[POLL] Best Movie Series/Trilogy/Saga/Etc.

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Stnywitness, Jun 9, 2020.

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Vote On Your Favorite! (multiple choice)

Star Wars 18 vote(s) 45.0%
All of the Marvel Movies 17 vote(s) 42.5%
Lord of the Rings / Hobbit 20 vote(s) 50.0%
Harry Potter 13 vote(s) 32.5%
All of the DC Movies 0 vote(s) 0.0%
Pirates of the Caribbean 7 vote(s) 17.5%
Hunger Games 6 vote(s) 15.0%
Indiana Jones 4 vote(s) 10.0%
Jurassic World/Jurassic Park 4 vote(s) 10.0%
James Bond 3 vote(s) 7.5%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Almost identical to my earlier thread (which I didn't want to bump with it being so old): https://empireminecraft.com/threads/poll-best-movie-trilogy-series-etc.79261/

    Vote on your favorite movie series, trilogy, saga, etc., above in the poll! Let's see if the results change at all from the last thread!

    If you have a favorite movie or movie series that isn't on the poll, comment what it is below in the comments!
  2. Lord of the Rings beats Harry Potter any day
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  3. As a film critic I'd love to weigh into this (since giving opinions on film is what we do). I've put a lot of thought into this question before, and I'm going to touch on all the ones from the poll and then add some unmentioned ones. First, what is, in my opinion, the best trilogy ever put to film:

    1. The Lord of the Rings
    Not including The Hobbit trilogy, The Lord of the Rings is not only a near-perfect adaptation of a novel(s), but a near-perfect set of movies. The consistency in quality between The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King is unmatched. Every movie is a 10/10, and I've heard all of them be favourites. Never before in my years of film endeavour have I seen a trilogy/saga as strong.
    My in-depth review of the final film (and my second favourite film of all time):
    The Return of the King

    (this list is not in any particular order)

    The Hobbit
    I have to touch on these movies, which I don't like at all. They take a great novel and destroy it piece by piece on screen. What Peter Jackson perfected with The Lord of the Rings, he fails to recreate with The Hobbit. The first and last movies are disappointing and poor on most levels. I like The Desolation of Smaug significantly better than the others, but not enough to save this trilogy.
    See my list and read my angry reviews here

    Harry Potter
    It's only reasonable to jump from The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter... right? I actually disagree with the comparison between these two franchises. Sure, they have their similarities, but aside from a few common medieval elements, they're two VERY different stories. While I haven't read the books, I have seen the movies very recently.

    The first two films are fun and goofy, which works well thanks to the directing. Unfortunately, Chamber of Secrets feels too repetitive after The Philosopher's Stone (in the movie, calm down, I know the books are probably better). So while good, I can't help but feel The Philosopher's Stone just did everything better. My favourite in the series is Prisoner of Azkaban. I've heard mixed feelings about how true it is to the book, but Alfonso Cuaron (one of my favourite directors) brings an auteur eye to the franchise. It is the only movie that feels outstanding in my mind. Cuaron knows how to direct (as per his two Best Director awards), and he brings a breath of fresh air to the franchise.

    The next three are all just okay in my mind. They have their strong moments, they have their weak moments. Order of the Phoenix is the best of the three in my opinion. The Deathly Hallows suffers from being split into two. The first part is dark and emotional. It's certainly not bad, but it feels inconclusive. The second part is all an action packed third act, which is awesome, but would've fit so much better if attached to the first part. Nonetheless, I love the finale.
    See my list, ranking, and reviews here

    (I've decided I'm going to post these three trilogies, then move onto the next in a separate reply)
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  4. Alright, back at it for the Marvel movies. Since there are so many different trilogies/series, I'm going to split them all up. Starting with the Marvel Cinematic Universe here.
    Before I get into this, I should clarify my stance on superhero movies as a whole. I do not love superhero movies. I grew up on comic books, I've seen almost every one, and I enjoy most of them. However, in my opinion superhero movies are dumb action. It's fun to watch, but rarely anything deeper than that. I dislike the tropes and agree with Scorsese that they are drowning out independent filmmakers with original ideas. Fewer risks are taken and directors get less creative freedom. This doesn't go for all superhero movies, but it goes for most.

