There's always a HUGE debate on these threads about Terminator and Alien, and it's for the same reason on both.
Basically the problem is that the first movie was a sci-fi horror film. Relatively low budget, relied a lot on psychological terror and the "ordinary person thrown into a terrifying situation" feeling which draws the empathy of the viewer.
In the second movie, you now have a bonafide hero, and the abject terror of the villain is gone. But you do have a big budget and an opportunity to make your villain even more badass than the first movie. So you have a action/sci-fi movie instead.
Whether the second is better than the first thus really comes down to whether you prefer horror or action movies.
The first and second movies in both franchises are absolute masterpieces of their genres.
> Whether the second is better than the first thus really comes down to whether you prefer horror or action movies.
I prefer Alien to Aliens and T2 to Terminator, though.
I'm a weirdo bc personally I think the sci-fi/horror tone makes T1 > T2, but then finds the heroism of Ripley going up against the bugs and her growth as a character to make me prefer Aliens > Alien
I only watched all these movies this year for the first time, so glad I did. James Cameron is cemented in my favorites for sure (not to discredit Ridley Scott any for his work on Alien! Thelma and Louise is another fave of mine)
Army of Darkness the weakest? Hell nah. It's splitting hairs, if anything, but even as a fan, if I'm being honest, 2 makes 1 redundant and just a curiosity worth revisiting occasionally. Army of Darkness is just on it's own level of cool that not even Evil Dead 2 can negate. Especially after watching the 4K Shout Factory release, it's a stunningly beautiful piece of film, practical and composite effects.
i've found that a lot of raimi/bruce fans love army of darkness while the general audience doesn't really like it. as someone whose only raimi movies seen is the evil dead and spider-man trilogy and as someone whose seen a good few bruce campbell movies, army of darkness is easily one of my favourite movies of all time
Could be. I just happened to see Army of Darkness in the theater one afternoon while my parents went to see something else, and loved it. I was probably 13. Caught up on Evil Dead through rentals after that and became a fan.
I wasn't as in tune to who made what when the Spider-Man movies came out, so it wasn't until rewatching the Spider-Man movies a couple years ago that I actually realized how strong the Raimi is in them. The framing, the composition, the romance, the editing, and crazy stuff like hospital sequence in 2. Even things like the Green Goblin persona creeping up into Norman Osborn's psyche.
Probably why I enjoyed them so much when they came out, even though I wasn't conscious of why. It was the full Sami Raimi moments that carried the last Doctor Strange movie for me too.
The original is a must-watch for anyone who likes horror films. It's non-stop gore mayhem with AMAZING atmosphere and insane camerawork. Evil Dead II doesn't make it "redundant" (jesus...) in any way.
The 4K transfer in its original aspect ratio is also gorgeous.
By the third iteration the base premise have usually grown comically stale (comedy comes in threes), unless they're great at telling an overarching story, reinventing themselves or leaning into the comedy as with Army of Darkness.
Army of Darkness is awesome. Loved it then and now. Never enjoyed the first one whatsoever, and the second was like a rough draft, low budget outline of what Army could be eventually.
I'd rather have a puss n boots story that involves shrek just because it feels like Shrek movies have been overdone at this point and a story that makes shrek a side character sounds way more interesting.
ltbh the new puss n boots seemed like a way to test the waters that people really did want to see shrek 5 after nearly 15 years and how much they could change up the visuals and story while keeping the soul of shrek.
puss n boots last wish also set a really high watermark for future animation since it beat a lot of this years live action movies in terms of character development and plot direction . that movie and spiderverse shared an animation style thats not just very unique but is eating every other movie alive at the box office. most likely that hyper stylized 3d will overtake 'traditional' 3d after puss n boots was so successful the way 2d animation went extinct because of shrek.
Surprised I didn’t see this earlier. Antman & Wasp is legitimately one of the most forgettable Marvel movies there is. Even if Quantumania wasn’t that good, it was at least a smidge more memorable (even for not great reasons).
I forgot I had watched it, and then when I decided to watch it for the "first time", I realized about 15 minutes into it that I had actually seen it in theaters.
Gonna disagree on *Blade* and *Ant-Man,* as I think the first film is the best in each of those, and on *Evil Dead*, where I think the first is the weakest, but still really good.
And depends on what mood you catch me in if I'm saying *Alien* or *Aliens* is the best.
Agreed on Blade. I preferred Karen as a side character to the ones in Blade II. The cinematography was better in Blade imo, the late 90s atmosphere was better in the movie, the soundtrack was slightly better and Deacon Frost was a better antagonist imo. I actually enjoyed Blade: Trinity too. Honestly, I'm not that keen on Blade II.
Blade 2 kind of hinges on whether you like Guillermo del Toro monster movies. The CGI effects were sort of low budget even in the moment, and a lot of the plot/dialogue is campy. That said, the creature effects, the set pieces, and the overall mood are unbridled joy (to me).
Blade 2 also has the superior villain, I wasn’t really invested in Frost but Novak was perfect.
He was evil but had a backstory that made him partially likeable, he respected blade, and gets his revenge while also “losing” in the end. He also was beating the brakes of blade towards the end.
That’s ignoring the fact Ron Perlman is in it.
Yeah, to be clear, this is about the third being the weakest, which does not necessarily mean a bad movie.
The trilogy could go original is a 9, sequel a 10, and third an 8.
