That's hard to tell, since United Artists kept re-releasing the trilogy either by pairing the first two as a double bill or putting all three of them together and sometimes adding HANG 'EM HIGH. I saw THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY first, in 1969 on a double bill with HANG 'EM HIGH, and then saw the first two, A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, as a double bill a few months later in 1970 and eventually all four films as a quadruple feature the following year. Certainly, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY got greater critical attention when it was released because of its epic length and much bigger budget and the addition of Eli Wallach to the cast, while the first two were reviled by critics in the U.S. or simply dismissed when they first got released in the U.S. But audiences loved the films.

G2 bolstered a 3x (I know G2 won 6) Oscar winning and Best Picture, AFI’s #2, as opposed to G2 much higher on list? Seriously?

No way. The first is still great. That heist scene is unsurpassed. Part 2 was not good.

Well shit, it's a good thing there's no such thing as opinions.
https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung...of-the-trilogy

I don't remember the original release of the first two. Do remember original release of Good Bad Ugly in 1967. Right after that there was a double bill reissue of the first two. I remember the four movie reissue you mention. Where I lived it was at the drive-in and they tacked on Coogan's Bluff to make it a 5 movie marathon. Must have been winter for there to have been enough darkness.

The only good thing about MI:2 is that it kept Dougray Scott from becoming Wolverine.

That is sooooo true. And f**king hilarious. Good wording on that...

This has nothing to do with opinions. This has to do with facts. You may think Godfather 2 is a better film but that has nothing to do with this thread. You are saying that The Godfather became such a huge cultural phenomenon after Godfather 2 came out which is completely wrong.

Either that or you did not read the OP's first post.

I'm going to catapulted this post.

Had Logan as my choice.

Speed 2

I think there are a few people completely missing the idea and just posting sequels they think are better than the original.

Or they do not know the meaning of catapulted

I dunno, I could easily see someone thinking it meant "catapulted over" as in surpassed the original, rather than "catapulted" as in launched the original. There's probably a better way to say it.

I actually don’t love the movie as much as most do, but I can agree that it saved the franchise. After Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which I love, but I realize isn’t everyone’s cup of tea the series needed something to really jumpstart it. The Wrath of Khan did the trick very well. It led the way for more films, which in turn led to future shows.

Reading this and then the thread title, I think Speed 2 would have been a better movie if it revolved around an actual catapult rather than a cruise ship. At least a catapult has, who know, speed!

I think the only thing this film catapulted over the original was Sandra Bullock's salary.

That would be me.
I totally did not take the time to read the OP whole first post.

But the The Road Warrior is a good example.

Austin Power 2? The original was a modest hit but the second was a tent-pole summer release that really solidified this franchise and the character.

The Color of Money? The Hustler was released in a completely different era but this one made a lot of money and earned Paul Newman the Best Actor Oscar.

I thought Austin Powers 2 was so successful because the first became a sleeper hit on home video?

Not true! It catapulted Jason Patric's career into obscurity.

Probably. Hard to remember but Austin Powers 2 was likely greenlit AFTER the original became a cult sensation. Hollywood doesn't usually rush sequels to bombs into production very often.

From an article I just googled:

I saw the original Austin Powers in a mostly empty theater, and I recall that the film started out obscure, but became more and more popular once the home video release. It was a word-of-mouth success, what we would call "viral" today. I recall a car commercial ad where the family made a "drive-in theater" experience in their driveway projecting a movie on the garage door... and it was Austin Powers.

The movie was so big, that I recall the teaser for the sequel getting a lot of laughs and applause in the theaters, and not just for the Star Wars fakeout.

we have a winner here then.

On a personal front, because I don't know how widespread this is, but Army of Darkness brought Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 to my attention. I'm not a big horror fan, and back then I watched nearly zero horror, so Army of Darkness's mix of comedy and time traveling adventure appealed to me more. I didn't even know it was a sequel at first. When I learned of the other films, I worked my way backwards through the franchise. Despite being a box office disappointment, I do think the wider release and heavier promotion of Army of Darkness by Universal likely brought more attention to that franchise than the cult status the first two films had up to that point.


I feel like A Shot in the Dark catapulted over The Pink Panther to solidify that film series in people's minds. The franchise may be called "The Pink Panther, and "Pink Panther" is used in most of the titles, but A Shot in the Dark set the template for the series. Without that film, the first film would be forgotten as a middling comedy with a standout performance from Peter Sellers buried in it.


Somewhat on point for this thread, but the movie Oldboy became an international hit and catapulted Sympathy for Mr Vengance to greater visibility, although the "Vengence Trilogy" is only thematically linked instead of connected via plot in any way.


Supercop was a bigger film in the US than either of the previous 2 Police Story films, although that may have just been due to timing, since Jackie Chan had his first big US hit with Rumble in the Bronx, which prompted WB to release the older Supercop as his next film. Likewise, Drunken Master 2 was a bigger international hit than the first film, to the extent that 2 is just called "The Legend of Drunken Master" in the US.


Desperado catapulted the career of Robert Rodriguez and the El Mariachi series. Before that movie, El Mariachi was a small indie known more for the low cost it was made for than having actually been seen.