FRwL

This was lifted from the Phantom Menace thread. Episodic or Serial...

Serial:Star Wars, LOTR, Alien, Back to the Future

Episodic: James Bond, Star Trek, Dollars trilogy

What sort do YOU enjoy most?

gp1086

First thought is serial.

Mondo Kane

Went with Episodic because Serial doesn't work well with a LOT of horror franchises.

Nick Martin

Wendy's.

Since that's not a valid choice, given the descriptions I'll have to go with serial.

That being said, it's funny how Star Wars is considered serial while each film is an 'episode'.

Whatever...

Ash Ketchum

Episodic

Goat3001

I agree. And with serial franchises, a lot of the time you'll have a great first movie but a terrible second and third movie (Matrix). With episodic franchises you'll get a lot of repeated stories but at least the sequels won't tarnish the original (Final Destination).

Still though, while I feel that episodic franchises are easier to count on my favorite movie franchises are all serial (LOTR, Godfather, Harry Potter, BTTF).

TomOpus

Serial

**edited to remove remark that there should be a poll since a poll was just added

Nick Danger

Serial.

Episodic only works if the whole thing is written in advance. Otherwise writers get into the problem that they blew up the Earth for a hyperspace bypass in the first story and want it back for the third story. In a serial structure the need for continuity is a lot less, which gives writers a lot more latitude.

superdeluxe

Serial

Solid Snake

Serial.

Also...Star Wars is episodic, no? I mean..they are episodes.

dvdjunkie32

Serial. The best tv shows have been serial also.

Mike86

I'd go serial as well, although I do love the Bond and Star Trek franchises.

Shannon Nutt

Star Treks II, III, & IV, were serial.

Shannon Nutt

Aren't you confusing the two? Episodic is where you can see movies 1, 3 and 5 in a series and not lose your place. Serial is where you go from point A to B to C in a series of films...they have character development, growth and an overall arc.

Nick Danger

Yes, I got them reversed.

I was thinking of the old Republic serials, which didn't really matter if you missed a couple of episodes.

JumpCutz

Episodic

Hokeyboy

Episodic. I despise "continuity".

MLBFan24

Serial

it's how I like my TV shows too. I actually like TV shows better than movies, mostly because you get new material week-to-week, rather than wait 2-3 years for the new movie in a franchise.

Matthew Chmiel

Fixed.

If I had to break it down:

Serialized franchises will reward the viewer with a greater experience, but could tarnish the quality of the original film especially if not built in advance.

Episodic franchises might not know where to end, but there happens to be a more consistent quality and rhythm to them allowing for a more enjoyable experience.

One of the reasons why the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises worked so well is that the story was already made for the filmmakers to follow. That's why there's more consistency with (and more love for) those two franchises than say the Back to the Future, The Godfather and Star Wars franchises which have (numerous) weak entries inside of them. For example: as amazing and great The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are, The Godfather Part III is a steaming pile of shit that should've never been made.

If you're making a serialized franchise, know your endgame. If you don't know your endgame in advance and write it in (i.e. Back to the Future Part III, The Matrix Revolutions and Return of the Jedi), you've just hit creative bankruptcy.

However, there are times where making it up as you go along works as long as you have the right people in place. Like I enjoyed the last two Saw films more than some of the entries that came before them (i.e. VI and V) and Paranormal Activity 3 was a cinematic equivalent of a fun house.

As history has shown, it's easy to take an episodic franchise and mold it into a serialized franchise that could work as long as you have the right crew. Look at Fast Five which follows the events of Fast and Furious, but also wraps the stories of the first three films into the mix. Most would argue that Fast Five is one of the best, if not the best, entries in that specific franchise.

Speaking of fifth entries, look at the Final Destination franchise which has been mostly episodic (except the first sequel). Final Destination 5 was a blast that critics actually enjoyed unlike the first four (and happens to be the only film in said franchise with a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes).

For great episodic films, Ash used the Gamera and Godzilla films as an example. What's interesting to note about those two as while one can jump in anywhere in the series, some portions of those films have their own "serialized" storyline (i.e. the 90s Gamera trilogy and the Godzilla Millennium series). Same thing could even be said about the James Bond films (based upon which era: Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan or Craig), the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and our friend Indiana Jones.

... and that's why I choose episodic.

Mike86

I can somewhat see your point but I think Back to the Future and The Godfather are bad examples to use as weak franchises. They both seem pretty beloved by audiences both past and present even though both have weaker entries. Really in my opinion though Back to the Future as a whole tells an entertaining story and while Part III may get some hate I never found it all that bad. The Godfather Part III on the other hand is overall pretty disappointing though.

Star Wars is a bit of a different case as the original trilogy is loved by most but the prequels/alterations to the original trilogy have definitely divided fans.

I do agree overall though that a story that is already made for film makers whether based on a series of books or just a pre-planned story in mind is easier to work out because the direction the films will take is already determined to some extent.

Matthew Chmiel

The first two Godfather films are beloved, because they're excellent films. However, I don't think a single person will admit, "Yeah, The Godfather Part III is a good movie."

I love the first Back to the Future, but in terms of overall storytelling, you can see the wheels falling off early on into the second act of Back to the Future Part II. To note, critics were actually mixed on the film when it was released in 1989. Back to the Future Part III got better reviews, but I know fans usually fight about if II or III being the weaker entry (I personally believe III is the weaker outing).

I think Star Wars is a great film, but The Empire Strikes Back is an amazing film. Everything after that doesn't exist. Return of the Jedi had some great moments, but the Special Edition butchered any resemblance of quality the film once had. The less I think about the prequels, the better.

Mike86

I'm sure most people don't really like The Godfather Part III the best, but on a whole the trilogy stands pretty strong and has a loyal fanbase. I agree though it's not very good.

Personally I agree with you on Back to the Future and say Part III is the weaker entry. I always liked Part II, it was different and a bit darker than the first but I thought it had some cool ideas and liked that they went back into the first movie from a different perspective.

I guess the thing for me though is those movies are such a huge part of my childhood and I must've seen them all dozens of times. Even if Part III is weak I guess I enjoy it because frankly Michael J. Fox and Christoper Lloyd on screen together were just the perfect duo and I think the entire trilogy creates a nice story .

Also totally agree with your sentiments on Star Wars. The first two are gold and while I liked Return of the Jedi growing up it's not very high on my list anymore. Although to be truthful those movies I feel are pretty much forever ruined for me personally. I really don't have much desire to watch them at all anymore.

FRwL

I agree with the fact that serialzed franchises when done give a better reward, however i'd still go for episodic even though simplistic i just love the stories of continuing new adventures unrelated to one another, i guess the Dollars trilogy, Bond and Star Trek are the real reasons for me in this.

islandclaws

As a fan of terribly awesome '80s slasher films, I'm going with episodic.

TomOpus

Hey guys, the poll was recently added, so you can vote now. Seems like most of the "serial" peeps posted when the thread started