74 replies to this topic

[SDG]

Peter T Chattaway, on 18 June 2010 - 12:45 PM, said:

I dunno, I still like The Lord of the Rings.

Except it's not really a trilogy, if by that we mean three sequential but reasonably self-contained stories. Tolkien considered the novel a single work in six books published for convenience as three volumes, and Peter Jackson likewise considers the work essentially one film. That doesn't mean there isn't variation and a creative arc, but even a single film or novel can have that.

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Speaking of which (sort of): SDG, the opening lines in your review (I haven't read the whole thing yet) made me think not of The Empire Strikes Back but of the Godfather series. Many people believed -- and still believe -- that Part II had taken the themes of the original Godfather about as far as they could go, and that Part II had "completed" the story in a very definitive way. So there were all sorts of hurdles that Part III had to overcome when it came out over a decade later, not unlike the hurdles that Toy Story 3 might have had to overcome when it came out over a decade after the second film in its own trilogy.

Yeah, that's an excellent point of comparison.

[Peter T Chattaway]

It occurs to me that the Godfather series also follows a child from childhood to adulthood, just as the Toy Story movies do. Oh dear. Does Andy get shot on the steps of an opera house? Does Woody sink to his knees and look to the skies and gasp for breath for what seem like minutes on end before finally crying, and crying, and crying loudly into the cold dark night?

[M. Leary]

Should we break this off into a best trilogies thread? Then I can suggest the Mad Max films without sounding ridiculously off-topic.

[Ryan H.]

I submit Sergio Leone's "The Man With No Name" trilogy: A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS/FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE/THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY.

Edited by Ryan H., 18 June 2010 - 01:50 PM.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Don't know if this is ahem-able or merge-able or merely link-able, but, for now at least: Links to our threads on 'greatest trilogy ever?' (Dec 2003 - Sep 2005) and 'Top Ten Movie Trilogies' (Jul 2008).

Oh, and link to the thread on Toy Story 3 (2010), which is where this discussion began (hence all the references to that film and its predecessors above).

[SDG]

Peter T Chattaway, on 18 June 2010 - 02:00 PM, said:

Don't know if this is ahem-able or merge-able or merely link-able, but, for now at least: Links to our threads on 'greatest trilogy ever?' (Dec 2003 - Sep 2005) and 'Top Ten Movie Trilogies' (Jul 2008).

Okay, I merged the new thread with "greatest trilogies ever." Should I merge the Top Ten thread also?

[Persona]

Cool to see this thread years later. For me it is easily a tie between The Silence Trilogy and LOTR trilogy. I still like the Orphic Trilogy, and I love the Oslo Trilogy (except for the first film, which was weaker), but the Silence and LOTR trilogies stand out.

The Godfather trilogy could have stood out had it not been for the third film.

PS I could easily see The Millineum Trilogy getting an honorable mention... Once I see the final two.

Edited by Persona, 18 June 2010 - 03:39 PM.

[Overstreet]

Having forgotten to count Three Colors as a trilogy, I take back my Best. Trilogy. Ever.

But in terms of "franchises" or films that are about the same characters in different adventures, yeah, I stand by it.

Return of the King is, for me, easily the weak link in The Lord of the Rings series for me. I put it on recently and was surprised at what a chore it felt like to get through.

[Ryan H.]

Yeah, RETURN OF THE KING is sloppy.

I sometimes wonder whether Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS would actually had been better if he'd stuck to his original two film notion. While Tolkien fans would undoubtedly have bristled at the notion of more material ending up left out from the source, it might have forced him to produce tighter, stronger films, making the most of the material he was allowed. The final result suffers from indulgence. And, for what it's worth, I've actually heard fairly strong things about his script for the two-film version of LORD OF THE RINGS.

[Phill Lytle]

Overstreet, on 18 June 2010 - 12:07 PM, said:

Best. Trilogy. Ever.

I don't like using the word "best," usually. It's so wide open to debate. But I challenge anybody to come up with a trilogy in which all three episodes are so uniformly strong.

Prior to seeing Toy Story 3 my reaction was: No. That honor goes to The Lord of the Rings unless we actually are considering it one gigantic film. If so, then I would say that the original Star Wars trilogy is the best.

After seeing Toy Story 3 my reaction is: Yes. LOTR - one story. Star Wars - sorry, the toys are better than the Force.

[MattPage]

Graphical representation of how movie triolgies fare on Rotten Tomatoes.

Matt

[NBooth]

PopMatters: The 10 Greatest Motion Picture Trilogies of All Time

I have my doubts about some of the choices (While The Matrix is barely passable by itself, the last two movies explicitly contradict PopMatter's own rule that "all three movies must be worth watching").

I also would demand to know why the Dragon Tattoo trilogy is on there, but not the Red Riding trilogy, but (1) Red Riding premiered on television, and so may not qualify, and (2) I don't want to sound too much like a broken record.

Edited by NBooth, 20 September 2011 - 11:34 AM.

[Tyler]

I've never heard (or thought) of those three Gilliam movies as a trilogy. Are they connected in some ways I missed?

Also, I guess this guy hasn't heard of Three Colors.

[M. Leary]

Tyler, on 20 September 2011 - 11:37 AM, said:

I've never heard (or thought) of those three Gilliam movies as a trilogy. Are they connected in some ways I missed?

I saw Gilliam once refer to these three films as the "dream trilogy," which I think is in the Criterion notes for one of them. I have seen others refer to the three as the "Aging" trilogy or something similar, stating that they represent the three stages of life. I have no idea where that idea comes from.

[NBooth]

Tyler, on 20 September 2011 - 11:37 AM, said:

Also, I guess this guy hasn't heard of Three Colors.

Or the Apu trilogy, or the Silence of God trilogy or the Cavalry Trilogy....

Mind, I've only seen the Ford movies, but I've at least heard of the others.