Reaching three movies in a franchise is no easy feat and it is even harder to maintain a worthwhile storyline for that long. Some franchises have made it to three movies only to continue on, like the Fast and Furious franchise. Others have completed trilogies only for some of the entries to be letdowns in the eyes of fans.
But there are those rare franchises that have created three movies that came together to form a whole and satisfying story. The fans on Reddit have shown their appreciation for these movie series and named the best trilogies of all time.
Though the original Ocean's Eleven was a mostly forgotten crime caper starring members of the famous Rat Pack, the remake brought the star power along with a much more entertaining movie. The likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon teamed up as members of a slick and suave group of thieves.
Each new entry into the trilogy saw the gang taking on a new heist. With master filmmaker Stephen Soderbergh at the helm, an extremely likable cast, and a laidback vibe, Redditor AnthonyPalumbo called the movies "flawless."
It is certainly not unusual for animated movies to make it to three movies and beyond, but it is rare for them to stay as engrossing and impactful as the How to Train Your Dragon movies were over the years.
The first adventure which told the story of a Viking boy who befriends a dragon took many fans by surprise and the sequels continued to grow on the action-packed, touching, and epic story. Though not as popular as some of the other franchises, one Redditor insisted when it comes to great trilogies, "it's definitely up there."
While some feel that trilogies should be counted as continuations of the same story, others feel thematic trilogies like The Cornetto Trilogy count as well. Though each of these movies deals with new characters and a different genre, Edgar Wright clearly wanted them to be part of the same collection.
Shaun of the Dead deals with zombies, Hot Fuzz is a buddy-cop story and The World's End is about an invasion. Yet each of these movies features the same sharp wit, stylish action, and even a few shared gags. While Redditor Linubidix acknowledged the controversy of thematic trilogies, they still admitted that "this is one of the best."
While most of the trilogies fans suggest as the greatest of all time, these are big blockbusters or sweeping epics. The Before trilogy managed to earn a place among those giant franchises with intimate and low-budget movies that are mostly about two people talking.
Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight traces the relationship between Jesse and Celeste through the years, with a roughly ten-year gap between each movie. Redditor Varekai79 praised the "remarkable quality sustained over 20 years."
Time travel is a common concept in movies, but perhaps none have done it better than the Back to the Future movies. The adventures follow Marty McFly and Doc Brown as they go on adventures back to 1960, ahead to the new millennium, and way back to the Old West.
The movies kept finding new and fun ways to use the time travel gimmick and stay fresh. Along with a great cast and a fun sense of humor, the movies remain beloved with Redditor Micabot_collects going so far as to call them the "best movies ever made."
Few people were asking for a new take on The Planet of the Apes, but many were surprised by how solid these movies were. Starting with The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the movie focused on the apes and the origin of their supremacy on Earth.
With Andy Serkis's motion-capture performance as Caesar, he helped to great a complex hero who would guide these movies through their increasingly epic sequels, creating a shockingly impressive full story. Redditor AwakenMirror even admitted that "those movies have no reason to be as good as they are."
Though the Star Wars universe can be seen as one big saga, the timeline divides it neatly into three separate sets – the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and the sequel trilogy. When it comes to naming the best trilogy, Redditor TheCarrier89 felt the original "obviously" take the title.
Though there are fans of the prequels and the sequels, it is not hard to see why the movies that started it all remain the most beloved. The movies helped introduce fans to a galaxy far, far away as well as some of the most famous movie characters of all time, both heroes and villains.
The character of Batman was in much need of a revamp when Christopher Nolan gave his own take on the hero. Not only did his Dark Knight trilogy make Batman movies cool again, but they also redefined the superhero genre.
With Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, Nolan's movies took a grittier and darker look at the hero and his world. The movies felt engrossing and featured fascinating villains, including Heath Ledger's iconic take on the Joker. Redditor unkellGRGA found the three movies to be "perfect superhero blockbusters."
Filmmaker Sergio Leone helped to define the Spaghetti Western genre and he largely did so through his so-called Dollars Trilogy. Though they are not technically connected to each other, these three movies, starring Clint Eastwood as a nameless gunslinger, are presented as a whole collection.
A Fist Full of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly each offer a rousing Western adventure that still stand among the best of the genre. And rare for a trilogy, Redditor von-brohenheim found that "each movie gets so much better than the last."
Adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel was a daunting task, but somehow Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies lived up to the source material. Unlike most trilogies, the three movies felt like parts of one long story as Frodo and the other heroes sought to destroy the One Ring.
The movie delivered some of the most beloved movie characters of all time, some truly epic battle sequences, and a moving adventure that fans could revisit again and again. Redditor LawAndOrbach found that the movies also achieved "the same level of greatness."
