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The Best Movie Sequels Ever Made

Updated May 3, 2021 114.2k votes 8.7k voters 130.9k views175 items

List RulesVote up your favorite second / 2 / Part II movies in series.

What are the best movie sequels ever made? This list includes several of the greatest movies of all time, and they all have one thing in common: they were film number two in a series. Which good sequel do you believe deserves the top spot? Which movie is arguably the best in the franchise? Vote for your favorites, vote down any sequels you didn't like and feel free to add any films that might be missing - though remember, this is a list of second films, so no "Part III's" please. You can also re-rank this movie list in any order you choose.

It's really, really hard to argue that The Godfather Part II shouldn't be at the top, or at the very least, near the top of this list. It's one of only a handful of sequels to receive an Academy Award Best Picture nomination (it won, in 1974, by the way). The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers also received a Best Picture nomination, though it did not win (the third installment in the series, did). This is proof that just because a film is a sequel, it can also be among the very best Oscar-winning movies.

Some of the best sequels, not surprisingly, are also among the best superhero movies ever made. Among them: The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2 and X2. Other notable movies worth a mention (and a spot on this list) include Superman II, Iron Man 2, and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Disagree? Vote them down. To each, his (or her) own!

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The Dark Knight
Christian Bale, Michael Caine
Released: 2008
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
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Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Released: 1980
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
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Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong
Released: 1991
Directed by: James Cameron
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The Godfather Part II
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro
Released: 1974
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
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Aliens
Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton
Released: 1986
Directed by: James Cameron
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders
Released: 2014
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen
Released: 2002
Directed by: Peter Jackson
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Kirstie Alley, William Shatner
Released: 1982
Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
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Toy Story 2
Tom Hanks, Kelsey Grammer
Released: 1999
Directed by: John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, Ash Brannon
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Spider-Man 2
Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst
Released: 2004
Directed by: Sam Raimi
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X-Men: Days of Future Past
Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry
Released: 2014
Directed by: Bryan Singer
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Rocky II
Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith
Released: 1979
Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
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Lethal Weapon 2
Mel Gibson, Joe Pesci
Released: 1989
Directed by: Richard Donner
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Shrek 2
Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy
Released: 2004
Directed by: Kelly Asbury, Andrew Adamson, Conrad Vernon
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Back to the Future Part II
Clint Eastwood, Michael J. Fox
Released: 1989
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
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Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence
Released: 1981
Directed by: George Miller
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X-Men 2
Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman
Released: 2003
Directed by: Bryan Singer
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The Bourne Supremacy
Matt Damon, Julia Stiles
Released: 2004
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
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Blade Runner 2049
Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling
Released: 2017
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
James Franco, Gary Oldman
Released: 2014
Directed by: Matt Reeves
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe
Released: 2002
Directed by: Chris Columbus
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Superman II
Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve
Released: 1980
Directed by: Richard Lester, Richard Donner
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Kill Bill Volume 2
Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu
Released: 2004
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana
Released: 2017
Directed by: James Gunn
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Batman Returns
Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken
Released: 1992
Directed by: Tim Burton
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