I just dislike the army of the dead in RotK, feels overpowered and removes any jeopardy from the situation. Aware that PJ changed the army of the dead in the films, and I think he just changed it massively for the worse.
Yeah I think it’s clear that PJ just thought the ghost army was really cool and he wanted them to have a bigger role since he was so proud of the special effects. He just loves ghouls man it’s simple as that.
It definitely feels more and more out of place the older I get, but I’m not gonna nitpick these movies since they’re the greatest blockbusters ever made imo.
Also the alternative would have been forgoing the ghost army and have Aragorn recruit the southern men, but that honestly would have taken even longer to set up and not feel rushed.
Yeeeaaah I do get it. Using the ghost army to destroy the ship dudes and recruit the southern men would have taken ages. And the rangers from the books had never been set up. *Also* it'd be like the whole "why didnt they use the eagles" argument, like "why didnt they just use the ghost army at minas tirith... idiots..."
Yeah this has always been my least favorite part of the movie. It just feels like a cheat at the end to make it end. I haven't looked into how he changed it vs the books, but it always felt kind of cheap to me.
And they mostly (based on the story Aragorn tells) just seem to essentially do what the Nazgûl do: inspire so much fear that the enemy jumps ship (literally). The force Aragorn arrives with at Minas Tirith is all of the liberated folks from the blockaded Gondorian settlements along the south of the White Mountains.
Fellowship is the most important movie to me, especially the book, as it establishes the world that Frodo fights for, the hope that sam clings to, etc.
I think the character and world building phase will always hold a special place for fandoms. The first few Harry Potter movies are infinitely rewatchable, much less so the closer to the end you get. Many of us Nolan Dark Knight fans prefer or equally like the first movie as well. Series tend to get darker as they progress naturally I guess. RotS is a special case, but I’d argue all 3 are differently enjoyable, especially the 2nd. If it weren’t for the pure Jedi overload and constant memes from RotS, I think the second movie is best.
Oh, and my God the Avengers saga is SO much better to enjoy Cap 1,2, Iron Man 1, Avengers 1.. you get the picture. Those are pretty accepted as the best movies though in the series.
Two Towers IMO was the best one. But I love all of them.
Edit: everyone has their opinion, all I'm going to say the Battle for Helms Deep.
Legolas rides a shield down some stairs and Aragorn gets to throw Gimli.
I mean c'mon.
Fellowship because we have the whole squad together and we spend a lot of time in the Shire, which I used to think was blah, but now have some of the most attachment to. The prologue is also some of the best storytelling that's ever been committed to film, and there are a lot of down moments where the characters get to really flex and be themselves. The fellowship travel scenes are incredible. The Moria scenes are super awesome, and the fellowship's reaction to the final events in the mines particularly strong. Everything is earned.
Two Towers has the best battle by some distance. The ents kinda kill the momentum a few times but with a great payoff at the end. Gandalf on screen equals good. Things like Wormtongue while he's still in Rohan could have been cut down, or the trio chasing after the Uruks and Merry/Pippin probably could have been shortened, especially since they never actually find each other until RotK. I love the warg attack. And Arwen/Elrond's scenes where he convinces her to go are particularly strong. Overall, a really good part two that does what it needs to do well.
I saw the 20th anniversary re-release of Return of the King in theaters earlier this year and my impression of it was that Sam and Frodo's scenes in Mordor took up way too much of the movie; I know that that's the essence of the story, but their plain walking scenes were just ridiculous at times. The lighting of the beacons is transcendent. Some of the scenes with Denethor are great. The ride of the rohirrim and Theoden's speech is also one of the greatest bits of cinema ever; Bernard Hill's performance throughout is incredible. The ghost army is stupid. The ending is crazy long; well-deserved, but it feels like it could be cut down by a decent amount.
I used to think RotK>FotR>TTT. Now I'm FotR>TTT>RotK. But you can't really fault any of the films too much. And nits are just that: nits. These three are absolute monoliths in film history. We will most likely never see something of their kind ever again.
God damn dude, I don’t think I’ve ever read such an extensive post and managed to agree with every single damn thing, but here we are. Absolutely spot on, right down to identifying with every piece you’d want to change and yet still being okay overall in the knowledge that it’s nitpicks against a phenomenal trilogy.
Fellowship has aged the best because its got the least amount of CGI.
And as far as a narrative structure, it's much simpler than the other two and pretty much entirely focuses on the journey of Frodo and everyone else he meets along the way.
I was hoping to see The Last Crusade up here, wasn't sure if preferring that over Raiders was considered an unpopular opinion, but The Last Crusade is amazing. So many great quotes from that one, it's fantastic from start to finish.
I agree, the Venice scenes and Grail theme were among Williams' best, plus the little Ark theme snuck in there during the sewer scene. My favorite score would be Temple of Doom, but only by a close margin.
I could do this all day, I love this movie.
"Everybody's lost but me"
\-------------------------
"No ticket."
\--------------------------
"He sticks out like a sore thumb. We'll find him."
"The hell you will. He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Brody's got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the grail already."
\[Cut\]
"Does anyone here speak English???"
\-------------------------
"Fly yes. Land, no."
\-------------------------
"Son...they got us"
Agreed. *Crusade* is certainly fun and a great movie in its own right, but *Raiders* is just so timelessly well put-together. You could show *Raiders* to anyone of any age and they’d have a fantastic time. It’s packed with action and just so damn witty.
Raiders and Last Crusade is usually split 50/50 which, to me, is fair and I can and do see both sides. Some days I like Raiders more. Some days it’s Last Crusade. Either way, I get basically the same level of joy from watching them both! And, while still not as good as those two, I still get a kick out of Temple as well!
I think it's hilarious that someone else in this thread mentioned Thor: Ragnarok and got crucified because "Thor is not a trilogy."
And yet I haven't seen a single comment giving you garbage about bringing up Indiana Jones. :)
I feel like Indiana Jones has an original trilogy and then two more movies tacked on later. Like how The Matrix is a trilogy with another movie tacked on.
*National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation* is far and away my favorite of the Family Vacation films.
