re: Trilogy Films that Progressively got Better

quote:

---

Any others I'm missing?

---

If you watch the Matrix in reverse.

Arguably Star Wars got better with Empire, but certainly dipped with Jedi, regardless.

Ditto for Terminator - T2 is favorite for some, while others like the original (and I'm torn) - but 3 and beyond just got worse and worse.

The 3rd chapter is often a turning point - Rocky III was a dip from the first 2, while Godfather III was off the cliff from the first 2 - neither of those were true trilogies (also true for the Terminator "series), but the first 2 chapters told a two-part story - of sorts.

That is, to a certain degree true of Alien as well - the first 2 stories have a noticeable connection, although not a tight, two-part story, but it gets more and more disjointed as it goes along (and gets worse and worse in the process) and adds more unoriginal sequels.

Back the Future was the most tightly woven trilogy, well-thought out pure film trilogy - in my estimation (I say that having never seen The Dark Knight start to finish, and only snippets of The Dark Knight Rises).

The first 3 Bourne films were woven together fairly well (but in both cases, I prefer the first chapter, so these don't answer your question, either). I'm not sure Bourne is a true trilogy - although it's borderline.