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

[Sacrosanct]

Leaving out the Marvel movies because they are not really a trilogy, but a bunch of movies, with some great, and some not so great.

Alien(s): The first 2 are so good they make up for the third
Star Wars
LoTR
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Indiana Jones

 

[The Soloist]

3. Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight. Linklater and Delpy and Hawke just crush these. The opposite of a series of blockbusters, let's just have intimate conversations between two smart and beautiful (but still imperfect) people, at ground level immersed in wonderful cities, and feel a relationship develop. From infatuation to more. IIRC 7 years passed between each of these, both in the real world and in the film continuity, and they nailed it.

Notes:
This exercise reminded me that I still haven't watched the Three Colors, so I need to fix that. Also the original Infernal Affairs trilogy.

I'll have to watch the Sunrise trilogy now that I've read about them, thanks to you!

 

[billd91]

I was recently reminded of the Cornetto trilogy: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End. It's less of an interconnected story trilogy as much as a set of movies made by the same people and senses of humor.

 

[Dioltach]

Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, Blackadder Goes Forth.

 

[A2Z]

Probably take some heat for this but, I think the Terminator trilogy was excellent and deserving of top 5 finish.

I don't understand, there's only ever been 2 Terminator movies...


A dozen posts in and no love for Back to the Future?

 

[Basic Expert]

For me, a trilogy implies 3 strong movies without any major disappointments. Unfortunately, some many series have delivered two good installments only to be let down by a lackluster third.

That leaves a few precious gems:

Lord of the Rings. Conceived of as a unified whole. It has some rough patches and problems, but Jackson and company managed to deliver an entertaining throwback to classic movie blockbusters, reconfigured for a modern age. Came along just as I was despairing of ever seeing something monumental on screen ever again.

Star Wars. Episodes IV-VI are stood as a solitary trilogy for many years. Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw and was clearly a formative experience. Empire's storytelling and visual flair will never be matched. Jedi, the roughest of the three, nevertheless has the satisfying and absolute perfect Luke-Vader-Emperor showdown at the end.

Back to the Future. Just flat out high-concept 80's sci-fi adventure comedies done to perfection. Take a look at the writing, directing, editing and blocking in these films and then look at what we get now--and despair.

Indiana Jones. The first three hold together as a trilogy with the later installments coming far after. Every frame is iconic.

Cornetto Trilogy. Thematically and stylistically linked, if not narratively. A find World's End a bit too sour and bleak for regular viewing, but Hot Fuzz is one of my comfort watches. Still, it's refreshing to see such attention to detail being paid to all aspects of film-making.

Man with No Name. The pinnacle of Spaghetti Westerns. Accept no substitutes. From the first two Kurosawa remakes to the final epic, it rewrote every rule of the stale Western genre.

Other contenders and disqualifications:
1. Alien. You can't separate Alien 4 from this run of Ripley films. Plus, 3 & 4 aren't great.
2. Terminator. Terminator 3 wasn't up to the same quality as the previous films. A blatant studio cash grab without any new ideas that descends into ridiculousness. Did not like.
3. The Matrix. One and a half good movies.
4. Evil Dead. I consider this more of a duology with The Evil Dead being a low-budget dry run of II. It's tonally and narratively inconsistent with the later entries, though it remains the Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror.
5. Tres Colours. I've only seen Bleu and that was 30 years ago. A woman was sad, I think. Maybe I should revisit this.
6. Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight. I've seen the first two, but it's been years. I want to rewatch them before seeing Midnight but haven't found the opportunity.
7. Toy Story. You can't arbitrarily cut off the 4th film from the series in my mind. Makes it on the list of "Best Quadrilogies of All Time".
8. The Godfather. The original is regarded as a masterpiece. I have some problems with it, but it does have some iconic scenes and characters. Godfather II is over-rated. The young Vito scenes are the high-point. The Michael scenes are excruciatingly dull. Godfather III is not as awful as its reputation suggests, but the storytelling isn't there.

 

[jian]

Captain America: First Avenger, Winter Soldier, Civil War. The third is probably the weakest and the second two films of course rely on the context of the rest of the MCU, but all three films are great, excellent superhero films.

Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, A Haunting in Venice. Branagh’s portrayal of Poirot is very much his own and quite brilliant, and all three films are very well delivered. Nile is the weakest, suffering from Covid CGI and Gal Gadot’s lack of acting ability. Venice is the strongest and the best version of Halloween Party put to film.

 

[Mannahnin]

Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, Blackadder Goes Forth.

These are not movies but I love this choice (and you) anyway.

 

[Ulfgeir]

Hard to find trilogies... Let alone good trilogies

Lord of the Rings - Definetly a good trilogy, that brought back fantasy movies. Haven't seen the extended version though.

Indiana Jones trilogy - The first 3 movies. Good fun action.

Matrix Trilogy - Stunning visuals, though the story got weaker.

Star Wars (New Hope / Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi) - Love that they used physical models for the space ships. These formed my childhood.



Just outside the list for reasons:
The Mummy (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns / The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor )- Have only seen the first two. Haven't gotten around to watching part 3, mostly because my DVD-player is broken atm. But Ioved the first two parts. I think it is very likely that this would be on the list had I seen the last one.

Mad Max / The Road Warrior / Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - Well , part 2 and 3 are very good. The first part it shows that it is low budget, and it is not that good.. Also saw part 1 many years after I saw the other two.

 

[cbwjm]

I'm not sure I can think of 5.

1. Original star wars movies, watched this so many times as a kid, love the star wars universe.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean. I love these movies, great Swashbuckling fun with monsters and magic. Davy Jones was amazingly well done.

3. Indiana Jones. If they keep making them ill keep watching them. Excellent pulp action.

4. The Mummy movies. similar to Indiana Jones, fun pulp action.

That's 4, if I think of another I'll add it in.