Your top 5 movie trilogies of all time, and why?


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1. Sunset/Sunrise/Midnight trilogy. Mannahim already covered these well, and you have to be in the mood for an intimate character study, but these are, to my mind, basically perfect films. The only other trilogy I could say that about is...

2. Toy Story 1-3. There is not a wasted frame in any of these films, and the secret sauce of the series is that it isn't really for kids (at least in terms of the core theme), it's for parents. It's about letting go of your kids and figuring out what comes next. Which is why something happens to my eyes whenever I watch the last one.

3. Star Wars/Empire/Jedi. 1 and 2 are basically perfect; I slightly prefer 1 but that's for emotional reasons; I was lucky enough to be 9 years old when it came out, so you can imagine (or you were there). Jedi is a step down (Ewoks are dumb! They just are! You know it's true!) but still a great time.

4. LotR. Each film is fantastic; Fellowship is the best IMO. I don't love the endless endings but that's a quibble (frankly, I think a better ending would have been to have Sam and Frodo die in each other's arms on Mt. Doom, sacrificing themselves to save the world, but Tolkien purists would have freaked out).

5. I have a clear top 4 but I don't have a clear 5. Either Dead trilogy could take this spot (Evil, or Night/Dawn/Day), but then you could make a case for the Man with No Name films, the Captain America films, Godfather 1-3 (though I am in the camp that thinks 3 is worse than its reputation), Indiana Jones 1-3 (but 2 is pretty problematic) and a fair few others.
 

Dario Argento's "Animal Trilogy" (Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Cat o' Nine Tails, Flies on Grey Velvet) and Dario Argento's The Three Mothers (Suspiria, Inferno, and Mother of Tears). Star Wars (original trilogy).
 


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