What is the best film trilogy?

[Dunners]

Given our success at sorting out the middle-east conflict and the trans debate, we may as well give this a go too.

I read online somewhere that the Back to the Future series is the best trilogy, but I disagree. The first film is a masterclass and easily ranks as one of the greatest films of all time. But the other two are forgettable.

Obviously, there's the Alien series. I know Alien 3 is sometimes criticised, but I really liked it. It also means you have to conveniently ignore any other Alien films. And if we're going to play that game, then allow me to thrown in a curve ball:

Star Trek 2, 4 and 6.

What's your favourite and, even more importantly, can you make an argument that puts you into an intractable and entrenched position?

[CEB]

Good idea for a thread.
Don’t agree that 2 is forgettable - it’s a very clever and enjoyable film and I think it was hugely enjoyable. It gets marked down for its weird, unethical decisions around re-casting George McFly. Three is great fun but ultimately a rehash of the first in a different time period.

Here’s a suggestion - not that this series contains any genuine masterpieces, just as a trilogy with no dip in quality, and where each film builds on the last without running out of ideas - the rebooted Planet Of The Apes movies

[Friend or fart]

The 3 Swedish films based on Stieg Larsson's Milliennium trilogy

[Dunners]

I agree that BTTF 2 is good (and so is 3), but if neither had ever been made I reckon the first would have been even more iconic. It doesn't need them, and neither of them on their own would have achieved such iconic status.

Good shout for the Planet of the Apes reboot.

[Dunners]

Obviously, we should urgently remake the first BTTF film now with a black female lead playing the part of Mary McFly who goes on to be the leader she was always destined to be while trying to win the heart of her non-binary lover (who was, however, assigned female sex at birth).

[Mistadobalina]

Lord of the Rings is the obvious answer. They stay perfect over 10 hours.

Bourne and Toy Story trilogies as you can see their sequels as separate. Toy Story might be a closer contender to lotr but will depend on the age you were when they started getting released.

Harold and Kumar.

Linklater's Before trilogy if you're being arty.

Maybe the Cornetto trilogy if they count.

[The Mindsweep]

Toy Story 1,2 & 3

[Dunners]

Lord of the Rings is the obvious answer. They stay perfect over 10 hours.

Bourne and Toy Story trilogies as you can see their sequels as separate. Toy Story might be a closer contender to lotr but will depend on the age you were when they started getting released.

Harold and Kumar.

Linklater's Before trilogy if you're being arty.

Maybe the Cornetto trilogy if they count.

Hmmm. LOTR is a good shout. I recently rewatched them and they hold up well.

The Cornetto trilogy certainly does count, but isn't going to be a contender due to The World's End, which wasn't great at the time but has gotten worse with time.

Bourne was basically a Bond reboot, but a good one nonetheless. And Toy Story is a strong contender.

[CEB]

Lord of the Rings is the obvious answer. They stay perfect over 10 hours.

Bourne and Toy Story trilogies as you can see their sequels as separate. Toy Story might be a closer contender to lotr but will depend on the age you were when they started getting released.

Harold and Kumar.

Linklater's Before trilogy if you're being arty.

Maybe the Cornetto trilogy if they count.

Lord of the Rings gets disqualified because it’s essentially one story that was published in three (or six if you count the “books” within each novel) volumes.

Agree about Linklater’s Before series, I love them, but I feel like having them as my trilogy would be the act of a w***er. Not that I’m not one.

[Constanza]

Clearly this is Paddington 2, Paddington, Paddington 2 directors cut.

[CEB]

The World’s End was awful. And missed a chance for what would’ve been it’s one good gag - when they kill the Martin Freeman bot, it would’ve been much better if he was actually still human

[CEB]

28 Days, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later.
Really good tonal shift after the first film. Didn’t see the change in direction coming at all.

[Dunners]

Lord of the Rings is the obvious answer. They stay perfect over 10 hours.

Lord of the Rings gets disqualified because it’s essentially one story that was published in three (or six if you count the “books” within each novel) volumes.

This is the kind of nerdery and controversy I'm after.

[Constanza]

I also enjoyed the Beethoven movies. Not sure if they stopped at 3 or the puppies got really big and had more sequels.

[Dunners]

Good to see that nobody has had the nerve to suggest the original Star Wars films.

[CEB]

Good to see that nobody has had the nerve to suggest the original Star Wars films.

