Listomania Sunday: Best Part 4's

With Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides coming out this weekend and Scream 4 coming out last month it made me ask is it ever a good idea to make a 4th movie. While I haven't seen either Pirates 4 or Scream 4 yet all I could think of are the really bad part 4's like Batman and Robin,Terminator: Salvation, Alien: Resurrection. So it begs the question have there been any good Part 4's?  And there are not very many good part 4's so I had to ask a few friends of mine to come up with ideas. To make it clear why I consider a part 4 because there was some debate over this. Part 4 has to be the 4th movie to come out in a series chronologically.  Star Wars IV: A New Hope does not count since it was the first movie to come out in the series. Even if George Lucas decided it was the 4th movie in the series it doesn't count towards the list. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace would count towards the list, but unfortunately it was not that good proving once again that Part 4's are hard to make.  So, here is the list of my favorite Part 4's.

1.  Star Trek IV:  The Voyage Home- Thanks Chris for reminding me of this one. I almost forgot. This was actually the first Star Trek Movie I had ever seen and I loved it.  Still stands as the best example of a part 4 telling a new and fun story.

2.  Live Free or Die Hard-Sometimes coming out 12 years after part 3 makes the movie franchise feels fresh. This one had everything you would expect in a Die Hard movie was fun, crazy, and had some cool lines.

3.  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-A part 4 that is in the middle of an eight part movie series. Since it is part of a larger story doesn't really fit with the other part 4's that had to tell a new story and make it feel fresh. But still among Harry Potter movies it is one of the better ones.

4.  Thunderball-The 4th James Bond movie with Sean Connery at his best. This movie has everything you expect in a Bond movie. In fact every time you see a parody of a bond movie(Austin Powers) it is usually this one that they are referencing.  And Connery has some of the best lines.  Like when he shots a guy with a harpoon and says " I think he got the point" classic Bond. 

5.  Rambo-Another suggestion from my friend Chris. I had actually not seen this one yet and instantly put it on my Netflix Que when he said it was a good movie.  Again like Live Free or Die Hard it has the time factor on its side. Coming out 20 years after the third Rambo it feels fresh and still true to the original. I was pleasantly surprised about how violent it was. 

Since I asked my friend Chris for his suggestions I think its only fair that I share his Top 5 list.  These are all good movies and the ones that didn't make my list came very close.  The only other movie that came close to making my list was Fast and Furious another movie that stayed true to the original but still felt fresh. 

1) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
2) Rocky IV
3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4) Live Free or Die Hard
5) Rambo