Best "Franchise"

[temery]

Not sure what the best term is to describe a movie with multiple sequels. Star Wars, Rocky, etc.

Off the top of my head, I can think of the following as candidates:

Star Wars
Star Trek
Rocky
The Godfather
Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
Men in Black
Bond movies
Indiana Jones

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Bourne
(I have never seen, but i terms of success) Twilight

 

[PeteCalvin]

This is a tough one because all of them have fatal flaws, namely a bad film that drags down the whole. I am forever a fan of most of them in Temery's list. However, I am not too proud to admit that even my sacred Star Wars mantle has scars thanks to Jar Jar Binks. Fortunately, now that Lucas is out of the meddling creator business, Disney has a shot to give life long fans a grand send off for their favorite childhood characters and breathe new life in the franchise for the next generation.

My son got me into the Harry Potter series, and I thank him for that. He and I can watch those over and over again.

 

[armory]

Need criteria. e.g. - if merchandising is the criteria, Star Wars obliterates the competition. Bond obviously has the most staying power. Harry Potter is a behemoth, but it's appeal is too heavily orientated in the books not the films. Books rarely sustain a franchise and usually only can by adapting to film. Game of Thrones is a perfect example... it's exploded in the pop culture scene. Literally GoT references and merchandise everywhere now ... yet the core books had been out for over a decade... TV & HBO are responsible for at least half its popularity. I find that the only books capable of becoming a franchise are ones that are made into great movies on their own, while still being better reads. This is where Harry Potter falls short ... the films are pretty weak and primarily appeal AFTER reading the books, not before. LOTR is the opposite, most that liked the films hadn't read the books.

Few more off the top of my head;

Marvel Comics (Iron Man, Spiderman, Hulk, X-Men, pretty much all the modern comic book movies)
DC Comics (Batman, Superman, F4, iirc)
Terminator
Simpsons
South Park
Madden
Nintendo's characters (Mario, Zelda, etc.)
Pokemon is still huge

 

[moqui]

as far as longevity, I doubt anyone will beat the Bond franchise. I think there were a lot of old series & serials (the Hope & Crosby "road to . . ." pictures, the "Thin Man" series, etc.) but I don't think any of them had as many pictures as Bond has, and Bond keeps chugging along.

as far as box office, its not really fair unless you use inflation adjusted numbers . . . The Hunger Games series might end up beating them all, even though there has only been one released.

As far as series that have sustained quality throughout the franchise, the list is short:

John Ford's cavalry trilogy
Mad Max
Toy Story
LotR
If you want to separate Chris Nolan's Batman from the rest of the dreck in that franchise, I suppose it goes in here as well

and off the top of my head, that is about it, except that they are "re-booting" the Mad Max franchise, so they could end up killing it
also, I will say that the three Swedish "Girl" movies were all very good, and I expect the three English language ones to be so, as well.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Sorry, moqui, but Beyond Thunderdome was a blah addition to the Mad Max franchise.

And I think you have to separate the Nolan "Dark Knight" movies from the rest of the Batman trash. They were in no way connected to the prior cartoonish movies. I consider them a trilogy unto themselves.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

My vote is for Rocky. Rocky V never happened. Rocky ends the Cold War and then comes out of retirement for a contrived exhibition promoted by AJ Benza. Boom. Movie magic.

Rocky can make a grown man cry because he's filled with inspiration. I'm a grown man. Do the math.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Friday the 13th
Nightmare on Elm St
Halloween.

 

[moqui]

Sorry, moqui, but Beyond Thunderdome was a blah addition to the Mad Max franchise.

to each his own, but I think both sequels in the series are superior to the original . . . going by the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes, they are:

Road Warrior: 100% positive reviews
Beyond Thunderdome: 86% positive
Mad Max: 80% positive

And I think you have to separate the Nolan "Dark Knight" movies from the rest of the Batman trash. They were in no way connected to the prior cartoonish movies. I consider them a trilogy unto themselves.

yeah, but that's not really playing it straight. If you are going to allow us to cherry pick and cut out the ones we don't like, then the Cameron-directed Terminator pics make the cut, or the Nick Meyer/Leonard Nimoy Star Trek movies (Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, Voyage Home and Undiscovered Country)

 

[PeteCalvin]

to each his own, but I think both sequels in the series are superior to the original . . . going by the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes, they are:

Road Warrior: 100% positive reviews
Beyond Thunderdome: 86% positive
Mad Max: 80% positive




yeah, but that's not really playing it straight. If you are going to allow us to cherry pick and cut out the ones we don't like, then the Cameron-directed Terminator pics make the cut, or the Nick Meyer/Leonard Nimoy Star Trek movies (Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, Voyage Home and Undiscovered Country)

Maybe it was Tina Turner that ruined the film for me. Maybe it's the fact that The Road Warrior was so damn good, I don't know.

No, I agree you can't cherry pick. Franchises have to be considered as whole. However, I think reboots complicate the issue. The Nolan Batman character and story is clearly different than the rest. I think they should be separate. However, the Star Trek reboot is clearly set in the same universe, with the same characters. They have to be considered part of the whole.

I can't wait to see the new Mad Max, though. Tom Hardy will kick some ass.

 

[upperdeck]

Mission impossible is right there.. if anything its gotten better as the years go on. crazy stunts

 

[obliterata]

Back to the Future
Planet of the Apes

 

[Trueblue25]

Has to be rocky. The Creed movies are great.

 

[kcsu]

Bond. Cant beat the names of the characters.

 

[tbonezone]

IMO thunder dome was cool when max entered barter town. master blaster, tina turner and the cage fight . once max was exiled to the desert the movies suffers IMO. but "two men enter one man leaves " is classic .

( edit: and clark griswold says...)

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

This is a tough one because all of them have fatal flaws, namely a bad film that drags down the whole. I am forever a fan of most of them in Temery's list. However, I am not too proud to admit that even my sacred Star Wars mantle has scars thanks to Jar Jar Binks. Fortunately, now that Lucas is out of the meddling creator business, Disney has a shot to give life long fans a grand send off for their favorite childhood characters and breathe new life in the franchise for the next generation.

My son got me into the Harry Potter series, and I thank him for that. He and I can watch those over and over again.

Can I just count Fletch, and leave out Fletch Lives?

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

Star Wars. Mark on society/culture, movies, clothes/customs, toys, music, theme park rides.

 

[cuseattle]

Star Wars for now, but the Marvel Universe is getting close.
All Marvel movies in chronological order - IMDb

 

[Day2]

Submitting Lethal Weapon for consideration. One of the strongest series with four movies or more.