The 1980s saw a boom in the popularity of massive film franchises and continuous sequels. After the blockbuster wave was initiated in the tail end of the 1970s with Jaws and Star Wars, studios were eager to be a part of the trend and churn out as many sequels as possible. In fact, many of the greatest movie sequels of all-time, such as The Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Aliens, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, and Evil Dead II were released in the 80s.

However, time has not been equally kind to all sequels of the decade, and many are still underrated to this day. Granted, nearly all of these sequels were financially successful at the time, but they still receive less acclaim from critics and fans, and tend to rank lower on lists rating their respective franchises. Here are the top ten most underrated movie sequels of the 1980s.

10. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Raiders of the Lost Ark is often cited as one of the pinnacles of summer movie entertainment and one of the greatest adventure movies ever made, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade oftens gets attention as the franchise’s best sequel. While Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom doesn’t quite reach the highs of those two films, it’s still a very worthy film that took the series in a darker direction. Initially drawing backlash for the more graphic content, which helped to invent the PG-13 rating, Temple of Doom has aged quite gracefully as a more bizarre spin on the adventure serial.

Taking place one year prior to the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom opens with a stunning nightclub sequence lifted straight out of the James Bond franchise and pits Indy against a mysterious cult that practices black magic. It’s a relentlessly paced film featuring more scary horror elements, but also retains much of the franchise’s humor thanks to new characters Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan) and Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw).

9. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

The Friday the 13th franchise has had an interesting trajectory, as the films grew to be more ridiculous and self-aware as they went along. The films vary greatly in quality, but the absolute pinnacle of the series was 1984’s Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, which saw Jason Voorhees being revived after the events of Part III. The plot is identical to the other films in the franchise, but The Final Chapter features some genuine suspense and some of the most memorable death sequences of the franchise.

What elevates The Final Chapter above the other films in the series are the memorable characters; while every supporting character in a Friday the 13th film is bound to turn into fodder for Jason to kill eventually, the group of ignorant teens in The Final Chapter at least have unique personality traits that flesh them out before the carnage starts. Crispin Glover gives a very strange but highly entertaining comedic performance as the awkward Jimmy, but the standout performance by far is Corey Feldman as Tommy Jarvis, the twelve-year-old boy who is left to battle Jason at the end.

8. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome  (1985)

The third film in George Miller’s original Mad Max trilogy had the difficult task of following up The Road Warrior, which is commonly cited as one of the greatest action films of all-time. Compared to the complete bleakness of the first two installments, Beyond Thunderdome is slightly lighter in approach, as it follows Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) as he aids a group of lost children who view him as their potential savior.

It’s certainly a more heartfelt approach to the Mad Max franchise that introduces greater sentimentality, but the film never descends into corniness, as Gibson remains as stoic as ever in the role. The film also features some truly imaginative action as orchestrated by Miller, particularly the caged battles at the beginning of the story and the epic aeroplane escape at the end. While Miller would return to the franchise thirty years later with Tom Hardy in the role of Max, Beyond Thunderdome made for a suitable conclusion to Gibson’s tenure in the role.

7. Octopussy (1983)

Roger Moore had a very interesting tenure as James Bond, as while some of his earlier films, including Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me, were genuine classics, the films gradually became campier and more comedic as they went along. Although it’s easy to dismiss all of the late period Moore films, many of them have redeeming values, and Octopussy is one film that 007 fans should give another shot. The film is completely aware of its own ridiculousness, and instead of trying to replicate the Sean Connery films, it allows Moore to bring his own sensibilities to the role.

Featuring one of the most memorable Bond girls in Maud Adams’s titular Octopussy, the film also featured a beefed up role for Desmond Llewelyn as Q and put him straight within the thick of the action. While the film makes some bold attempts at broad comedy (Bond even dresses up as a clown at one point), it doesn’t skimp out on the action, and features one of the franchise’s most memorable setpieces with the climactic plane battle.

6. Rocky III (1982)

Rocky III made for a shift in the Rocky franchise, as after the grounded, gritty feel of the first two installments, the third film transformed the series into a more serialized “villain of the week” saga. It was necessary for the series to evolve in order to move forward, and although it may lack the subtle character nuances of the first two films, Rocky III makes up for it with a great deal of personality. In the film, Rocky is called back into action in order to win back his title from the rising star Clubber Lang (Mr. T).

However, the best part of the film involves Rocky training under the tutelage of his old rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), and seeing these two former enemies work together added a lot of heart to the story. There was a budding respect that had grown between the two throughout the earlier films, and seeing them reunite as friends made for a satisfying way of paying off the character development.

Movie sequels are now the norm, as nearly every successful film with franchise potential tends to spawn several follow ups, and a majority of the widely released films each weekend are either a sequel, prequel, remake, reboot, or some other retooling of a popular franchise. If sequels once felt like a rare event that occurred only out of necessity or popular demand, they’ve become a tiresome trend and they rarely live up to the quality of their predecessors.

