that and putting it on display for a lot of the movie. The whole thing was just as much about the women as it was about Stuntman Mike (maybe even more so) and it was intended to be that way. Not that “they meant to do that” is a valid argument (as you have correctly pointed out many times before, John) but in this case QT was aiming for that grindhoue feel and I think he got it just about perfect.
Outwith the dialogue aspect that people seem to have so much trouble with, QT did an amazing job as he usually bringing all of these elements of filmmaking he clearly has a passion (as weel as great skill) for, together. The soundtrack is PERFECT, one of the best to emerge in cinema of the last 10 years (soundtrack, not score), and not just on its own accord but the way he implimented it with the film as a whole.
It goes without saying that the crash sequence in the middle and the end chase sequence are magnificently done, with the latter being just about one of the best ever conceived.
And I KNOW I am in the minority here even more than I am with the whole women’s dialogue thing but I loved that Stuntman Mike got “defeated” by the second group of women. It showed that he was, after all, just a man and not some immortal serial killer who stalks women and NEVER gets caught or beaten. And it showed that he picked the wrong group of women the second time – they may have seemed like the first group (pretty, seemingly innocent) but really got what was coming to him.
I could go on and on about DP, it’s a fantastic film that gets better every time you watch it simply because it is through and through a passion project for QT. Every scene of it was there for a reason, every line of dialogue carefully placed and made to give the feel of the type of grindhosue movie he was aiming for. QT’s love for cinema just bleeds through the whole thing.
That’s just my opinion though – QT is one of my favourite directors but although that factored into my highly anticipating the film before it came out and seeing it when it finally came out (I live in the UK and got the split version, however saw the full Grindfhouwe experience eventually – btw, see DP as the seperate version, MUCH better), I would have felt the same way about it had this been my first QT movie.
totally agree with. Death Proof is fucking fantastic. so much better than that awful planet terror
I completely argree with you, Ross.
I’ve often made the same defending arguements. I absolutely love Death Proof and I’ve watched it many times, most recently a weekend ago. Everytime I sit there listening to the women’s idle chatter I am impressed with how well QT brought their personalities and relationship to the screen. I have a tight knit group of girlfriends and no subject is off limits, we tend to be a little crass and enjoy razzing each other.
I also love the evil bad ass that is Stuntman Mike. The car chases in the film are fantastic.
Ross you saved me a huge chunk of time typing. You took the words right out of my mouth. I thought Death Proof did exactly what it intended to do, and did it well. I was not alive during the grindhouse film days, but this movie makes me wish I were.
haha as a average fan of movies i thought that DP sucked balls….the way u rant i would assume u love QT….meh to each is to own.
I definitely agree with you, I went and saw Grindhouse twice, but I skipped Planet Terror just so I could watch Deathproof again. Deathproof was such a great throwback to all the old 42nd st Grindhouse films, and I absolutely love it to this day. Dont get me wrong Planet Terror was great also but Death Proof just left me sitting there saying damn, that movie was fucking awesome. So I dont agree that DP needs a sequel and you clearly see her crush Stunt Man Mike’s head at the end with her boot.
You said what I was gonna’ say too. Well said my friend… well said…
I cant be the only one who thinks Nacho Libre is hilarious, can I?
nop, you cannot. Therefore I shall join you.
I also really liked swordfish by the way, that speech in the beginning followed by (still) one of the coolest explosions EVER.
as for jumper, i’d like a reboot… no more wooden people.
other than that, nice picks.
I also though Nacho Libre was pretty funny too. I think I laughed more the second time.
I’ll admit that Nacho Libre is one of the few movies that I can watch in back to back viewings. John did a post a while back on guilty pleasure movies (movies that everyone else hates but you like to watch while wearing stretchy-pants just for fun). Nacho is mine. Plus, having spent a bit of time in Central America, I know a real life version of just about everyone in the movie.
I liked Jumper a lot, and it deserves a sequel. Hopefully they will make it soon, before Rachel Bilson is no longer cute and Hayden looks a lot older. What’s keeping them from making Jumper 2+3?
Since Troy was loosly based on the Illiad, how about a sequel based on the Odyssey with the Sean Bean Oddysseus character
i loved van helsing and troy…
jumper better not get a sequel…
what the hell is k-pax?
personal lubricant
I actually really liked Reign of Fire and Sky High (although I saw Sky High with little to no expectations). As for Jumper, they should just make a Nightcrawler spinoff or maybe just get rid of Hayden.
I think Van Hellsing is deff one movie I want to see a sequel for.
I hated the whole plot with Kate Beckinsale and the Dracula was pretty lame but I loved the Frankenstein monster and the wolf man.
They have so many more monsters they could use. A mummy, Gill-man, hunchback blah blah blah.
Jumper deff needs a sequel…or maybe a prequel?
i think they were planning a straight to dvd sequel, but it got canned.
i thought REIGN OF FIRE and VAN HELSING were good films, but i couldnt see them making a sequel to them unless it was straight to dvd, oh by the way john did you finish watching your movie? and are you satisfied the way it turned out?
Van Helsig wasn’t that bad. But now that the USA actually knows who Wolverine Huge Jackman is a sequal might work…. The boy from Oz is hot stuff at the moment
How about “Watchmen the return of the comedian.” Now that would be amusing.
Except that Watchmen was awesome! :)
haha
Not really John. But for reals dude: Troy?! Oh hell no. It shouldn’t be on the list. It was an epic badass swords and sandals flick. It was not terrible and like u say: A sequel is quite impossible given the material. Perhaps a prequel would work a helluva lot better.