Getting every film in a trilogy right is not easy. But some filmmakers have managed to do it — or even make the third better than the last one. Here's a list of trilogies that aced it. Opinions may vary, of course.
Sergio Leone's iconic three-part Western saga, led by Clint Eastwood, is a storytelling marvel featuring characters with different motivations, and the rare case of the same actor essaying different characters in each film, except for Eastwood.
Richard Linklater's trio of films, which explored a mature love story between the central characters played by Richard Gere and Julie Delpy, through a two-decade period, didn't forget to show the rough edges of even the most beautiful relationships.
In terms of quality, the first three, directed by Steven Spielberg from George Lucas' stories, outweigh the ones that followed. With nods to the escapist television fare of the 1930s and 1940s, the trilogy is comfort viewing at its best.
Like Indiana Jones, the Jason Bourne film series should've ended with the third, The Bourne Ultimatum. Even the fifth entry, directed by Paul Greengrass, who helmed the last two in the trilogy, couldn't recreate the same magic.
Nicolas Winding Refn's ('Drive', 'Only God Forgives') minimalist gangster drama revolves around three principal characters, with each becoming the lead of the respective films in the trilogy. Refn's characteristic affinity for brutal violence is present here too.
While bleak, and the entire trilogy spans a 9-hour duration, the Japanese master Masaki Kobayashi's humanist epic is essential viewing, especially for fans of actor Tatsuya Nakadai (Kurosawa's later muse), who also led Kobayashi's other iconic film 'Harakiri'.
Not that the fourth film after 'War for the Planet of the Apes' wasn't any good. However, the reboot trilogy, launched with 'Rise', has a unifying story arc that got increasingly better across the three films.
It's not the best example in terms of acting prowess, but Peter Jackson's vision more than made up for it. The extended versions, with longer runtimes, are far superior to the original theatrical versions.