    Marvel Cinematic Universe
    There are so many movies here. I admire the prosperity it has had, especially that after 23 movies there still hasn't been an absolute flop. To start with Phase One, every one loves Iron Man. It's a simpler story without a chaotic third act or major team up, but that's where it shines. We often forget about what movies can be while we're so glued to the Avengers-level superhero movies. The story of Tony Stark and the story behind the scenes are both enthralling. I love Iron Man for what it is as a movie, I dislike Iron Man for what it brought to the industry.

    Continuing on, The Incredible Hulk was so forgettable that even Marvel forgot it was a part of the MCU for a time. Iron Man 2 is one of the weakest in the saga. Captain America: The First Avenger is good, but among other war films it really doesn't hold strong. Thor, while I like Branagh's directing style, is really just Captain Marvel but with a male lead. All the same problems, but no one complains about Thor as much as Captain Marvel (I wonder why). Avengers is where Phase One really shines. It's a lot of fun and really changed the future of the MCU and superhero movies as a whole.

    Iron Man 3, while I'm not as big on it, certainly gets more hate than it deserves. This movie tries to tackle issues such as PTSD, deeper things that superhero movies normally avoid. While it doesn't nail the execution on much, it is not the worst in Phase Two. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of my favourites. I love this movie. This is one of those superhero movies that really does stand out as something more than dumb action. Guardians of the Galaxy I'm also a huge fan of. It feels different than most superhero movies (aside from the villain), and takes place off of Earth, which is relieving. The soundtrack is great, but let's not forget the conflicts of the main characters and the chemistry they all share. I almost forgot about Thor: The Dark World. Yeah, that exists, and it sucks.

    Then we get to Avengers: Age of Ultron. I think most people would agree that it's the weakest Avengers film, but let's not to hating it. Age of Ultron is not a bad movie, it's just weaker in comparison. You want to talk about a weaker Marvel movie? Ant-Man. I get it, people like Ant-Man. Sure, it's funny and heartwarming at times, but it's a major step down in quality after The Winter Soldier, GOTG, and Age of Ultron. Even the small-scale of it doesn't provide the fresh air you'd hope.

    The hype was unreal for Captain America: Civil War, and it was awesome. Unfortunately, there's a lot going on in this movie, which makes it feel rushed and cluttered at times, but the Russo brothers can direct an ensemble superhero movie better than anyone else who has tried. Doctor Strange exists. Cool powers, cool visuals. Guess what. Powers and visuals don't make movies. Characters and stories do. Doctor Strange isn't horrible in that way, but it's forgettable. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is weaker than the first in a lot of ways, however, there are two reasons why I love it. The movie introduced me to the Electric Light Orchestra (my favourite band now), and it has one of my favourite scenes in the entire MCU (bonus points if you can guess which one).

    There are so many movies in the MCU, Spider-Man: Homecoming is one of them. This is the best live-action Spider-Man movie. Change my mind. Now we get into the really good stuff though. Thor: Ragnarok is fun, hilarious, and brilliant. That's what Taika Waititi is so good at. This is another case where you have a skilled director saving something. Let's face it, Thor was a bad character. I compared him to Captain Marvel, and I'll do it again. He's overpowered, shows little character development, and is boring. Taika saved Thor in every way possible. I love Ragnarok. Once again, talk about great Marvel movies, Black Panther is fantastic. While I don't think it's perfect, it really went outside of the superhero genre to be something better. Black Panther, in all ways could've been the greatest movie in the MCU. If only it didn't turn into that mindless action by the third act (yeah, the CGI suits fighting as they fall sort of thing). The action in the waterfall scene is outstanding. All the movie needed was another one of those, rather than a CGI-overload, and it would've been perfect. Killmonger is also one of the best villains in comic book movie history.