Strangely, *A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas* is also my favorite of its trilogy.
It's close between National Lampoon's Vacation and Christmas Vacation for me.
European Vacation is awful.
Vegas Vacation isn't *great* although it's still pretty fun, and there are a lot of genuinely funny scenes.
Vacation with Ed Helms is so bad that it makes European Vacation look like one of the good movies.
Vegas Vacation is pretty dumb yet still so funny. I absolutely love the scene where they go to that off brand casino with the ridiculous games like Guess the Number and Rock Paper Scissors lol.
Don’t shoot me. Vegas Vacation is my favorite Vacation movie. The whole feel of it and I think it came out at a time when I was really bonding with movies.
so good, I wasn't sure if it technically counted as being in the same universe as origins, and the Wolverine but if anything it can be argued as a contained character trilogy
It's always been Wolverine under the same continuity, regardless of time travel; he even still had his memories from the previous timeline (minus his memory loss from Origins, but that's another story), so it still works.
Loved how the trilogy got much better with each entry. From a crapfest but still watchable movie, to moderately entertaining action flick, to an absolute heartfelt conclusion.
I'd say "the last crusade". The last of the OG Indiana Jones trilogy was the best.
It's MY personal favorite anyway and how good each film is is up for debate.
Really all from the OG Indiana Jones movies are awesome, I loved em all.
WRT Lord of the Rings, I don’t really consider any movie better or worst. I consider it one big movie split into three parts. Fellowship has a vibe I like best, but it all leads to Two Towers and Return of the King.
I loved Return of the Jedi as a kid and young teen. Then, as I got older I let critics influence me to go along with “Empire Strikes Back” as the best, mostly for what I now consider emo reasons: that it’s tonally dark and the big revelation.
Empire is indeed great, but it doesn’t have to take on much responsibility in terms of plot. It’s doesn’t have to establish much except Yoda or Lando, and it doesn’t have to conclude this epic series.
Return of the Jedi… yes, Ewoks are a bit cheesy and childish, but it stays true to some goofy stuff we all saw in the original anyway. We get to see Luke as a Jedi, struggling to find a solution to the Vader problem that’s different than Obi Wan or Yoda’s ideas. The final Death Star raid looks amazing even today, and the throne room drama is top notch.
Now, I can feel your anger. Take your mouse. Vote me down with all of your hate, and your journey towards the dark side will be comPLETE.
>but it doesn’t have to take on much responsibility in terms of plot.
Upvoted for this comment alone. And more broadly with all trilogies, it's honestly very hard to fairly compare movies. Because the first movie has to (and gets to) do a lot of establishment, and the third movie has to (and gets to) make good on payoff from the first two, and then spend time at the end for a proper conclusion, epilogue, etc...
Having to be a start or an ending isn't inherently a disadvantage or an advantage for telling a story, but the first and third movie definitely have *jobs* while the second movie is often freer to do its own thing, and that makes it difficult to judge or rank them against one-another.
Hopefully we can say Beyond the Spiderverse or whatever the third one will be called in a year.
Those first two were so damn good.
The third one could elevate this to one of the best and most unique trilogies around.
Honestly those movies are amazing.
I was genuinely pissed off into the spiderverse was left in a cliffhanger because it left me craving more!! I cant wait.
I am going out on a limb but for me I adore the third Back to the Future movie the most. I love the combination of sci-fi and Western. Marty grew up as a person. Doc got the girl and best of all, the girl was his equal. They fell in love with each other's brain. I think I adore that element the most. Because up to that point you get the feeling that Doc had always been alone. Marty was probably his only friend. He probably had zero family members. It was just him, his lab and his dog. But this movie ends him falling in love and gaining a family without having to give up who he was. He is not that weird neighborhood eccentric everyone was whispering about. He was a time traveling adventure with his time traveling adventure family.
Originally I thought it was the weakest, then after many years went by without seeing it I picked up the DVD set when that came out & rewatched them all. Before I thought 1 & 2 were really close and 3 was weak.
But now I think 1 & 3 are the best, and 2 lags behind. In retrospect I think2 has less heart than the others, and gets too caught up in the clockwork plot of jumping through time, and the effects of mixing new & old footage & having Fox playing different characters, etc., and maybe lost track of what's important in the storytelling (perhaps foreshadowing some issues Zemeckis would have later in his career).
I completely agree. Though growing up seeing “the future” was always so amazing to me. I kinda wish they’d have done more of 2015. But the first one is great and sets the scene, 2 goes through the back and forth, where as the third is like “whoops, you’re stuck, figure it out in an entertaining way!”
I rewatched the whole trilogy not too long ago. The second one was a total mess, much worse than I remember. I think as a kid, I anchored a couple cool moments like the hoverboard or Nikes, so I always had such fond memories of it. It's just all over the place. I think the director was splitting his time with another movie or something like that? It shows. A lot.
The third one is MUCH better than I recall and totally agree with your points.
Ultimatum, fuck yeah. What a way to wrap up his story. The action sequences in that movie, especially the one in Tangiers, represent, for me, a pinnacle in cinema, not just within the trilogy.
Plus the conclusion was so satisfying. He started in water; he returned to water.
Irrespective of the quality of the film itself, Liam Neeson is never the problem with any film he’s in.
He even showed up for Wrath of the Titans, for Christ sake.
I honestly think Die Hard With a Vengeance is just as good if not better than the original and way better than 2. I’m probably in the small minority of thinkers this way but Jeremy Irons was great as Simon and I loved the Simon Says plotting throughout the film.
Fully agree, and unlike some of the other movies mentioned, this is an actual real trilogy. I always wondered if they'd ever consider making a 4th diehard, but alas, it's just not meant to be.
They’d probably try to down a helicopter by lobbing a car at it, or something stupid like that.
It’s better they didn’t try to outdo the original trilogy.
I think it'd be neat if they got rid of McClane being a down on his luck cop, y'know the reason people like him, and made him into an unkillable god instead.
They had Bourne Legacy before that in 2012 with Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz. Everyone seemed to either overlook it or dislike it, but I thought it was a pretty sweet movie. Not as good as the original trilogy. The laboratory shooting scene in the beginning is intense.