The 1990s saw the release of many popular sequels, with some, including Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Toy Story 2, Die Hard With A Vengeance, and Army of Darkness often cited as some of the greatest movie sequels of all-time. Those films are great, but there were also many other great sequels that have been lost in the shuffle. Most of these films were financial successes, but they are deserving of more favorable ratings from critics and fans. Here are the top ten most underrated movie sequels of the 1990s.

10. The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park was one of the biggest movies of the 1990s, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park was an anomaly in that it retained Steven Spielberg as a director; the only other sequels directed by Spielberg were the Indiana Jones films. None of the Jurassic Park sequels could ever match the sense of wonderment and adventure generated by the first film, but while Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom were terrible films that failed to comprehend why the first film worked, The Lost World still contained some of the magic of the original classic.

Outside of the wonderful visuals and the welcome return of John Williams’s iconic score, the best aspect of The Lost World is the return of Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm. Goldblum was only a supporting player in the first film and primarily provided comedic relief, but The Lost World put him front and center in the story and forced him to be more vulnerable, as he must save his daughter Kelly. The Lost World became easy to mock thanks to a few ridiculous moments, but the majority of the film works as a solid adventure journey.

9. Lethal Weapon 3

Not only is Lethal Weapon cited as one of the best and most influential buddy cop movies of all-time, but its first follow up Lethal Weapon 2 became one of the rare sequels that lived up to the first film. The chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover remained consistent throughout the entire franchise, and while the fourth film is generally cited as the one that jumped the shark, the third film in the series is sorely underrated. Most notably, the film featured the first appearance of Rene Russo as Sergeant Lorna Cole.

Much of the film deals with Riggs and Murtaughs’ anxieties about settling down in the future, with the two being called back into action prior to Murtaugh’s official retirement. Riggs, who has always struggled with personal relationships after the death of his wife, finds a new romantic partner in Cole, and Russo is able to match Gibson’s energy with a similar sense of humor. The Lethal Weapon films are often distinguishable by their villains, and Lethal Weapon 3 features a memorable performance from Stuart Wilson as the former cop turned smuggler Jack Travis.

8. Tomorrow Never Dies

1995’s Goldeneye saw the resurgence of the James Bond franchise with the first appearance of Pierce Brosnan as 007; Brosnan was a great and very charismatic Bond, but unfortunately the later films The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day suffered from weak screenplays and uninspired direction. However, his second film, Tomorrow Never Dies, is quite underrated; while it didn’t quite match Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies featured a memorable love interest, a fun villain, and some truly original action sequences.

The main plot of the film revolves around Bond attempting to stop the villainous media mogul Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) from manipulating the news into starting a global conflict. While the characterization is over the top, it was a different type of villain for the franchise, and allowed the film to insert some clever social commentary. Tomorrow Never Dies was also one of the rare Bond films that featured a romantic interest who was Bond’s equal, as Michelle Yeoh’s character Colonel Wai Lin is a spy who teams up with Bond to stop Carver.

7. Clear and Present Danger

Clear and Present Danger is the third film in the ongoing Jack Ryan franchise and the second to star Harrison Ford as the CIA analyst. Ford’s previous outing Patriot Games was a solid reintroduction to the character, but Clear and Present Danger delved deeper into the psychology of the character, as it forced Ryan to question his own moral compass when he learns startling truths about the actions of his own government.

After being promoted within the CIA, Ryan discovers that the murder of a close friend is related to a covert U.S. military operation in Columbia. The film was the introduction of one of Tom Clancy’s best known characters, John Clark, who is portrayed by Willem Dafoe. Dafoe works wonderfully as a more aggressive counter to Ryan, and Ford once again delivers a phenomenal performance. The final scene, in which Ryan confronts the U.S. President about the conspiracy, is among the best of the entire series.

6. Back to the Future: Part III

Back to the Future: Part III is often derided as the worst of the trilogy, and the film’s lighter and more outwardly silly tone marks a sharp contrast to the darker and more intense Back to the Future: Part II. It’s true that the film is the weakest of the trilogy, but considering how strong the first two entries are, that isn’t a detriment; not only does Back to the Future: Part III serve as a fun send up of western movie tropes, but it ends the series on a positive note by providing satisfying wrap ups to Marty McFly and Doc Brown.

After escaping the darker alternate 1985 at the end of Part II, Marty travels to 1885 to save Doc. The remixing of the familiar Back to the Future plot elements into the formula of a western movie is very entertaining, and the duology of Marty learning the consequences of his action in multiple timelines remains true to the essence of the franchise. As fast as funny as its predecessors, Back to the Future: Part III helped close out one of the greatest trilogies in film history.