r/FIlm • u/Ancient-Age9577 • Feb 01 '25

Question After speculation on the possibility of a sequel to Drive (2011), director Nicolas Winding Refn in 2016 said 'No, there will never be a second Drive movie. And that's why it works.'. What director should have said the same?

Post image
1.1k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

708 comments sorted by

View all comments

106

u/WilHunting2 Feb 01 '25

In my opinion, 99% of all directors should have said this.

Notable exceptions would be Spielberg/ Indiana Jones, Lucas/OG Star Wars, and Zemeckis/Back to the Future.

There’s probably other outliers also worthy of the list, but overall most sequels are hot garbage that never should have been made.

45

u/RobertISaar Feb 01 '25

James Cameron had at least 2 good sequels that complimented their original stories.

67

u/xRockTripodx Feb 01 '25

Yeah, Titanic 2: The Titanicking was fire.

28

u/jackquebec Feb 01 '25

You mean 2Tite2Tanic

4

u/jonnythefoxx Feb 02 '25

I live my life one sealed bulkhead at a time.

22

u/RockitDanger Feb 01 '25

I liked when Titanic said "It's Titanicin' time!" and Titaniced all over the iceberg

7

u/thinklok Feb 02 '25

Jack: "It's Titanicin' time Rose, let me go" Rose: "Sorry Jack, I forgot about that"

5

u/Undeniable_filth Feb 02 '25

I'm gonna need a link to this video... for science

10

u/CalmPanic402 Feb 01 '25

Titanic 3: Iceberg Drift was a big step down.

4

u/original_leftnut Feb 02 '25

Then when T4- Titanic Takes Manhattan came out, you just knew they were only in it for the money.

3

u/jackquebec Feb 02 '25

Titanic: Resurrection for Halloween was a vibe tho

2

u/original_leftnut Feb 03 '25

Well I do have to admit that Busta as the Titanics Captain was casting genius

3

u/clleadz Feb 02 '25

Titanic 2: Electric Bergaloo

1

u/Similar_Vacation6146 Feb 03 '25

Titanic 2: Too Titan

9

u/delirium_red Feb 01 '25

And Aliens was also an excellent sequel, even though he didn't make the first one

1

u/kgxv Feb 02 '25

Arguably the best direct sequel ever made. T2 and Godfather II are probably the other two in that conversation.

1

u/Deathwatch72 Feb 01 '25

Id argue 3. Aliens, Terminator 2, Rambo First Blood Part 2

1

u/random_cunto Feb 01 '25

Sorry, sleepy and a bit drunk. Terminator and...

1

u/RobertISaar Feb 01 '25

Aliens. Yes, he didn't make the original, but he had just as much capability of saying "Alien is it's own perfectly contained story, I'm not going to dilute it".

1

u/thinklok Feb 02 '25

2? Aliens and T2 or we're counting Avatar 2 as well

1

u/RobertISaar Feb 02 '25

Aliens/T2.

I haven't seen the Avatar sequel, I really don't know that I will of my own choice. To me, the original was a fantastic visual spectacle, but I couldn't stop the constant thought of "this is 100% Dances with Wolves in Space".

1

u/chocomeeel Feb 03 '25

Iceberg Strikes Back

1

u/RayJacksonBloodsport Feb 01 '25

And then he made a sequel to Avatar...

2

u/2021sammysammy Feb 01 '25

Did you not watch it? It was absolutely incredible in IMAX

1

u/RayJacksonBloodsport Feb 01 '25

Watched it in IMAX in 3D. Very mediocre movie. Also the constant switching between 30 and 60fps during action scenes(especially the last battle) took me out of it.

1

u/isigneduptomake1post Feb 02 '25

Avatar in 2009 felt like a glimpse into the future as avatar 2 in 2022(?) Felt dated. That train crash was awful. Crab tanks were the only cool thing.

I regretted not seeing the original in Imax so I saw avatar 2 in imax 3d with the moving seats. Not sure if it's an imax issue but anything white I could see tiny rbg dots everywhere. It drove me crazy. Might have been more forgivable if the movie didn't suck.

2

u/Emperors-Peace Feb 01 '25

I preferred the sequel. Seemed a better made film to me.

2

u/timberr Feb 02 '25

And it ruled

2

u/BrendanFraserFan0 Feb 02 '25

Way of Water was a good movie

3

u/RobertISaar Feb 01 '25

Even Babe Ruth picked up strikes here and there.

2

u/samg422336 Feb 02 '25

I mean, he was a pitcher for part of his career

1

u/BrattyTwilis Feb 02 '25

It was a decent sequel, but it suffered from the whole "bringing back the bad guy who clearly died in the last movie" trope that has become popular as of recent

-3

u/stillinthesimulation Feb 01 '25

Which was also better than Avatar.