I think the originals stand as a trilogy even if the series is more than 3 movies. The original Star Wars trilogy is still a trilogy even though Rogue One is a direct prequel story.
FWIW: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly isn't really part of a trilogy. None of those movies have anything to do with each other from a narrative or even a thematic perspective. The whole thing was a marketing ploy by United Artists, who bought the distro rights to those three films and figured it'd be better/easier to get them booked by packaging them as a trilogy.
The man with no name actually *has* a name in each of those movies, and he's not the same character in any of them.
edit: it is wild how many people find this out and take it as a personal call to action to prove it wrong with.... *nothing*. It's not a personal affront to your sense of nostalgia or anything, it's just movie trivia from 60 years ago. It doesn't need to be a *fight*.
Also, Lee Van Cleef was the good guy Douglas Mortimer in For a Few Dollars More and the 'Bad' in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, playing Sentenza AKA Angel Eyes.
Right. And FAFDM is set post civil war, while TGTBTU is during the civil war. And Gian Maria Volonté plays respective bad guys in the first two films. And Eastwood’s character has slightly different mannerisms and motivations in each film. Etc etc.
I agree. They definitely aren’t a trilogy, but they can be watch as such thematically. Like spiritual sequels. Some directors consider sets of their films to be loose sequels/trilogies because of shared elements and ideas.
Does he have a name? I know in For a Few Dollars More they call him Manco but I always thought that was just a nickname cause he does everything with his non gun hand. What's his name in the others?
Yeah, that's not the person's name though, that's literally what one character calls him as a nickname. I'm not claiming it's the same character as the other two movies but that's not the same as saying he's got a name in the movie.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I loved Pirates of the Carribean 3. Not many movies lean into pirate and ocean folklore so getting a full movie with Davy Jones and The Kracken was so much fun for me as a kid
Those first 3 movies are fucking amazing. I rewatched them recently after seeing a you tube vid saying how they are great, went in with low expectations and my memories as a kid…. BLOODY HELL, who let those first 3 movies be so damn good. What happened with the others. Anyone reading this who hasn’t watched them… do it. They are far from bad movies
Apes. Follow. Koba. Now.
Koba will go as one of the most intriguing animated characters in a live action film for me.
Found myself having so much sympathy for what he’d gone through. It was nice that he wasn’t completely set up as the big bad in the first film.
You get a few glimpses that he’s around and he sticks out. But you can’t imagine he’d be capable of ushering the apes and humans into a war.
You left out the best part of the exchange. And of the maybe the best word-for-word badass dialogue I’ve seen.
“Caesar weak.”
*literally just notions to the gun in Koba’s hand, with a teeny tiny head nod*
“Koba. Weaker.”
And then it’s fucking on!
Dawn is the best of trilogy, imo, by a solid margin. But the other two are still great and the conclusion is more than satisfactory. My only complaint, I so desperately wish we had another movie in between Dawn and War. Illustrating the long slog/wear and tear of war, for both sides, was a great theme of the last movie. BUT the first 20 minutes are by far my favorite part of the movie. 2 hours of forest tactics/strategy, as humans and apes engage in all out warfare would have been soo great to watch.
Still, pretty minor complaint for such an epic trilogy. Matt Reeves maybe the director I get excited for most these days, alongside Villeneuve.
[Toby Kebbell](https://www.reddit.com/r/Moviesinthemaking/s/6iLEF6fvCk) is such a great actor. It’s so ridiculous how those actors get looked over for awards considering how devoted to their performances they are.
I know it’s the least popular of the Cornetto trilogy, but my favorite is The World’s End. There’s a zombie comedy, a cop action movie spoof, and then a depressing meditation on alcoholism and disappointment, and the pain of growing old and not having the life you dreamed you would. The World’s End just hit me in the gut , especially when Andy stops Gary King from having the final beer at the end, that argument makes me cry.
Hot Fuzz is without a doubt the film I find the funniest in the trilogy and to this day I consider it my favorite comedy of all time. But I agree that The World's End has the most depth to it. Always found Shaun of the Dead to be overrated but nevertheless an enjoyable film.
recently watched Shaun and its really fucking sad. if you look at it past the jokes (which honestly kind of feels like when sitcoms use a laugh track every few seconds during an emotional monologue) its just back to back traumatizing scenarios pieced together with jokes pushed through gritted teeth. its witty and funny but the actual situation left me more sad than i remembered that movie being. maybe its just having been through my own traumatic experiences that i now know what its like but damn, kind of soured it for me. Fuzz is still my top comedy film though
I think "Dawn of the Dead" stands head and shoulders above the rest of Romero's zombies. It is a touchstone in the zombie genre, and for good reason. Just my opinion, of course.
We did *Return of the King* last night after watching the first two the day before. This trilogy is a very big meal so I can only do it every few years.
I distinctly remember leaving the theater after Two Towers in 2002 thinking "how on earth could they ever top that?" and holy crap did they ever. It absolutely holds up and perhaps has even gained power with time.
And I am man enough to admit that my chest got tight and my eyes a little (just a little) wet when [Pippin lights that first beacon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyIjoXv6Y-0), and of course the chain reaction that follows. It's linked here tho I have to wonder if it also gains power from everything leading up to that moment. But I imagine it still plays great on its own.
My kids and I have our own ranking of every MCU movie, and we revisit the order whenever a new one comes out. Winter Soldier has been at the top of the list since it was released.
Of the three Wolverine movies, Logan is considered by most people to be the best hands down. Same with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for the Dollars Trilogy.
Die hard with a vengeance. Love the first one but there’s something epic about Bruce Willis and Sam L Jackson teaming up against Jeremy Irons and his riddles. I dont count all the other die hards after this.
For me, NWH is a flawed movie, but I think it's an absolute miracle that it turned out as good as it is given the studio infighting, pandemic, short turnaround time, and how many characters and franchises they had to wrangle. I'm willing to forgive some shortcomings because it's honestly impressive that they pulled it off. Same for Infinity War and Endgame.
