10 Best Movie Sequels That Took Decades To Arrive - Ranked

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars The Force Awakens BB-8
Lucasfilm

The Previous Film: Return Of The Jedi (1983)

It can't be understated just how much pressure there was on Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the months leading up to its release.

The movie had to please fans who had been eagerly awaiting the continuation of this story for over 30 years, entertain casual moviegoers with no prior investment in the series, and wash away the bad stench left by George Lucas' prequel trilogy.

And the fact that it achieved all three of these goals - while being an awesome movie to boot - is nothing short of a minor miracle.

From flawless production values to lively new characters and a nostalgia-infused story of good versus evil, The Force Awakens really does have everything. This is a movie you can watch as a standalone slice of blockbuster entertainment or as the seventh part of a decades-old series, and it works just as well either way.

Yes, the plot is a little too similar to that of Episode IV, and that cliffhanger ending feels rather exploitative and lazy, but The Force Awakens is so deliriously enjoyable that it's easy to forgive its shortcomings.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.