Answer: Jaws

It’s no secret that sequels rarely do as well as the original films they build on. Many fans of The Matrix were disappointed in the sequel films. Die hard fans of the Highlander series refuse to even speak of the non-canonical and rather terrible second film in the franchise. Even the beloved Terminator series slipped a little with each new release in critical and fan reviews.

None of these films can claim the spectacular achievement pulled off by the Jaws franchise: a film that is beloved by all (and has a near perfect score of 98% approval on movie ranking site Rotten Tomatoes) and a film that is scorned by all (a film, on the same site, with a 0% approval rating).

The sterling record belongs to the first movie in the franchise, Jaws, which practically invented the genre of summer blockbuster. Decades after its theatrical release it’s still regarded as a masterpiece in its genre (and still making new generations of movie buffs wary of deep water). The movie’s success would prove the undoing of the franchise, however, as studies were quick to want to cash in on the wild popularity of the first film. The second and third films in the series weren’t quite the same as the first, but by the time they cranked out the final Jaws movie, Jaws: The Revenge, the plot was rickety and full of holes, the acting was lackluster, and audiences were underwhelmed.

Although we can’t turn to the final Jaws film for a moment of cinematic glory, we can thank it for this clever quote from one of the film’s stars, Michael Caine: “I have never seen it [Jaws: The Revenge], but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific!” We’re glad somebody got something worthwhile out of the whole affair.