... is what this episode of Siskel and Ebert's At the Movies demonstrates.
The films they discuss at length are all sequels, which is their focus this year:
Amityville 3-D
Staying Alive (Sequel to Saturday Night Fever)
Smokey and the Bandit Part 3
Jaws 3-D
Porky's 2: The Next Day
The Sting 2
Then they briefly discuss bad films that are not sequels:
Deal of the Century
The Final Option
Krull
The Lonely Lady
Trenchcoat
Stroker Ace - Gene Siskel's choice for very worst movie of the year
The Osterman Weekend
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.
So, even in 1983, there was a reliance on the drawing power of sequels, often with no effort put into making the characters or the plot fresh and interesting. In the case of Smoky and the Bandit 3, what Roger and Gene don't mention is that because the film had to be cut with Jackie Gleason's role greatly reduced, Jerry Reed is actually the "star" or at least the lead in this film. And Reed just cannot carry this by himself. Especially with the thin plot. Ironically, Burt Reynolds turned this role down at least in part because he was busy making Stroker Ace, which was another one of the worst films of 1983.
Also, note that there was a fad of 3-D going on at the time, and Jaws 3 and Amityville 3 both relied on it, often causing the plot to become incomprehensible with everything taking a backseat to the effects. Finally Gene Siskel says that if you are thinking about going to a sequel make sure somebody whose opinion you respect and who has seen the film can say it is worth your time. That is probably still good advice four decades later.
