Movie Trilogies

There must be something very difficult about creating a movie trilogy. Even when the story is naturally continued, Hollywood doesn't seem to be able to pull this off very often.

How many trilogies have actually delivered? I can think of just two.

The Lord of the Rings and the Bourne movies.

Patti, Daughter #3 and I watched the third movie of the Bourne series last night. Totally enjoyed it. I'm not saying the Bourne movies are as good as the Rings trilogy, just that it holds up really well in comparison to the two first movies. Damon is terrific and the directing has a frenetic quality that increases the tension. So overall, the quality of all three movies is good.

I think the LOTR is the first great trilogy. Oh, it's been tried. The Die Hard, Matrix, Lethal Weapon, Alien(s), the Godfather series. The Matrix has to be the biggest disappointment after the first movie. Really captivating stuff, then two duds! You can nearly make an argument for the Die Hard series. The second movie isn't as good, but descent but the third falls flat. Same with the Godfather series, arguably the first two movies are brilliant. The third is a real dud, especially in comparison with the first two.

And that's what it comes down to, the drop off after a good first installment. It seems that if Hollywood can pull off the first one it, it naturally figures the sequel is money in the bank.

But jeez look at Speed 2. What a piece of crap that was, and if it had made any money I totally think they'd have made another. I can think of a bunch of examples of great first movies and tragically bad sequels.

The first two Lethal weapon movies are really pretty good, the third is a real stinker. Just a cartoon with the characters of the first two movies.

The first 3 Alien movies are really pretty good, but the third is pretty dark, but really doesn't compare to the first two. (The 4th was a real bummer, I love Joss Whedon, who wrote the screenplay, but the last 1/3 of that movie is a mess).

So have I missed any?

m.