This is the second part of my list of the Top 20 Trilogies of all Time.
As I wrote in my last article:
This seems to be the benchmark of movie franchises. Yes, a successful series can go way beyond three films (I'm looking at you Fast and Furious), but it seems to me that the goal and the hope of a sequalized story is to get to at least a trilogy.
And throughout movie history, there have been dozens of trilogies. But I thought it would be fun to look at the top 20. Originally I was only going to do the top 10, but I found that I was leaving way too many stories off of my list.
How do I decide what is a good trilogy?
First of all, there has to be a level of quality maintained throughout the trilogy. Even if the first movie is excellent, if the two sequels that follow are terrible then it does not qualify as a great trilogy (eg. The Hangover, The Pirates of the Caribbean). To be sure, most of the time there is going to be a drop in quality by the third film.
Also, the movies had to be sequentially three parts without skipping. This gets tricky when doing interconnected universes like the MCU, but if the main series has a trilogy it qualifies. For example, the above mentioned Fast and Furious franchise could qualify if you held that parts 5, 6, and 7 are a trilogy. However, looking at the Avengers films, you have a weaker entry in part 2 of the four. As a result, you could not form a trilogy from this series without including that weaker entry.
In the previous article, I listed #20-#11
#20 The Chronicles of Narnia
#19 Ghostbusters
#18 John Wick
#17 Captain America
#16 Spider-Man Home Trilogy
#15 Guardians of the Galaxy
#14 The Naked Gun
#13 Harry Potter
#12 The Dark Knight Trilogy
#11 Back to the Future
And now the Top Ten
#10 Evil Dead
Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness
I have to say that I have lost my taste for horror over the years, but there is something truly special about this trilogy. The first Evil Dead is disgusting and terrifying. If all the movies in the series were like this, it would not appear on this list. But the second film was daring enough to mix horror and comedy in such a unique way as to be like nothing else that had come before it. The scene where Ash is being chased through the cabin by the camera is both hilarious and horrifying. But the third film, Army of Darkness, is an exercise in pure comedy that should be terrible. Everything about this third film should be derided as self-parody. But through some kind of strange magic, the movie works! It is endlessly quotable and horribly fun. The evolution of tone throughout the series should be a sign of its devolution. Instead, it took what could have been a good, but simple, horror film and created the most unique cinematic trilogy I have seen.
#9 Toy Story
Toy Story 1,2, 3
The mighty John Nolte once said that Toy Story 3 should have won the Oscar for Best Picture, but it was the only movie nominated that would still be remembered and loved decades later. It says something about this series in how it set the gold standard for PIXAR quality, not just in terms of animation, but in story. The first one is a simple enough adventure. But the second amped up the emotion. And then the third film has an utterly devastating final act. I remember being on the edge of my seat as our heroes embraced each other while slowly falling towards oblivion. But even that did not prepare me for the gut punch of the final scene. The series has gone on, but they have never been able to capture the magic of those first three.
#8 The Snyderverse Trilogy
Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder's Justice League
This is perhaps the most controversial pick on my list. But I think Zack Snyder gave us one of the best super hero trilogies ever made. Man of Steel is a powerful retelling of the Superman story and I have always maintained Batman v. Superman is an underapperciated masterpiece. The theatrical Justice League was a bit of a let-down compared to the previous two. However, the Snyder Cut expanded the story and characters in an utterly satisfying way. In his four-hour epic, his characters finally got a chance to breath. The weight and the pressure could build in a satisfying way so that it all converged into its final battle. The biggest downside is that it teased a sequel that would probably never happen. Other than that, the Snyderverse Trilogy is one of the best interpretations of the comic medium ever made.
#7 Rocky
Rocky 1, 2, 3
While I have a great affection for Rocky IV and Rocky Balboa, the first three films form a fantastic trilogy. The first movie is so raw and gritty. You feel every hit that Rocky takes. That final fight feels like a gauntlet of pain, with the real prize being his own self-worth. The second film does rehash a lot of the same beats. But the sequence where Adrian is in the hospital are some of most beautiful moments in the film, especially in how it depicts Rocky's faith. Rocky III feels so different from the first two, but in an important way. In a meta-way, it was commenting on the franchise's own success and the desire to get back to basics. It is especially satisfying watching Rocky's relationship with Apollo come full circle leading to one of the best final shots of any movie.