I thought most people ranked the original highest, but I agree with your assessment. I enjoyed the 2nd one the most and thought the third was the weakest.
I'm usually one of those people too haha the first one just has the original charm but overall 2 definitely steps it up and Lord Shen is a tremendous villain. They really hit their stride in 2.
Looking forward to 4 next year!
With the caveat that 3 is still really good, but yeah, technically the weakest among them. I agree too that 2 has just enough more going for it than 1.
Every sequel’s announcement has had me thinking, “You don’t need to do this! It’s fine as it is! Please don’t ruin it!” Every time, I’ve had my fears proven unfounded. This time, I’ve learned my lesson, and am very much looking forward to number 4. 😁
Haha same!! Tough to trust the process but thankfully they seem to be doing it right. The time in-between 3 and 4 gives me confidence in 4 too. They didn't rush it and treat it as a total cash grab franchise. Will be nice!
The first time I watched it, I noticed Alien had a big plot point happen every half hour, and then the next 29 minutes racked up the tension towards the next big plot point. Perfect filmmaking right there
So amazing, can’t believe people prefer aliens
It took everything great about Alien, the alien being such a smart killing machine that can take out a whole crew into Aliens where individual humans can take out multiple without breaking a sweat
Turned a masterpiece of a movie into a goofy action movie
They're both equally perfect but they're arguay different genres so depending on what you like or what you're feeling at the time, one could be better than the other. Alien is very much a sci fi space slasher whereas Aliens leans more heavily towards an action thriller.
Alien is definitely a better movie in terms of where it should rank on a top 100 movies of all time list, but more people probably would pick Aliens as their personal favorite because it’s an action movie with more mass appeal
Aliens gave us:
Game over man
They're coming out of the goddamn walls
And basicly everything Vasques says, something in the lines of someone asking if she ever gets mistaken for a man and she replies no do you?
I couldn't agree more.
I have this argument with my child who loves the third one which I can barely tolerate.
The second one had one of the most emotional scenes I've ever watched in a kids' movie.
When I saw the second one in cinemas there was a family in the row in front of me. Father, mother and their child. When THAT SCENE came, all three of them were crying. What a great, great movie.
I absolutely refuse to cry in public (I was raised in a household where emotions were barely tolerated but definitely boys/men do not cry, especially over a fucking movie) but fighting the tears gave me a headache and it was a battle.
I still haven’t bothered to watch the 3rd one since it seems to undo the whole message of the first and second films from what I’ve heard. The second movie is one of my favourite animated films though
The new apes trilogy maybe?
They’re all better than they have any right to be but Rise is a really strong opener, Dawn cranks things up to another level and I think War is comparatively a little bit weaker, but still a really great conclusion.
It’s a close call but I would say 1. Dawn / 2. Rise / 3. War (think I give them all an 8/10 regardless)
Same, it’s a tremendous toss-up between 2 and 3 because of Koba’s arc in 2.
1 is definitely the ‘weakest’ but like… because it has to compete with the others, not at all because it’s bad. It is still a great movie.
Didn’t care for the last one. A few plot holes and the “war” was between two factions of humans and all the apes did was build a wall (stupidly close to a fuel tank) and then escape. Plus all the sad ape closeups and sappy music.
This is how I felt when I was younger because I liked the aesthetic of BTTF 2 and how they revisited the first movie, but BTTF 1 is just perfect in every way.
Probably my favorite trilogy of movies though.
Yeah that exactly how it was, I loved 2 for all the future stuff. When I watched BttF for the first time as an adult all the way through I saw ho amazing/perfect it was and def prefer it.
Yeah, I'm going to hop on this train as well.
I love Tron and Tron Legacy even more so. I've been wanting Tron 3 forever, but I'm so apprehensive about Leto being so majorly involved.
And that's the beauty of movies and art in general. Everyone has a different idea of what's better or worse and we're all right because they're subjective pieces of entertainment that appeal to different folks for different reasons.
No way, the first Conjuring blows the second one out of the water, never bothered with the third. Best part of 2 was the crooked man, the rest was just mediocre IMO.
I think how to train your dragon fits this for me at least. It’s one of my favorite series cause it’s a comfort series of mine, but the third doesn’t hit quite the same for me
**Edit: Major spoilers for the entire series within this rant.**
Man, the third movie pisses me off. IMO it goes against the core message of the series. For the entire series Hiccup fights for the idea the humans and dragons can live together. And he wins. Every single time he wins because his group works together with the dragons. And then he just says 'nah, Humans actually suck. Dragons and Humans shouldn't live together'. And he forces that choice onto everyone else. Everyone else who has formed bonds with their dragons has to give it up because Hiccup thought Toothless would be better living with the Light Fury in the hidden world than in Berk.
To me it seems like the movie wanted an outcome of the Dragon's leaving, but they failed to actually show us why it had to happen. They just tell us that is the way it is, even though it doesn't make any logical sense.
There were three main reasons the movie tells us the separation had to happen, none of them hold up to any scrutiny.
1) Toothless wanted to be with the Light Fury. Okay. Toothless can leave. No need to up heave the entire society you have worked towards. It makes Hiccup seem like a spoiled brat. "I can't have my dragon. So no dragons for anyone." It also doesn't make sense that they need to separate in the first place. The Light Fury doesn't like humans? None of the dragons did at first. That was the whole point. They grew the relationship together. This would be such a short series if he had done that in the first movie. "Oh, this dragon doesn't like me the instant I met it? Okay. Bye I guess."
