Top 10: Best franchise movies

 

1. Batman Returns (1992) - Tim Burton

 

2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017) - Rian Johnson

 

 

3. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) - Christopher McQuarrie

 

4. From Russia with Love (1963) - Terence Young  

5. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) - Matt Reeves

 

 

6. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) - John McTiernan

 

 

7. Goldfinger (1964) - Guy Hamilton

 

 

8. Skyfall (2012) - Sam Mendes

 

9. Jurassic World (2015) - Colin Trevorrow

 

 

10. Evil Dead II/Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (1987) - Sam Raimi 

 

Selected from 151 titles labeled 'franchise'

 

Note on qualifications: Only sequels/spin-offs/remakes/reboots. First franchise entries were listed in the Top 10: Best first-of-franchise movies. Something is considered a franchise after more than 3 films; 3 films make a trilogy, not yet truly a franchise. Auxiliary products such as novels and video games do not help qualify. Character-specific films within a larger fictional universe do not qualify (such as Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Aquaman etc.) before there are more than 3 films primarily related to the specific character.

Previous Top 10 lists:

Best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best adapted movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date        
Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date         
Best debut movies reviewed by Film Excess to date     
Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best Disney movies reviewed by Film Excess to date     
Best documentaries reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Best dramas reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Best dramedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Best drug-themed movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  

Best erotic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best family movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Best films about filmmaking 

Best first-of-franchise movies 

Top 10: Best 'flop' rank movies

Best Twentieth Century Fox titles 

Best French movies

What do you think of the list?
Which franchise films would make your personal Top 10?

Goldfinger (1964) - The 007 template gets perfected in fabulously entertaining third spectacle

♥♥♥♥

A hype-pushing, bold poster for Guy Hamilton's Goldfinger, which promises action, star charm and titillating sexiness

James Bond is back, this time investigating a gold smuggling kingpin.

Goldfinger is written by Paul Dehn (Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)) and Richard Maibaum (Dr. No (1962)), based on the same-titled 1959 novel by Ian Fleming (Live and Let Die (1954)), the 7th in his Bond series, and directed by Guy Hamilton (The Ringer (1952)). It is the third film in the Bond franchise.
Gert Fröbe (Ludwig (1973)) is the fat Goldfinger villain, who schemes to break into the US Treasury's Fort Know gold depository and turn all the gold radioactive. Goldfinger is the silliest film of the Bond franchise up to its point, but hysterically enjoyable all the same.
The golf scene, the Aston Martin gadgets, Goldfinger's exit through a tiny airplane window, - there's a long list of memorable scenes and elements in Goldfinger, which as a movie is similar to the Bond franchise overall in that as entertainment product, it is irresistible.

Related posts:

Bond franchise: Spectre (2015) - Mendes' second Bond delivers 
Skyfall (2012) - Mendes elevates a slickly produced modern Bond to thrilling heights 
Die Another Day (2002) - Tamahori makes a thrilling, grand piece of Bond escapism 
A View to a Kill (1985) or, Once a Gentleman, Always a Gentleman! 
For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Glen debuts with wacky, action-packed Roger Moore Bond
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp 
From Russia with Love (1963) - Several remarkable elements make Young's 2nd Bond an enduring classic  
Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package
Guy Hamilton: Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp

Top 10: Best franchise movies 

Watch a delightful clip from the film here, in which Q (Desmond Llewlyn) instructs Bond in the gadgets in his new Aston Martin car

