Movie Franchises That Nailed Part Four

No trilogy is complete without…part four. We assume that’s why Johnny Depp just signed with Disney to play dirty-ass dreadlocked derelict Captain Jack Sparrow in the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series (either that or he just really needed to buy another island).

While “Part IV” usually indicates that a film will bite harder than a great white, there’s some reason to believe that this latest swashbuckling episode won’t swallow sword. Check out five popular franchises that actually came correct four deep…


HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
Finally, Hermione takes an interest in dudes. We’re still dying to see her master the magic stick, but it’s a start.

THUNDERBALL
Is it really possible to grow tired of James Bond saving the world with neat gadgets like that special “spy cam” he’s always using to gather intel on hot chicks’ cervixes?

ROCKY IV
Decades of animosity between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. and all it takes to end the Cold War is Rocky Balboa enduring a beatdown and knocking out the original poster boy for steroids, Ivan Drago (who we hear got his juice from Sylvester Stallone).

ALIEN: RESURRECTION
An alien/human hybrid clone of Ellen Ripley fights aliens. We feel slightly cheated that we didn’t get to see some cross-species coitus, but at least we got to see what their love child would look like.

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
John McClane fights cyber-terrorists, preventing the full-scale anarchy that would ensue from streaming porn coming to a screeching halt.