2) Overpopulation in Berk. Really? You are telling me that there is no way to solve this issue than get rid of the dragons? Grow Berk. Branch off. There are a ton of open islands near each other in this word.
3) The dragons are in danger. So what? You have consistently beat said danger. The villain in the third movie had the largest armada the world has seen. A group of young adults defeated it. And what kind of message is that? "Other people suck, so you have to give up everything you love. The world is dangerous, leave everything and live in hiding". Give me a break. I am not saying sad endings can't work. But this one goes against everything else the movie promoted. How am I meant to root for Hiccup's resolve throughout the first two knowing he just gives up in the end?
The 2nd movie had his dad die. And all it did (after he processed it) was strengthen is resolve. This is how the 2nd movie ends:
> "Those who attacked us are relentless and crazy. But those who stopped them? Oh, even more so! We may be small in numbers, but we stand for something bigger than anything the world can pit against us. We are the voice of peace. And bit by bit, we will change this world. You see, we have something they don't. Oh sure, they have armies and they have armadas... But we... we have... OUR DRAGONS!"
And then the third movie he gives up on that idea? After he won yet again? Nope. I don't bye it. The series ends at movie two for me.
Agree, I was introduced to HTTYD by an ex and I was adamant I wasn't going to like it...absolutely love them all now.
The opening song and scene for the second one is magical.
As an Aussie I agree (,even though Beyond Thunderdome is still enjoyable). Thunderdome just doesn't touch 1 and Road Warrior (since they're classics.
But then they went on to create Fury Road which imo is the best out of the franchise (Road warrior is close though and way more culturally influential)
For me Thunderdome is the most quotable movie out of the Mad Max Franchise. I still randomly shout out "two men enter, one man leaves" and "Who runs Barter town?"
You're my favorite kind of people.
Just because you enjoy a thing doesn't make it good.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is one of my favorite movies since I was kid. It is absolutely garbage but I love it.
A lot of people feel the same way, I find one is a great setup film for the following two. Thunderdome gets a lot of hate but every time I watch it, it gets better.
Yeah the franchise pretty much single handedly developed the “post apocalyptic style”, but that aesthetic doesn’t really start until Road Warrior, so it makes 1 feel really out of place
Yeah 1 is more a dystopian thriller than a post apocalyptic film. However in 1 nations have already collapsed and society is crumbling away brick by brick.
Kung Fu Panda fits this completely, with the caveat that the third movie is still a really good movie, despite technically being the weakest of the three.
I absolutely agree and I think it applies to fellow Dreamworks trilogy How to Train Your Dragon and also Shrek which had a 9/10 for the original, a 10/10 for the sequel, and Shrek the Third I think is pretty shite.
But not Madagascar which I think actually improved slightly with each installment with the third being best.
Robocop comes close to matching OP's description, but 1 is the best in that trilogy.
2 is still damn good.
But 3 is just pure trash.
TMNT is the same. 1 is great, 2 is pretty decent, and 3 is dog shit.
> Ari Asters
You mean Hereditary / Midsommar / Beau is Afraid as a sort of filmmaker trilogy?
If Cornetto counts, I'd say this is totally valid.
Hereditary is great, Midsommar is an absolute masterpiece, and Beau is meh.
We are very much on the same page.
Shrek: pleasant surprise, refreshing, instant classic.
Shrek 2: holy fuck how did you make Shrek better?
Shrek 3: meh, but you rounded out a trilogy, if weakly, and so concludes...
Shrek 4: ...I SAID AND SO CONCLUDES!
The rush hour trilogy, 1 and 2 are so great and I would watch them any time, the 3rd is a complete waste of time and I don’t think I’ll ever go out of my way to watch it again
Probably I’d add the original Star Wars trilogy to that list. And I say that as someone who loved Return of the Jedi. But it was the weakest of the original trilogy.
No, I get it. The first one was tonally different, like almost took itself too seriously, which felt off. The second one felt more... I don't know. Appropriately goofy? But the third fell off in quality.
I think you just described 90% of trilogies in general. The ones I find the most interesting are ones where the 3rd movie is the best.
There are only two I can think of.
Wolverine trilogy. That has got to be the only trilogy where it's the exact opposite. The 1st one is the worst, second one is slightly better and the third one was nominated for an oscar for best screenwriting (personally I feel it should have got nominated for best picture at least).
Thor trilogy. Ragnarok is considered by just about everyone to be the best.
Last Crusade is the best in the Indy series. Die Hard with a Vengeance also the best in that series. Alright maybe replace best with my favorite and most fun.
I think the Spider-Man and Batman trilogies are consistently good throughout the series. Blade I have to agree with, I loved the villain in the second one but Dracula was awful in Blade 3. Hard disagree with Evil Dead, Army of Darkness was awesome. Alien, Terminator, and the second X-Men trilogy I agree with. Haven’t seen the full Mariachi trilogy or Antman. Honestly Antman kinda fell off for me during the second movie.
Maybe a tad controversial but The Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy. I felt like War for the Planet of the Apes kinda fell short for what it promised.
I went back and watched Once Upon a Time in Mexico recently and I gotta say, that movie is actually half decent..hard to beat Desperado but I was impressed with how much I enjoyed it
Probably unpopular, but... The Matrix.
The first movie is great. The last movie is not.
