When I go to a movie, I usually don’t go in expecting it to have a sequel. There are many, MANY movies where it’s obvious they will get a follow-up. You can be assured that most movies based on comic book from Marvel or DC will end up getting a sequel. Not always, but it’s often the case. Why? Because they are huge movies that if done well, earn enough to warrant a follow-up. With movies like Star Wars and Terminator, you expect a sequel, so movies like that are going to be left off of this list, as well as any movie that deliberately sets up for a sequel, so movies like The Equalizer don’t count either. The movies that I’m bringing up today are ones where it seemed like it was “one and done.” I’m also not bringing these movies up because they’re bad. I judge each film on its own merits. Some of these are pretty bad, to be sure, but some of them are somewhat decent. Also, there will be major spoilers, so if you haven’t seen some of the movies I’m listing, you may want to hit the back button on your browser.
The Scorpion King
This one is interesting, because The Scorpion King with Dwayne Johnson was already a spin-off of a sequel. The Scorpion King was actually a pretty fun diversion. Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but it was fairly Rock-solid adventure(see what I did there?). A few years later, Scorpion King 2 showed up. This was actually a prequel, and not a good one either. The Scorpion King gets bonus points for not having just ONE follow-up, but THREE sequels. I’ve seen them all, and not one of them are any good. If you must see a Scorpion King movie, see the first one with The Rock, it’s awesome.
TREMORS
This is a great monster movie. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are simply fantastic. There’s a lot of humor in the film and a lot of great tension. The monsters themselves are great. Gigantic man-eating monsters known as Graboids terrorize a small Nevada town and it’s up to Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward to save the day. It’s nothing original, but it really reminds you of the old 50’s sci-fi monster flicks. It’s funny, well-made and exciting. Tremors 2 showed up five years later. This was NOT expected at all. I would have been happy with just the one. The second film wasn’t particularly bad, either. But wait, there’s more. Not only Tremors 2, but we got a third and fourth movie as well. These movies really aren’t that bad. Yeah, the special effects got worse with each film, but Michael Gross was the best part of the sequels. Here’s a scary thing, they’re making ANOTHER film. It’s called Tremors 5: Bloodline. Sounds pretty ominous. Michael Gross is returning as Burt Gummer(YES!!!). Another thing I should mention is that Tremors also got a TV series that premiered on the sci-fi channel about a decade ago. It’s pretty forgettable actually.
Roadhouse
I totally got blind-sided by this one. Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze was one of the most memorable action films during the 80s. The film’s dialogue was questionable, but highly entertaining. Not only did it have Patrick Swayze, but it also had Sam Elliott. How can you possibly go wrong with Roadhouse? You can’t. But apparently, some higher-ups decided it would be a good idea to return to Roadhouse with a sequel. Not just a sequel, but a direct-to-video sequel, Roadhouse 2: Last Call, starring Jonathan Schaech, Jake Busey, and Richard Norton. Schaech plays Shane, the son of Dalton from the first movie. Apparently they couldn’t get Patrick Swayze to reprise his role, so they killed the character, in a plane crash. This is a dreadful film, with the only bright spot being Richard Norton as a drug dealer. Just stick with the original Roadhouse. Yeah, it’s cheesy, but it’s a fantastic film.
Dragonheart
Dragonheart Trailer
Dragonheart: A New Beginning Trailer
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer’s Curse
This one was the inspiration for this particular list. Dragonheart was a fantastic film with great actors, a decent story and action. But the one thing that really made the film unique was the dragon who was voiced by Sean Connery. Given how the original film ended with Draco sacrificing himself, there was no reason to expect a sequel of ANY kind. Apparently, Draco had hidden an egg in some kind of cave for Bowen to discover, and a local monastery helped protect the young dragon until a local stable-boy discovered him. A New Beginning seems like a blatant cash-in on a movie that stood on its own. It’s not terrible, but it just seemed superfluous in the end. Not only that, but the dragon wasn’t very well animated or voiced. Robby Benson was the voice of Drake, and he was not particularly impressive in that role, and the visual effects were laughable. That film was released in 2000. 15 years later, we get another one: The Sorcerer’s Curse. While the third film is still no match for the original, it’s superior to the second film in every way. The dragon is also voice by Ben Kingsley. That’s a pretty good choice for a dragon. It’s not perfect, but it was entertaining enough. Dragonheart 3 was definitely a surprise. I definitely didn’t see that one coming at all. I had learned about it about a month before it was released on video. As an unexpected sequel, Dragonheart 3 is better than most.
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers Trailer
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation Trailer
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder
Starship Troopers: Invasion
Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers wasn’t exactly what you call a roaring success, but it wasn’t an outright failure, either. At least, not critically. It was a fun and spectacular action film that was actually smarter than people gave it credit for, with its use of propaganda and neo-Fascist setting. But most people would agree that it was VERY loosely based on the book of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein. For fans of the book, the movie failed on nearly every level. I didn’t read the book until I saw the movie, so I appreciate both. But given how both the book and movie ended, a sequel was extremely unlikely, given the film’s overall box intake. When I heard they were making a sequel to Starship Troopers, I was rather curious. Then I heard it was direct-to-video. There’s a reason for that. It’s a big pile of donkey doo-doo. It apparently had a 20 million dollar budget, but apparently that wasn’t enough for them to actually use blanks. No, the guns they used were plastic toys with flashing lights on the tips of the barrels. I’m not kidding, check out the trailer for Starship Troopers 2. They tried to turn it into a horror/slasher film of sorts. Everything about this film was a complete disaster. Yet, they managed to make ANOTHER one: Marauder. They actually managed to bring Casper Van Dien back to play Johnny Rico in ST3. His performance is clearly B-level. He knew what kind of movie he was making. They actually brought in the suits that were so prominently featured in the book, but the CGI is so bad, I don’t think it was even worth it. Seriously, the CGI is not even PlayStation 2 level. Not only that, they had a musical number with a singing Federation Officer. There’s a face-palm moment if there ever was one. Oh, and there’s an irritating religious zealot that should have been killed off. It should have been the end of it. But lo and behold, the good folks at Sony Entertainment released yet another: Invasion. Here’s the thing about Starship Troopers: Invasion. It’s actually pretty good. Why? They gave the project to some Japanese animators and crafted a fully CGI animated film, produced by none other than Casper Van Dien. He doesn’t provide the voice for Rico, but Invasion brings back Rico, Carmen, and Carl from the original film. They look different, but it’s still them. It’s a surprisingly different and spectacular take on the series. I really liked it. The first two sequels were really unexpected and mostly unwanted. The third sequel was a blast. I’ll do a review of that one later on.
That’s my list for the most unexpected sequels. These are the ones that really caught my attention. Most of them really aren’t that good, though. So, does anybody have any suggestions or unexpected sequels of their own they would like to mention? Leave a message in the box below and I’ll check it out. This is Major Tom, signing off.
Starship Troopers 3: It’s a Good Day To Die(Music Video)
Pretty bad, aint it?