Three iconic Hollywood blockbuster follow-ups that are actually more memorable than the original film.

What do you do when you have a hit film on your hands? If you’re Hollywood, the immediate answer is: Make another one! Make a third! Make it a franchise! Flog it to death! But, as many of this spring’s hotly anticipated second acts have failed to fly ­– The Huntsman: Winter's War, Zoolander 2 and X-Men: Apocalypse all performed poorly at the box office – studios are growing twitchy that the summer’s slate of follow-ups, including Independence Day: Resurgence, the new all-female Ghostbusters, and Star Trek Beyond, may not live up to the legend of their movie DNA.

It doesn’t have to be this way though; second bites don’t necessarily leave a bad taste. Some sequels have actually improved upon the (already mighty) original. We at MR PORTER invite you to ruminate on the following, for example:

Both prequel and sequel in one, Mr Francis Ford Coppola was pitching a mighty feat in attempting to improve on his original Mafia masterpiece and its heavyweight cast, including one Mr Marlon Brando. It paid off, however, becoming the first sequel ever to win Best Picture, at the 1975 Academy Awards. More sprawling in time and darker in tone than The Godfather, the film follows the bloody rise of Vito Corleone in the 1920s, as well as that of his son, Michael, the reluctant heir to the family business, three decades later. Switching deftly between the two periods, and thereby comparing the manner in which both father and son each murder their way to dominance, the film is a long, cold look at the cost of selling your soul.

Having successfully launched his career (and cemented that of Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger) with the critically acclaimed hit The Terminator, for its sequel, director Mr James Cameron branched out into the big-budget, cutting-edge special effects for which he has since become renowned; the resulting film cost $102 million, almost 15 times more than the original. Along with its ambitious action sequences and gloriously cheesy catchphrases (“Hasta la vista, baby”, being but just one), Terminator 2 was the first to use human motion to create computer-generated imagery. And in a wholly surprising plot twist, the original, menacing Terminator this time emerges as the reprogrammed, lovable, leather-clad hero of the piece. Now that is how you do a sequel.

Though the hallowed franchise is named after the first film, the second installment in Mr George Lucas’ original Star Wars series is widely considered to be the superior production. Rather than rehashing old ground, TESB expands the Star Wars universe further and ups the stakes – the Empire has driven the Rebels to the edge of the galaxy, Han Solo is frozen alive in carbonite, Luke Skywalker loses his hand – and it’s suffused with relatable(ish) human relationship dramas, including Han and Princess Leia’s rom-com-worthy flirtations, and Luke’s lightsaber duel with a far darker, more brutal Darth Vader, culminating in the immortal line: ”No, I am your father”. But the key to its success undoubtedly lies with the appearance of Yoda, Luke’s diminutive, wise, eminently quotable Jedi Master.