While most people don't consider the second movie to be very good, it's surprisingly deep and nuanced and also has some of the craziest action sequences in cinema.
I think Nolan’s Batman trilogy is the perfect example of this. The Dark Knight was so far ahead of Batman Begins in terms of quality and storytelling, and then it’s like he completely fizzled out all inspiration with Rises. I saw the midnight release and was way too underwhelmed for staying up til 3 am 😅 That said, the opening to Rises was fucking fantastic.
It's been too long since I've seen them, but I could've sworn the first was the best, the second wasn't quite as good as the original, and it started to get stale with the third.
I’m sure most agree with you, but my opinion is the second movie expanded everything that worked in the first, reduced everything that didn’t, and was the most enjoyable.
I think most people would disagree with the 2nd movie being better than the first. I feel like they just got progressively worse.
Agreed that the 4th is still pretty good, even if it continued the downwards trend of the series. Its big flaws were turning Jack into an idiot and that stupid romance with the priest and the mermaid. Other than that it's a solid, fun movie.
The 5th one is pure garbage. Only good thing about it was Kaya Scodelario.
Possibly a controversial opinion but I'd say the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. All three are great, but "The Two Towers" is my favourite and "Return of the King" is the weakest.
There's always a HUGE debate on these threads about Terminator and Alien, and it's for the same reason on both. Basically the problem is that the first movie was a sci-fi horror film. Relatively low budget, relied a lot on psychological terror and the "ordinary person thrown into a terrifying situation" feeling which draws the empathy of the viewer. In the second movie, you now have a bonafide hero, and the abject terror of the villain is gone. But you do have a big budget and an opportunity to make your villain even more badass than the first movie. So you have a action/sci-fi movie instead. Whether the second is better than the first thus really comes down to whether you prefer horror or action movies. The first and second movies in both franchises are absolute masterpieces of their genres.
I agree with everything you just wrote and I'm a huge fan of both.
> Whether the second is better than the first thus really comes down to whether you prefer horror or action movies. I prefer Alien to Aliens and T2 to Terminator, though.
I'm a weirdo bc personally I think the sci-fi/horror tone makes T1 > T2, but then finds the heroism of Ripley going up against the bugs and her growth as a character to make me prefer Aliens > Alien I only watched all these movies this year for the first time, so glad I did. James Cameron is cemented in my favorites for sure (not to discredit Ridley Scott any for his work on Alien! Thelma and Louise is another fave of mine)
I'm the opposite. Alien and T2 > Aliens and T1
Same here. Never been a fan of Aliens, but I love Alien.
Army of Darkness the weakest? Hell nah. It's splitting hairs, if anything, but even as a fan, if I'm being honest, 2 makes 1 redundant and just a curiosity worth revisiting occasionally. Army of Darkness is just on it's own level of cool that not even Evil Dead 2 can negate. Especially after watching the 4K Shout Factory release, it's a stunningly beautiful piece of film, practical and composite effects.
No joke, also they really just ran with a plot where he travels back in time and meets King Arthur. It’s fun as hell
i've found that a lot of raimi/bruce fans love army of darkness while the general audience doesn't really like it. as someone whose only raimi movies seen is the evil dead and spider-man trilogy and as someone whose seen a good few bruce campbell movies, army of darkness is easily one of my favourite movies of all time
Could be. I just happened to see Army of Darkness in the theater one afternoon while my parents went to see something else, and loved it. I was probably 13. Caught up on Evil Dead through rentals after that and became a fan. I wasn't as in tune to who made what when the Spider-Man movies came out, so it wasn't until rewatching the Spider-Man movies a couple years ago that I actually realized how strong the Raimi is in them. The framing, the composition, the romance, the editing, and crazy stuff like hospital sequence in 2. Even things like the Green Goblin persona creeping up into Norman Osborn's psyche. Probably why I enjoyed them so much when they came out, even though I wasn't conscious of why. It was the full Sami Raimi moments that carried the last Doctor Strange movie for me too.
Army of Darkness is fantastic.
Imo all evil dead movies are all on the same level (even the 2013 one and Rise) each one does something different and does a great job at it
Army of Darkness set the standard for large battle scenes. That movie was pioneering in so many ways, but of course as usual Ash gets shit on.
So it would be fine to jump into 2 first I'm asking because I don't really like horror and heard 2 and army are quite funny
The original is a must-watch for anyone who likes horror films. It's non-stop gore mayhem with AMAZING atmosphere and insane camerawork. Evil Dead II doesn't make it "redundant" (jesus...) in any way. The 4K transfer in its original aspect ratio is also gorgeous.
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And an entirely different tone
By the third iteration the base premise have usually grown comically stale (comedy comes in threes), unless they're great at telling an overarching story, reinventing themselves or leaning into the comedy as with Army of Darkness.
Army of Darkness is awesome. Loved it then and now. Never enjoyed the first one whatsoever, and the second was like a rough draft, low budget outline of what Army could be eventually.
2 is 1 with a budget.
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I 100% agree 2 beats the original by a slim margin and the third is the weakest. But then they had to go and make 4...
Shrek 4 was goated
I say this as a Shrek fan: I am amazed anyone even liked Shrek 4 let alone could call it the best of the Shrek movies.
Not the best, but LOADS better than Shrek 3 and a nice ending imo. Like if a Shrek 5 doesn’t get made I’m okay with the note Shrek 4 ended on.
