Nostalgia Sequels

By Corey Floyd

On Friday, a friend of mine asked me what’s a good sequel to something. Without even thinking I said Aliens. He said, “I never saw it” I made the declaration that it is one of the greatest sequels ever. When I got home I looked in my library and noticed I have a lot of installments to franchises some may be good some maybe bad . Today I would like to share a few that are near and dear to me.

Of course, I should start out with the movie that started that inspired this piece. In 1979 Ridley Scott did a Sci Fi Horror film that flipped the script for audiences by introducing a female heroine Ellen Ripley. In the vastness of space, we were given a claustrophobic experience and Introducing 2 antagonists. The cold calculating Weyland-Yutani corporation and of course the Xenomorph. Ripley eventually defeated it and all was well. Until James Cameron stepped in and said he has an idea. Seven years later Aliens came out.  He decided to take the Idea of claustrophobic horror and add action to it.  Bringing us an ensemble crew that ending up becoming the standard troupe to badass crews from tough Latina girl Private Vasquez (this would be Michelle Rodriguez by today’s standard )  and the joker like Sci FI legend the late Bill Paxton ( I guess Tyrese because it fits to easy ). It tells a great standalone story which a lot of films are having trouble with today. Plus, there are a few great one liners that are pop culture gold today. I don’t want to dig into far because there are people out there who still to this day have not seen this gem so go out and grab it.

BOOM! Didn’t expect a game on here, did you? This is one of my personal favorites. Metal Gear Solid 2 took everything from the first one and took it to the next level. But first it played the hell out of us. (Spoiler Alert) Only letting us play as Solid Snake for that first 20 minutes. Then introducing us to Raiden the pretty boy JPOP killer spy. No one was expecting it. Fans were upset. I admit I was pissed but then I continued to play on. Then I realized it was kind like a movie too. The plot the twist, the funny moments, the sad moments, and the awkward moments (Fans out there know what I’m talking about). You meet some great characters as well as one annoying one. Just like our last entry It told a whole story unlike some games (Destiny w/o DLC).  If you never played you still can. Plus, there still the rest of the series and a Raiden Spinoff that is crazy fun.

Okay It would be criminal for me to talk about sequels and not talk about Terminator 2: Judgement Day. In my opinion one of the best sequels / movies of all time. This was the last good movie of the franchise. Arnold at the top of his game, Linda Hamilton returns as a hardened Sarah Connor and Robert Patrick came in as the intimidating, fast running, shape shift T-1000. In the first movie, it was all about protecting her. In the sequel, it was about protecting the son John Connor. The story wasn’t too complicated. The funny part of this movie to me was the humanity or lack of it from Linda Hamilton for the most part. She had become more of a robot than the robot, or the other side you had a devolving character in the T-1000. It’s something you must see. Despite the fact that this movie was made in 1991 the effect still hold up better than most films today. On top of that we had one of the best arcade shooters back then.

I can honestly, I spent at least $30 dollars in quarters on that machine back in the day at the arcade. Which reminds me who here remembers when arcades were the place to be? Classic! Thanks for being nostalgic with me today. If you have a sequel you would like to talk about to be afraid to comment and share. We are on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram peace.