Movie fans of Europes movie rental service LOVEFiLM.com have voted The Empire Strikes Back as the best film sequel of all time. As we pretty much agree, enjoy the press release below...



MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU...AGAIN
- THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK VOTED FAVOURITE FILM SEQUEL -

In a galaxy not so far, far away, George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back has been voted the Best Film Sequel of All Time, conquering the likes of fellow futuristic flicks The Terminator 2 and Aliens.

To mark the release of Marvel comic follow-up Iron Man 2 LOVEFiLM, Europe's leading film & TV, digital and DVD rental subscription service with over 67,000 titles, polled over 6,000 members to discover which filmic successors have truly done justice to their originals. Luke Skywalker and co certainly had 'the force' on their side, gaining 19 per cent of the vote and securing the film's place in galactic history.

He said he would be back, and Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't fail to disappoint when he exploded back onto our screens in 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Playing a cyborg sent from the future to protect earth from robot-lead annihilation, Arnie's one-liners coupled with the film's stunning visual effects marched this sequel straight into second place, with 16 percent of the vote.

Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 The Godfather Part II, which followed the lives of the Sicilian Corleone family, was both a sequel and a prequel to the 1972 original. The all-star gangster line up, including Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro rounded up their heavies to win 14 per cent of the votes and third place in the poll.

Swooping in at number four (11 per cent) is another comic book sequel The Dark Knight, which saw the late Heath Ledger win a posthumous Oscar for his 'Best Supporting Actor' performance as The Joker. Taking fifth place (ten percent) after bursting onto cinema screens in 1986, James Cameron's Aliens proved once again that science fiction films were high on the list of fans' favourite follow ups.

2004's The Bourne Supremacy - the second installment of the hugely popular trilogy of Bourne films, starring Matt Damon as a former CIA assassin, sniped its way to number six in the poll with seven per cent of the votes.

Meanwhile, Frodo and friends found that it wasn't quite a case of the one sequel 'to rule them all' with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers slipping behind into seventh place (six per cent).

Not quite making infinity and beyond, in eighth place is Toy Story 2, the 1999 follow up to Disney Pixar's animated classic which pulled in just four per cent of votes despite featuring voiceovers from favourites including Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack and Tim Allen.

Clutching onto ninth place with two per cent of votes is 2004's Meet the Fockers, starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, a follow on from the original Meet the Parents.

However, missing out on a fairytale ending and coming in tenth is 2004's animation Shrek 2, which features the voice work of Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz (one per cent).


The top ten film sequels of all time are:

1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - 19%
2. Terminator 2 (1991) - 16%
3. The Godfather Part II (1974) - 14%
4. The Dark Knight (2008) - 11%
5. Aliens (1986) - 10%
6. The Bourne Supremacy (2004) - 7%
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - 6%
8. Toy Story 2 (1999) - 4%
9. Meet the Fockers (2004) - 2%
10. Shrek 2 (2004) - 1%

Other - 10%

Helen Cowley, Editor at LOVEFiLM commented:
"There's no beating Star Wars, and fans have been very vocal in our poll to establish its place as the top sequel of all time. Film sequels give us the chance to see our favourite characters back on the big screen but it's rare to find a sequel that truly does its predecessor justice. It's great to see so many highly regarded titles in the top ten and making their own mark on film history."

"LOVEFiLM has over 67,000 titles available to either rent or watch online, giving film fans the option to enjoy their favourite sequels and catch up on all of their most-loved originals - whenever and however they want."