    Almost done with the MCU, but before I touch on Infinity War and Endgame, I'll go over the two movies that released between them. Ant-Man and the Wasp is so dumb. I forget about it a lot, and I wish it would stay that way. I have no love for this movie. I think Ghost is a cool villain that needed more development, and I think there's a good concept. That's it. That's all I care to say. Moving to a new paragraph for the next one.

    Captain Marvel is the controversial movie to talk about. Way too many people hate on Captain Marvel because they don't like the feminist elements. It's unfair to the movie and it's a ridiculous insult to critical analysis. However, Captain Marvel still isn't really a good movie, and it has nothing to do with the feminist elements. The problem is the character. She's overpowered, and because she's overpowered, there's never any feeling that she might lose. It's boring at times, especially during the third act. There are no stakes at all (which it being a prequel doesn't help). Furthermore, there's no character development. The movie displays that for us. In the first moments of the film, Carol Danvers makes a cheap move on Jude Law's character. Near the end of the movie, she makes the same cheap movie. Great moment to show she's developed somewhat, but nope. Credit where credit is due, Samuel L. Jackson and Brie Larson are both fantastic actors, and their chemistry carries the movie.

    Now to the big ones. Infinity War is epic action-packed film filled with fantastic development for the MCU's best villain (Thanos), and it takes a major risk. I really like Infinity War, but it's just one half of the prize. Endgame loosens on the action to bring an slow-paced emotional conclusion to the Infinity Saga. There was a lot (22 movies) relying on Endgame to deliver a satisfying conclusion, and it delivered. I still have a good few problems with it, especially with out-of-character decisions and lack of pay-off at times, but it is fantastic. Spider-Man: Far From Home is also cool. Mysterio is a cool character. Not much else to say about it.
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  5. Now for the rest of the Marvel movies.

    Fox's X-Men Franchise
    First one good. Second one good. Third one horrible.
    Origins horrible.
    First prequel good. Second prequel good. Third prequel okay.
    Wolverine second movie okay. Wolverine final movie outstanding.
    Deadpool good. Deadpool second movie good.
    Final prequel horrible. New Mutants never releasing.

    Now anyone who feels I wrote too much on the MCU doesn't have to worry about the same thing for the X-Men. While I enjoy a lot of the movies, I rarely find myself intrigued by any of the movies. The performances from Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Ian McKellen are the only reason I care to watch. I also just realized how this franchise does the female actors dirty. Jennifer Lawrence is barely trying come the last few movies, Sophie Turner gets horrible writing, Rebecca Romijn has barely any lines, Halle Berry gets little to work with, Famke Janssen gets bad writing, Anna Paquin is in it and does nothing (like The Irishman). Every one of those names has talent to show off, but isn't given the chance. What a shame.

    Fox's Fantastic Four Franchise
    They're all bad. Moving on.

    Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy
    Hot take: Toby Maguire is the worst Spider-Man. Not only do I think Maguire is a bad actor, but he's also a bad person as well. Although that shouldn't affect the movie. He just feels so out of place. Spider-Man is supposed to be a teenage kid that comic book readers can relate to, not a thirty-year-old man. As Peter Parker he's fine, but feels out of place. As Spider-Man he's behind a mask and doesn't really try that much. The first two movies are good, the third is bad, but I have no love for this franchise. Most only love it for nostalgia.

    The Amazing Spider-Man Dilogy
    These two movies are the worst Spider-Man movies (Spider-Man 3 being worse than The Amazing Spider-Man though). There's not much else to say, it just all felt like a low-effort attempt to keep the rights to the character. Andrew Garfield is a much better actor than Toby Maguire (just watch any movie that's not titled Spider-Man). Unfortunately, the writing in these movies is so poorly cared for that he comes off as bad. He's not a Peter Parker either. Face it, Tom Holland is the only good (and accurate) live-action Peter Parker.