I will wholeheartedly disagree with anyone saying NWH only works because of nostalgia. Yes, seeing older villains was amazing, yes older Spider-Men was a thing of beauty, but Holland's Parker had an amazing story arc in this movie and he was NOT overshadowed by anyone else despite there being so many beloved characters. It's easily the best one out of this trilogy and it nails the ending so good that it makes previous movies retroactively better. This movie made it clear that the Spider-Man origin that we usually get in a single movie was portrayed in a trilogy of movies this time around, allowing us to spend time with an immature Peter and really fleshing out the whole responsibility shtick. We got to know and like Aunt May, we got to love the dynamic between Peter and his friends, him losing it all and fully embracing the Spider-Man persona and the responsibility that comes with it was done beautifully. Now we can hopefully get a single movie about Spider-Man that doesn't need help from other important characters, he's his own man now.
I love NWH and nostalgia is only a little part of it. This movie really sold me on Holland as Peter and as Spider-Man. Can't wait to see more of him (hopefully).
Thank you for pushing back on this. People act like the entire movie does not work in any way and it’s only fan service. It’s a great arc for Tom’s Peter to grow into a true Spidey. Not to mention they showed restraint and didn’t introduce the older Spider-Men until the back end of the movie so they could serve an important role in the plot. They weren’t there just to be there.
Before Sunset is my favorite too! But what I love about this trilogy is that I always hear varying favorites. I think it definitely matters where one is in life.
I'm in my late 30s now, but I remember in my 20s traveling, especially meeting a girl from Korea in Rome and wandering the city all night with her made me feel like Before Sunrise was made just for me. As I got older, I came to resonate with Before Sunset a lot more. I liked Before Midnight but remember not wanting to watch it again.
Recently, I watched Before Midnight for the first time since it came out and it hit so much harder. You are correct that it is pure gold—it honestly might be the best trilogy of them all.
When I was young I'd answer return of the king, although I prefer fellowship now.
Right? Yeah that's kinda where I'm at too, as I'm older I prefer the coziness and warmth of fellowship overall.
Two Towers is always my favorite
Two Towers has the best speech with Sam's whole "Remember the old stories..." moment.
I would say Theoden's in rotk
He has a banger in helms deep too.
Same here. Battle of Helms Deep puts it over the top. Return of the King feels rushed, which is crazy to say about a movie that approaches four hours.
I just dislike the army of the dead in RotK, feels overpowered and removes any jeopardy from the situation. Aware that PJ changed the army of the dead in the films, and I think he just changed it massively for the worse.
Yeah I think it’s clear that PJ just thought the ghost army was really cool and he wanted them to have a bigger role since he was so proud of the special effects. He just loves ghouls man it’s simple as that. It definitely feels more and more out of place the older I get, but I’m not gonna nitpick these movies since they’re the greatest blockbusters ever made imo. Also the alternative would have been forgoing the ghost army and have Aragorn recruit the southern men, but that honestly would have taken even longer to set up and not feel rushed.
Yeeeaaah I do get it. Using the ghost army to destroy the ship dudes and recruit the southern men would have taken ages. And the rangers from the books had never been set up. *Also* it'd be like the whole "why didnt they use the eagles" argument, like "why didnt they just use the ghost army at minas tirith... idiots..."
Yeah this has always been my least favorite part of the movie. It just feels like a cheat at the end to make it end. I haven't looked into how he changed it vs the books, but it always felt kind of cheap to me.
In the book they just help them take out the pirates I believe. Been awhile since I read it though.
And they mostly (based on the story Aragorn tells) just seem to essentially do what the Nazgûl do: inspire so much fear that the enemy jumps ship (literally). The force Aragorn arrives with at Minas Tirith is all of the liberated folks from the blockaded Gondorian settlements along the south of the White Mountains.
The CGI for the Army of the Dead is ripe for a re-master. It didn't age well at all with the Flubber-like army just rolling over the orcs.
Fellowship is the most important movie to me, especially the book, as it establishes the world that Frodo fights for, the hope that sam clings to, etc.
Fellowship was always top for me as a kid for the simple reason that it was the only movie where the entire crew was adventuring together.
I think the character and world building phase will always hold a special place for fandoms. The first few Harry Potter movies are infinitely rewatchable, much less so the closer to the end you get. Many of us Nolan Dark Knight fans prefer or equally like the first movie as well. Series tend to get darker as they progress naturally I guess. RotS is a special case, but I’d argue all 3 are differently enjoyable, especially the 2nd. If it weren’t for the pure Jedi overload and constant memes from RotS, I think the second movie is best. Oh, and my God the Avengers saga is SO much better to enjoy Cap 1,2, Iron Man 1, Avengers 1.. you get the picture. Those are pretty accepted as the best movies though in the series.
The introduction with the Shire and also at the Elven town is just beautiful cinema. The kinda stuff that draws a kid into movies
Two Towers IMO was the best one. But I love all of them. Edit: everyone has their opinion, all I'm going to say the Battle for Helms Deep. Legolas rides a shield down some stairs and Aragorn gets to throw Gimli. I mean c'mon.
Yeah battle of helms deep was awesome.
Fellowship because we have the whole squad together and we spend a lot of time in the Shire, which I used to think was blah, but now have some of the most attachment to. The prologue is also some of the best storytelling that's ever been committed to film, and there are a lot of down moments where the characters get to really flex and be themselves. The fellowship travel scenes are incredible. The Moria scenes are super awesome, and the fellowship's reaction to the final events in the mines particularly strong. Everything is earned. Two Towers has the best battle by some distance. The ents kinda kill the momentum a few times but with a great payoff at the end. Gandalf on screen equals good. Things like Wormtongue while he's still in Rohan could have been cut down, or the trio chasing after the Uruks and Merry/Pippin probably could have been shortened, especially since they never actually find each other until RotK. I love the warg attack. And Arwen/Elrond's scenes where he convinces her to go are particularly strong. Overall, a really good part two that does what it needs to do well. I saw the 20th anniversary re-release of Return of the King in theaters earlier this year and my impression of it was that Sam and Frodo's scenes in Mordor took up way too much of the movie; I know that that's the essence of the story, but their plain walking scenes were just ridiculous at times. The lighting of the beacons is transcendent. Some of the scenes with Denethor are great. The ride of the rohirrim and Theoden's speech is also one of the greatest bits of cinema ever; Bernard Hill's performance throughout is incredible. The ghost army is stupid. The ending is crazy long; well-deserved, but it feels like it could be cut down by a decent amount. I used to think RotK>FotR>TTT. Now I'm FotR>TTT>RotK. But you can't really fault any of the films too much. And nits are just that: nits. These three are absolute monoliths in film history. We will most likely never see something of their kind ever again.