#6 Star Trek: the Khan Trilogy
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
The best part of the Star Trek movie franchise are the stories that form the Kahn Trilogy. While the best of these three movie is indisputably The Wrath of Kahn, The Search for Spock is under appreciated in its power and its impact. The emotional price Kirk has to pay to bring Spock back to the land of the living is harrowing. But it also makes you feel the depths to which he loves his friend. The Voyage Home is a much more light-hearted adventure in comparison to the others. And the "Save the Whales" theme feels very of its era. But the movie serves as a fun epilogue to the grim adventures of the Enterprise crew with a promise of a brighter tomorrow.
#5 Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
For years, I was one of the Prequel Trilogy's most ardent defenders. I've noticed that since the Sequel Trilogy has been out, people do not complain as much about the Prequels. In fact, I think appreciation and nostalgia for them have only grown over time. Now, I am not blind to their shortcomings. Lucas made a miscalculation regarding how audiences would react to Jar Jar, he did not create a strong enough through-line of characters through all three movies, and he had trouble getting the chemistry to truly work until the final film. But when put together, the Prequel Trilogy is a wonderful series of stories that culminates in one of the best Star Wars movies made.
#4 The Godfather
The Godfather Part I, II, III
When people think of this trilogy, they often focus on the shortcomings of the third film. However, Francis Ford Coppola described the structure of the films as "Two parts and an epilogue." When viewed this way, the structure makes a great deal more sense. This is especially true when you watch the director's cut that restructures the final movie. Understanding this helps explain the jarring change in tone and character when it comes to Michael Corleone. With all three films together, we see not only the slow loss of a person's soul, but then finally we feel the ultimate price that is paid because of it.
#3 The Indiana Jones Trilogy
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
This is the greatest adventure trilogy, hands down. No other trilogy of movies, not even further adventures of Indiana Jones, could compare. Raiders set a new standard of adventure. Temple of Doom was darker, but is still made the skill and care of the two great masters: Spielberg and Lucas. But the final one, The Last Crusade is the best of the series. Every part of this movie is fantastic and infinitely re-watchable. Not only is it thematically rich in its exploration of universal relationship between fathers and sons, but it is the most exciting and most entertaining of all the films. If this movie is on TV, I usually stop everything and watch because it completely transports me in a way that few movies can.
#2 The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
These films are almost a movie miracle. Peter Jackson and his crew created a unique cinematic experience in how they adapted what is arguably the greatest book of the 20th century. The most important thing they did was that they took Tolkien's world seriously. They treated the world as lived-in world that had a history. But more important than that, they treated the emotional journey's of the characters with great care. Notice how Gollum/Smeagol could have been simply another antagonist, and instead they allowed him to become a figure of utter tragedy. Jackson and company used every ounce of their skill to verbally and visually give you the full impact of this epic to remind you that while there are hundreds of high fantasy stories, there is only one Lord of the Rings.
#1 Star Wars: The Original Trilogy
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
It should come as no surprise that this was at the top of the list. This is the Trilogy of Trilogies. There were trilogies before this. But after this, trilogies became the gold standard of movie franchises. To be sure, a series can go beyond trilogy. But all movies that hope for franchise, hope to get to at least a trilogy.
The reason why this the Trilogy of Trilogies is because each film in the series did the unthinkable in topping the film that came before. The original Star Wars was an absolute phenomenon that the film industry had never seen before. But The Empire Strikes Back took the series to a completely different level. As director Irvin Kershner said, "Something powerful had to happen in Luke's soul." Kershner understood that it was not enough to go bigger with the sequel. Bigger is easy. He understood that the sequel had to go deeper. The movie subverted expectations, but in the best possible way: it made you care about the characters and their fates even more. That film sets it up so that it is almost impossible to create a satisfying conclusion.
But Return of the Jedi is pure magic. All of the story threads are pulled together in a way that hits you perfectly. This movie reminds us that the hero does not always defeat the villain in combat. That would be too close the philosophy of "might makes right." Instead, the movie takes the more difficult but more enlightened path of showing how the power of love and sacrifice can redeem the most lost soul.
There has never been a trilogy like the Original Trilogy. And I don't think there ever will.
Thoughts?
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