    Any Marvel movie that isn't here (Howard the Duck, Venom, Punisher, Daredevil) isn't part of a trilogy/series/saga and therefore is irrelevant to the thread. However, they all suck anyway so what does it matter
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  6. One more and then I can move away from these forsaken superhero movies. Let's talk about the DC films.

    The Nolan Batman Trilogy
    Who doesn't love this trilogy. The Dark Knight has to be one of, if not, the greatest superhero movie EVER made. It is exactly what I mean when I say few superhero movies break from the dumb action to become something greater. Nolan, a fantastic director, does that with Batman. Batman Begins is often overlooked because of how strong the sequel is. However, Begins is a great origin story and the best introduction to Batman in a film. The Dark Knight Rises is certainly the weakest, and sadly sidelines Batman a lot, but is still great. I love Christopher Nolan and all his work. This is no exception. If the first and second movie were perfect, this trilogy might challenge The Lord of the Rings.

    The DCEU
    I laugh, you laugh, we all laugh. Remember that time DC tried to recreate the success of Marvel? Yeah... didn't turn out so well. I'm a fan of Zack Snyder's darker tone. While I don't think it worked as well in Man of Steel, I thought it fit perfectly in Batman v Superman (which has a plethora of other problems). Suicide Squad is one of the worst mainstream comic book adaptations ever made. Justice League is boring and stupid. Wonder Woman is actually really good, and much like Black Panther, if the third act hadn't turned into a CGI-overload action mess, it might have been a perfect movie. Aquaman is one I also really like. It's nowhere near perfect, but it's a lot of fun and has some really cool visuals. Shazam! is a forgettable, but good movie. Birds of Prey is just okay but still hilarious and a lot of fun. I think that's it.

    Unfortunately, this saga is held back by corporate interference. As I mentioned earlier, directors have less creative freedom while making superhero movies. The DCEU is the perfect example. Batman v Superman needed an Ultimate Edition to be remotely good. Justice League was cut down to 2 hours to fit more screenings at theatres, and is basically being turned into an entirely different film because fans think that version will be better. Suicide Squad allegedly has a good directors cut hiding somewhere. The executives heading the DCEU are trying so hard to be Marvel, and not hard enough to be their own franchise. It can never be a great saga with how incoherent everything is.

    Not a part of the saga, but Joker isn't as good as you think it is. Get over it. On the other hand, it is trying something different and being it's own thing. Something the DCEU needs to do. Now don't nominate another movie like that for 11 Oscars ever again.

    I don't like the Burton Batman dilogy, nor do I like the Schumaker Batman dilogy. I haven't seen all the Reeves Superman movies so I can't comment on that. Like with Marvel, basically any DC movie that isn't part of a trilogy, dilogy, or saga, sucks and isn't relevant to the thread. Watchmen is cool, but nah to everything else. Oh right, and most of the animated movies are good.
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  7. I guess now it's time for...

    STAR WARS

    Original Trilogy
    This is the second greatest trilogy of all time (in my opinion). Star Wars (A New Hope) is not only a perfect movie, but an extremely important piece of film history. There is nothing anyone can say to make me dislike A New Hope. Empire Strikes Back, somehow, is even better! Two perfect movies back to back. Where the trilogy falls short, sadly, is with Return of the Jedi. Put your nostalgia aside, this movie is deeply flawed. The overly-long opening act back on Tatooine, with an absurd rescue plan that makes no sense. Only to turn into an overly-long final half on Endor with an absurd second Death Star plan and Ewoks. Don't get me wrong, I like this movie, but it has problems. The Throne Room scene is absolutely perfect though. This is an emotional movie, and has a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy.

