The Best Movie Series EVER?

[indianasmith]

Over the last couple of weeks, my family and I sat down and watched THE LORD OF THE RINGS, Special Edition, Extended Cut, trilogy.  All 11 glorious  hours of it.  Having read the books over 30 times, and owning Tolkein Calendars going all the way back to 1980 (by the Brothers Hildebrand), I guess you could call me a raving Tolkein fan.

But even making some attempt at objectivity, I still have to say that this incredibly beautiful trilogy of films, especially when seen in the extended cut where the full extent of Jackson's adaptive genius can be seen, may well be the finest movies I have ever watched in my life.

Yes, they left out some parts of the book.  Yes, they inflated the roles of some characters while leaving some out and/or reducing the roles of others.  But taken as a whole, EVERYTHING about this series is darn near perfect. Most of the changes from the book made the story work better as a movie.  The casting was brilliant.  I had always envisioned Sean Connery as Gandalf, but Ian McKellan now OWNS that role.  Viggo Mortensen was perfect as Aragorn, Liv Tyler was beautiful, fierce, and fragile as Arwen, and Sean Astin's portrayal of the steadfast, loyal, and unshakable Sam Gamgee was brilliant! Even the CGI generated, tortured character of Gollum was absolutely in keeping with his portrayal in the books, and Elijah Wood had the perfect blend of pathos and courage as Frodo. The soundtrack was gorgeous, the cinematography breathtaking, the script flowed beautifully, and even the CGI was impressive.  Certain scenes in the movie still just leave me gasping at their sheer beauty and artistry.

I know these films have been out awhile, and I know that not everyone here shares my love of epic fantasy.  But, here and now, I raise my glass to Peter Jackson and his remarkable achievement in bringing the greatest fantasy epic of all time to brilliant, vibrant life!

THE LORD OF THE RINGS . . . BEST MOVIE SERIES OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!

[codemen95]

the toy story series. Every movie was great, and the end of toy story 3 was just great, and was crying at that point. i know a lot did cry at that part. Don't deny it.

[Vik]

The Vengeance trilogy.

[Jack]

I'd have to go with the Alien movies.  The first was a brilliant horror movie, the second was a brilliant action / adventure / horror movie, the third was, well, pretty good.  The fourth movie sucked, but on the strength of the first two I'd have to give the nod to that franchise.  They're coming out with the collection on Blu ray one of these months too.  Might just have to pick that up.

[Doggett]

Back to the Future.
Its all just perfect.

Its smart, funny, warm, action packed, adventerous. Just awesome. Great characters and score.

Its just soooo good. 

[Rev. Powell]

I think I agree with Indy.

STAR WARS could have been a contender, but the prequels leave a permanent bad taste.

Sergio Leone's The Man with No Name "trilogy" might be a contender, but I'm not sure it should really count as a series. 

I can't think of any series where each film was as consistently good as THE LORD OF THE RINGS.  Jackson was able to cheat a bit, though, by essentially filming one extremely long movie and breaking it into three parts.

[3mnkids]

I have to agree with LOTR. The problem with most series is that there is usually one that screws it all up.

The Godfather... part 3 ruined it.
Star Wars... ugh, what a slap in the face 1,2 and 3 were.
Aliens..First two great but after that they got lazy
Indiana Jones.. Again,first two great, third is good but the 4th was like a big middle finger
Pirates of the Caribbean.. first two great, third was blah.

I could list the harry potter movies but I haven't seen them. 

[Vik]

I'm not sure if the Vengeance trilogy really fits here, though. They're 3 different stories.
And I agree with most series named here.

[Ometiklan]

Lord of the Rings.
For Me as well!

[ChaosTheory]

I think the Bourne movies turned out really well, and the Vampire Hunter D movies too; but for the best ever I gotta say it's a toss-up between LOTR and Toy Story 

[Mr. DS]

Toy Story was a great series all the way through.  It stuck to it's guns and never lost it's cinematic soul.

Star Wars, although I love it, is immensely flawed I find.  Too many WTF moments to really call it the "greatest ever". 

I'm with Doggett with Back To The Future.  Every film was wonderfully full of humor and excitement.  Granted it was repetitive but its what made them all fun.  The story just tweaked around the plot nicely. 

Lord Of The Rings was great but way too drawn out I find.  I know Jackson aimed to give the fanboys a fangasm but the slow motion scenes in the last one killed me.  I have a hard time rewatching them personally. 

Indiana Jones was great, I choose to forget part 4 existed.  I still don't get why part 2 gets flamed but oh well. 

[Allhallowsday]

LORD OF THE RINGS is overblown and overrated (did I mention overlong?)    

I think the original FRANKENSTEIN, the sequel BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, and the third installment SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (all dating to the '30s) are a superb group of films.  The later installments starting in the '40s are more hokey, and less dedicated (though most have their charms).