Hang on, is the best movie series..

[The Curmudgeon]

So I've been thinking recently about movies; not just stand-alone movies or sequels, but full on trilogies and so on. When you stop to think about it, there are very little flawless movie franchises out there. Most horror movies lose their steam after the first one, certainly don't make it past the second without a drastic drop in quality, and when it comes to classic sci-fi or action movies, the shine of a once promising franchise seriously begins to fade after the original.

The original Star Wars trilogy is, obviously, fantastic, but in the list of canon Star Wars movies their loathed prequels ruin everything. Terminator? First two are ruined by a patchy fourth and a dreadful third. Ditto Alien. Robocop. Godfather. Indiana Jones (although I thought the fourth film wasn't anywhere near as bad as people make out).

So I have come to the conclusion that there is only one film series, a trilogy as it happens, that not only builds on its predecessors but never loses momentum and actually has viewers eager for a fourth.

Can you guess what it is?




No?

Nothing?

It's..














Yes indeed. Toy Story. An almost faultless trilogy that arguably gets better as the films progress. Great characters, great stories, brilliant dialogue.. I genuinely cannot think of a better film series that doesn't dip. The only one I could think of that rivalled it was Back to the Future, but I think the third movie wasn't nearly as good as the first two.


So am I right? Is there a more perfect film series?

[lemex]

I was going to say Lord of the Rings, but it's not quite as good. Up until Land of the Dead, you could say the 'of the Dead' series too, because that was Night of the Living, and Dawn, both horror classics, and Day of the Dead, which was also amazing. Back to the Future?

[Quillford]

Well, I admire your optimism but I disagree. Can you really say that third Toy Story was better than the first one or even the second one after. As much as I am saying none of the Toy Story films were bad. They didn't get better. The characters got less interesting and the plots oh so more predictable as it went on. Are we really saying that Jessie was a worth while addition to the franchise? After the first one every toy bar Woody and Buzz got side lined. There was literally no point to have them in later films than just to fill up the script. The fact that there were more than one of these films shows it sold out in almost every corner of the follow up stories.

A female woody? Mrs Potato Head? Come. On. The best things that came out of the sequels were easily the prospector and the care bear. Good villains and great dialogue. But main plot elements such as you know the main protagonists we're for lack of a better term pants.Toy Story has to be up there in some of the better trilogies. Much more so than disappointments such as The Blood & Ice Cream trilogy, The Hobbit, The Matrix and my personal favourite worst Highlander. But there has to be a more consistently better series. Surely?

We have the likes of Lord of the Rings, The Mariachi Films, The Millennium Films (Girl With a Dragon Tattoo) heck even Harry Potter. James Bond is worth a look as well but I can't excuse Roger Moore so that is rejected. I would rate every single one of these (Moore excluded) as a better overall series than Toy Story. If not for their heart racing moments, incredible action scenes and memorable one liners - then for their deeply interesting stories and the characters which you can't help but at the very least want to succeed in whatever it is they aim to do.

Despite all of these great and better series of films I put it to you, that actually a not too surprising series is "the best", a more perfect film series. There are currently 10 films in the series on going. Nothing has ever been done like it before ever. There is a very small chance that it will ever be done again to the same magnitude. The stories are clinching, the movies are heart racing and they are blockbuster sell outs almost every single time. Of course, I am talking about The Avengers Series. Can you really contend with this mammoth of our time in the industry.

It's true that I don't like Captain America and I dislike the films because his patriotism bores me - but I can not deny that they are good for what they are. He is as he is meant to be and I can see that it has a shit tonne of fans. The same thing rings true for every single one of the Avengers films. From Iron Man to Thor to Guardians of the Galaxy. The sheer amount of planning and budget that has gone into this historic coming together of Marvel franchises will be looked back on in 20 years and people will struggle to understand how awesome it was to be a part of it all. Every single person I speak to about these movies has a different thing to say. "I like Iron Man best" "I like the Agents of Shield TV show" etc. Personally I think Thor kicks all there asses but regardless I can't think of one film that was quote en quote, bad. The series continues to rocket into the blockbuster sales records and keeping us on our toes for the next instalment when out of no where - the introduce a new wave of characters that absolutely rocked - Guardians of the Galaxy. If there was any single doubt that this whole avengers thing would burn out, forget it. I went to see that film twice at the cinema - something I only do if it some kind of special. Topped only for me by Thor of which I can't wait to see the third.

But what of Hulk you may say? Incredible Hulk was a brilliant film. Much better than any Hulk film before it. Bana was fantastically played and I was only all to excited to see that he was going to be a part of the avengers set up as news came through after Iron Man 2. I hope that there is a second one in store for him up the road to be perfectly honest. The truth of the matter is - however good Toy Story is and how it makes you feel when the ending to 3 roles, it can't compare to the stopping power to the now scarily ominous Marvel giant that is The Avengers. Be a part of it. Be real. If there was any doubt to what I was saying - here, take a look at the newly released trailer for Avengers 2. Quillford out.

[trashcanman]

Hey, guys. Welcome back. Have you seen Captain America 2 yet, Quillford? It practically has Cap taking on the US government. Not that patriotic.

Toy Story.......yeahno. Sorry. All three films have the same fucking plot. Boy loves toys, boy loses toys, toys are sad, boy is sad, toys search for boy, bad guys try and stop them, toys find boy, everybody is happy. Great execution on each of the films, but each is pretty much a remake, including the first one which was based on a movie I remember (but conveniently can't recall the title of) from when I was little about toys who came to life whenever the humans left them alone. Except in that one, if they ever got caught out of place, they'd DIE!