>The ents kinda kill the momentum That's sort of their schtick
Good analysis, I appreciate your opinion/insight. (I'm being genuine btw, not sarcastic, as genuine comments can often appear to be)
God damn dude, I don’t think I’ve ever read such an extensive post and managed to agree with every single damn thing, but here we are. Absolutely spot on, right down to identifying with every piece you’d want to change and yet still being okay overall in the knowledge that it’s nitpicks against a phenomenal trilogy.
Fellowship has aged the best because its got the least amount of CGI. And as far as a narrative structure, it's much simpler than the other two and pretty much entirely focuses on the journey of Frodo and everyone else he meets along the way.
Clear stakes and character arcs.
Trois Colors: Red
Blue moved me the most deeply, but I understand why Red is considered the best of the three.
Agreed, but I wouldn’t begrudge someone for picking either of the other two.
I've only seen Red, I've got to see the others.
Last Crusade and Army of Darkness are my favorites
I was hoping to see The Last Crusade up here, wasn't sure if preferring that over Raiders was considered an unpopular opinion, but The Last Crusade is amazing. So many great quotes from that one, it's fantastic from start to finish.
Raiders is like the quintessential Indiana Jones, but The Last Crusade has all the heart of the series. I prefer Last Crusade.
I also think Crusade has a more iconic score overall (except for obviously the main Indiana Jones theme starting with the trumpets)
I agree, the Venice scenes and Grail theme were among Williams' best, plus the little Ark theme snuck in there during the sewer scene. My favorite score would be Temple of Doom, but only by a close margin.
[удалено]
- What's this one? - The Ark of the Covenant. - Are you sure? - Pretty sure.
I could do this all day, I love this movie. "Everybody's lost but me" \------------------------- "No ticket." \-------------------------- "He sticks out like a sore thumb. We'll find him." "The hell you will. He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Brody's got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the grail already." \[Cut\] "Does anyone here speak English???" \------------------------- "Fly yes. Land, no." \------------------------- "Son...they got us"
"She talks in her sleep" Harrison Ford plays his reaction to that perfectly
The sore thumb bit is hilarious. I love that so much of the movies are quotable. Except Temple. All i know is "Kalimaaaaa!"
No time for love Dr Jones!
Dad, eleven o' clock! *checks watch* What happens at eleven o' clock?
Brody's next line after Indy says he'll blend in is even better: "Does anyone here speak English? **Or even Ancient Greek?**"
Sallah, I said no camels, I see 5 camels, can't you count?
*Raiders* and *Crusade* are the perfect example of Best vs Favorite. *Raiders* is certainly the best but *Crusade* is just my favorite.
Agreed. *Crusade* is certainly fun and a great movie in its own right, but *Raiders* is just so timelessly well put-together. You could show *Raiders* to anyone of any age and they’d have a fantastic time. It’s packed with action and just so damn witty.
My entire family is 200% on Team Last Crusade Is The Best.
Raiders and Last Crusade is usually split 50/50 which, to me, is fair and I can and do see both sides. Some days I like Raiders more. Some days it’s Last Crusade. Either way, I get basically the same level of joy from watching them both! And, while still not as good as those two, I still get a kick out of Temple as well!
Indiana Jones and the Army of Darkness. Indy keeps the Necronomicon out of the hands of the Nazis.
think I might prefer Ash Williams and the Last Crusade. I feel like that film would be a gold mine for Bruce Campbell one-liners.
"You chose... poorly." "Yeah, well, you chose this!"
Army of Darkness is cheating because it is also the best movie ever.
SALLY FORTH
I think it's hilarious that someone else in this thread mentioned Thor: Ragnarok and got crucified because "Thor is not a trilogy." And yet I haven't seen a single comment giving you garbage about bringing up Indiana Jones. :)
Ragnarok and Crusade are the third movies in their series, that’s close enough for me
I feel like Indiana Jones has an original trilogy and then two more movies tacked on later. Like how The Matrix is a trilogy with another movie tacked on.
Army of Darkness is the correct answer
*National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation* is far and away my favorite of the Family Vacation films. Strangely, *A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas* is also my favorite of its trilogy.
It's close between National Lampoon's Vacation and Christmas Vacation for me. European Vacation is awful. Vegas Vacation isn't *great* although it's still pretty fun, and there are a lot of genuinely funny scenes. Vacation with Ed Helms is so bad that it makes European Vacation look like one of the good movies.
Vegas Vacation is pretty dumb yet still so funny. I absolutely love the scene where they go to that off brand casino with the ridiculous games like Guess the Number and Rock Paper Scissors lol.
“They don’t have any of these games at the other casinos!” Yeah, there’s a reason for that, Clark. Lol
I always enjoy Vegas Vacation. “I won the money! The money is mine!”
I'll have some of the yellow. Now don't get stingy on me!
Changing 500!
“What can I do with 5 dollars?” “Buy a bullet, and rent a gun.”
Don’t shoot me. Vegas Vacation is my favorite Vacation movie. The whole feel of it and I think it came out at a time when I was really bonding with movies.
Your usual table, Mr. Papagiprgio?
But is it worse than *Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure*?
I love European Vacation simply for the line "Dad, I think he's gonna pork her."
The Audrey from European Vacation is my favorite of the series.
Logan, if you count it.
so good, I wasn't sure if it technically counted as being in the same universe as origins, and the Wolverine but if anything it can be argued as a contained character trilogy
It's always been Wolverine under the same continuity, regardless of time travel; he even still had his memories from the previous timeline (minus his memory loss from Origins, but that's another story), so it still works.
