10 Movie Franchises That Never Got Better Than The First Film

4. Star Wars

The Franchise: It's over a year away from release and you can feel the excitement building for Episode VII, the return of Star Wars to the big screen after a ten year hiatus (The Clones Wars doesn't count). What started off as a crazy passion project for a New Hollywood director became one of the defining franchises of all time. But of course, George Lucas' baby is much more than just movies. From its humble origins as a movie too vast in scope to ensure studio funding, Star Wars has become a completely dominant force; aside from the central saga of six (and counting) movies, there's been TV shows, books, comics, video games and a vast merchandising empire. Don't trust anyone who says they haven't seen it. Why The First Is Best: Conventional wisdom is that The Empire Strikes Back, the 1980 sequel to the original Star Wars, is the best of the series. And while that's an amazing movie, for us nothing can top that first glimpse of a galaxy far, far away. It doesn't boast the razzmatazz of the prequels, nor the darkness of its sequels, but as far as building a believable and unique world it can't be topped. Seeing Luke star wistfully at the setting suns is as emotional as any big parentage twist.