The Trilogy Meter

I love this. I disagree with Star Trek, Terminator and Alien, but I acknowledge that this represents conventional wisdom on those franchises. Overall, this is simple and ingenious.

via Dear S, via lots of places. Here is the creator’s tumbler blog.

17 Comments

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On February 16, 2009, Casey said:

I disagree on the same ones. Aliens is way weaker than Alien 3, IMO. Fincher almost had great film there. And the first one is nigh on perfect. Second Terminator is unwatchable. Third is actually kinda fun.

Still, a cool chart/excercise.
On February 17, 2009, Cathy Resmer said:

I would go a little lower on Return of the Jedi and Temple of Doom.
On February 17, 2009, Kevin said:

Agree with all these comments — though I’d also halve the distance between BTTF 1 and 2. BTTF2 is vastly underrated.
On February 17, 2009, JRD said:

Generally agree but Last Crusade was *much* better than Temple of Doom.
On February 17, 2009, Lev said:

Godfather III wasn’t that bad. It had its flaws but it was quite salvageable–above average, I’d say.

And I second the Alien3 love. It’s certainly flawed but it’s the strongest plotwise, it’s the most dramatic and the least detached. You have to make sure you see the special assembly cut, though, otherwise it is really bad. I have little choice but to agree with the Terminator assessment, though–recently rewatched the first film, and it wasn’t that great. The second one is awesome, though.

WTF is The Wrath of Khan so low?
On February 17, 2009, dee said:

Can’t judge the first Terminator by the others. It was a “b” movie. That’s was part of it’s charm. It was low budget entertainment that caught a wave. All the other first movies in the series were designed and hyped to be “block busters”. Not so for the Terminator.
On February 17, 2009, Ivorywyne said:

Jaws 3 was better than Jaws 2? Seriously? Not that 2 was in any way a good movie, but 3 was junk…at least I think it was, I’ve never been able to make it past the first 10 minutes.
On February 17, 2009, Joe said:

The Bourne movies?
On February 17, 2009, Cazart said:

No love for Rocky III? My prediction: pain.
On February 17, 2009, drew42 said:

Yeah, Temple of Doom had way too much cringe-inducing dialogue to have that high a rating.

And I disagree with Superman vs. Superman II, for the same reason. In fact, I just recently watched them again, and didn’t care too much at all for Superman II (despite General Zod).

Of course, if this simply represents conventional wisdom, then it makes sense. And would explain why Superman Returns was so reviled.

But that wouldn’t explain why Jaws 3D got a higher rating than Jaws 2. Because nobody on this planet liked Jaws 3D.
On February 17, 2009, boronx said:

T2 over the original? T1 at had a coherent theory of time travel, dealt with it in a sophisticated way, was not purely an Arnie vehicle, and had the least gratuitous sex scene in the history of sci-fi cinema. A classic far above its sequels.
On February 18, 2009, David said:

Terminator and T2 are very different movies. Terminator is an excellent SF survival piece, while T2 is an ur-action flick, with SF as more of a trapping than an integral part of the story. I’d give them both full marks, but it depends a lot on how much you like each genre.

Alien3 over Aliens, though? Excuse me? (Granted, I’ve only seen the theatrical version)
On February 18, 2009, Allen K. said:

Of Jackie Chan’s Police Story movies, the third is definitely the best.
On February 19, 2009, Grover said:

I would lower Alien because it losses much of it’s punch after the first viewing. Intense movie the first time you see it.

Casey, if you think Aliens is weaker than Alien 3 your an idiot. I actually don’t know what movie you watched, because that movie kicks much ass. I leave it at that.

Admittedly Alien 3 gets better the more you watch it, but it always hangs out in the suck zone.

Cool chart though, I have to say I generally agree as well.
On February 21, 2009, BenMac said:

What’s up with all the Jaws 3D hate? C’mon, people! Louis Gossett Jr., Dennis Quaid AND “Manimal?” That spells “Win” in my book.
On February 22, 2009, JIMO said:

Pffffft. All of the LotR movies should be at about Jaws 3 level. Except for the RotK, which should be jeeeeeyust a little higher.
On March 2, 2009, Jack said:

Aliens is the best of the 3, much better than 3. And I agree with the poster that says Alien is boring after the first viewing. Great the first time, boring thereafter…

Alien2 has an almost perfect combination of horror, action, good plot, good characters, and humor. Is great for repeated viewing, and the long director’s cut is fantastic. Loved Bill Paxton as the griping soldier. (Remember “Game over, man, Game Over!” after the dropship crashed into the APC?) He reminds me of some of my troopers when I was stationed in Germany in the 70′s. …