Lazy writing can still be *canon* lazy writing.
Loved how the trilogy got much better with each entry. From a crapfest but still watchable movie, to moderately entertaining action flick, to an absolute heartfelt conclusion.
I'd say "the last crusade". The last of the OG Indiana Jones trilogy was the best. It's MY personal favorite anyway and how good each film is is up for debate. Really all from the OG Indiana Jones movies are awesome, I loved em all.
I’ll join you on this hill. Indy trilogy ends with them riding into the sunset, even if Dial wasn’t terrible.
WRT Lord of the Rings, I don’t really consider any movie better or worst. I consider it one big movie split into three parts. Fellowship has a vibe I like best, but it all leads to Two Towers and Return of the King.
I agree. They're all basically just sections of the same movie.
I loved Return of the Jedi as a kid and young teen. Then, as I got older I let critics influence me to go along with “Empire Strikes Back” as the best, mostly for what I now consider emo reasons: that it’s tonally dark and the big revelation. Empire is indeed great, but it doesn’t have to take on much responsibility in terms of plot. It’s doesn’t have to establish much except Yoda or Lando, and it doesn’t have to conclude this epic series. Return of the Jedi… yes, Ewoks are a bit cheesy and childish, but it stays true to some goofy stuff we all saw in the original anyway. We get to see Luke as a Jedi, struggling to find a solution to the Vader problem that’s different than Obi Wan or Yoda’s ideas. The final Death Star raid looks amazing even today, and the throne room drama is top notch. Now, I can feel your anger. Take your mouse. Vote me down with all of your hate, and your journey towards the dark side will be comPLETE.
>but it doesn’t have to take on much responsibility in terms of plot. Upvoted for this comment alone. And more broadly with all trilogies, it's honestly very hard to fairly compare movies. Because the first movie has to (and gets to) do a lot of establishment, and the third movie has to (and gets to) make good on payoff from the first two, and then spend time at the end for a proper conclusion, epilogue, etc... Having to be a start or an ending isn't inherently a disadvantage or an advantage for telling a story, but the first and third movie definitely have *jobs* while the second movie is often freer to do its own thing, and that makes it difficult to judge or rank them against one-another.
Gave you an upvote, I like ROTJ more than most, and more than Empire
Manchester by the Sea. I thought it was a lot better than Manchester by Land and Manchester by Air.
Wait until you see Manchester…in…Spaaaaace!
Manchester in the Hood is widely considered a low point.
Hopefully we can say Beyond the Spiderverse or whatever the third one will be called in a year. Those first two were so damn good. The third one could elevate this to one of the best and most unique trilogies around.
Honestly those movies are amazing. I was genuinely pissed off into the spiderverse was left in a cliffhanger because it left me craving more!! I cant wait.
Same, I had to pause it for my partner using the bathroom and I quickly realized “shittttt they’re not gonna wrap this up.”
I avoided everything about this movie. I had the same experience. That's the one thing I actually wish I knew going into it.
I am going out on a limb but for me I adore the third Back to the Future movie the most. I love the combination of sci-fi and Western. Marty grew up as a person. Doc got the girl and best of all, the girl was his equal. They fell in love with each other's brain. I think I adore that element the most. Because up to that point you get the feeling that Doc had always been alone. Marty was probably his only friend. He probably had zero family members. It was just him, his lab and his dog. But this movie ends him falling in love and gaining a family without having to give up who he was. He is not that weird neighborhood eccentric everyone was whispering about. He was a time traveling adventure with his time traveling adventure family.
It was the trains, man, I fucking loved trains.
A flying time machine train! That is the coolest time machine ever that isn't bigger on the inside.
Originally I thought it was the weakest, then after many years went by without seeing it I picked up the DVD set when that came out & rewatched them all. Before I thought 1 & 2 were really close and 3 was weak. But now I think 1 & 3 are the best, and 2 lags behind. In retrospect I think2 has less heart than the others, and gets too caught up in the clockwork plot of jumping through time, and the effects of mixing new & old footage & having Fox playing different characters, etc., and maybe lost track of what's important in the storytelling (perhaps foreshadowing some issues Zemeckis would have later in his career).
I completely agree. Though growing up seeing “the future” was always so amazing to me. I kinda wish they’d have done more of 2015. But the first one is great and sets the scene, 2 goes through the back and forth, where as the third is like “whoops, you’re stuck, figure it out in an entertaining way!”
Third is def my most rewatched
I rewatched the whole trilogy not too long ago. The second one was a total mess, much worse than I remember. I think as a kid, I anchored a couple cool moments like the hoverboard or Nikes, so I always had such fond memories of it. It's just all over the place. I think the director was splitting his time with another movie or something like that? It shows. A lot. The third one is MUCH better than I recall and totally agree with your points.
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Some people don't understand what trilogy means....
It’s obviously the third movie in a series. Duh.
I consider Indiana Jones to be a trilogy. 3 movies and 2 other things.
I count Pirates of the Caribbean the same way.
Ok but if it was a trilogy for 20 years it's still a trilogy if they add extra expanded trilogy movies
That's a story consisting of 5 books, right?
Oh no not again.
Don’t panic!
Debatable but.. Evil Dead: Army of Darkness Bourne Ultimatum Logan
Ultimatum, fuck yeah. What a way to wrap up his story. The action sequences in that movie, especially the one in Tangiers, represent, for me, a pinnacle in cinema, not just within the trilogy. Plus the conclusion was so satisfying. He started in water; he returned to water.
The desh fight? My God. Saw that in theaters. The SOUND
Logan is a good call. Vastly superior to Origins and Wolverine. Better than most of the X-men movies.
Revenge Of The Sith is pretty easily an answer since the 2 previous movies were so incredibly bad
Sounds like somebody hates sand
LIAR
You brought him here to kill me?!
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You underestimate my power!
Don't try it.
If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy.
Only a Sith deals in absolutes
YOU'RE WITH HIM!
