Highest-grossing film series
Here’s what I think of the highest-grossing film series. The list comes from here on Wikipedia, on September 8, 2015.
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- I’ve seen all of them except for Ant-Man, and they are all worth seeing. Unlike DC’s mostly serious movies, most of these ones have a great sense of humour. If forced to name a favourite, I would say The Avengers.
- Harry Potter
- I’ve seen all of them, and even read one of the books. The movies are worth watching, and the kids playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione are always impressive — but they are not examples of masterpieces of fantasy. If forced to name a favourite I would say The Prisoner of Azkaban.
- James Bond
- I’ve seen all of them except Quantum of Solace, and I’ve read at least one of the books. I was a big James Bond fan in my youth. I’ve just recently started a rewatch, so we’ll see what I think of them now. My guess is I’ll think Skyfall is the best — it’s a masterpiece.
- Middle-earth
- The Lord of the Rings movies are uniformly brilliant and the Hobbit movies are uniformly good. I read the books quite a while ago and intend to read them again in the not-too-distant future.
- Star Wars
- The original trilogy is great, occasionally brilliant, and the prequels are terrible. My favourite is The Empire Strikes Back. I also read a book of short stories that take place in the Mos Eisley cantina. I also watched the first episode of Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales — it’s screamingly funny.
- Spider-man
- The first two movies of the original trilogy are brilliant, and the third is bad. I haven’t watched the reboot. I also read all of J. Michael Straczynski’s Spider-man comic books.
- The Fast and the Furious
- I have no interest in watching these movies.
- Batman
- I loved Tim Burton’s Batman as a teenager — it still has its moments. Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is magnificent, especially the first two movies. I’ve also read a few Batman comic books, including the brilliant The Dark Knight Returns. I’ve also watched a few episodes of Gotham — it’s very good.
- Transformers
- I have no interest in watching these movies.
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- The first movie is great, the second is mediocre but fun, the third is terrible. Because the third is terrible, I boycotted the fourth.
- Jurassic Park
- The first and fourth movies are great, and the middle ones have more dinosaurs eating humans. I also read the first book, which was quite similar to the movie.
- Shrek
- The first one is brilliant, and the second one is great. I haven’t seen the others.
- The Twilight Saga
- I have no interest in watching these movies.
- X-Men
- I’ve seen all of them except the first Wolverine movie. The most recent one, Days of Future Past, is my favourite. The Last Stand is bad, but the others are all worth watching.
- Avengers
- Already covered under #1.
- Ice Age
- The first one is OK, and I haven’t seen the others.
- Mission: Impossible
- These are some terrific action movies, although the second one is a bit strange.
- Despicable Me
- The first one is great, the second is good, and I haven’t seen Minions.
- Iron Man
- Already covered under #1.
- The Hunger Games
- I might watch these movies at some point and/or read the books.
- Madagascar
- The first two are hilarious, and the third is mediocre. Penguins of Madagascar is just for kids.
- Indiana Jones
- Raiders of the Lost Ark is great although a bit boring after multiple viewings. The Temple of Doom is bad. The Last Crusade is the best one — at least, the most interesting and funny after multiple viewings. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was worth watching once but probably will induce cringes the second time.
- Toy Story
- The first two are masterpieces, and the third one is great.
- Star Trek
- Most of the other series on this list are just series of movies, although a few of them cross over into books and/or TV shows. Star Trek is on a different scale for me — it’s 5 TV series, 12 movies, and dozens of books. I’ve become fond even of the Star Trek movies that weren’t so great the first time I watched them — I now focus on the good parts. Of the Original Series movies my favourite now is The Undiscovered Country. Of the Next Generation movies my favourite is Insurrection. And of the reboot movies, my favourite is Star Trek.
- Terminator
- The first one is good, and the second one is great. I haven’t seen the others.