The sequels

Maybe you've already gone on to watch them but if you haven't... I think it would be safe for you to watch Before Sunset. I'm guessing you have some clue were it picks up, you've read the storyline/seen the trailer? In some ways, maybe even in a lot of ways, I think Sunset is more romantic than Sunrise. I recently reread an old interview from 2004 with Ethan Hawke where he was talking about Before Sunset and he said about it that: "There’s a fundamental undercurrent that is deeply romantic, spinning around the idea that these two people are soul mates. I think the subtext of the movie is one of romantic destiny, which is a deeply romantic idea."

I know I've read the occasional person who've said they were disappointed with Jesse and Celine's relationship in Before Midnight and sure it's a little darker than in the previous films but I think it's darker in a realistic way. There's only one thing revealed in Midnight about their relationship that kind of haunts me a little but except for that I still think it's very romantic and if I were to find myself in a relationship like theirs when I'm in my 40's, I'd consider myself lucky.

Since I don't know you, it's difficult for me to have an idea of what you would consider to be something that maybe spoils the romance. Maybe you should read some (spoiler-free?) reviews on the film/s to get more of an idea of what it's like.

Dont watch the 3rd then but 2nd the magic stills there

They are excellent and manage to maintain the magic of the first.

It's an amazing trilogy, and definitely worth experiencing, to see these characters grow and learn, give it a shot.

If all you want is to maintain what you felt by watching "Sunrise", then by all means stay away from both the sequels.
But, in my view, this attitude is rather...retarded. Because first of all nothing can/will ruin either what you first felt about it. What can POTENTIALLY be ruined
is your EXPECTATIONS for the sequels (your opinion about the director/author etc).
Secondly, it's a waste to not give something a try. And both sequels do deserve it. I myself was letdown at first when I watched them. 'Cause they are a totally different case, in comparison to "Sunrise". It took me some time, but I eventually realised how magnificent the whole trilogy is, spanning along two decades time.
Because it really is made out of the stuff that....real life also is : people change (in all aspects)constantly - yet they however manage to stay the same (willingly or not) deep inside.
Maybe it was the fact that even though I'm in my early 40ies, I hadn't even heard of "Sunrise" or its sequels for that matter. But a year and half now I started looking up for movies with Hawk and "accidentally" got to watch "Sunrise". I was taken aback by that unexpected gem I stumbled onto and no sooner I realised that by that time the THIRD "installment" of it was being released. So I hurried into watching "Sunset" AND "Midnight",,,back-to-back. Well, I probably did a mistake - I should have waited until at least "Sunset" sank in. The actual problem of course is that I haven't seen "Sunrise" when it was released and then "Sunset" in it's own good time etc (or at least watch them over some significant period of years, in order for me to "age along them"). All this made me "choke" a bit on the whole lot. I however recuperated soon enough for them to start sinking in. Since the first letdown, I must have watched them all 3 at least half a dozen of times.

So : it's a pity you missed "Sunset" when it got out ('cause it really goes along with the certain era that it was shot), but you SHOULD give it a try. Even (initial)disenchantment is something that has to be taken in and evaluated. I though feel that only few people will keep being let own by the sequels, because sooner or...(link)later (sic), they will gradually start finding out what great films the other two are, as part of an ongoing...."polylogy" (hopefully in a decade or so we will be blessed to have yet another sequel that will be reflecting the very age in which it is going to be shot and the characters will have by then entered the pantheon of monumental film-making endeavors...).

Do watch "Sunset", re-watch it, let it sink in an then come here and tell us if it was worth it after all or not...


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Memory is a wonderful thing if you don't have to deal with the past

It did not regret watching Before Sunset a few years ago. Of course it was already "more realistic" but still o.k.

Last night, my wife and I watched Before Midnight (and we're basically the same age) and hated it.

The third one is really too much. What a cynical and depressive movie. If I want to watch some middle-aged couple argue, I can do that myself - or just go to some friends or relatives to do that.

I'm a hopeless romantic - and yes, it is very realistic, that couples fight - but I'm seriously bored and tired of spoiled, rich, successful westerners bragging on about their ridiculous first world problems and fighting like stupid teenagers.

Now, I just looked up the first movie as a comparison... yeah, the irony of them talking about the future... especially, when Jesse talks Celine into getting off the train...

Seriously... WORST. MOVIE. EVER. Being in the middle of Before Midnight, I said jokingly to my wife "Let's watch a Horror Movie instead... way easier to watch..."

je ne regrette rien.


The 3 films are set with the characters at very different points in their lives, reflecting very different attitudes (whilst still being the same people). All 3 are excellent.

I'd suggest that most people tend to reflect best upon the film where the characters are at their most similar state-of-mind to the watcher; most notably the 3rd film which seem to garner a fair bit of dislike from younger posters (not exclusively, of course).

Basically the first is extremely optimistic and idealistic; the second is still pretty idealistic, but more tempered by reality; whilst the 3rd more melancholic / morning for ideals sacrificed to reality / mid-life-crisis in mood.

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American money - In God We Trust
British banknotes - Charles Darwin

The series is a masterwork and each film is brilliant both on its own and as part of a bigger picture. I view them as one living film, so it's a shame to even think of it as sequels (and to be truthful, my favorite "chapter" is probably Before Sunset).


"My only enemy is time." - Charles Chaplin
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