But how about Paranormal Activity? I just marathoned the first 3 films and although the plot has the same problem as Toy Story, holy shit the continuity in that series is unique. Starts as a film about cursed couple, then goes back in time to why they were cursed with a family story before skipping to the intense irony what happened after, then a prequel to the prequel that shows how it all began, then into the future for the first proper sequel, and then away from the original story back in time again for a new curse that links up with the first film. Maybe not the best film series of all time, but one of the most innovative horror series ever for sure. And maybe the first to go five whole movies without becoming a joke.

I'm agreeing with Quillford that if you count Marvel films as a single series, they blow everything else away. Even the worst of the films were still pretty damn good and they've put out ten movies or so. That's a hell of an achievement for any studio, much less a single continuity.

[Quillford]

As it happens I haven't seen it yet TCM. It's the only one I haven't seen. But I guess I will give it a try. I am always open to the possibility of making me like him. I do look forward to see how GotG will pan out in the whole phase 2 and 3.

In other news, this better version of Toy Story appeared on my Facebook Timeline as if people had been spying on my internet activity today *puts on tin foil hat* either way this could be the best film of all time!

[lemex]

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, too, I find that at least equals Toy Story.

The originals of course.

[Quillford]

Millennium Series (GwtDT) are for me a beautiful series. I feel that I never truly know if they want us to focus on lisbeth or not but that is not too dissimilar to the books. I mean the books are titled around her of course but I mean down to the actual narrative surrounding the stories. Do we care for owner of the news firm, do we care for Michael? I think stories that make you question your loyalty regularly are something truly special. This was demonstrated fantastically in the movies and the characters were fantastically portrayed.

I actually didn't mind the American one as it goes. Not at all. But the original one had a more complete and overall outlook. They managed to get down the whole "pig" scene down in the first film to a particular feeling that emulated the book. When films add on to what is given by a preceding book I think it's an extra point of achievement. The american one slightly strayed to cater to a more non-European audience. At any rate, I believe it surpasses Toy Story and many film series in a number of ways.

Where as Toy Story and let's say James Bond, have some good comical moments to keep us interested. I pointed out that Toy Story gets less interesting. I see this is down to the characters getting more boring. Why? I don't think there's a "real" character progression. Woody although accepting of Andy growing up, is still exactly the same as he was at the end of Toy Story 1. Same with Buzz and Rex and Potato and every single other toy. What has been learned here? Everything is exactly the same character wise for the last two films. No wonder I found myself un-enthused in bits.
007 plays a similar track but with more narrative purpose. People expect and he needs to be the same cut throat spy. We all hope he has a bit more heart than he lets on but he does prove to us every now and again he doesn't. Is Sean Connery different at the end of Dr No then he is at the end of From Russia With Love or even Diamonds Are Forever? Not at all. Maybe "inside" but that's pure speculation. He even rolls the credits the same way in Dr No and From Russia With Love - in a boat, getting his thing on with a poorly dressed female with daddy issues.

My point here is that to keep a film fresh in a series and to keep it truly on the edge of your seat entertaining, you need not only a NEW narrative, not a recycled one but you need character progression to really throw in that unpredictability. The reason that both 007 and Millennium come behind Avengers for me is because I believe character progression is something that Marvel actually do rather well... mostly.

While Iron Man panders to his ego and does seemingly predictable things - I believe his personality gets better in every iteration. Which makes me question his thoughts. I don't have him pinned down. Look at Thor, he actually did care for Natalie Portman (if only I could care for any of her acting -.-). I could go on and list how our beloved superhero's develop throughout the movies but for me it is a staple top spot.

[trashcanman]

Nice call on the Millenium flicks. The American version of Dragon Tattoo is actually closer to the book, but I would say that the Swedish film is better than the book in a lot of ways. In the book, the title character is barely in it until the second half and when she is it's a completely unrelated narrative to the main character's, which is thematically confusing. There's so much detail put into every aspect of Blomkvist's investigation but very little for the titular character. It also has the single most unsatisfying ending of anything ever; one which works against the feminist theme and is totally out of character to boot. The Swedish film fixed all of these things. I haven't read the other books, but the movies were great. That moment where Salander gets fully punked out for her court date and walks out for the big "fuck you" in the last movie is one of my favorite things ever.

[Quillford]

Couldn't agree more TCM. I love that scene. I hear what your saying about the whole confusion with the books and the central character. It was almost like the author couldn't make their mind up with which way they wanted to go. There was a decent balance in the films. Personally I would like to see more of Lisbeth but that's not going happen now is it. Ah well, I still have Americas answer to Feminist Entertainment, Anita Sarkeesian.

[trashcanman]

Yeah! Why didn't I think of that before. Tropes vs Women in Video Games is just as good! Oh right, but she's not entertaining in any way. Her videos are excruciatingly overlong and represent a point of view too biased to be relevant. Like, if I wanted to I could easily build a case that video games consistently portray men as musclebound stereotypes who solve every problem with extreme violence and the like using Sarkeesian's format as a template and bleed my little heart out about how it's killing our society. When you only focus on the negative, it's not a legitimate political point of view and her lack of humor or anything else just makes siting through her recitals for half an hour at a time too dull for me. She should learn from Yahtzee at Zero Punctuation how to focus on tearing something down while being awesome at the same time.