Prequels Discussion

[BK007]

With the impending release of and the release of the trailers for Prometheus and The Hobbit, I put forward this topic.Upon first viewing and on a bad connection, I saw both those trailers. Initially I was really excited for Prometheus being a sucker for sci-fi and the visuals looked amazing, plus the little that was on offer to hook you in really worked. Regarding the Hobbit, I thought it started off brilliantly despite it seeming a little kiddish but then devolved into "Do I really care?"Now I realized after watching X-Men First Class this past summer why a prequel doesn't work for me, or rather it wouldn't work if I'd already seen the movie it is being a prequel to. In the case of Rise of the Apes, I'd never seen any of the movies and despite the plot in the title itself, I found it a great movie. So, this is some background or some bait to flame me having little to no other experience.I want to and have made blanket statements in the past regarding prequels, basically after watching XMFC, that prequels can't ever be good without having seen any other prequel. So, I've now Googled and found a list of prequels, which is a surprisingly short one on first glance, but then you realize, as I've already spoken about on why it is hard to get anyone interested in the before part of the story once you know the ending, that maybe it is an appropriately short one. After all, prequels are also a form of milking a franchise and you don't really make a prequel to a movie before a sequel, in fact, prequels could be the motherload of milking since instead of a direct continuation you go back into time that no one asked for.Of course this isn't a rule as both XMFC and ROTPOTA got great reviews despite myself thinking the former doesn't deserve it. Of course even if something is being milked doesn't mean they can't throw out a good product.So here's a select list of movies that have prequels (found on Wikipedia):-Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (10 years after original)-The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (2 years after original)-Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (3 years after original)-Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (22 years after original)-The Thing (29 years after original) (supposedly more a remake)-The Scorpion King (1 year after original)-Red Dragon (11 years after original)-Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (9 years after original)-The Godfather Pt. 2 (2 years after original)-Mallrats (1 years after original)-The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (6 years after original)-Exorcist: The Beginning (31 years after original)-The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (3 years after original)-X-Men First Class (11 years after original)-Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (6 years after original)-The Hobbit (9 years after original)-Paranormal Activity 2 (1 year after original)-Gods and Generals (10 years after original)-Final Destination 5 (11 years after original)-Rise of the Planet of the Apes (43 years after original)I left off movies like Puss in Boots (standalone) and Captain America/Iron Man 2 (Iron Man/Incredible Hulk) because they aren't really prequels to the right movies anyway. Also, the last 2 Fast and Furious sequels but since Vin and everyone weren't in Tokyo Drift they're not really practically prequels.Two common themes are a long time after the original's been made does a prequel come out and second, most of the movies on the list are horror movies, which are the prime offender of milking. The third theme which you can't see unless you look at the list on Wikipedia is the fact that many of these prequels go straight to TV or DVD which tells you the quality of them. Now I'll admit right now I've not seen the Good Bad & the Ugly, Indiana Jones or the Godfather franchises in full which would be and was people's proof there are good prequels.I think I should watch them before people spoil them in the thread but do use spoiler tags.Anyway, what do people think? I can't get excited for Hobbit or Prometheus knowing they are prequels and I've seen both LOTR and Alien already.

Edited December 25, 2011 by BK007

[Neo]

Of the list how many have gone straight to DVD?

[BK007]

Of the list how many have gone straight to DVD?

22 franchises/titles with DTV sequels though 3 of them were themselves TV movies.There are only 9 other titles I've left out after those mentioned and the 22, 2 of which are Japanese and 1 from Hong Kong.

[Plain Old Tele]

THE HOBBIT is a bit different, IMHO, because it was written before LOTR and so it's the original Middle-Earth story. Obviously the movie has added some "prequel-ish" elements (Legolas, Frodo, etc) but if Jackson, et al say reasonably close to the source material (as they did with LOTR), I think it'll feel sufficiently different.With PROMETHEUS, I hope Scott stays true to some of his comments where he says that it has ties (obviously strong ties) to ALIEN while being (mostly) a standalone story.I agree in large part that prequels usually aren't a good thing -- there's this incessant desire to explore things best left unexplored, and too much time is usually spent making sure everything lines up with the original movies. Note to storytellers: not everything needs to be literally explained, sometimes a bit of mystery is the choice. (Obvious example: the SW prequels)

[4815162342]

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is not a prequel. There is no shared continuity between the three films featuring "The Man with No Name." They're linked only in their thematic/tonal approach to the genre and in Eastwood's poncho.