    Prequel Trilogy
    This trilogy has become more appreciated recently. A lot of people, turned away by Disney's handling of Star Wars, have felt an awakening with the Prequel Trilogy. In all honesty, the Prequel Trilogy sucks. However, it is also the best of Star Wars. How so? Well, let's start with The Phantom Menace. This movie is way too long, and way too boring. I don't mind slow paced movies, and I love the politics within The Phantom Menace, but there is a different between slow-paced movies and slow movies. This movie is slow. It is not paced well. There are a lot of problems. I also feel like The Phantom Menace is so disconnected from the next two films that if even good, this trilogy could not possibly be the best trilogy. It's incoherent.

    Attack of the Clones is also deeply flawed. Anakin is creepy, the romance is unbelievable, a lot of it is boring. The final act on Geonosis is entertaining, but still laughable. It has one of the worst lightsaber battles in the series (Anakin, Obi-Wan, & Yoda vs Count Dooku). The assassination plan at the start of the movie is absurd. While it kicked off The Clone Wars and gave us a feel for the tone of the Prequel era Star Wars, it has a lot of problems.

    Revenge of the Sith is where it's at. If the other two movies had the quality of Revenge of the Sith, this trilogy would be the best in Star Wars. Revenge of the Sith has many problems, but in many ways it also captures the themes and tones of Star Wars better than ANY other Star Wars movie. The idea of war, power, lack of emotion vs passion, good, evil, the gray zone between good and evil, corruption, the failure of the Jedi. It is all so good. Keep in mind, The Clone Wars TV show does everything just as good, if not better. Unfortunately, it is the only good movie in a very weak trilogy. Which is why it's the worst Star Wars trilogy (sorry).

    Sequel Trilogy
    This is going to get fun. Guess what, when Empire Strikes Back came out people hated it. When the Prequels came out people hated them. Right now, people hate the Sequel trilogy. I'll see you in a decade when these movies are loved, because guess what, they're not all bad. While The Force Awakens is very formulaic, it nails that formula and gives us a really good movie. It's filled with great new characters and a fantastic villain.

    The Last Jedi is my favourite of the trilogy. Rian Johnson did what Cuaron did for Harry Potter and what Waititi did for the MCU. He's an auteur bringing in a new flavour to the franchise. Star Wars is about taking risks, not playing it safe. That's what makes it one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons and keeps it from being just another blockbuster. Not all those risks pay off, but when they do, they stand out. The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker are both super formulaic and play it safe. The Last Jedi is the movie that took risks. It gave us a fantastic dynamic between Rey and Luke, with a great analysis of the Jedi and the best explanation of the force in any Star Wars movie ever. It created one of the franchise's best villains in Kylo Ren by taking the struggled character from The Force Awakens, breaking him, and letting him overcome the things that were holding him back. It gave us beautiful shots filled with emotion. Like it or not, The Last Jedi is the closest thing a movie has been to Star Wars since Revenge of the Sith. However, I dislike Canto Bight and I dislike the sidelining of Finn.

    The Rise of Skywalker is the opposite of The Last Jedi. Actually, that seems to be what it was going for. It tries so hard to undo everything that The Last Jedi did just to please the toxic side of the fanbase. It basically erases Rose's role in the movie by giving her a few second of screen-time total. Such a shame considering all the hate Kelly Marie Tran had to endure on social media for playing a character in a movie. It took Finn (who was already sidelined in The Last Jedi) and tried to give him some force sensitive sideplot that was never completed. Finn had such a good set up in The Force Awakens. The idea of a defected Stormtrooper is brilliant and could've played a much bigger role in the other two movies. It's certainly more interesting than yet another force sensitive main character. Everything The Last Jedi did right, The Rise of Skywalker did wrong. It contradicted years of story development and ended up being a disappointing mess. Click here if you want to read my in-depth rant.

