Top 10 Movie Trilogies
Some great movies stand alone. Some great films are followed by a great sequel. And very rarely, some great films come in sets of three. Today, we’re going to highlight what I consider the 10 greatest movie trilogies of all-time. I am including trilogies that received later entries, whether it was a sequel, prequel, spin-off, or reboot. And lastly, I am only including trilogies that I have seen every film in which does knock out some candidates you may find on any other list (I haven’t seen ‘The Godfather Part III’ so that trilogy won’t be on this list, sorry!).
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, & The Return of the King)- My lists aren’t usually in order. Even this list isn’t in order. But I need to make it clear. This is the best movie trilogy to ever exist. It is perfect from start to finish. Together the films were nominated for 30(!) Oscars and won 17, with the final entry winning all 11 of its nominations, including Best Picture. But perhaps the most impressive part of these films is that they were released in back-to-back-to-back years which seems unheard of in 2025.
The Original Star Wars Trilogy (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, & Return of the Jedi)- Now I actually like both the prequels and sequels more than the average Star Wars fan. In fact, Revenge of the Sith is actually my favorite movie from the franchise. But front to back, the original trilogy still stands clearly above the rest. It has the iconicity of every later Star Wars film (greater iconicity would be more accurate), but excludes the flaws that many people have with other films that would be released. As I’m typing this I realize it’s been a while since I’ve watched this trilogy, so I will probably be doing that soon.
The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, & At World’s End)- See this is where you have to ignore some later films. On the franchise’s Wikipedia it even establishes that the fourth and fifth films are standalone sequels from the original trilogy. They have the continuity in characters, themes, & plot that are lost in the final two films, with Jack Sparrow being the only constant in every film (Barbossa & Gibbs actually both also feature in all 5 films). The original trilogy of course follows Sparrow and the relationship he forms with Will Turner & Elizabeth Swann and has an epic finale that really needed no follow up.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, & Vol. 3)- The MCU has a lot of great films with impressive continuity across them, but when you take a look at the subseries within, I think the Guardians films stand above the other hero trilogies. The first film was an unexpected hit from Marvel that made lesser known comic characters into some of the most popular film characters of the 21st century. Some find the second film underwhelming, but I personally think it is a great segue from the first. And though the third film required filmmaker James Gunn to do some clean up work from choices made in Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame, it still ties up the trilogy really nicely giving every character what they needed.
The Captain America Trilogy (The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, & Civil War)- Sorry to Iron Man because his trilogy didn’t make this list. But good ole Steve Rogers did. The first film is a well done period piece and origin story for one of Marvel’s flagship heroes, while the second film transitions nicely into a bigger scale world with high stakes in a spy thriller-esque film. And Civil War (my favorite of the three) is really just an Avengers movie in all but the name, which means it rocks.
The Indiana Jones Trilogy (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade)- Alright I guess I need to rewatch this trilogy too, because I’m not sure if I was aware that Temple of Doom was a prequel until this very moment. Or maybe I did and just forgot? Doesn’t matter. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best adventure film ever made. And though neither of the following two films quite reach it’s level, they do bring back a lot of what made the first film work. The final thing I need to say here is that Harrison Ford is awesome.
The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, & The Dark Knight Rises)- Coming from the greatest director of the 21st century, Christopher Nolan masterfully pieced together the world’s most iconic superhero over a three film run. Both the first & third film are well above average superhero films with many things to praise. But that middle film. Not only is it the best superhero film ever made, it is one of the few films that I would legitimately put in the conversation for best movie ever.
The Toy Story Trilogy (Toy Story, 2, & 3)- I actually don’t mind Toy Story 4, but I’m ignoring it for this list. The original film was not only a revolutionary piece for animation, but also is still just a great film to this day. The second film is perhaps just as good, and in my opinion, the third film clears the other two to give the characters we have grown to love the ending they deserve. Each movie can make any person sob, laugh, and feel all the feelings.
The Back to the Future Trilogy (Back to the Future, Part II, & Part III)- Admittedly, I think the films in this trilogy get worse as they roll along, but together they still form a very nice trilogy of films. They take Marty McFly & Doc Brown all through the past, present, and future, just being very fun films all throughout.
The Planet of the Apes Trilogy (Rise of, Dawn of, & War for)- I’m specifically talking about the Andy Serkis as Caesar led trilogy here in the entry that is certainly biased. But I just think that these movies make a very concise story showing how the apes rose to conquer Earth. While the sequel film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (which is presumed to be the start of a new trilogy), is also very solid, it does feel distinctly different from Caesar’s trilogy. Andy Serkis’ performance across the trilogy is criminally underrated and almost earns the films this spot on it’s own.
