The Lamb’s April 2019 MOTM (Franchises) – My Rankings

As a frequent and steady contributor to The Large Ass Movie Blog, (The LAMB), I always try to get more people involved with the site.

Every Month, the site runs a poll based on the list of films submitted by LAMB members for the prestigious ability of being named as the Movie of the Month that will be discussed on the LAMBCAST podcast during that given month.

I decided that each month I will watch each of the films chosen and give my rankings of those films in order to decide which film I should vote for and in doing so, maybe help some of you also decide which film to vote for.

The voting is open until Sunday the 17th March, so make sure to get your vote in soon.

This month, there were 8 Contenders suggested for the very special Franchise edition of MOTM so here they are:

(Since we are dealing with 39 films, I decided to link to all of my reviews of these films, so just click on the film title if you want to read my full review) (apologies to Tiffany, since I could only find two of her 10 films to watch, so my thoughts will be based on just those two)

• Dr. Kildare – (1938 – 1942) – Young Dr. Kildare, Calling Dr. Kildare, The Secret of Dr. Kildare, Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case, Dr. Kildare Goes Home, Dr. Kildare’s Crisis, The People vs Dr. Kildare, Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day, Dr. Kildare’s Victory [Tiffany Brannan, Pure Entertainment Preparation Society] 
• Dollars (1964 – 1966) – A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and The Ugly [DJ Valentine, Simplistic Reviews]
• Star Wars (1977 – 1983) – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi [Rob, MovieRob]
• Ghoulies (1985 – 1994) – Ghoulies, Ghoulies II, Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College, Ghoulies IV [Troy Anderson, AndersonVision]
• Species (1995 – 2007) – Species, Species II, Species III, Species: The Awakening [Vern, That Moment In]
• The Scorpion King (2002 – 2018) – The Scorpion King, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior, The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption, The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, The Scorpion King: Book of Souls [Darren Lucas, Movie Reviews 101]
• Cars (2006 – 2017) – Cars, Cars 2, Cars 3 [Chris Staron, The Popcorn Auteur]
• DC Animated Universe: Justice League (2014 – 2019) – Justice League War, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Justice League vs Teen Titans, Justice League Dark, The Death of Superman, Reign of Supermen [Bubbawheat, Flights Tights and Movie Nights]

 

Here are my rankings along with brief thoughts on each franchise.

8. Ghoulies – Completely pointless horror film franchise that gets worse and worse via subsequent films.  Probably never should have been made in the first place and for sure not make it to 4 films.

7. Scorpion King – Franchise that takes a minor character from another film and tries to expand on his adventures, but it all comes across as being even less than mediocre because the stories being told lack something that should make them more interesting.

6. Species – Nice idea that works quite well in the original film, but the sequels just don’t find a new avenue to the story and either rehash things or take things in strange directions that just don’t wok very well.

5. Cars – PIXAR created a great and unique world that is populated by automobiles.  The first film is the best and the two sequels don’t even come close to being as interesting or innovative.

4. Dr. Kildare – Interesting films that are nice, but feel too episodic and works much better as a TV show than a decatilogy of films.

3. DC Animated Universe – Fascinating series that does a great job keeping the stories of the DC universe updated.

2. Dollars – Great trilogy by Leone who was able to create a character who is tough in all he doe and does all he can to help others even if its just in a subtle way. Eastwood is perfectly cast in the lead.

1. Star Wars – One of the greatest franchises ever made. Lucas created an amazing world that we can still enjoy venturing into even after more than 40 years.

 

 

So who should I vote for? –  Some of these other franchises come close to also being great, but the fact that most of them have inconsistencies with the films in the series amkes it difficult to declare the entire series as spectacular.  I believe only 2 of these choices have a full compliment of great films and of the Dollars and Star Wars trilogies put forth, obviously my vote would go to Star Wars since it’s my pick 😦 but objectively, it’s also the best franchise of the 8 ones put forth.

To vote, click here

 

Good luck to one and all!!!