Triple Play - The Best and Worse Third in a Trilogy Movies

With the upcoming releases of "Shrek The Third," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," and "Oceans Thirteen," each series has reached an important step and audiences, along with nervous studio heads, are eager to see if the next installment of each film can continue the successful formulas of its predecessors. Often is the case that a third installment is usually just a re-hash of the first two with new ideas running thin. Less often but more exciting is when a third film in the series will reach new unexpected levels and actually breathe life into a series most thought was already one movie too many.

Most movie series end up stopping after the third film though sometimes a fourth film comes along despite the lackluster results on the screen from film three. Why? Because audiences clamor to see their favorite actors doing the same old thing despite how thin the stories may be. "Alien 3," "Lethal Weapon 3," and "Die Hard 3" are just a few of the films that spawned another sequel when clearly the series should have ended before these films.

Here is a list of the 5 best and worst of the third films in their respective series. Not surprisingly it was far more difficult coming up with the best then the worst. I could have done a worst list three times over after truly being pained to have to keep such titles as "Alien 3," "Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3," "Rocky III," "Rambo III" and "Scream 3" among many off the top 5.

THE BEST -

THE GODFATHER PART III - I have taken flack for years and years for not disliking this publicly unpopular film but I am sticking to my guns. Of course it isn't as good as the first two masterpieces but how could it be? If Francis Coppola had equaled his first two he would have been dipped in gold and placed in the Smithsonian. "The Godfather Part III" is not a great film but a good one and a fitting companion piece to the first two. Yes Sofia Coppola is no actress but she doesn't ruin the film as has been intimated since its release. Al Pacino may actually top his previous two appearances as Michael Corleone, now aging and wanting to get out of the business only ti find the harder he tries the deeper he stays involved.

INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE - This was a major step up from 1984's most disappointing "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Here director Steven Spielberg wisely moves off the romance angle and brings in Sean Connery as Indy's father. The action scenes are naturally spectacular but it's the human angle that makes the film so winning. And the film delivers a marvelous opening scene with the late River Phoenix as a young Indy including an explanation for the large scar on Harrison Ford's chin. One can only hope that when "Indiana Jones 4" hits theaters it will be the capper of one of the most successful series of all time.

LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING - Peter Jackson pulled off the near impossible with this trilogy of films and almost made each film better then the one before if not for about ten too many false endings that has one squirming in his seat ready to yell, "Enough already." Still the film is magical and thrilling and most enthralling. Even the Academy recognized this and honored the film as Best Picture.

OH, GOD YOU DEVIL - First there was 1977's wonderful "Oh! God" which was then followed by 1980's dismal "Oh! God, Book II." After that film I can't imagine anyone beating down theater doors for a third film but writer Andrew (Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, Fletch) Bergman fashioned a sweet script that thoroughly entertained. This time around Burns played both God and the Devil as we watch a wannabe musician sell his soul for fame and fortune and soon realizes his quiet life of struggle with his beautiful, pregnant wife wasn't so bad after all. The film is poignant and touching and one wishes Bergman had written a fourth film.

RETURN OF THE JEDI - Technically this film is now the sixth film in the series but in 1983 it was the eagerly anticipated conclusion to the most successful series of all time. Fans and critics were not disappointed with spectacular (for its time) visual effects and tying up story threads left purposely hanging at the end of "The Empire Strikes Back." The Ewoks, "cute" little Muppet-like creatures were introduced and became the film's one and only annoyance but one must understand that George Lucas was a bright cookie when it came to toys.

THE WORST

THE BAD NEWS BEARS GO TO JAPAN - After two successful films (The Bad News Bears; The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training), this entry brought the series to a screeching, crashing halt. This time out Tony Curtis, whose career was on life support at the time, plays a con man who takes the boys to Japan to earn some money. Why Japan? Oddly enough, though Paramount Pictures never admitted to it, the series was even more popular in Japan then it was in the United States. One theater played the 1976 Walter Matthau/Tatum O'Neal original for well over a year. In this film there is actually more sumo wrestling then baseball playing and a few of the boys had obviously grown up and looked to old, and less cute, to be convincing.

BEVERLY HILLS COP 3 - As bas a the second film was this film makes that one look like a comedic classic. Made five years after its predecessor, this film was an obvious attempt to resurrect Eddie Murphy's sagging career along with that of once hot director John Landis. As it turned out this film did absolutely nothing for either man. John Ashton and Ronny Cox, vets from the first two films, didn't even bother to appear while Judge Reinhold's character is expanded to a ridiculous length. Even Bronson Pinchot's brief cameo from the first film is brought out of the cobwebs here to remind us how good the original was.

JAWS 3-D - Did the world really need a third "Jaws" film and in 3-D no less? Judging by the few people who saw it the answer was a resounding "No!" This film has a shark terrorizing Sea World in Florida with Dennis Quaid trying to stop the massacre and Lou Gossett, Jr. looking dumbfounded as to how he could choose this as his first project after having just won an Oscar (coincidentally this has probably been one of his better films since winning the Award). The only real asset the film had was the 3-D effects so seeing it on the small screen is a totally futile idea.

SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT III - Wouldn't you think that if you were going to make a third film in a successful series you would at least get the series star? Apparently that didn't bother Universal Pictures as they forged ahead with one of the worst films of the 1980's. You had to know it was bad when Burt Reynolds, fresh off of "Smokey and the Bandit 2," "Cannonball Run," "Cannonball Run 2," "Stroker Ace," and "City Heat," turned down a chance to be in this dud. What is more amazing is that Jackie Gleason returned presumably under the guise of a huge payday. Originally Gleason was cast in both parts as Smokey AND as the Bandit with the title of the film being "Smokey Is The Bandit," but early preview audiences were thoroughly confused so director Dick Lowery brought back Jerry Reed to don the Bandit disguise with Reynolds making a 30 second cameo at the very end. It's even worse then it sounds.

SUPERMAN III - This film was a mess but not such a mess that it wasn't followed by "Supergirl" and "Superman 4: Quest For Peace," both of which were even worse. There were actually some interesting elements here including a Superman clone who was as bad as Clark Kent's alter ego was good. Unfortunately Margot (Lois Lane) Kidder had openly bad mouthed the producers so her role was reduced to a cameo (apparently she was under contract so she had to appear) and the introduction of Lana Lang is given short shrift as a possible new love interest. Richard Pryor is oddly cast as one of the film's villains but he camps it up like he was on an episode of the old "Batman" series. There was a lot of potential here which makes its failure that much grander and frustrating.