10 Movie Franchises That Should Have Stopped At One Film
9. Mad Max
As with every other entry on this list, the very essence of what made the first Mad Max movie so interesting was completely abandoned by the fourth entry. Brace yourselves though, because there is a fifth instalment due in the next couple of years.
The original film was a low budget indie affair, released in 1979, which came out of left field, with a fast moving plot and featuring Mel Gibson as a wisecracking anti-hero. It was a film that wasn't taking itself too seriously - if only that could be said of number four, Fury Road, in 2015.
As usual, the producers substituted length for invention, so that by the end of the movie you feel as if you were actually on that interminable car chase, which was the entirety of the plot. And seriously, who thought it wouldn't end with the opening for yet another sequel?
The writing was on the wall after Thunderdome, which had seen the decent sequel to the original movie, Mad Max 2, do good box office numbers. Once Hollywood big money talks, however, all artistic considerations fly out the window. What was Tina Turner doing in a sci-fi movie? The theme tune was as painful as the experience of sitting through the whole sludge-fest.