You ever notice how many great movies are followed by sequels that suck? Believe me there's plenty, and this isn't a "pop quiz hot shot". But thankfully there's also a great deal of wonderful sequels that sometimes are even better than the first. Now before I go any further, let me state the guidelines I used in my selection of my top 5. First, the movie has to truly fit into the mode of a sequel - it can't be a strict continuation of the first movie. So any series that was essentially shot at the same time, only to be cut later into separate movies - is not under consideration here. Each movie has to stand on its own without the need for prior background. Sorry to all you fans of 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Matrix'. These are great movies and I love 'em, but I can't in good conscience include them in my top 5. Second, I'm only considering 'horror' and/or 'SciFi'. So great series like the Die Hard movies, Rocky, Indiana Jones, God Father, Harry Potter and Leslie Nielsen's hilarious Naked Gun movies can't make the list.So without further comment, here's what I consider to be the 5 best horror/Scifi series of movies (in no particular order):
1. The Terminator Series: 'Terminator' 1984, 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' 1991, and 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' 2003. If you didn't know better, you'd swear that these movies were made just for Arnold Schwarzenegger. He made the perfect terminator - chiseled out of stone with an attitude that was pure business (at least in the first movie). I loved Linda Hamilton in the role of Sara Connor (apparently the director, James Cameron, also loved her - but in a slightly more meaningful way - at least for a little while). She did a fantastic job in both the first and second movie. The only weakness of the series was the second movie. They brought in Edward Furlong to play the teenage version of John Conner. Now I'm not a big Ed Furlong fan to start with, but when you add the lines he was required to say in that movie - it nearly ruined it for me. On top of that, I guess James Cameron decided that he'd have fun with Arnold's character and had him do things that not only took away from his character, but hurt the movie as well. I was suspicious at first, but later thankful when Jonathan Mostow took over the reigns as director for the 3rd installment. The third movie was quite an improvement over Cameron's second. It was more serious and shied away from the goofy antics and dialog that Cameron sought to play with. And I ask you - is it possible to improve upon Arnold's portrayal of a terminator. The answer is a resounding yes in the form of actress Kristanna Loken. If Arnold was eye-candy for the ladies in the audience, then Kristanna carried that duty quite nicely for the men. She was sexy, malevolent and easily maintained the distant, nonchalant attitude of 'I'm a superior killing machine'. I actually thought the 3rd movie was the best of the series. Even though Linda Hamilton decided to pass on it, they picked up Nick Stahl to play the young adult version of John Connor (huge improvement over Edward Furlong). And I liked the ending - it was serious, the way it was intended to be taken.
2. The Alien Series: 'Alien' 1979, 'Aliens' 1986, 'Alien 3' 1992, 'Alien: Resurrection' 1997 and I'm also including 'AVP: Alien vs. Predator' 2004. This series really set the standard for SciFi horror movies. Sigourney Weaver was perfect as the heroine Ripley in the first 4 movies. The special effects were big-budget (not in terms of over-using, but in terms of the attention to detail). One of the most amazing things about this series is that even though no two movies were directed by the same individual (Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Paul W.S. Anderson respectively) they all shared the same mood and pace - which in this case was dead-on right. The alien creature common to these movies is perhaps the best "monster" ever put to film. And one of the things I love best about this series is that the alien is motivated by purpose - his actions are a direct result of trying to propagate the species (and/or protect it from harm in the case of eggs and the queen). The other aspect that really gives meat to the series (except the last) is the character of Ripley. She's a true heroine. She stands up to her own fear and does battle in an attempt to save others.
3. The Halloween Series (1 & 2 only): 'Halloween' 1978 and 'Halloween II' 1981. In my mind (and please let me know if I'm wrong) Michael Myers was the first unstoppable fiend to land on film. The set up for the story was perfect - young boy kills his sister and is sent to an asylum where he remains in a vegetative state for several years - until his escape! John Carpenter directed the first movie so you know it's got mood. He and Debra Hill joined together in the screenplay for both movies. Jamie Lee Curtis was cast perfectly as Laurie Strode (the fact that no one remembers the heroine's name is a testament to the enormous presence that Michael Myers plays in the movie). Jamie is a fine actress and I'd have to say that I've never seen a movie of hers that I didn't like. Donald Pleasence plays part doctor/part detective in the role of Dr. Sam Loomis - he's the only one who understands Michael Myers for what he truly is - evil incarnate. Donald was perfect for this movie. I think he's creepy anyway, so casting him in such an eerie role was perfect.
4. The Space Odessey Series: '2001: A Space Odyssey' 1968 and '2010' 1984. What set these movies apart from their competition at the time was how realistic space travel was depicted. Based on the work of author Arthur C. Clarke, they took space travel out of the comic book and made it real for all of us. For me, the main character in the first movie was the supercomputer HAL9000. Its logic and reasoning behind the methodical extermination of the crew still raises the hair on the back of my neck. And that calm, monotone voice it spoke in! Yipes! My favorite line is from the end of that first movie "...it's full of stars..." That line has stuck with me since I first saw the movie. Roy Scheider stole the show in the second movie. It had all the great detail and setting of the first movie, plus more action. With that said, what wasn't there to like? The only part where I thought the movie went a little overboard was at the end of the first when Keir Dullea's character, Dave Bowman, went through some acid trip of story telling by bopping back and forth between an old man and an embryo (I know a lot of you thought that was pretty cool).
5. The Riddick Series: 'Pitch Black' 2000 and 'The Chronicles of Riddick' 2004. I loved the story behind the first movie - once every 20 or 30 years (I don't remember the span) a planet, which otherwise never sees night, is thrown into darkness. Like the locust, creatures nesting underground wait for this darkness to come to the surface to feed. The premise is scary, the setting where the movie was filmed (Australia) worked perfectly and the tint used during filming all set the stage for a horrifying experience. Where the first movie was more horror, the second was more SciFi. But either way, both movies had a fine set of supporting characters: Cole Hauser, Keith David and Radha Mitchell in the first; Colm Feore, Judi Dench and Karl Urban in the second. But of course these movies belonged to Vin Diesel, who burst out to become a household name with the success of the first movie. I talked previously about the second movie 'The Chronicles of Riddick' back in my post on 11/19 (click the calendar on the right to see the post). One of the best aspects of this series is that the characters hold true to form through both movies - in particular the character of Kyra (played by Alexa Davalos in the second movie, and by Rhiana Griffith in the first movies (as Jack/Jackie). Needless to say I own both these movies and hope that they make a third installment.
Well there it is - my top 5 favorite movie series of all time (based on the criteria set above). If you haven't seen some of them, give them a try and let me know if you agree with me. Until next time, stay consistent. J/W
