# The Top 33 Trilogies (Movies). **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785 "2005-09-09T04:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/1 "2005-09-09T04:39:07Z")
My folks and I have an argument, that there are not 33 trillogies out there. ((I wanted VH1 or E! to do a clip show on them)) So I put it to my fellow dopers. If you had to make a list, of the BEST 33 trilogies. What would they be? 1. At the end, 99 different movies will be named. 2. Movies that have a fourth movie (or 5th etc.) are excluded. 3.Because someone will scream Bloody murder; The original Star Wars triolgy is excluded from Rule #2. 1. The movie must be commonly regarded as a trillogy. (Monty python Grail, Brian, and Life would not count, however, a Box set of the three is not required.) ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/2 "2005-09-09T04:44:20Z")
Star Wars (Original) The Matri(ces) Cube (Cube Zero, the Thrid was released in March 2005) Good the Bad and the Ugly. (I have only seen the first, but its gotta make the list… right?) Scarry Movie. (Yes, but right now, its still just a trillogy) Lord of the Rings. (Hey, frankly It was too long for me, but, here you go) American Pie. (Yes, but we KNOW its a trilogy) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Godfather. (I didnt see any of these yet) Jurassic Park. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/3 "2005-09-09T04:45:37Z")
Naked Gun, 22 1/2, 33 1/3 ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/4 "2005-09-09T04:49:38Z")
Indiana Jones movies (Raiders, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade) Die Hard movies ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/5 "2005-09-09T04:50:56Z")
Terminator Austin Powers ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/6 "2005-09-09T04:53:09Z")
The _Back to the Future_ movies were great, I thought. Not so much the second one, but 1 and 3 were excellent. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/7 "2005-09-09T07:15:02Z")
There are more than enough trilogies out there. I’m quite certain someone else will be able to come up with 33; I could only think of 20 on my own. The ones marked with a \* are those I’d submit for consideration. \*Three Colors (Blue/White/Red) \*Apu Trilogy Rambo Star Wars The Matrix \*The Lord of the Rings \*The Godfather Indiana Jones (for now) Die Hard Naked Gun \*Through a Glass Darkly/Winter Light/The Silence (dir. Ingmar Bergman) \*The " 'qatsi " Trilogy Porky’s \*Back to the Future The Neverending Story (pending a lawsuit) \*The Terminator \*“Elements” trilogy (Earth/Fire/Water dir. Deepa Mehta) \*“Fistful of Dollars”/“Let’s copy Yojimbo” trilogy (dir. Sergio Leone) \*Evil Dead Robocop It could be argued that some of those aren’t trilogies, but are simply continuations of a series that only lasted for three movies; I marked only those that seemed to really be made as a trilogy – either three separate but related stories or one long story told over several films. (Evil Dead gets a special exemption). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/8 "2005-09-09T07:19:07Z")
Mad Max ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/9 "2005-09-09T07:26:02Z")
El Mariachi/Once Upon A Time In Mexico/Desperado Silence of the Lambs/Red Dragon/Hannibal ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/10 "2005-09-09T15:52:33Z")
Other trilogies nobody’s mentioned: _Scream Blade_ Hiroshi Inagaki’s _Samurai_ trilogy Cocteau’s Orphic trilogy Leone’s “Once Upon a Time…” trilogy Lee Van Cleef’s Sabata trilogy _Once Upon a Time in China_ Pagnol’s _Fanny_ trilogy Fassbinder’s BRD Trilogy ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/11 "2005-09-09T16:12:24Z")
D’oh! Someone beat me on the Samurai trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Berserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Berserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berserker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/12 "2005-09-09T19:31:03Z")
Pasolini’s “Trilogy of Life” (The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, The Arabian Nights) ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/13 "2005-09-09T20:16:00Z")
[“The Norman Conquests”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004REYW/qid=1126297457/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-9029472-4817667?v=glance&s=video) (Table Manner, Round Garden, Living Together). Films of three inter-related Alan Ayckbourn plays. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/14 "2005-09-09T20:41:25Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Terminator You mean there has been a third _Terminator_ movie made? Nope, nothing like that ever happened in any reality I’ll willingly take a part of. [sub]I’m not even that sure they made _Terminator 2_.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![figenschoug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a698b9/32.png) [@figenschoug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figenschoug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/15 "2005-09-09T20:43:11Z")
Trois couleurs ---
**Author:** ![figenschoug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a698b9/32.png) [@figenschoug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figenschoug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/16 "2005-09-09T20:45:04Z")
:smack: ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/17 "2005-09-10T01:11:15Z")
Beverly Hills Cop I, II, III Crocodile Dundee I, II, III Problem Child I, II, III: Junior in Love Smoky and the Bandit I, II, III Free Willy I, II, III Shaft I, II: Big Score, III: Goes to Africa The Mighty Ducks I, D2, D3 Poltergeist I, II, III Species I, II, III (straight to video) Poison Ivy I, II, III: The New Seduction Spy Kids I, II: Island of Lost Dreams, IIID: Game Over Bad News Bears I, II: Breaking Training, III: Go to Japan Scary Movie I, II, III (for now, IV is in production) Or, if you want to just end the bet, forward your folks [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_movie_trilogies) link. I count 46 trilogies. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-33-trilogies-movies/320785/18 "2005-09-10T02:46:24Z")
I never knew about the “Red Curtain” Trilogy (which, though a real marketing title, simply seems to be “movies made by Baz Luhrmann in his distinctive style and are a trilogy because he’s only made three movies.”) The Wikipedia article on it states that all three movies have a red curtain in the opening. Is that right? I don’t remember that in Romeo + Juliet (just the “Two Houses” newscast) and I don’t remember enough of Strictly Ballroom but it doesn’t seem familiar.