21 of the Best Trilogies in Movie History

When it comes to narrative art, those Schoolhouse Rock! mf-ers really knew their stuff, because three is a magic number. The three-act play, the comedy rule of three, the three Chipmunks — even that joke is a list of three. So it’s no surprise that many film franchises get their stories told in no more and no fewer than three installments. Others will go on forever, as they are simply too fast and too furious, but you have to respect knowing when to stop milking the story teat.

In fact, so many of the era’s best stories are told in three parts that Redditor DowdyBroGames got into a whole debate with their family about the best movie trilogy. “Top contenders for me would have to be the original Star Wars trilogy, the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, and of course the Lord of the Rings trilogy,” they said, before asking r/Movies for the “Best Movie Trilogy Ever Made?”

Reddit agreed with them, offering solid arguments that some of the most-watched movies of all time are pretty good, but also brought up some lesser-known, or at least lesser-acknowledged, three-parters.

21 The Godfather

20 The Lord of the Rings

19 The Man With No Name

18 The Bourne Identity

17 The Before Trilogy

16 The Vengeance Trilogy

15 The Cornetto Trilogy

14 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

13 Friday

12 Harold & Kumar

11 El Mariachi

10 The Human Condition

9 Pusher

8 Planet of the Apes

7 Men in Black

6 The Dark Knight

5 How to Train Your Dragon

4 Kung Fu Panda

3 Back to the Future

2 Bill & Ted

1 Clash of the Titans

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Published: April 29, 2024
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