# Trilogies where the middle one is the best one **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156 "2015-06-22T14:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/1 "2015-06-22T14:49:13Z")
There’s The Empire Strikes Back (although I must admit on any given day I waffle between calling the original or this the Best). I believe The Two Towers is the best of the Lord of the Rings Movies. It is the most watchable and has the tightest story. Dragons of Winter Night is the best of the Dragonlance Chronicles Novels. The two parallel adventures are exciting and it avoids the clunkiness of bringing D&D Mechanics to life in the first Novel and the kind of Anti Climatic ending of the third. The Subtle Knife was my favorite of the His Dark Materials books. It seemed to be the fastest read of the three. Any other examples in books, movies, games etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/2 "2015-06-22T14:54:55Z")
I swear we’ve done this. I agree about Two Towers, but only the Extended Edition. It’s the best overall movie. I’d put Jedi over Empire, but I know I’m in the minority. I guess the Ewoks did not bother me that much. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/3 "2015-06-22T14:57:37Z")
X-Men (the original X-men movies) Spiderman (the Tobey McGwire ones) ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/4 "2015-06-22T15:30:42Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I swear we’ve done this. And every variation of it… I’ll throw out an obvious one: _The Road Warrior_. It was certainly the most universally acclaimed of the original trilogy. ETA: And certainly many people would say that _The Godfather, part II_ was the best, but I still enjoyed the original more. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/5 "2015-06-22T15:39:34Z")
_Gormenghast_, the second novel in Mervyn Peake’s **Gormenghast Trilogy**. It introduces Professor Bellgrove and has the wonderful Wodehousian party scene at Irma Prunesquallor’s house. Plus the grotesque deaths of Cora and Clarice, Steerpike’s murder spree, and Titus’ triumph. Except it wasn’t supposed to BE a trilogy – the third book has little to do with the first two – and Peake had planned to continue the series indefinitely, but then got Parkinson’s and died young. Now I’m all depressed. I have to go and lie down. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/6 "2015-06-22T17:59:16Z")
Aliens ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/7 "2015-06-22T18:16:07Z")
Shrek 2 was much funnier, more clever, and just overall better than the other two ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/8 "2015-06-22T18:31:12Z")
I really enjoyed David Brin’s _Startide Rising_. Then was pleased to discover it the middle book in a series of 3. (Set in the same universe–not _quite_ a trilogy.) Then I found the other two; the first one I’d read was far superior to either. I think he did a “trilogy” set in that universe a bit later. Didn’t bother… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/9 "2015-06-22T19:12:37Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I really enjoyed David Brin’s _Startide Rising_. Then was pleased to discover it the middle book in a series of 3. (Set in the same universe–not _quite_ a trilogy.) Then I found the other two; the first one I’d read was far superior to either. > > I think he did a “trilogy” set in that universe a bit later. Didn’t bother… The early Uplift books weren’t really a trilogy. They just got marketed that way when the series reached three books. But there was really no connection between the first three books other than they were set in the same background. They’re stand-alone novels that can be read in any order. But Brin started to write a fourth book in the series which was going to be titled _Sooner_. However it grew in length and Brin decided to split it up into a genuine trilogy: _Brightness Reef_, _Infinity’s Shore_, and _Heaven’s Reach_. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/10 "2015-06-22T20:16:30Z")
I think _The Bourne Supremacy_ is the best of the Bourne movies. The third was also really good but suffered from the lack of a truly worthy villain for Bourne. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/11 "2015-06-22T20:20:14Z")
I think the second movie in a franchise series is OFTEN the best one, simply because the first movie often has to spend a lot of time on the protagonist’s origins, which can be a bit of a drag. Once that’s out of the way, a good writer and a good director can get down to telling a good, new story. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/12 "2015-06-22T20:51:58Z")
Mein Kampf (better than Your Kampf and Our Kampf) ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/13 "2015-06-22T21:14:37Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > There’s The Empire Strikes Back (although I must admit on any given day I waffle between calling the original or this the Best). I hear that a lot, so it must be me; when I first saw TESB, I walked out of the theater feeling that it was a waste of time, nothing more than a space filler between the first and third movies. Maybe it’s because I feel that every movie (or novel) needs to have an ending, even if it’s just one part of a trilogy. Subsequent viewings haven’t changed my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/14 "2015-06-23T00:45:56Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I hear that a lot, so it must be me; when I first saw TESB, I walked out of the theater feeling that it was a waste of time, nothing more than a space filler between the first and third movies. Maybe it’s because I feel that every movie (or novel) needs to have an ending, even if it’s just one part of a trilogy. Subsequent viewings haven’t changed my mind. One of the main reasons, for me, is I think Star Wars deserves extra credit because it was first. When they created Star Wars they started with a blank page; when they created ESB they at least had Star Wars to work form. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/15 "2015-06-23T00:54:23Z")
The second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/16 "2015-06-23T00:58:18Z")
If you count the Boris Karloff **Frankenstein** movies as a “trilogy,” then “Bride of” is much better than the original and “Son of.” ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/17 "2015-06-23T13:17:10Z")
Nolan’s Batman movies. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/18 "2015-06-23T14:25:59Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Shrek 2 was much funnier, more clever, and just overall better than the other two Ditto this [QUOTE=muldoonthief] Nolan’s Batman movies. [/QUOTE] And this I’ll add _The Road Warrior_ from the Mad Max trilogy. Not counting the new one, since that’s a whole new reimagining of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/19 "2015-06-23T15:21:33Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Shrek 2 was much funnier, more clever, and just overall better than the other two There are four, but you are right Shrek 2 is the best one. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156/20 "2015-06-24T12:17:18Z")
Howard Whitehouse’s Misadventures of Emmaline and Rubberbones: The first and third, The Strictest School in the World and The Island of Mad Scientists are amusing. The second, The Faceless Fiend, is hilarious. It’s one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trilogies-where-the-middle-one-is-the-best-one/723156.md?page=2)