Sequels

In an episode of The Critic that aired in 1994 or '95, there is a brief parody of a Rocky sequel in which Rocky is an old man stepping back into the boxing ring. Over a decade later, they actually did make a Rocky sequel with that exact premise. The amazing thing though is that Rocky Balboa was actually a good movie; probably the best one since the original. I remember watching the trailer expecting to smirk at it, but at 0:48 I saw the potential:

About 6 months after Rocky Balboa's successful release, Sylvester Stallone released a trailer for the then-forthcoming John Rambo (Rambo IV, eventually released as just Rambo). The trailer was well-received by the internet, being called the "best trailer ever" by many. As with Balboa, I scoffed at the ridiculousness of it...until around 2:03:

In this case the finished film was not as good as Balboa, but the potential was there and the trailer in and of itself makes a perfect Rambo IV.

The relative success of these seemingly ludicrous "25 years too late" sequels sparked what has become one of my favorite things to think about: "how could a good sequel to [movie/book/game] be made?"

My pondering has included Beverly Hills Cop IV, Jurassic Park IV, Back to the Future Part IV, Ghostbusters III, Gremlins 3 and Rocky VII. Many sequels have tons of possible ideas (Star Wars for example) and success would depend solely on the execution. Others, like Back to the Future Part IV or Rocky VII, would be largely reliant on coming up with some plausible reason for why Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd are getting back into a time machine in 2013, or how Rocky Balboa could ever get into the ring again and be competitive. (There is the obvious mentorship angle, but who cares if Rocky himself isn't the one fighting?)

But for me, the most interesting movie sequel possibility to think about is Weekend at Bernie's III.

To Be Continued...