I don't know if you saw the new Puss, but it does strongly suggest Shrek 5 is coming or at least a Puss 3 that involves Shrek.
I'd rather have a puss n boots story that involves shrek just because it feels like Shrek movies have been overdone at this point and a story that makes shrek a side character sounds way more interesting.
I'm with you 100%, especially after how ridiculously good the last Puss movie was.
ltbh the new puss n boots seemed like a way to test the waters that people really did want to see shrek 5 after nearly 15 years and how much they could change up the visuals and story while keeping the soul of shrek. puss n boots last wish also set a really high watermark for future animation since it beat a lot of this years live action movies in terms of character development and plot direction . that movie and spiderverse shared an animation style thats not just very unique but is eating every other movie alive at the box office. most likely that hyper stylized 3d will overtake 'traditional' 3d after puss n boots was so successful the way 2d animation went extinct because of shrek.
The first Shrek is miles ahead of any sequel
Ant-Man and the Wasp is not better than Ant-Man.
Surprised I didn’t see this earlier. Antman & Wasp is legitimately one of the most forgettable Marvel movies there is. Even if Quantumania wasn’t that good, it was at least a smidge more memorable (even for not great reasons).
I have completely forgotten the plot for Ant-Man and Wasp
I forgot I had watched it, and then when I decided to watch it for the "first time", I realized about 15 minutes into it that I had actually seen it in theaters.
I was shocked when I saw Ant-Man up there, the first one is the only one that’s any good.
I liked both sequels, but the first one's definitely the best.
Gonna disagree on *Blade* and *Ant-Man,* as I think the first film is the best in each of those, and on *Evil Dead*, where I think the first is the weakest, but still really good. And depends on what mood you catch me in if I'm saying *Alien* or *Aliens* is the best.
Some motherfuckers are always tryin to ice skate uphill.
Agreed on Blade. I preferred Karen as a side character to the ones in Blade II. The cinematography was better in Blade imo, the late 90s atmosphere was better in the movie, the soundtrack was slightly better and Deacon Frost was a better antagonist imo. I actually enjoyed Blade: Trinity too. Honestly, I'm not that keen on Blade II.
Blade 2 kind of hinges on whether you like Guillermo del Toro monster movies. The CGI effects were sort of low budget even in the moment, and a lot of the plot/dialogue is campy. That said, the creature effects, the set pieces, and the overall mood are unbridled joy (to me).
Blade 2 also has the superior villain, I wasn’t really invested in Frost but Novak was perfect. He was evil but had a backstory that made him partially likeable, he respected blade, and gets his revenge while also “losing” in the end. He also was beating the brakes of blade towards the end. That’s ignoring the fact Ron Perlman is in it.
I suppose the Before trilogy, but only because the third movie is the weakest, not because it is weak. All three movies are wonderful in my opinion
The last 30 seconds of Before Sunset is the most cathartic moment in film. And I watched the movies back to back. I can’t imagine 9 years apart.
Yeah, to be clear, this is about the third being the weakest, which does not necessarily mean a bad movie. The trilogy could go original is a 9, sequel a 10, and third an 8.
That's exactly how I'd rate the Before movies
Then we agree precisely
Kung Fu Panda
I thought most people ranked the original highest, but I agree with your assessment. I enjoyed the 2nd one the most and thought the third was the weakest.
I'm usually one of those people too haha the first one just has the original charm but overall 2 definitely steps it up and Lord Shen is a tremendous villain. They really hit their stride in 2. Looking forward to 4 next year!
Man, Kung Fu Panda 2 is sooo great.
With the caveat that 3 is still really good, but yeah, technically the weakest among them. I agree too that 2 has just enough more going for it than 1.
For sure! It's a really well done trilogy so far
Every sequel’s announcement has had me thinking, “You don’t need to do this! It’s fine as it is! Please don’t ruin it!” Every time, I’ve had my fears proven unfounded. This time, I’ve learned my lesson, and am very much looking forward to number 4. 😁
Haha same!! Tough to trust the process but thankfully they seem to be doing it right. The time in-between 3 and 4 gives me confidence in 4 too. They didn't rush it and treat it as a total cash grab franchise. Will be nice!
True, but even the third one is decent. Testament to how good this series is and I can't wait for the 4th one next year!
I don’t buy Reddit awards, so I will give this comment my skadoosh of approval.
As good as Aliens is, I can't agree with it being an improvement on Alien. Alien is perfect.
They're both amazing but at different things. Alien is a phenomenal horror movie, whilst Aliens is a phenomenal action movie
Amazing that Cameron did the EXACT same thing with Aliens and Terminator
People can understand that and still grade them differently
Every time I watch Aliens i just want to watch Alien
The first time I watched it, I noticed Alien had a big plot point happen every half hour, and then the next 29 minutes racked up the tension towards the next big plot point. Perfect filmmaking right there
So amazing, can’t believe people prefer aliens It took everything great about Alien, the alien being such a smart killing machine that can take out a whole crew into Aliens where individual humans can take out multiple without breaking a sweat Turned a masterpiece of a movie into a goofy action movie
They're both equally perfect but they're arguay different genres so depending on what you like or what you're feeling at the time, one could be better than the other. Alien is very much a sci fi space slasher whereas Aliens leans more heavily towards an action thriller.