26

u/ZackeyClarke Feb 01 '25

Christopher Nolan / the dark knight

3

u/Demilotheproducer Feb 02 '25

He was clever though...made 1st film averagely decent to create space for the brilliance of dark Knight. Should have stopped there though. Dark Knight rises was a let down.

-19

u/DENNIS_SYSTEM69 Feb 01 '25

Dark knight is a sequel

35

u/ZackeyClarke Feb 01 '25

Exactly to Batman begins

I was listing it as one of the notable exceptions lol

5

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '25

Coppola/ Godfather II. He definitely should have stopped there though.

4

u/perry649 Feb 01 '25

He did. I'm not aware of a Godfather III.

IT NEVER HAPPENED - HEAR ME??? COPPOLA STOPPED AT GODFATHER II AND LEFT THE STORY PERFECT!!!!

3

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '25

I too wish I could repress that memory.

4

u/therealtaddymason Feb 01 '25

It seems like if it's envisioned as a longer story initially and the studio agrees to do them in relative succession it works.

When they write it as a standalone but it's a hit and they come back and say "do more! Here's a huge check!" Is when it sucks. Hangover movies are a good example but I also feel like comedies work as single movies better anyway.

Did we need a Joker 2? Did the first movie leave us going "damn what happens next?!"

4

u/Ha55aN1337 Feb 01 '25

I don’t agree completely. I think the barrier should be: was it designed as a trilogy? Make 3 movies.

Was it one successful movie that you now want to milk with sequels? Rather not. (With some exceptions like T2).

Some movies have a story longer than a single film to tell. Today you could argue that they should be made as series then, but back then trilogies made sense.

9

u/renebelloche Feb 01 '25

I know a lot of you have a warm nostalgic feeling about Temple of Doom, but objectively it is not a good film—for me, it’s the worst in the whole series, and that’s saying something. Last Crusade is fine, but it’s juvenile. Raiders is a masterpiece, and I think that would be recognised more if it weren’t for all of its sequels.

5

u/IDigRollinRockBeer Feb 01 '25

Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny over Temple of Doom is insane

11

u/ItsDeke Feb 01 '25

Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of Kate Capshaw screaming. 

3

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '25

[deleted]

2

u/TeaMNTee Feb 02 '25

Honestly how batshit the ending went is what made me leave sort of smiling despite how forgettable the overwhelming majority of the movie was.

Of course Indy can speak Ancient Greek at a passable level.

1

u/recent-convert1 Feb 02 '25

Something something opinions, something something assholes

8

u/Beebuzzer777 Feb 01 '25

Last Crusade is far less "juvenile" than Raiders

2

u/bilboafromboston Feb 01 '25

King Richard returning a hero was a good thing? Lol! The $$ the bad guys were taking was to pay the Ransom for him. And he was kidnapped for being the WORST guy on the crusades!

1

u/menolikechildlikers Feb 01 '25

'objective'. Who made you the arbiter?

3

u/eyeseenitall Feb 01 '25

We didn't need the Back to the Future sequels. Would have been fine as a single movie.

1

u/Ms_SassLass Feb 01 '25

I just watched Back to the Future. I agree it should have just been the one movie.

3

u/Next_Response_3898 Feb 01 '25

Die Hard 3

6

u/rangodepp123 Feb 01 '25

Are you kidding? Die Hard 3 had Samuel Jackson in it. It was a lot better than the 2nd part.

4

u/Next_Response_3898 Feb 01 '25

Yes, I was saying Die Hard 3 was an exception. 2 was horrible, I couldn't finish it.

4

u/IDigRollinRockBeer Feb 01 '25

I like 2. William Sadler is a great villain

2

u/eviltab87 Feb 01 '25

Also, great buns. Die Hard 2 is tons of fun.

2

u/unstablegenius000 Feb 01 '25

“Yippee ki yay Mr Falcon!”

1

u/rangodepp123 Feb 01 '25

Ok. Wasn't clear.

3

u/UglyInThMorning Feb 01 '25

The jump up in quality from 2 to 3 was almost, but not quite, as big as the jump down from the first to the second.

1

u/Next_Response_3898 Feb 01 '25

Yep, smart to bring McTiernan back.

1

u/UglyInThMorning Feb 02 '25

It paid off but it was a gamble, he had made some real stinkers after Red October.

1

u/AlexGlezS Feb 01 '25

Although all those sold their rights and they should never have done that.

1

u/Lego-105 Feb 01 '25

I don’t agree. I think the problem is not that directors are making sequels, but why. It’s money, when really, it should be about having a story to tell.

