Post by The Mad Plumber on Dec 15, 2011 21:28:41 GMT -5
A trend I somewhat noticed occurring more often in the 21st century is the naming of film sequels without numbers in them. Part of me wonders if this is happening as a means of dispelling the stigma of franchises that have gone on for too long, and perhaps attaching artificial class to the picture considering how far south its franchise has already gone. So, I thought I would open this thread for users to discuss why they think this phenomenon occurs and what their opinions are of it.
The Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi
"Star Wars II" and "Star Wars III" I think are terms that no one uses, unless to possibly refer to in irony Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. For the 1994 box set I have, the fronts of the box covers refer to the simple titles of the films. However, the box sides for all three tapes feature "Star Wars" with its corresponding "episode title", including "A New Hope" which I am to understand is actually an edit that was made to correspond with the 1980 release of The Empire Strikes Back. At the time of this post, IMDB gives the two sequels lengthy titles that include "Star Wars", the episode name, and the episode number. Star Wars has been simplified by the writing of this post, but I do believe IMDB inflicted similar upon the 1977 film at one time. For myself, I typically and favorably refer to each film by their short titles: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
Rambo / Rocky Balboa
The source of confusion or irony is that "Rambo" is the laid-back title most people refer to First Blood as. I believe most video stores and video collectors will typically stock First Blood in the "R" section. I suppose this film, along with Rocky Balboa, was part of Sylvester Stallone's attempt to revisit his more acclaimed origins. I've not seen Rocky V in its entirety, but I've seen that even Stallone has lambasted the film publicly. I suppose he avoided the title "Rocky VI" so as to sort of tuck its predecessor under the carpet.
The Batman Franchise
Now, this is a real source of confusion because I'm not sure what the real first Batman movie ever was. The earliest I've seen was the Adam West vehicle, but I'm confident that one of our comic book aficionados will tell me that there were films that preceded that one. Numbering is tricky considering that this series has been rebooted numerous times. Typically, if I say "Batman II", I assume most people assume I'm referring to Tim Burton's "Batman Returns". However, would anyone confuse my statement of "Batman II" as being a reference to "The Dark Knight"? The Christopher Nolan series is curious for a few reasons: (1) I assume no one shoehorns "Batman" into the title when referring to The Dark Knight, and (2) though his series is a reboot, he doesn't name his first film simply "Batman".
Big Top Pee-Wee
This probably depends on whether you consider this to actually be a sequel to Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. It's almost like saying that The Life of Brian was a sequel to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Since the last time I saw this, I don't recall any references to Burton's original film aside from the "Tequila" dance performed near the end. As it is, there doesn't seem to be any clear answers as to why Pee-Wee's gone from living in a fun house in a friendly neighbor to an experimental farm nearby a village of angry codgers.
The Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi
"Star Wars II" and "Star Wars III" I think are terms that no one uses, unless to possibly refer to in irony Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. For the 1994 box set I have, the fronts of the box covers refer to the simple titles of the films. However, the box sides for all three tapes feature "Star Wars" with its corresponding "episode title", including "A New Hope" which I am to understand is actually an edit that was made to correspond with the 1980 release of The Empire Strikes Back. At the time of this post, IMDB gives the two sequels lengthy titles that include "Star Wars", the episode name, and the episode number. Star Wars has been simplified by the writing of this post, but I do believe IMDB inflicted similar upon the 1977 film at one time. For myself, I typically and favorably refer to each film by their short titles: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
Rambo / Rocky Balboa
The source of confusion or irony is that "Rambo" is the laid-back title most people refer to First Blood as. I believe most video stores and video collectors will typically stock First Blood in the "R" section. I suppose this film, along with Rocky Balboa, was part of Sylvester Stallone's attempt to revisit his more acclaimed origins. I've not seen Rocky V in its entirety, but I've seen that even Stallone has lambasted the film publicly. I suppose he avoided the title "Rocky VI" so as to sort of tuck its predecessor under the carpet.
The Batman Franchise
Now, this is a real source of confusion because I'm not sure what the real first Batman movie ever was. The earliest I've seen was the Adam West vehicle, but I'm confident that one of our comic book aficionados will tell me that there were films that preceded that one. Numbering is tricky considering that this series has been rebooted numerous times. Typically, if I say "Batman II", I assume most people assume I'm referring to Tim Burton's "Batman Returns". However, would anyone confuse my statement of "Batman II" as being a reference to "The Dark Knight"? The Christopher Nolan series is curious for a few reasons: (1) I assume no one shoehorns "Batman" into the title when referring to The Dark Knight, and (2) though his series is a reboot, he doesn't name his first film simply "Batman".
Big Top Pee-Wee
This probably depends on whether you consider this to actually be a sequel to Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. It's almost like saying that The Life of Brian was a sequel to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Since the last time I saw this, I don't recall any references to Burton's original film aside from the "Tequila" dance performed near the end. As it is, there doesn't seem to be any clear answers as to why Pee-Wee's gone from living in a fun house in a friendly neighbor to an experimental farm nearby a village of angry codgers.