    Spin-off Movies
    There's not a whole lot to say about these ones. Rogue One feels nostalgic to the Original Trilogy, and the final act is really awesome, but the rest of the movie is very "meh" feeling. The characters get little development and the plot is a basic "go here, go there, go everywhere" run-around. Amazingly, Gareth Edwards knows how to create haunting shots that elevate the power and scale of certain objects. This might have the best shots of the Death Star and Star Destroyers in any Star Wars property.

    Solo is there. It's not terrible, but I have no love for it. The concept of a Han Solo smuggler spin-off could've been so much better, but everything about it is just okay. The only thing that breaks the okay and becomes something better is Donald Glover, who kills it as Lando.

    The Clone Wars movie sucks. It's technically a canon spin-off though, so I have to count it. Long story short, don't watch the movie. The Clone Wars animated TV show is not only 100x better, but also happens to be some of the best Star Wars content. I can't praise it enough. If you like Star Wars, watch The Clone Wars (TV).

    The Holiday Special and the Ewok movies are not considered canon, so I'm not counting them as a part of the Star Wars saga. In conclusion, this saga is amazing and changed the way the industry makes movies. However, there's always a weak film in every trilogy that holds them all back from being "the best" as the thread asks. In my opinion, at least.
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  8. I thought this was an old thread, but then I checked the link and saw that it was new... thanks for addressing that in the first line of the OP. :p
    I still haven't seen any of the film series in the poll.
    For books, my favourite is probably The Lord of the Rings. For films, it's Back to the Future, but it is possible that my favourite will become How to Train Your Dragon once I've seen that in its entirety!

    I do love Benthebobjr's reviews, but this is a lot at once. :D I'm hoping to read them later. :)
  9. Now that I've flooded this thread with extremely long replies, I'll briefly go over some of my thoughts on the others listed.

    Pirates of the Caribbean
    The first movie is a fun adventure movie. From there, the franchise tries to be more than it needs to and becomes cluttered, over-the-top (in a bad way), and unfortunately, boring at times. Dead Man's Chest and At World's End are at least somewhat entertaining between the messiness, but On Stranger Tides is terrible in so many ways. I have not seen Dead Men Tell No Tales.

    James Bond
    I'm a huge James Bond fan. Casino Royale is in my top ten favourite films of all time. However, most James Bond movies fall flat, which keeps it from being one of the greatest franchises of all time. The good ones are awesome, but there are only a select few. The books, like always, are way better. Crazy to see the differences (specifically Moonraker).

    Mission Impossible
    I thought it was a good transition to go from James Bond into Mission Impossible. While the Mission Impossible series started weak, the past three have been really good. Especially Mission Impossible: Fallout, which was one of my favourite movies released in 2018. The action is outstanding, and they find a way to make it entertaining, thrilling, and impactful on a character level. I can't wait to see the next. Unfortunately those first few hold the franchise back from being a best.

    The Bourne Series
    Keeping on the spy/action stuff, the Bourne Trilogy is very strong. I haven't seen it in years, but I do remember how great it was. Sadly, it was followed by Legacy (which I haven't seen) and Jason Bourne (which I have seen and wasn't impressed by).

    John Wick Trilogy
    This is the best action you can get in a movie series. The choreography, the stunts, and the director's ability to keep every action scene fresh and creative is all outstanding. You thought you saw everything after John Wick: Chapter 2, but suddenly he's fighting people while riding a horse in John Wick: Chapter 3. While the action is great, the plot and characters are only good at best. I want to see more, but I want them to know when to end.

    The Fast and Furious Saga
    Speaking about knowing when to end, this saga is still going. I'm glad they didn't end, because these recent movies have been a ton of fun. The first four suck. That's non-debatable. Everything after and including Fast Five, has just been dumb action to the maximum. It's stupid, but it's entertaining. It can never be one of the greatest franchises because of how stupid it is, but it will always be watchable (hopefully).

