20 Sequels That Brilliantly Fixed Past Mistakes

8. For Your Eyes Only - Back Down To Earth

Many James Bond movies could qualify for this list, as this franchise has made reinvention something of an art form. It's had its ups and downs, but no-one should ever accuse this of being a series that doesn't learn from its mistakes, for so many of its movies have intelligently responded to negative feedback in some way. 

By far the most underrated example of this is For Your Eyes Only, the fifth 007 flick to feature Roger Moore as Bond. The previous movie, Moonraker, had literally taken Bond to space and had seen the brand devolve into cringe-worthy self-parody, so For Your Eyes Only took the character back down to earth in more ways than one.

This one sees the series returning to its roots. For Your Eyes Only features some wonderful escapist action scenes, but the cringey comedy is largely gone, and it commits to being a grounded, suspenseful Cold War thriller that echoes the earlier Bond films to great effect. Moore is also allowed to tap into Bond's more ruthless side, and the result is by far his best performance as the character. 

This superb tonal balancing act is the key thing that makes For Your Eyes Only arguably the single most underrated James Bond film of all time. Frustratingly, audiences didn't take to this one so much, so Moore's final two pictures devolved back into silliness.