21 of the Best Trilogies in Movie History

The ‘Men in Black’ trilogy is underrated

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.

The Godfather

The Lord of the Rings

The Man With No Name

The Bourne Identity

The Before Trilogy

The Vengeance Trilogy

The Cornetto Trilogy

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Friday

Harold & Kumar

El Mariachi

The Human Condition

Pusher

Planet of the Apes

Men in Black

The Dark Knight

How to Train Your Dragon

Kung Fu Panda

Back to the Future

Bill & Ted

Clash of the Titans

Scroll down for the next article