    The Hunger Games
    I haven't seen this trilogy since Mockingbird Part 2 released (which was before I had my critical eye, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt). The first one was good, the second was the best, and I don't remember being too impressed by the last two. There's a brilliant change of aspect ratio in Catching Fire when Katniss enters the arena. It is so subtle that most might not notice it, but the impact of the aspect ratio in terms of portrayed the intensity and anxiety of the moment is so good. This was pointed out to me on Twitter and I want to rewatch the film just for this moment.

    Due note: I have not seen the entire Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, Matrix, or Indiana Jones franchises. So, I will not comment on them.
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  10. Thank you! I feel really bad for spamming Stnywitness's thread with my long replies, but I really love movies! I'm going to take a break for now so other people can reply to this thread without having their stuff lost in my text, but I have a whole list of franchises/trilogies I still plan to comment on! Then I'll probably rank them all at the end
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  11. I haven't seen the The Lord of the Rings films yet but I really do hope to, one day, because I loved the books, because my father loved the films, and because the soundtracks are very, very loved too: on StreamingSoundtracks.com, a radio station and score enthusiast community, when you sort by average rating, this is the top 5:

    Yup, I could've posted only the top 3 and you'd see the entire trilogy. :D

    The second reason, my father loving the films, might be the reason I haven't seen them yet, though: I wanted to see them with my father when I was old enough (I think they are rated 12, but I am more sensitive than most so I was planning to wait a bit longer), but he died before that. But maybe I'll see them with someone else one day!

    My father didn't like the The Hobbit films either. :)

    He used to think Harry Potter was occult, but on repeated recommendation of a colleague he watched them at some point and it turned out he did like them. :D I wouldn't mind watching the first one, but I know they get more and more mature from each film to the next, and as I said before, I'm sensitive, so I don't think I'd want to see some of the later ones. ;)
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  12. While reading more of Daybreaker's reviews: I've never got into much contact with the superhero movies. I saw a bit of Iron Man or Iron Man 2 on some camp a while back, and I know who Spiderman, Superman and Batman are (the second is the only one I know a lot about, because I watched some episodes of Lois & Clark (The New Adventures of Superman in America) with my mother). That's about it, though, I haven't heard a lot about the films. :p My brother has been watching them since we got Disney+, and I saw a short bit of Guardians of the Galaxy which seemed very strange. I heard it's the odd one out, though. I do recall the hype for Endgame. That was definitely there in the Netherlands too. Same for Captain America: Civil War, I think.
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  13. I'm going to expand off DayBreaker's reviews from the two franchises I do follow: the MCU and Star Wars.

    Didn't really get into the MCU until I watched Age of Ultron or Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters for the first time. I watched some of the previous Phase 1 movies before, but I wasn't exactly into them I guess? I loved most of the movies in Phase 3 and if I was to rank the big 3 triologies (Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man), Captain America would have the top pick. All three movies were really interesting and fun to watch. Winter Soldier was full of top-tier character moments and action, while Civil War was a balanced version of Avengers 2.5, while maintaining focus on Captain America throughout the entire movie. Plus, that movie introduced both Black Panther and Spiderman. The hype was real for that movie.

    And of course, to finish off the MCU up to that point, Infinity War and Endgame were full of epic moments. Infinity War was a better movie I feel, but Endgame managed to wrap up a 12-year interconnected universe (unlike another franchise which I will talk about later). I haven't even read a lot of the Marvel comics out there but I'm definitely excited for the future movies and TV shows they will be releasing in the future.

    Now for Star Wars.. It's been all over the place recently. Obviously, the OT is still some of the greatest movies ever. Like I've watched some of the scenes recently this year and I'm still shocked at the special effects and cinematography of all three movies. ROTJ was a fitting end to the Star Wars saga and it's filled with so many memorable moments.

    For the other two triologies, I can't say the same. People have said the PT had story, but terrible execution, while the ST had perfect cinematography and pacing, but had no story at all. I have to agree with those conclusions.
    If I had to rank the movies based on movie quality - the sequels would probably be even higher than the OT.
    However, I like ranking them based on their importance to the Star Wars saga. The sequels are dead last on that list.