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: 124.9 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 41.6 times its cost)
[Goldfinger premiered 17 September (London, UK) and runs 110 minutes. The film's budget was the equivalent of the preceding first (Dr. No) and second (From Russia with Love) Bond movies combined, and it is the first in the franchise to put focus on America. Terence Young left as director when he was refused a profit percentage. Shooting took place in Switzerland, the UK including London, Miami, Florida, Kentucky and Washington DC from January - July 1964. Fleming visited the set but died in August, shortly before the film's premiere. The production received permission to film around Kentucky's Fort Knox, the US Bullion Depository, where they violated the flying permits by flying way too low and were harshly reprimanded by the military. All the Fort Knox interiors were shot in a studio set in England. Glass doors in the Leicester Square cinema in London were broken by the ecstatic crowds at the film's premiere. The film recouped its budget in 2 weeks; with Guinness Book of World Records recording it the 'fastest grossing film of all time' and New York's DeMille cinema staying open 24 hours a day to screen the film nonstop. The film grossed 23 mil. $ (50 % of the gross) in North America in its initial release and 46 mil. $ globally. With a double feature re-release with Dr. No in 1966, the gross grew to 51 mil. $ (40.8 % of the total gross) in North America and 73.8 mil. $ elsewhere for a reported enormous 124.9 mil. $ total. The film won the Sound Effects Oscar; it was also nominated for a BAFTA, a Grammy and other awards. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this review. The film was the first Bond movie to tie gadgets to the character, and the toy version of his Aston Martin DB5 car reportedly became the year's best-selling toy. Bond returned in Thunderball (1965). Hamilton returned with uncredited direction on The Party's Over (1965) and as credited director with Funeral in Berlin (1965); he returned to the Bond franchise with Sean Connery's (The Longest Day (1962)) last Bond portrayal, Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Connery returned first in The Hill (1965). Goldfinger is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.6/10 critical average.]

What do you think of Goldfinger?

Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

 
1. What's Up, Doc? (1972) - Peter Bogdanovich

2. The Blues Brothers (1980) - John Landis

3. Bullitt (1968) - Peter Yates 

4. Dirty Harry (1971) - Don Siegel

5. Death Proof (2007) - Quentin Tarantino

6. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - George Miller

7. Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Guy Hamilton

8. Duel (1971)  - Steven Spielberg

9. Drive (2011) - Nicolas Winding Refn

10. Nightcrawler (2014) - Dan Gilroy

Other movies with car chases reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order)

21 Jump Street (2012) 
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
The Car (1977)
The Dead Pool (1988) 
Die Another Day (2002) 
The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) 
Fast & Furious 5/Fast Five/Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist (2011)
Get the Gringo/How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2012)
Jack Reacher (2012)
The Last Stand (2013)
London Has Fallen (2016) 
The Town (2010) 

[22 titles in total]

Previous Top 10 lists:

The best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best adapted movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date    
The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Top 10: Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
 

Do you agree on the list?
Make your opinion known in a comment

Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp

♥♥♥♥♥

Explosive entertainment under something resembling a disco ball on this poster for Guy Hamilton's Diamonds Are Forever

QUICK REVIEW:

James Bond kills his arch enemy Blofeld in the beginning of this, Bond movie # 7. But when he subsequently follows a mysterious diamond hoax from Holland to Las Vegas, it is revealed that Blofeld is still more alive than ever!

Sean Connery (The Hunt for Red October (1990)) was brought back to the 007 well for his last film as Bond after George Lazenby's underwhelming single stint as the gentleman spy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). And Diamonds is just what every fan of the early Bond films could have ever wished for: An incredibly extravagant film, which contains the franchise's wildest car chase up to this point, through Las Vegas, along with another fun chase in a Moon Buggy in the Nevada desert!
The film also has Jill St. John (The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)) as the excellent Bond babe Tiffany Case and a bizarre gay villain couple, (called Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint.)
How exactly the diamonds fit in remains unclear to me, but Diamonds Are Forever still stands as a Bond classic in my book. It was written by Richard Maibaum (Thunderball (1965)) and Tom Mankiewicz (Live and Let Die (1973)), based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and directed by Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger (1964)) as the second of the four Bond films that he directed.

Related reviews:

Bond franchise: Skyfall (2012) - The overly celebrated third pout from Daniel Craig as Bond in slick production
A View to a Kill (1985) or, Once a Gentleman, Always a Gentleman! 
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (spoof comedy - not part of the franchise)
Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: 7.2 mil. $
Box office: 116 mil. $
= Blockbuster
[Lazenby had signed on for 7 Bond films (!), but wanted out after the first one after the advice of his agent, (strange agent, hu?). United Artists wanted Connery back for just about any prize, and he finally landed 1.25 mil. $, - a record sum at the time, - for the job. - He proved to be worth it. The film grossed 43.8 mil. $ (38 % of the total gross) in North America. Many critics have criticized its 'campy' humor, preferring, ostensibly, the mock-gloom of the latter, 'serious' Bond entries.]

What do you think of Diamonds Are Forever?