The kind of baiting that will ensure this thread kicks off as it should

[Mistadobalina]

The World’s End was awful. And missed a chance for what would’ve been it’s one good gag - when they kill the Martin Freeman bot, it would’ve been much better if he was actually still human

Yeah fair point. Quite liked the first half of it but turns into a steaming mess following that.

[Mistadobalina]

I'd say the perfect trilogy needs to feel organic. Bolt on sequels that are clearly a studio eeking out more money from successful intellectual property should be an automatic disqualification for this category. Back to the future suffers from this badly, even if decent films. And much as I feel Alien 3 is underrated, it essentially doesn't need to exist as it doesn't cover much new ground or plot.

Lotr is a trilogy in the purest form as it was always going to be three films and was done at the same time, so it keeps the same aesthetic and tone throughout. I'd say the source material is completely irrelevant to that.

The first two Matrix films come close to nailing that consistency of ideas and aesthetic, but are let down by the third film being a bit of a turd.

[Dunners]

Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy". IMHO, each film just improved on the previous one, with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly being unsurpassed. And, while not part of the trilogy, watching the brilliant Unforgiven straight after adds a whole new perspective.

[Dunners]

I'd say the perfect trilogy needs to feel organic. Bolt on sequels that are clearly a studio eeking out more money from successful intellectual property should be an automatic disqualification for this category.

That's too purist. While I agree to an extent, I have no issue with a studio eeking out more money if the product is good. And while a trilogy with 2 out of 3 films being good will never win the "Best Of" category, it still means we got 2 decent films and not just 1.

[CEB]

I'd say the perfect trilogy needs to feel organic. Bolt on sequels that are clearly a studio eeking out more money from successful intellectual property should be an automatic disqualification for this category. Back to the future suffers from this badly, even if decent films. And much as I feel Alien 3 is underrated, it essentially doesn't need to exist as it doesn't cover much new ground or plot.

Lotr is a trilogy in the purest form as it was always going to be three films and was done at the same time, so it keeps the same aesthetic and tone throughout. I'd say the source material is completely irrelevant to that.

The first two Matrix films come close to nailing that consistency of ideas and aesthetic, but are let down by the third film being a bit of a turd.

Surely the Matrix is an even more egregious version of what BTTF does; a first film that perfectly engages with the premise, is exciting, coherent and builds towards something great, and finishes with a vague promise of more to come that functions more practically as a great end, leaving future adventures to the imagination (“we don’t need roads” and Neo hanging up the phone before flying off are both moments that promise so much more than could be delivered) - but then Matrix 2, the quality drops of a cliff and the whole thing is a convoluted mess and the Wachowski brothers seem more interested in the smell of their own farts than in telling a coherent story

[Daily Express bot]

Fist Full of Dollars and the other ones that went with it.f

[Hoover Attack]

Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Case closed.

[HARVEY T DENTON]

Porky's.

[Mistadobalina]

I'd say the perfect trilogy needs to feel organic. Bolt on sequels that are clearly a studio eeking out more money from successful intellectual property should be an automatic disqualification for this category. Back to the future suffers from this badly, even if decent films. And much as I feel Alien 3 is underrated, it essentially doesn't need to exist as it doesn't cover much new ground or plot.

Lotr is a trilogy in the purest form as it was always going to be three films and was done at the same time, so it keeps the same aesthetic and tone throughout. I'd say the source material is completely irrelevant to that.

The first two Matrix films come close to nailing that consistency of ideas and aesthetic, but are let down by the third film being a bit of a turd.

Surely the Matrix is an even more egregious version of what BTTF does; a first film that perfectly engages with the premise, is exciting, coherent and builds towards something great, and finishes with a vague promise of more to come that functions more practically as a great end, leaving future adventures to the imagination (“we don’t need roads” and Neo hanging up the phone before flying off are both moments that promise so much more than could be delivered) - but then Matrix 2, the quality drops of a cliff and the whole thing is a convoluted mess and the Wachowski brothers seem more interested in the smell of their own farts than in telling a coherent story

Matrix 2 is criminally underrated. The fight sequences are superb, the set up for a climatic battle between the robots and humanity really well done, builds upon Neo's vague prophecy stuff from the first film well, Agent Smith's revival feels like a genuine plot point as opposed to just reviving a known villain, it has Monica Belushi in it. What's not to like.

Unfortunately this is all thrown away in the third which is oddly stolid and dull.