    The Sequels miss everything that made the PT great. The worldbuilding, background characters, an actually connected story to the previous triology.

    TFA was a carbon reset to the state of the galaxy. Empire 2.0 v rebels again. All the OT characters basically went back to their original selves and it doesn't make sense.
    TLJ was the best out of the three. I agree with Daybreaker, even if the movie broke a little established lore, the risks payed off and there's some of the best moments out of the ST in the film.

    RoS was a mess. It basically reverted all the development from TLJ and forced more OT onto the entire audience.
    The return of mini Death-Stars is just annoying. And how did they save the galaxy this time? They only destroyed the Sith fleet what about the thousands of First Order ships out there?

    Looking back at it, what was the point of the ST at all? The PT told a story of Anakin's fall and the destruction of the Republic, the OT told Anakin's redemption and the galaxy maintaing control, now the ST is back to Empire and Rebels and the galaxy is under total oppresion again like what...
    People may like the sequels as movies, but what they added to Star Wars canon basically ruined the Chosen One's prophecy and politics of the galaxy..
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  14. I got curious, so I counted.... I found 8 abbreviations I didn't understand. :D
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  15. Personally I love the HTTYD series to death. The last two had their annoying childish gags but they were both really great anyway, but the first one is absolutely perfect in terms of storytelling.
    You've got your plot A and your plot B, and they're both balanced perfectly. Also the antagonist isn't exactly a person: it's a secret! Boy vs. Viking Tradition, basically, and I love it! I honestly can't stand most stories that have individual people as antagonists, especially if they change every movie/book which is why I'm not into superheroes.
    One thing that Treasure Planet, my *all-time favorite Disney movie*, does really well is that the antagonist is a person, but he's a lot more complicated than that. He's not a sniveling cookie-cutter villain with a tragic backstory like all the others seem to have, Silver is just a man with his heart torn two ways at the end of the day, and it's great.
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  16. I enjoy the Man With No Name, Clint Eastwood, trilogy.
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  17. The only Trilogy/Series that caught my attention was Back to the Future. :)
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  18. Ghostbusters saga was a great classic.
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  19. Also I thought The Hunger Games was a fantastic series. I just reread it last summer and I understand more things from it than I did way back in 2011 (Like why Katniss and Gale didn't end up with each other at the end (Althought I still ship Katniss and Gale 100% more than her and Peeta)). It's a great revolution story, and though I still wish the media didn't focus so much on the love triangle, I can appreciate it way more.
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  20. It's a bit late for me to coherently summarize all my thoughts on these movies - there's just so much for me to say about them critically and from the perspective of nostalgia... my reviews and subsequent discussions usually end up about as loquacious as DaybreakerMC's contributions - #goals, man. big props.

    So here's a hot-take:
    • Star Wars was great (and i love it from Mortis to Polis Massa and back), but the house of mouse put the wrong person in charge of overseeing the ST. Considering this and other choices they've made, my "Star Wars Canon" looks more like EU/Legends than New Canon, sorry not sorry.
    spoiler'ed to save the younglings' eyes from a super mild curse... just in case they're reading over your shoulder ;)
    Me upon my heap of salt, about the new canon rulings

    side-bar: I'd love this as a mini comic strip where it's Master Windu delivering these lines xD


    and two nostalgia-fueled rave reviews:
    • Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter will always be in my list of favorite movie series. Technically I love the universe of HP more than i love purely the movies, and I will prefer book versions to movie versions 99.9% of the time. That said, the soundtracks and special effects (and the casting!!!) are all things for which I'm grateful that movies were made.
    • LoTR set a very very high bar, for me, in terms of storytelling, setting, special effects, soundtrack, and stars' own attention to detail and dedication to quality. I'm still learning things about the BTS of LoTR to this day and every new thing i discover just makes me more impressed with that trilogy.