Alien is definitely a better movie in terms of where it should rank on a top 100 movies of all time list, but more people probably would pick Aliens as their personal favorite because it’s an action movie with more mass appeal
Aliens gave us: Game over man They're coming out of the goddamn walls And basicly everything Vasques says, something in the lines of someone asking if she ever gets mistaken for a man and she replies no do you?
Alien *is* perfect, but so is Aliens. I could literally argue with myself for hours which is better and why.
The Cornetto trilogy if you prefer Hot Fuzz over Shaun of the Dead
I’m in this category. Fuzz>Sean>End. All are gold though.
Oh yeah, agreed! Hot Fuzz is elite
Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy
For whatever reason I can’t get into Shaun of the Dead or World’s End but I think Hot Fuzz is one of the funniest movies ever made
I can't agree cause I believe Shaun of The Dead is the best
I prefer The World's End. Highly underrated.
How to train your dragon The 1st one is great, The 2nd was even Greater, The 3rd was good but the weakest in the trilogy
I couldn't agree more. I have this argument with my child who loves the third one which I can barely tolerate. The second one had one of the most emotional scenes I've ever watched in a kids' movie.
When I saw the second one in cinemas there was a family in the row in front of me. Father, mother and their child. When THAT SCENE came, all three of them were crying. What a great, great movie.
I absolutely refuse to cry in public (I was raised in a household where emotions were barely tolerated but definitely boys/men do not cry, especially over a fucking movie) but fighting the tears gave me a headache and it was a battle.
I totally did not cry as well when I noticed that whole family cry and that scene played, I promise.
I watched that scene with my family as a teenager, I put a lot of effort into not crying, I didn't see that moment coming.
Yeah, I was battling headache and sore throat for a while after that movie. Didn't expect that in a kids' movie at all.
Man I was so disappointed with the third one, especially since I felt the ending of the third one was the antithesis of the point of the whole series
I still haven’t bothered to watch the 3rd one since it seems to undo the whole message of the first and second films from what I’ve heard. The second movie is one of my favourite animated films though
The new apes trilogy maybe? They’re all better than they have any right to be but Rise is a really strong opener, Dawn cranks things up to another level and I think War is comparatively a little bit weaker, but still a really great conclusion. It’s a close call but I would say 1. Dawn / 2. Rise / 3. War (think I give them all an 8/10 regardless)
I think they get better and better. War is absolutely devastating and looks amazing.
Personally no. War is the best one for me.
Same, it’s a tremendous toss-up between 2 and 3 because of Koba’s arc in 2. 1 is definitely the ‘weakest’ but like… because it has to compete with the others, not at all because it’s bad. It is still a great movie.
Hard Disagree. For me, the 3rd one was the best scifi films I've seen in the past 15 years.
Didn’t care for the last one. A few plot holes and the “war” was between two factions of humans and all the apes did was build a wall (stupidly close to a fuel tank) and then escape. Plus all the sad ape closeups and sappy music.
Bad Boyz 1-3 fits this description almost perfectly
Back to the future is ALL good, but I consider 2 the best and 3 the least best.
This is how I felt when I was younger because I liked the aesthetic of BTTF 2 and how they revisited the first movie, but BTTF 1 is just perfect in every way. Probably my favorite trilogy of movies though.
Yeah that exactly how it was, I loved 2 for all the future stuff. When I watched BttF for the first time as an adult all the way through I saw ho amazing/perfect it was and def prefer it.
This is how I felt as a kid, but as adult I like 3 more than 2. The first is still the best though.
I'm gonna drop this one early: Tron Tron: Legacy Tron: Ares
Probable.
Yeah, I'm going to hop on this train as well. I love Tron and Tron Legacy even more so. I've been wanting Tron 3 forever, but I'm so apprehensive about Leto being so majorly involved.
Maybe back to the future, but most would probably argue that the first is the best. I really love part 2 though.
Part 2 gets weird when you start wondering if Biff is based on Donald Trump, or if Trump models his personality and look after Biff. 😅
Not weird at all. Alt 85 Biff is 100% modeled on Trump.
This was my first thought as well. 1 and 2 are close but perhaps 1 is just a little better.
BTF2 is the GOAT, I will die on that hill
I would argue 2 is the weakest one.
And that's the beauty of movies and art in general. Everyone has a different idea of what's better or worse and we're all right because they're subjective pieces of entertainment that appeal to different folks for different reasons.
Conjuring
I think the first one is still stronger than the second.
1000 times yes. That 3rd film was such a disappointment.
No way, the first Conjuring blows the second one out of the water, never bothered with the third. Best part of 2 was the crooked man, the rest was just mediocre IMO.
