10 Best Film Sequels By Different Directors
9. The Color Of Money (1986)
The Sequel To: The Hustler (Rossen, 1961)
The Director: Martin Scorsese
Taking Over From: Robert Rossen
The Color Of Money presents the rare case of the follow-up director being infinitely more revered and well-known than the original's. Martin Scorsese is a cinematic deity, whereas Robert Rossen actually wrote more films than he directed, but that hasn't stopped The Hustler going down as a masterpiece of '60s cinema.
Scorsese's film, shot 25 years later, is most certainly inferior, and it was a critical disappointment on release. Time has been kind to Money though, and there's enough good things within it to cement its place on this list.
Paul Newman, reprising his iconic turn as Fast Eddie Felson, is on Oscar-winning form (though it's generally a given that the Academy was basically rewarding the original incarnation with a touch of sentimental guilt), turning the brash braggadocio of The Hustler's Fast Eddie into knowing, old-man, been-there-done-that wisdom. Then there's Tom Cruise in full-on Tom Cruise '80s mode, channeling his own Fast Eddie as Vince, the young, cocky upstart.
Widely considered to be one of Scorsese's least personal efforts, The Color Of Money is nevertheless fine film-making, with Marty's scatter-gun editing during the pool games a highlight.