Reggie’s Take Movie Franchise Countdown #25 – #21

By Reggie's Take on February 24, 2014

As we begin our countdown here at Reggie’s Take.com of the Top 20 movie franchises of all time I decided to start with the five movie franchises that fell just outside of the top 20. Sorta of a preview if you like!

If you remember from our post “Reggie’s Take Top 20 Movie Franchise Preview” I let the average movie going public vote to determine our Top 20. What I didn’t tell you in that post is I took the liberty of separating out some of the franchises. I have done this in hopes of getting a different look at the franchises themselves.

For example, Star Wars was separated between the Original Trilogy and the Prequel Trilogy. Most Star Wars fans enjoy and love the original, but not everyone was a huge fan of the prequels.

Same goes for James Bond and the four main actors to have acted in at least 3 movies. Granted you might be able to say once you have seen one Bond film you have seen them all, but I wanted to see if one actor’s portrayal out shined the others.

Star Trek was also separated into Original Cast and TNG cast. I did not include the two new Abrams movies as there have only been two movies made. Batman was also separated into two franchises, the four movies started by Tim Burton and Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

Some of you may not agree with this and that’s perfectly fine. I wanted to take a different approach and see what kinda of an outcome resulted.

With all of that said lets begin Reggie’s Take.com Top 20 Movie Franchise Countdown, the preview. Movie Franchises #25 through #21….

___________________________________________

#25 Bourne (4 Films)

The Bourne films are a series of spy films based on the character Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin suffering from extreme memory loss, originally created by author Robert Ludlum.

The Bourne Identity

Worldwide Box Office: $1,221,503,329
The Bourne Identity (2002)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Release Dates: 2002 – Present

Reggie’s Note: The Bourne franchise works best with Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. Bourne always came across to me as James Bond meets the real world. The first three films are definitely the standouts in the franchise.

The Bourne Legacy the fourth installment in the series centers on agent Aaron Cross played by Jeremy Renner. The movie was adapted from the novels originated by Robert Ludlum and continued by Eric Van Lustbader. The Bourne Legacy was Van Lustbader first novel, the actual screenplay shares no resemblance to the novel which features Jason Bourne as the principal character. The Aaron Cross character was created strictly for the movie.

___________________________________________

#24 James Bond / Daniel Craig (3 Films)

on October 14, 2005, Eon Productions named Daniel Craig as the sixth actor to portray 007, taking the role over from Pierce Brosnan.

Casino Royale

Release Dates: 2006 – Present

Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)

Reggie’s Note: As a kid I grew up watching Roger More portray everyone’s favorite spy, 007. I have seen every Bond movie ever made and own them all. Daniel Craig’s performance ranks up there with Sean Connery, the original Bond. Now before some of you begin to tar me for that statement I said “ranks up there”. Connery is still the best, but Daniel Craig to me has brought Bond back to what Bond should be.

I enjoyed Casino Royale and by making it an origin story I thought it was a great way to reintroduce everyone to the character. Quantum of Solace could have been better as it was more a continuation of Casino Royale. Of the three movies Craig has done, Skyfall is by far my favorite so far. Skyfall at the end had brought the character and the world were used to seeing Bond in full circle. I’m hopeful that Craig will at least make three more so we can truly judge him against Connery and Moore.

___________________________________________

#23 Rocky (6 Films)

Rocky

Rocky, a popular film franchise about boxing all written and starring Sylvester Stallone, who plays the character Rocky Balboa. The films are, Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990) and Rocky Balboa (2006). The franchise has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office.

Release Dates: 1976 – 2006

Reggie’s Note: If you hear the name Rocky you automatically think Sylvester Stallone. Stallone has made a career and will most likely be most remembered most for the Rocky films. The first film “Rocky” is for sure the best of the six films. Of the remaining five films “Rocky II” and “Rocky Balboa” would round out my top three.

“Rocky V” in a perfect world would have never been made and after seeing “Rocky Balboa”, Stallone was at least able to send the character of Rocky off into the sunset in a more dignified way.

The Rocky franchise is probably the one franchise of the five listed here that I was sure would land a top 20 spot.

___________________________________________

#22 Mission Impossible (4 Films)

Mission Impossible

Release Dates: 1996 – Present

The Mission: Impossible franchise is a series of action spy films based on the television series of the same name, starring Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. The series is the 16th highest grossing film series of all time with over $2 billion in box office sales worldwide.

Reggie’s Note: I have never been a huge Tom Cruise fan and with that said I have seen all four movies.

The Mission Impossible franchise with Tom Cruise is a small group of movies where he does not rub me the wrong way. The movies have actually held my attention and always seem to up the action with each film and not loose something.

Some fans of the TV series were upset that Jim Phelps, team leader in the series, became a traitor in the first movie, selling the details of government agents to an arms dealer. Peter Graves turned down an offer to portray Jim Phelps in the 1996 film due to the fact Phelps was going to be revealed as an antagonist.

It was announced in December of 2013 that a fifth installment would be moving forward with Tom Cruise in the lead role once again. The film will be directed by Christopher McQuarrie and is currently scheduled for a December 2015 release.

Mission Impossible in my view would not be the same if some day Tom Cruise decides to walk away from the franchise. Should this have been a top 20 franchise? That I’m not sure of. Yes it’s made a lot of money, but I’m not sure there is anything that makes this franchise standout above the franchises that did.

___________________________________________

#21 Lethal Weapon (4 Films)

Lethal Weapon is a series of four films starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a pair of L.A.P.D. detectives.

Lethal Weapon

Release dates: 1987–1998
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Worldwide Box office: $955,237,298

Reggie’s Note: Lethal Weapon as a film franchise is definitely one of my favorites of all time. The characters of Riggs and Murtaugh have become synonymous with buddy cop movies. The first time I ever saw Lethal Weapon I was 17 and watched it on HBO, I was hooked.

The first movie written by Shane Black is a lot grittier compared to the other three. Individually and for me personally I have always liked “Lethal Weapon 2” the best. When the fourth movie came out in 1998 I was excited to go watch it, did it need to me made? Maybe, maybe not. All four films always seem to deal with a particular subject, but never tried to make a statement or throw it in your face.

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in my opinion played off of each other remarkably well. Lethal Weapon as a franchise in my poll landed in the #21 spot. I would of loved to have seen it finish higher, but at least it finished as the first movie outside the top 20.

___________________________________________

These are the five film franchises that fell short of the top 20. Some of you may or may not agree, but that is what’s fun about the movies, everyone has their own opinion.

As I move forward and begin to reveal the top 20 you may or may not be surprised. You may agree or you may not, but I look forward to seeing what responses I get in regards to my list.

Movie Franchise’s #20 & #19 Comming Soon!

To see more posters from the film franchises above click here.