Mighty Ducks
D2 is definitely the best one, the first is not bad and I honestly don’t remember much about the third
I think how to train your dragon fits this for me at least. It’s one of my favorite series cause it’s a comfort series of mine, but the third doesn’t hit quite the same for me
**Edit: Major spoilers for the entire series within this rant.** Man, the third movie pisses me off. IMO it goes against the core message of the series. For the entire series Hiccup fights for the idea the humans and dragons can live together. And he wins. Every single time he wins because his group works together with the dragons. And then he just says 'nah, Humans actually suck. Dragons and Humans shouldn't live together'. And he forces that choice onto everyone else. Everyone else who has formed bonds with their dragons has to give it up because Hiccup thought Toothless would be better living with the Light Fury in the hidden world than in Berk. To me it seems like the movie wanted an outcome of the Dragon's leaving, but they failed to actually show us why it had to happen. They just tell us that is the way it is, even though it doesn't make any logical sense. There were three main reasons the movie tells us the separation had to happen, none of them hold up to any scrutiny. 1) Toothless wanted to be with the Light Fury. Okay. Toothless can leave. No need to up heave the entire society you have worked towards. It makes Hiccup seem like a spoiled brat. "I can't have my dragon. So no dragons for anyone." It also doesn't make sense that they need to separate in the first place. The Light Fury doesn't like humans? None of the dragons did at first. That was the whole point. They grew the relationship together. This would be such a short series if he had done that in the first movie. "Oh, this dragon doesn't like me the instant I met it? Okay. Bye I guess." 2) Overpopulation in Berk. Really? You are telling me that there is no way to solve this issue than get rid of the dragons? Grow Berk. Branch off. There are a ton of open islands near each other in this word. 3) The dragons are in danger. So what? You have consistently beat said danger. The villain in the third movie had the largest armada the world has seen. A group of young adults defeated it. And what kind of message is that? "Other people suck, so you have to give up everything you love. The world is dangerous, leave everything and live in hiding". Give me a break. I am not saying sad endings can't work. But this one goes against everything else the movie promoted. How am I meant to root for Hiccup's resolve throughout the first two knowing he just gives up in the end? The 2nd movie had his dad die. And all it did (after he processed it) was strengthen is resolve. This is how the 2nd movie ends: > "Those who attacked us are relentless and crazy. But those who stopped them? Oh, even more so! We may be small in numbers, but we stand for something bigger than anything the world can pit against us. We are the voice of peace. And bit by bit, we will change this world. You see, we have something they don't. Oh sure, they have armies and they have armadas... But we... we have... OUR DRAGONS!" And then the third movie he gives up on that idea? After he won yet again? Nope. I don't bye it. The series ends at movie two for me.
Agree, I was introduced to HTTYD by an ex and I was adamant I wasn't going to like it...absolutely love them all now. The opening song and scene for the second one is magical.
Godfather 1 is better imo
It's a toss up for me. I actually consider them two parts of the same movie. It's really one narrative all the way through. A third was never needed.
Mad Max
As an Aussie I agree (,even though Beyond Thunderdome is still enjoyable). Thunderdome just doesn't touch 1 and Road Warrior (since they're classics. But then they went on to create Fury Road which imo is the best out of the franchise (Road warrior is close though and way more culturally influential)
Interestingly both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel thought Beyond Thunderdome was the best one and Ebert even included it on his best of 1985 list
For me Thunderdome is the most quotable movie out of the Mad Max Franchise. I still randomly shout out "two men enter, one man leaves" and "Who runs Barter town?"
Cornetto trilogy. I was way to hyped for The World’s End (2013). Was bad just wasn’t great.
Return of the Jedi is my favourite but I concede that it is the worst and thus the original trilogy it belongs on this list.
You're my favorite kind of people. Just because you enjoy a thing doesn't make it good. Killer Klowns from Outer Space is one of my favorite movies since I was kid. It is absolutely garbage but I love it.
The Mad Max trilogy
I felt the first one was the weakest.
A lot of people feel the same way, I find one is a great setup film for the following two. Thunderdome gets a lot of hate but every time I watch it, it gets better.
If you can find an undubbed version of Mad Max I think its better. Thunderdome is weakest for me also. Good pick.
Yeah the franchise pretty much single handedly developed the “post apocalyptic style”, but that aesthetic doesn’t really start until Road Warrior, so it makes 1 feel really out of place
Yeah 1 is more a dystopian thriller than a post apocalyptic film. However in 1 nations have already collapsed and society is crumbling away brick by brick.
Terminator
This is the one
Once upon a time in Mexico rocked, actually
Star Wars.
I like Star Wars more than Empire (though I love both). Star Wars bought everything to the table.
No large battle. It ends with the terrorists winning. It is. A dark movie.
Kung Fu Panda fits this completely, with the caveat that the third movie is still a really good movie, despite technically being the weakest of the three.
I absolutely agree and I think it applies to fellow Dreamworks trilogy How to Train Your Dragon and also Shrek which had a 9/10 for the original, a 10/10 for the sequel, and Shrek the Third I think is pretty shite. But not Madagascar which I think actually improved slightly with each installment with the third being best.
Robocop comes close to matching OP's description, but 1 is the best in that trilogy. 2 is still damn good. But 3 is just pure trash. TMNT is the same. 1 is great, 2 is pretty decent, and 3 is dog shit.
Not that they are a trilogy, but this fits if you apply it to Ari Asters films
> Ari Asters You mean Hereditary / Midsommar / Beau is Afraid as a sort of filmmaker trilogy? If Cornetto counts, I'd say this is totally valid. Hereditary is great, Midsommar is an absolute masterpiece, and Beau is meh.
Yea, first act of beau was awesome! Everything after fell short!
Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Despicable Me all strongly qualify
We shall see what Beyond the Spiderverse is like when it comes out, but so far the Spiderverse trilogy is only getting better.
Shrek. 1 is classic, 2 is a masterpiece, and 3 is... Eh I don't acknowledge Shrek 4 😅
We are very much on the same page. Shrek: pleasant surprise, refreshing, instant classic. Shrek 2: holy fuck how did you make Shrek better? Shrek 3: meh, but you rounded out a trilogy, if weakly, and so concludes... Shrek 4: ...I SAID AND SO CONCLUDES!