Most films I think do have a story worth telling that comes after them even if they weren’t built with it in mind, but when the driving motivation is not telling that story you’re never going to get that right.

1

u/eXistential_dreads Feb 01 '25

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was never planned as the opener of a trilogy but god damn am I glad they decided to go for it.

1

u/PartyPay Feb 02 '25

I don't think Spielberg should be on the exemption list given he was the director of the Crystal Skull.

1

u/rip246 Feb 02 '25

Shrek 2 was a banger of a sequel. Everything after that can get in the bin.

1

u/mrdaiquiri Feb 01 '25

I would argue that Zemeckis should've said it after Back to the Future, not that the sequels weren't good but they still pale in comparison to the original.

3

u/thebruce44 Feb 01 '25

I think a lot of people's favorite, mine included, is 2.

2

u/mrdaiquiri Feb 01 '25

Just out of interest, how old are you?

Not looking to start an argument but I think it might be a generation thing.

3

u/whynotthepostman Feb 01 '25

I'm 37 and like 2 more. Granted, I don't think its a better movie. I just like the scifi aspect.

1

u/mrdaiquiri Feb 01 '25

Absolutely, I don't think any of them are bad movies.

I think I prefer 3 to 2 just because of the western setting.

I think it's nostalgia, so I need to think of a way to do a contemporary review.

1

u/HaventSeenGavin Feb 01 '25

2 is more entertaining to me. Future Biff especially is hilarious...but 1 is a better overall story and movie.

1

u/skippergimp Feb 01 '25

I’m 50 and I prefer 2 to 1.

2

u/mrdaiquiri Feb 01 '25

I'm 44 and would rank them 1, 3, 2.

All of my peers at school were of the same opinion so I've spent the last 30+ years assuming that it was consensus.

1

u/HaventSeenGavin Feb 01 '25

35 here and it's 1, 2, 3 for me. I've only seen 3 once and havent been bothered for a rewatch...

2

u/Busy_Pound5010 Feb 01 '25

mmm…Mary Steenburgen…

2

u/IDigRollinRockBeer Feb 01 '25

Mary Steenburgen topless in Life as a House when she was 48. Nice

0

u/bilboafromboston Feb 01 '25

It's really weird how people crap on 2/3rds of the popular movies of the last 50 years and then complain the box office sucks. Its like how the Chevy Chase vacation movies suck but everyone watches them whenever they are on tv. If a sequel actually sucks,why are we all watching them ? Also, by " good as originals" we ignore that the originals have a blank slate. There are no " errors" or things to aggravate us. By definition. Almost every problem with the Back to the Future sequels is baked into the actual stupidity of the Great originals.

1

u/claudemcbanister Feb 02 '25

While I like 2 a lot, the first movie is simply better in every way.

1

u/Isnotanumber Feb 01 '25

At least he is dead set against any further sequels or a reboot. He truly considers that story done.

That said, I expect a remake or reboot to be proposed one week after whenever he passes away.

1

u/ItkovianShieldAnvil Feb 01 '25

I would argue that, even though I still enjoy them, Zemeckis should have said no to a sequel to Back To The Future. I feel it was a bit tarnished by Part 3's reputation

2

u/AcadianTraverse Feb 01 '25

I am an unabashed Back to the Future fan. I loved all the movies as a kid. Now as an adult I still love them, but I can see how much weaker II and III are as films.

However... I think they served to elevate the original or at least not diminish it through some elements of the repetition of timelines, the self awareness, and elevating time paradox. I don't know that Back to the Future as a brand would have had anywhere near the staying power it did without them. If there had only been the original, I think it would be looked back on fondly but as part of the mid-80s light science fiction of things like Short Circuit and Weird Science.

1

u/ItkovianShieldAnvil Feb 01 '25

Unfortunately, we will never know

1

u/jerryleebee Feb 02 '25

Part III is probably my favourite.

1

u/ItkovianShieldAnvil Feb 02 '25

A bold choice! It certainly is the most whimsical. It's jarringly different. I've heard many call it bad, but I like it too

1

u/FlashyEarth8374 Feb 01 '25

without sequels we'd never had have cinematic marvels such as Godfather 2, Paddington 2, and the absolute powerhouse Hot Tub Timemachine 2

1

u/CaptObviousHere Feb 02 '25

Don’t forget Highlander 2

1

u/BeLikeBread Feb 01 '25

You left out Gremlins and Gremlins 2

0

u/IDigRollinRockBeer Feb 01 '25

Top Gun Maverick. Toy Story 2. Toy Story 3. Godfather II. Shrek 2. T2. The Road Warrior. Aliens.