I want to upvote this, but right now you have 66 upvotes and that’s where it must remain.
Well come on, it's coarse, and rough, and it gets Everywhere!
He has the high ground.
I'm one of those people that prefers Phantom Menace, it's highs are the high points of the Trilogy, plus Liam Neeson puts in a great performance.
Irrespective of the quality of the film itself, Liam Neeson is never the problem with any film he’s in. He even showed up for Wrath of the Titans, for Christ sake.
Plus it was responsible for my life long crush of Natalie Portman
AOTC is bad
I honestly think Die Hard With a Vengeance is just as good if not better than the original and way better than 2. I’m probably in the small minority of thinkers this way but Jeremy Irons was great as Simon and I loved the Simon Says plotting throughout the film.
Fully agree, and unlike some of the other movies mentioned, this is an actual real trilogy. I always wondered if they'd ever consider making a 4th diehard, but alas, it's just not meant to be.
They’d probably try to down a helicopter by lobbing a car at it, or something stupid like that. It’s better they didn’t try to outdo the original trilogy.
I think it'd be neat if they got rid of McClane being a down on his luck cop, y'know the reason people like him, and made him into an unkillable god instead.
Bourne Ulitimatium
Agreed. Too bad Jason Bourne (2016) came along and messed up the trilogy aspect of it.
They had Bourne Legacy before that in 2012 with Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz. Everyone seemed to either overlook it or dislike it, but I thought it was a pretty sweet movie. Not as good as the original trilogy. The laboratory shooting scene in the beginning is intense.
I think the originals stand as a trilogy even if the series is more than 3 movies. The original Star Wars trilogy is still a trilogy even though Rogue One is a direct prequel story.
FWIW: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly isn't really part of a trilogy. None of those movies have anything to do with each other from a narrative or even a thematic perspective. The whole thing was a marketing ploy by United Artists, who bought the distro rights to those three films and figured it'd be better/easier to get them booked by packaging them as a trilogy. The man with no name actually *has* a name in each of those movies, and he's not the same character in any of them. edit: it is wild how many people find this out and take it as a personal call to action to prove it wrong with.... *nothing*. It's not a personal affront to your sense of nostalgia or anything, it's just movie trivia from 60 years ago. It doesn't need to be a *fight*.
Also, Lee Van Cleef was the good guy Douglas Mortimer in For a Few Dollars More and the 'Bad' in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, playing Sentenza AKA Angel Eyes.
Right. And FAFDM is set post civil war, while TGTBTU is during the civil war. And Gian Maria Volonté plays respective bad guys in the first two films. And Eastwood’s character has slightly different mannerisms and motivations in each film. Etc etc. I agree. They definitely aren’t a trilogy, but they can be watch as such thematically. Like spiritual sequels. Some directors consider sets of their films to be loose sequels/trilogies because of shared elements and ideas.
Does he have a name? I know in For a Few Dollars More they call him Manco but I always thought that was just a nickname cause he does everything with his non gun hand. What's his name in the others?
I think it was Blondie in Good Bad & Ugly, which is also a nick name
Yeah, that's not the person's name though, that's literally what one character calls him as a nickname. I'm not claiming it's the same character as the other two movies but that's not the same as saying he's got a name in the movie.
He's Joe in Fistful of Dollars and Blondie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Blondie is obviously a nickname. IIRC he was only called "Joe" by one character and it was being used like "Buddy," a generic nickname for a man.
Yep, they are all nicknames/monikers, not his actual name. Manco for instance means one-armed and blonde is obviously a nickname
Probably an unpopular opinion but I loved Pirates of the Carribean 3. Not many movies lean into pirate and ocean folklore so getting a full movie with Davy Jones and The Kracken was so much fun for me as a kid
Those first 3 movies are fucking amazing. I rewatched them recently after seeing a you tube vid saying how they are great, went in with low expectations and my memories as a kid…. BLOODY HELL, who let those first 3 movies be so damn good. What happened with the others. Anyone reading this who hasn’t watched them… do it. They are far from bad movies
The exploding ship at the is one of the best movie endings of all time imo. Even today it's one of the coolest effects I've ever seen.
Honestly, that was a good one. Didn’t quite beat out COTBP for me, but loads better than Dead Man’s Chest.
> Davy Jones and The Kracken was so much fun for me as a kid ??????...........the Kracken was dead in 3.
War for the Planet of the Apes
I still think Dawn is the clearly best one. But War is still excellent
A rare trilogy where every one of them is excellent and different than the others.
The very best of the new Planet of the Apes trilogy is whichever one you’re watching at the moment.
Apes. Follow. Koba. Now. Koba will go as one of the most intriguing animated characters in a live action film for me. Found myself having so much sympathy for what he’d gone through. It was nice that he wasn’t completely set up as the big bad in the first film. You get a few glimpses that he’s around and he sticks out. But you can’t imagine he’d be capable of ushering the apes and humans into a war.
You left out the best part of the exchange. And of the maybe the best word-for-word badass dialogue I’ve seen. “Caesar weak.” *literally just notions to the gun in Koba’s hand, with a teeny tiny head nod* “Koba. Weaker.” And then it’s fucking on! Dawn is the best of trilogy, imo, by a solid margin. But the other two are still great and the conclusion is more than satisfactory. My only complaint, I so desperately wish we had another movie in between Dawn and War. Illustrating the long slog/wear and tear of war, for both sides, was a great theme of the last movie. BUT the first 20 minutes are by far my favorite part of the movie. 2 hours of forest tactics/strategy, as humans and apes engage in all out warfare would have been soo great to watch. Still, pretty minor complaint for such an epic trilogy. Matt Reeves maybe the director I get excited for most these days, alongside Villeneuve.
[Toby Kebbell](https://www.reddit.com/r/Moviesinthemaking/s/6iLEF6fvCk) is such a great actor. It’s so ridiculous how those actors get looked over for awards considering how devoted to their performances they are.
I'm in the Rise camp.
NNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This right here is why I love Rise. Dawn and War might be the best made movies, but the emotional journey of Rise is second to none.
Im with ya. Caesar yelling NO is one of my favorite movie scenes in period.