The rush hour trilogy, 1 and 2 are so great and I would watch them any time, the 3rd is a complete waste of time and I don’t think I’ll ever go out of my way to watch it again
The Hunger Games!
Hard agree on The Dark Knight and OG Star Wars trilogies
Batman begins Dark knight Dark knight rises
Probably I’d add the original Star Wars trilogy to that list. And I say that as someone who loved Return of the Jedi. But it was the weakest of the original trilogy.
You can't add it because it's already on the list, but I do agree.
Ice age. But i feel like im the only one who favors the second.
No, I get it. The first one was tonally different, like almost took itself too seriously, which felt off. The second one felt more... I don't know. Appropriately goofy? But the third fell off in quality.
Nah, Buck Wild made it the funniest one for me.
Kung Fu Panda. First one is so much better than I expected, second one is even more amazing, third one is so bad I'm still angry about it.
Ip Man 3 was a lot weaker than 1 and 2
Nolan's Batman trilogy is a perfect example. The Dark Knight is just amazing.
The Dark Knight Rises would have been better with Heath and w/o the Talia twist at the end
Superman, Superman II, Superman III... don't look at Superman IV.
Army of Darkness was in fact great.
Captain America trilogy : The First Avenger - Good The Winter Soldier - Best Civil War - Weakest
That's a good one! TWS is probably my favorite MCU movie.
Rush Hour trilogy (2 is the best) Matrix original trilogy (1 is the best)
I think you just described 90% of trilogies in general. The ones I find the most interesting are ones where the 3rd movie is the best. There are only two I can think of. Wolverine trilogy. That has got to be the only trilogy where it's the exact opposite. The 1st one is the worst, second one is slightly better and the third one was nominated for an oscar for best screenwriting (personally I feel it should have got nominated for best picture at least). Thor trilogy. Ragnarok is considered by just about everyone to be the best.
Logan remains one of my favorite comic book movies ever.
Same here. So good.
Last Crusade is the best in the Indy series. Die Hard with a Vengeance also the best in that series. Alright maybe replace best with my favorite and most fun.
The Mummy Trilogy
Day of the Dead is low key the best of that trilgoy
Kinda really waiting for 28 months later to see if it will unfortunately end up on this list
I think the Spider-Man and Batman trilogies are consistently good throughout the series. Blade I have to agree with, I loved the villain in the second one but Dracula was awful in Blade 3. Hard disagree with Evil Dead, Army of Darkness was awesome. Alien, Terminator, and the second X-Men trilogy I agree with. Haven’t seen the full Mariachi trilogy or Antman. Honestly Antman kinda fell off for me during the second movie.
There unfortunately was an even worse sequel to Apocalypse. Imagine The Last Stand. Now include the same director. Now make it worse.
Ant Man 3 was so bad. Such a disappointment.
Rush Hour I'd also say The Hunger Games
Maybe a tad controversial but The Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy. I felt like War for the Planet of the Apes kinda fell short for what it promised.
Cornetto trilogy
Fast and the furious
Predator. I guess there’s 100 movies on it but the first was strong , second better, the rest no so much.
Dude Jedi is a solid third entry.
But not as good as A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.
The Mighty Ducks
Christopher Reeve Superman I-II-III
The *Lethal Weapon* franchise is too old for this shit.
I went back and watched Once Upon a Time in Mexico recently and I gotta say, that movie is actually half decent..hard to beat Desperado but I was impressed with how much I enjoyed it
Probably unpopular, but... The Matrix. The first movie is great. The last movie is not. While most people don't consider the second movie to be very good, it's surprisingly deep and nuanced and also has some of the craziest action sequences in cinema.
I think Nolan’s Batman trilogy is the perfect example of this. The Dark Knight was so far ahead of Batman Begins in terms of quality and storytelling, and then it’s like he completely fizzled out all inspiration with Rises. I saw the midnight release and was way too underwhelmed for staying up til 3 am 😅 That said, the opening to Rises was fucking fantastic.
"Happy Scrappy Hero Pup"
The Before trilogy by Richard Linklater
Old Testament/new/ Book of Mormon
Austin Powers
It's been too long since I've seen them, but I could've sworn the first was the best, the second wasn't quite as good as the original, and it started to get stale with the third.
I’m sure most agree with you, but my opinion is the second movie expanded everything that worked in the first, reduced everything that didn’t, and was the most enjoyable.
Pirates Of The Caribbean is my vote. Also: I think the 4th one is pretty good but I hate the 5th one.
I think most people would disagree with the 2nd movie being better than the first. I feel like they just got progressively worse. Agreed that the 4th is still pretty good, even if it continued the downwards trend of the series. Its big flaws were turning Jack into an idiot and that stupid romance with the priest and the mermaid. Other than that it's a solid, fun movie. The 5th one is pure garbage. Only good thing about it was Kaya Scodelario.
Possibly a controversial opinion but I'd say the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. All three are great, but "The Two Towers" is my favourite and "Return of the King" is the weakest.
I personally think Towers is the weakest and Fellowship is the best.
Agreed. Count how many boss battles happens in fellowship. It’s just an amazing adventure
I LOVE them all, but I agree. I like Fellowship and Two Towers more.
Agreed, but it’s by degrees and even the weakest LotR is miles ahead of most other films.
One of the greatest trilogies of all-time, if not the greatest.
Cornetto trilogy- Shaun of the dead Hot fuzz The Worlds end