The debate over what is in fact the “greatest movie trilogy of all time” is not an easy one to determine. While comparing individual films is one thing, seeing how entire trilogies stack up against each other forces film fans to consider other factors. This is why more often than not, the originalStar Warsfilm trilogy and Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy are often cited as the greatest of all-time; not only do both film trilogies tell complete and wholesome stories, but each installment is fairly equal in quality, even ifThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingis the only installment to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Even if you won’t find a lot of film fans saying thatReturn of the JediorThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towersare the best of their respective trilogies, they are still great films nonetheless. This can’t be said for some trilogies with one clearly terrible entry; even thoughThe GodfatherandThe Godfather: Part IIare among the greatest films ever made, the disappointing nature ofThe Godfather: Part IIImakes that trilogy more challenging to hold up in overall quality.
However, film trilogies with one standout entry that are supported by other great films are still worthy of consideration.The Dark Knightis perhaps the greatest superhero film of all time, but the similarly high quality ofBatman BeginsandThe Dark Knight RisesmakesChristopher Nolan’s Batman trilogya worthy contender. Few would argue that the sequels toBack to the Futureare better than the original, or thatA Fistful of DollarsorFor A Few Dollars MoresurpassesThe Good, The Bad, and The Uglyin terms of quality. That doesn’t mean that the modern Batman trilogy, theBack to the Futuretrilogy, and Sergio Leone’s “Dollars Trilogy” aren’t all worthy contenders as well.
The Before Trilogy
While movie trilogies are often thought of as the expansions of action movie franchises, many of the best cohesive stories told over time are the ones that are strictly about realistic relationships. This is one of the reasons that Richard Linklater’sBeforetrilogy stands as not only one of his best achievements, but one of the best sagas in film history. The three films,Before Sunrise,Before Sunset,andBefore Midnight, explored the development of a relationship between the American writer Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and the French woman Celine (Julie Delpy). With nine years between each installment, Linklater was able to make each film feel like a unique time capsule.
While Linklater attempted to capture the same sense of realism with his 2014 filmBoyhood, theBeforetrilogy showed more narrative cohesion because of Hawke and Delpy’s contributions to the story development; it felt like they were all equally responsible for the way the story was headed, whileBoyhoodfelt like it was more off a straightforward representation of Linklater’s childhood.
Related:8 Most Cohesive Movie Trilogies of All Time
The Apu Trilogy
While Linklater’s trilogy explored the development of a relationship over time, the great Indianfilmmaker Satyajit Raylaid the groundworkwithThe Apu Trilogy. The three films explored the creative development of the young writer Apu as a child in 1955’sPather Panchali, a teenager in 1956’sAparajito, and as an adult in 1959’sThe World of Apu. Seeing Apu take his experiences inPather Panchaliand share them inThe World of Apuwas a great way to complete the “coming-of-age” narrative over time.
Related:5 Trilogies Where the Third Movie Is Undisputedly the Best
The Hobbit Trilogy
Few would argue thatThe Lord of the Ringsisn’t at least one of the best movie franchises of all time. It’s one of only two trilogies in which all three installments were nominated for Best Picture, andReturn of the King’s 11 wins ties the all-time record for most Oscar wins withBen-HurandTitanic, respectively. While it made sense thatThe Lord of the Ringswould be adapted into three films, the decision to turn J.R.R. Tolkien’sThe Hobbitinto a trilogy of three films (each over two hours in length) was more devise among fans. Given the parameters that Peter Jackson was working under,The Hobbittrilogy is about as good as it could have been. While they may not matchThe Lord of the Ringsfilm in terms of quality, that’s a pretty high standard to set!
LikeThe Lord of the Rings, there’s an argument to be made that each installment inThe Hobbittrilogy is the best. 2012’sThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeyshowed a compelling hero’s journey for Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins as he leaves the Shire in a way that felt very familiar to what Jackson did with 2001’sThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. 2013’sThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugadded more action and suspense, and Jackson even dug into his horror roots with 2014’sThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. While all prior installments in the saga were rated PG-13, the extended edition ofThe Battle of the Five Armiesactually earned an R-rating from the MPAA when it was included on the Blu-Ray release.
The Hannibal Lecter Trilogy
The character of Hannibal Lecter has appeared in five films overall, butManhunterandHannibal Risingdidn’t feature Anthony Hopkins as the iconic serial killer, and thus are not considered to be part of the official trilogy. 1991’sSilence of the Lambsinstantly became a classic, as it was one of the few films in history to win the “Big Five” Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor (Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), and Best Adapted Screenplay. That being said, 2001’sHannibalwas a worthwhile sequel that benefited from the direction of Ridley Scott, and 2002’sRed Dragonessentially retold the story ofManhunterwith Hopkins’ version of Lecter inserted within the narrative.
The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
TheStar Warssequel trilogy could have easily been in consideration if it wasn’t for its last installment. The brilliance ofThe Force AwakensandThe Last Jedistand as bold ways of living up to the original trilogy, but sadly,The Rise of Skywalkerwasa major disappointmentthat ended the “Skywalker Saga” on a sour note.