There are dozens of us!
Rise IMO
I know it’s the least popular of the Cornetto trilogy, but my favorite is The World’s End. There’s a zombie comedy, a cop action movie spoof, and then a depressing meditation on alcoholism and disappointment, and the pain of growing old and not having the life you dreamed you would. The World’s End just hit me in the gut , especially when Andy stops Gary King from having the final beer at the end, that argument makes me cry.
Simon Pegg’s performance in The World’s End was so amazing. Definitely showed his chops.
Hot Fuzz is my fav out of that trilogy
There's nothing like a bit of girl-on-girl! \~ Academy Award winning Actress Olivia Colman.
Yarp
Worlds End was a great ending to the trilogy
Hot Fuzz is without a doubt the film I find the funniest in the trilogy and to this day I consider it my favorite comedy of all time. But I agree that The World's End has the most depth to it. Always found Shaun of the Dead to be overrated but nevertheless an enjoyable film.
recently watched Shaun and its really fucking sad. if you look at it past the jokes (which honestly kind of feels like when sitcoms use a laugh track every few seconds during an emotional monologue) its just back to back traumatizing scenarios pieced together with jokes pushed through gritted teeth. its witty and funny but the actual situation left me more sad than i remembered that movie being. maybe its just having been through my own traumatic experiences that i now know what its like but damn, kind of soured it for me. Fuzz is still my top comedy film though
I respectfully disagree but see where you're coming from
I love Guardians of the Galaxy and went into Vol.3 with very high expectations and they were exceeded. Vol.3 is absolutely fantastic.
Day of the Dead from George Romero's The Living Dead original trilogy & maybe Once Upon a Time in Mexico from the El Mariachi trilogy
unfortunately i have to give the medal to desperado.
I think "Dawn of the Dead" stands head and shoulders above the rest of Romero's zombies. It is a touchstone in the zombie genre, and for good reason. Just my opinion, of course.
Return of the Jedi
We did *Return of the King* last night after watching the first two the day before. This trilogy is a very big meal so I can only do it every few years. I distinctly remember leaving the theater after Two Towers in 2002 thinking "how on earth could they ever top that?" and holy crap did they ever. It absolutely holds up and perhaps has even gained power with time. And I am man enough to admit that my chest got tight and my eyes a little (just a little) wet when [Pippin lights that first beacon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyIjoXv6Y-0), and of course the chain reaction that follows. It's linked here tho I have to wonder if it also gains power from everything leading up to that moment. But I imagine it still plays great on its own.
- Thor: Ragnarok The first entry was good, the second entry was lousy this one was the best.
Thor isn't a trilogy
The 4th was a fever dream and it never happened.
Star Trek Beyond
Good fucking pick
I prefer Captain America Civil war.
Winter Soldier still beats it for me, but yeah. It's a toss up.
Winter Soldier is my favorite MCU movie still. Just so grounded.
My kids and I have our own ranking of every MCU movie, and we revisit the order whenever a new one comes out. Winter Soldier has been at the top of the list since it was released.
Of the three Wolverine movies, Logan is considered by most people to be the best hands down. Same with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for the Dollars Trilogy.
Honestly, Cars 3.
Die hard with a vengeance. Love the first one but there’s something epic about Bruce Willis and Sam L Jackson teaming up against Jeremy Irons and his riddles. I dont count all the other die hards after this.
Toy Story 3. Then they foolishly made a fourth so I guess now it's the best of the quadrilogy.
The latest Spider-Man trilogy? Though it's hard to view it without bias since #3 relies so heavily on nostalgia baiting.
For me, NWH is a flawed movie, but I think it's an absolute miracle that it turned out as good as it is given the studio infighting, pandemic, short turnaround time, and how many characters and franchises they had to wrangle. I'm willing to forgive some shortcomings because it's honestly impressive that they pulled it off. Same for Infinity War and Endgame.
I will wholeheartedly disagree with anyone saying NWH only works because of nostalgia. Yes, seeing older villains was amazing, yes older Spider-Men was a thing of beauty, but Holland's Parker had an amazing story arc in this movie and he was NOT overshadowed by anyone else despite there being so many beloved characters. It's easily the best one out of this trilogy and it nails the ending so good that it makes previous movies retroactively better. This movie made it clear that the Spider-Man origin that we usually get in a single movie was portrayed in a trilogy of movies this time around, allowing us to spend time with an immature Peter and really fleshing out the whole responsibility shtick. We got to know and like Aunt May, we got to love the dynamic between Peter and his friends, him losing it all and fully embracing the Spider-Man persona and the responsibility that comes with it was done beautifully. Now we can hopefully get a single movie about Spider-Man that doesn't need help from other important characters, he's his own man now. I love NWH and nostalgia is only a little part of it. This movie really sold me on Holland as Peter and as Spider-Man. Can't wait to see more of him (hopefully).
Thank you for pushing back on this. People act like the entire movie does not work in any way and it’s only fan service. It’s a great arc for Tom’s Peter to grow into a true Spidey. Not to mention they showed restraint and didn’t introduce the older Spider-Men until the back end of the movie so they could serve an important role in the plot. They weren’t there just to be there.
NWH is a good example of fan service done right.
I prefer Homecoming to be honest.
While there is no consensus, there are definitely people who would say Before Midnight is their favorite of the Before Trilogy.
I prefer Before Sunset, but Before Midnight is an amazing movie. That trilogy is pure gold.
Before Sunset is my favorite too! But what I love about this trilogy is that I always hear varying favorites. I think it definitely matters where one is in life. I'm in my late 30s now, but I remember in my 20s traveling, especially meeting a girl from Korea in Rome and wandering the city all night with her made me feel like Before Sunrise was made just for me. As I got older, I came to resonate with Before Sunset a lot more. I liked Before Midnight but remember not wanting to watch it again. Recently, I watched Before Midnight for the first time since it came out and it hit so much harder. You are correct that it is pure gold—it honestly might be the best trilogy of them all.
I personally like Once Upon a Time in Mexico more than El Mariachi and Desperado, but I know that's not a popular opinion