My 3 favorite movie trilogies of all time
There are a lot of trilogies out there and some are better than others even though this is completely subjective. I have some that I really like and then there are others that I have seen dozens of times and will likely watch dozens of times more in my lifetime.
These aren't in any particular order but they are all absolutely fantastic in my book.
Back to the Future
src
Back to the Future was one of my first interactions with something I was truly passionate about and I saw it several times in theaters when it was first released. The Huey Lewis songs in it especially "Power of Love" ended up being my favorite songs for a while. I even performed that song very poorly at at a lip syncing competition at the local pool youth group. I still cringe when I think about how badly I did in that competition but it was just a bunch of kids and I would imagine we were all pretty bad, mine is just the one I remember the most.
The first one was pure genius in my mind and it didn't have much of an indication that it was going to be a trilogy either. If the film had been the only one in the series it would have stood on its own because it already achieved a conclusion. Part 2 was pretty wild although I don't like how they ditched Crispin Glover over a salary dispute and instead used and upside down likeness of him that Glover later sued them for using his likeness and won. That's actually a long story and something I may dedicate some time to understanding more fully at a later time.
Part 3 was my least favorite of the bunch, but I did like the way that all 3 of them ended up tying together and it all just simply worked. These films are incredible and there is a reason why they are considered to be some of the best movies of all time... and not just by me.
Lord of the Rings
src
I'm sure this is on most people's lists as a top trilogy of all time. I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I had never read the books or even knew there were books with this title until the films were released. I did later read them and realize that I probably was too young to have stayed interested in those incredibly long tomes anyway.
Unlike Back to the Future, these episodes relied really heavily on the episodes that would follow and it was a very frustrating year or two wait between films for me and most of the people that I know. I have seen the extended versions and director's cut of all three and I'll go ahead and say that both of those, while entertaining, are simply too long.
It's a damn shame that Amazon has been ripping the lore to shreds with The Rings of Power which I think is absolutely terrible and I am hopeful that they either cancel it, or go back to the drawing board as far as storytelling and writing is concerned. The total budget for all 3 films was just under $300 million. It ended up grossing nearly $3 billion in global revenue. Talk about a good ROI!
Star Wars
src
To be clear, I am referring to the original trilogy that screened in the 70's and 80's. I feel as though the two follow up trilogies, especially the latest ones that Disney seemed to be interested in dismantling the fandom, were absolute disasters.
The original trilogy of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi are films that I have probably watched over a hundred times and if given the opportunity I would do so again right now. They are timeless in my mind even though some of the CGI looks outdated these days as they should considering that we barely had computers when they were made, let alone lifelike looking special effects.
The remastered versions of these films including CGI "after-effects" were rather stupid IMO and the addition of creatures made by computers in the background and especially the scene where Han Solo is speaking to Jabba the Hutt were unnecessary and stupid.
src
Considering that we already had a pretty great idea in our minds about what Jabba looked and acted like, this was just annoying that they put this in the film at all. I guess they needed a reason to re-release the films into cinemas in the 90's but I only went to see 2 of them since the additions and updated graphics were completely unneeded if you ask me.
Star Wars will live in my mind as being something that was all-encompassing as a kid. I had dozens of the toys and I really wish that we hadn't sold them for what was probably 10 cents at garage sales later on in my childhood. Even a semi functioning Millennium Falcon original toy is worth up to hundreds of dollars - not the mention the priceless nostalgic value.
So those are my favorite trilogies of all time. There are several more that I can think of and maybe I'll talk about them next.
What are your favorites?
Some good choices as most trilogies are never as good as the first one. I enjoyed Raiders of the Lost Ark but they deteriorated after the first one. Taken was great, but again was like Die Hard as it was only going to go down hill after the first film. I was not a fan of Back to the Future even though I enjoyed the first film. Lord of the Rings has to be my favorite for trilogies as all the others just milked their popularity.
I wonder what the first trilogy film ever was. It seems rather formulaic at this point and most franchises seem to be aiming for exactly that.
I have installed my package and the way you are telling me, I am very interested to watch these movies in the near future.
It's amazing to me that you are joining Netflix right around the same time that I am leaving it :)
In time I also appreciated the third Back to the Future movie, I think that following the success of the second movie it was very difficult and something similar happened to me with the third Indiana Jones movie.
I always say that Return of the Jedi is my favorite movie, but the truth is the one that is now known as A New Hope.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy has to be the trilogy I have seen the most at the cinema and I have yet to see the extended versions.
Excellent choice.
As much as I love LOTR I tried to watch an extended version and it was honestly, way too long. If you know the films as well as I do or better, it is pretty easy to understand why they cut so much of the film out for streamlining purposes. It's almost exclusively additional dialogue in the extended version but there is a handful of CGI that wasn't entirely up to scratch as well.
I don't think I will ever make it through the entire 27 hours (totally made up number) of all 3 extended versions of those movies.
Personally, I enjoyed the third Indiana Jones movie a lot more than the 2nd one.
Empire Strikes Back is by far my favorite Star Wars film, but most of this has to do with the epic Hoth stuff right at the start of it.
Lord of the Rings was special. I watched every bit of it and to this day it will always be one of my top favorite movies.
I think this is probably true for most people unless they really dislike fantasy. There isn't much to dislike about it.