10 Movie Franchises That Never Got Better Than The First Film

8. Indiana Jones

The Franchise: The Indiana Jones Trilogy tends to be overlooked in the annals of greatness. There's a real consistency between the adventures, with them each working well on their own as well as part of a whole; sounds simple, but even The Godfather couldn't claim that. The films are Steven Spielberg and George Lucas both working at the top of their game, forging forward with the blockbuster manner of film-making they themselves had created. Each movie has a reason to love it - Raiders has the introduction to the character, Temple Of Doom has the unique locale and Last Crusade has Sean Connery - and had the belated fourth film not being forced into existence we may have had an eternally classic series on our hands. Why the aliens, George, why? Why The First Was Best: Although the others have their respective selling points, the introduction to Indy can't be topped. Raiders Of The Lost Ark still feels fresh, with the balance of story, character and action perfectly reached. What really stands out is how it directly looks into the character's ideals; the scene where Belloq excitedly announces "this is history" gets right to the core of Indy's character. The others, for all their enjoyability, hew too close to the formula it set; Temple Of Doom, which has the same basic plot, feels like the black sheep of the original trilogy, but only because The Last Crusade returned to the Nazis hunting Biblical objects story.