What would you all consider the "holy trilogies" of movies? (1 Viewer)

[Cory S.]

For me, it all starts with:

The Godfather Trilogy: Plain and simple, the first film is the only true flawless film in the history of cinema for my money. Parts II and III are exceptionally beautiful as well. This is "The Holy Trilogy of Cinema".

The Matrix Trilogy: Thought-provoking, ambitious, and the first true live-action anime films. Great stuff.

The Indiana Jones Trilogy: Pure unadulterated cinematic magic, adventure, and excitement. You can't go wrong with watching these set of films on a weekened. Just fun throughout.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Not the cinematic masterpieces many have labeled it but a grande adventure with some truly wonderful moments. (Most of them take place in the Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition for my money. That film is the "True Masterpiece of the Trilogy."

The Back to the Future Trilogy: Again, like Indiana Jones, just plain fun. A set of films that never get boring to me.

Now, I would put Star Wars number 2 behind the Godfather Trilogy but Star Wars isn't a trilogy anymore in my eyes. It's a saga. And it's the greatest saga in cinema history. But if I had to, The Original Trilogy would be number 2 and the Prequel Trilogy would be number 3. But again, it's not a trilogy anymore.

 

[RobertR]

LOTR, because of the consistent quality. It didn't finish weakly as did some of the other trilogies.

 

[Vader]

LotR. Nothing else comes close (IMO).

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Mean Streets / Goodfellas / Casino

(low-class / middle-class / high-class gangsters)


And I second:

Time Bandits / Brazil / Adventures of Baron Muchausen

(the dreamer as a child / adult / old man)

 

[chris winters]

How about the Bourne series. I really enjoyed 1 and 2, and if the third lives up to the first 2, i would rank them up their with some of the best 3 movie series. Maybe not as epic as LOTR or Matrix, but very solid.

Also Oliver Stones' Vietnam trilogy of Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, and Heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth is a bit dodgy, however.

 

[Ernest Rister]

First of all, I don't consider any film "holy". I know Kevin Smith was making a joke when he coined the phrase "holy trilogy" to refer to the Star Wars films, riffing on the Catholic "Holy Trinity", but this term has been used many times since by people whom I suspect were NOT kidding when they called their favorite franchise films "holy". It's just one of those phrases you hear a lot on movie discussion boards, that and pre-pubescent analogies to watching films and having intercourse.

"LOTR, because of the consistent quality. It didn't finish weakly as did some of the other trilogies."

LOTR was based on a previously existing book that was split up into three parts by the publisher. LOTR wasn't a trilogy, and Tolkien did not consider it as such. It is one long story. The differences here and the films people are using for comparison are considerable. Many film trilogies are self-contained stories with larger themes and plot threads used in the films more or less as history, not narrative. Also, all these films people are mentioning (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Matrix, Back to the Future, even Lethal Weapon, Dirty Harry, Die Hard, Rambo, etc.) were somewhat original properties, the writers of these films didn't have the luxury of bringing a story to the screen that had been meticulously written by a genius over a decade's time (and then subsequently meticulously studied by legions for decades hence).

I'll elaborate more in a bit.

 

[chris winters]

Perhaps in a couple years time, we will all be talking about a series with true "holy" potential. James Cameron's 6 part Battle Angel Alita saga. Could occupy cinemas every fall for the next 7-9 years. ROTR and MATRIX get to the back of the line. you just got served! -purposefully cheezy-

And lets not forget the amazing "yards" series. First 'The Whole 9 Yards', then 'The Whole 10 Yards'. Granted, we are are still waiting for 'The Whole 11 Yards' to hit the theaters, but I'm aloud to dream arent I?

 

[Neil McCaulley]

This one's easy. It would be 'A New Hope', 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi'. Never has a trilogy captured our hearts as children, changed movies and how we see them today, and still fascinates us by making us feel 8 years old again whenever we see them.

 

[Neil McCaulley]

Shame on you DF! I am stripping you of your original Trilogy laserdiscs until you come back to your senses and rededicate your loyalties! Bad DF! Bad! Bad! Bad! Now go lay down!

 

[Jefferson Morris]

And I second:

Time Bandits / Brazil / Adventures of Baron Muchausen

I'll third it. One of the few trilogies mentioned so far that starts off well, gets better, then actually saves the best for last. But I suppose some will disqualify it because it is only a unified trilogy in a thematic sense (and was really only recognized as such by Gilliam after the fact). Munchausen was my favorite fantasy film until Fellowship of the Ring (as much as I love the LOTR trilogy as a whole, FOTR is still the best of the films by a generous margin, IMO, and this mars the ranking of the trilogy somewhat).

The Indiana Jones and Matrix trilogies both fall into the same category for me - brilliant first film, sporadically exciting second film, then a genuinely disappointing third film.

--Jefferson Morris

P.S. Of course I still own both trilogies on DVD. Who can live without a copy of Raiders on their shelf? But I'm not biting on that Ultimate Matrix collection - waiting for the re-mastered first film to be released separately, which I hope is inevitable.

 

[dannyCraigs]

The 2 trilogies that will have more lasting appeal than any of the others mentioned are: star wars OT and LOTR. Godfather trilogy (part 3 was kind of disapointing) definetly deserves a mention and so does the dollar trilogy I can't believe that matrix is being mentioned in this thread, whilst the first movie was nicely put together, the 2 sequels were shoddy efforts. There may be cases where you might still pass a trilogy of where 2 of it's parts were good. But where only the first part was good and the latter 2 were just cashing in exercises, i don't think it belongs in this thread. Though the matrix may belong in some sort of top films listing for it's impact at the time, though I don't think it has the lasting appeal of most other hit movies. Even the terminator trilogy belongs more in this thread, the 3rd movie may be average but it beats the hell out of any of the matrix sequels.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Ernest is correct in his consideration of the word ‘holy’ (as applied to movies of this type) and the word ‘trilogy’.

No doubt this will make a great deal of difference to LOTR fans.

Personally I thought that Peter Jackson consciously avoided making a ‘trilogy’ (at least in the literary sense). This is easily seen in the very beginning of The Two Towers, where it picks up the story left at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring without explanation.

 

[Stephen-R]

"The Thin Man" movies. Er...well there are more than three, but the first three are the best.

Better written and better acted then allot of movies today.