Top 10 Fifth Instalments in Movie Franchises

Top 10 Fifth Installments in Movie Franchises

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Good things come in fives! Well, at least they do with these movies. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 fifth installments in movie franchises.  
 For this list, we’re looking at the fifth movie in popular franchises. This means that the film has to be the fifth movie to be released in the series, so we’re not counting films like “The Empire Strikes Back.”   

#10: “The Dead Pool” (1988)

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With a 91 minute run time, it may be the shortest entry of the “Dirty Harry” franchise, but that doesn’t mean “The Dead Pool” isn’t as full of action and thrilling moments as the first film. In fact, both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave it a thumbs up; and thanks to its fast pace and intelligence, it’s not hard to see why. With Clint Eastwood reprising his role as Inspector ‘Dirty Harry’ Callahan, the film also co-stars Jim Carrey in his first dramatic role as a rock star whose murder kickstarts a series of events that leads the detective to discover the titular game of dead pool by a serial killer.   

#9: “Final Destination 5” (2011)

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Who would’ve thought that 11 years after the first movie of this horror franchise came out that fans would still be flocking to theaters to watch Death take people’s lives in a series of strange accidents? But with mostly positive reviews and more than $157 million in worldwide box office receipts, “Final Destination 5” clearly demonstrated that there is still an audience for both the genre and the type of storyline that the film series has made so popular. Gory, suspenseful, and with excellent visual effects, the flick isn’t only a return to form, but also the franchise’s highest rated entry!   

Who would have thought that a musical version of “Treasure Island” performed by the Muppets would be so good? Well, come to think of it, that element of surprise might have been exactly why it worked. With lively songs like “Shiver My Timbers” and “Sailing for Adventure,” “Muppet Treasure Island” was fun and kept the spirit of the high seas alive. In addition to the Muppets, the live action cast, which included Tim Curry as the darling and deceitful Long John Silver, was one of the best in a Muppets movie.  

#7: “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (2013)

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Although “The Hobbit” really didn’t need to be split up into three movies, director Peter Jackson did turn in a solid follow-up to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “The Desolation of Smaug” is a clear highlight as Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins continues his mission with the Dwarves to take back the Lonely Mountain from a dragon. Smaug himself is one of the most fearsome beasts ever put on screen, and is chillingly brought to life by Benedict Cumberbatch. This “Sherlock” reunion alone is reason enough to revisit Middle-Earth for the fifth time.  

#6: “The Pink Panther Strikes Again” (1976)

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It doesn’t get much funnier than this! After the unexpected success of “The Return of the Pink Panther,” this movie was rushed into production and picks up where the former left off, making it the only direct sequel in the franchise. The plot revolves around the cat and mouse game between Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau and Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus, and Dreyfus’ desire to kill Clouseau. This leads them to many hijinks and funny set pieces, including a memorable tooth extraction scene with disastrous results. The movie was highly profitable and made $33.8 million on a $6 million dollar budget. Not bad at all.   

#5: “You Only Live Twice” (1967)

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You can’t have a great James Bond movie without a formidable villain - and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the previously unseen head of SPECTRE, gives us just that. In this 5th film of the spy series, Blofeld walks around stroking his cat and making menacing threats to start a war among the superpowers; his character made such an impression that he became a trope for later super villains. But even Blofeld can’t shake Sean Connery’s Bond, as he continues to be the epitome of debonair. Although this was initially thought to be Connery’s last outing as 007, he would live again in “Diamonds Are Forever.”     

#4: “Fast Five” (2011)

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This franchise deserves the award for most improved. Earlier on, the “Fast & Furious” movies were fun action movies about racing cars, but there wasn’t much of a larger storyline. With this installment, Universal Studios sought to turn the franchise into a heist film series that would appeal to larger audiences—and their plan worked. There is heart to this action flick, with director Justin Lin particularly focusing on the themes of “freedom and family.”  This made for deeper character arcs with Vin Diesel’s character, Dom, and Paul Walker’s character, Brian. It also didn’t hurt that Dwayne Johnson had been added to the mix as well.    

#3: “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation” (2015)

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Tom Cruise is pretty much at his best when playing Ethan Hunt. No other actor takes on the action and does his own stunts in quite the way Cruise does for the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. In this fifth installment, he performs one of his best stunts to date, in which he hangs off of the side of a military aircraft known as the Airbus A400 Atlas. The crew only had 48 hours to nail this scene, and it took eight tries to get it right. Besides the stunts, the movie was one of the funniest in the franchise, giving viewers a good balance point to the high-octane stunts.   

#2: “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (2007)

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There aren’t many movie franchises that let you watch the cast grow up, but that’s just another reason the “Harry Potter” film series is so special. In this 5th film, Harry and company have grown up, and not only has their acting matured, but so have the story’s themes. They’re definitely no longer playing children’s games after a Dementor attacks Harry and it’s clear that Voldemort is back. Thus, the students form Dumbledore’s Army in order to combat the Dark Lord. Harry also proves himself as a leader countess times, especially when he goes up against Dolores Umbridge, one of the series’ most loathsome villains.    No honorable mentions this time around.  

#1: “X-Men: First Class” (2011)

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While it may be considered a 'soft reboot' by some, as the prequel takes the franchise to 1962, “X-Men: First Class” adds to the legacy of the previous films by staying within the same universe and maintaining some continuity, which makes it all part of the same ever-growing story. We get the origin story of Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr’s friendship, which subsequently goes horribly awry, and leads to the formation of the two factions: the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The film is also stacked with a cast of amazing actors, including James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence, who brought a new energy to their characters and deepened their emotional arcs.  In addition, director Matthew Vaughn was inspired by the classic James Bond films, and gave a new aesthetic to the series that made it look fresh in comparison to the previous movies in the series.     Do you agree with our list? Which fifth movie installment did you love? For more can’t miss Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.