Battle of the Trilogy: Round 1

There is an abundance of popular movies that happened to be part of a trilogy and I just wanted to do something fun pertaining to those films. Now I’m talking about the trilogies that were initially set up to be 3 movies. Not those films that got tacked on years later that took a solid trilogy to a “why is this now a quadrilogy*?” You know what I’m talking about – Indiana Jones 4, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, or even the Bourne Legacy.

When I started my voyage into the world of trilogies I found that I was unaware just how many there are. I wanted to make sure I picked from some of the more popular ones so the battles would be a bit more relevant. I also had to be sure that I had actually watched the films in order to allow for a certain order of fairness within the competition.

This first round will be longer than the rest because I’ve got to explain everything and do the initial setup for the battles to come!

Rules

If you don’t get this reference – you make me sad. 

 

So, we have to set up some ground rules of how these battles will be scored. The films in question have to follow a continuous storyline. They have to be an actual trilogy – not 4 or 5 or 6 films in (aka Harry Potter/Twilight). An exception to this could be say the Hunger Games where they’ve split what should’ve been a trilogy into a quadrilogy. Well … maybe. I can take arguments one way or the other for this. Regardless, there should really be three films – hence trilogy. Annnnndddd that about sums up the rules – let’s get to scoring. (if you believe I should add in more regulations don’t hesitate to let me know)

Scoring (based upon a scale of 1 – 10 … 1 being agonizingly awful, 10 being genius stuff)

• Characters
• Story/Full Picture
• Artistic Merit
• Rewatchability
• Rotten Tomato Average

That’s it – five categories to judge upon. I could’ve thrown in more, but I don’t want to have these battles to drag out and lose focus. Well, now that all the rules and scoring are out of the way – let’s bring on our first two contenders.

Round 1: The Godfather vs. Toy Story

What a dynamic duo to start the battle; the “godfather” of all trilogies versus a trilogy that not only surprised many but is one of the most well known and beloved of all time. Wow did I just make this extremely harder than it should’ve been.

 

This isn’t even all of them!

When we look at the characters for both films it’s a tough call. There are just too many to list out so it comes down to who do you remember more – who made the biggest impact? Don Corleone is definitely the one that sticks out in my mind but can he really stand up to Woody or Buzz? I’d like to think so. When you watch Marlon’s performance as the Don and how many times he is mimic’ed you’ve got to give him the upper hand here. But this is not just about the main charactes, the list of supporting characters is also crucial. Which is why I think Toy Story definitely swings the vote. The sheer amount of characters is staggering, but what’s even more impressive is that you can remember A LOT of them rather than with the Godfather you only remember possibly up to 10 main supporting figures. I don’t know about you but I’m going to toss this first category up to a draw.

Characters: Godfather – 9 / Toy Story – 9

 

Buzz looks a bit um, “buzzed” here – am I right?

Story is also VERY hard to judge between these two series. Both have compelling stories that tie in so nicely with each film. With the Godfather most notably is the 2nd film where we get to see how it all started. We’re given the brilliant portrayal of Vito in his younger form by Robert DeNiro and it really sets up the idea of “family” and how all the characters work. It’s hard to say which of the first 2 was the best of the series for me but that can’t seem to shake what happens with the third outing. This third film is what tears down what could’ve been my idea of a perfectly told story. I won’t go into details, but if you’ve seen it, then I hope you understand what I mean. I’m going to have to once again give Toy Story the edge here. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that Pixar’s first film could have produced 2 more films that were equally as successful. Not only that, but the third in the series was more powerful on an emotional level and actually brought me, my wife, and our two friends we saw the movie with to tears. We all walked out of the theater quietly sobbing and smiling. If it hadn’t been for the 3rd installment in the Godfather not being what I HOPED it could’ve been it probably would’ve edged out Toy Story here.

Story: Godfather – 7 / Toy Story – 9

 

Artistic merit is something I threw in that I might eventually throw out. I’m still working the kinks out of these battle ideas. That said, there are MANY scenes within the Godfather series that are iconic. Such as the horse head or the line of “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” and the list goes on and on. Whereas with Toy Story, I look at the artistic merit more in the fact that it’s really the CGI movie that started them all. It broke new ground and just amazed every single moviegoer that happened to catch it in theater. It was the based upon which all other animated movies have strived to be like and improve upon yet none have yet to equally match. It also has the inherent ability to get better and better with time as technology and cinematic feats improve with the use of this type of animation. Kind of unfair to really compare that to the timelessness of the Godfather series.

Artistic Merit: Godfather – 9 / Toy Story – 8

 

How many times have you seen all three Godfather films? I’d say that I’ve watched the first one at least 4 times but I’ve probably watched the second one close to 10 times. (largely in part that if it’s on TV it’s a safe bet I’ll watch it) But again the third film in this series is where we lose points. Iv’e only seen it twice. I saw it originally then another time because I was involved in the Godfather marathon. It’s not a bad film, but it’s just one where I never found it necessary to have in order to compliment the amazing accomplishment that the first two were. When I compare this to the amount of times I’ve seen all three Toy Story movies and it’s another nod to Pixar/Disney for the impeccable work they’ve done. Now that I have a little boy who is 2 and a half and getting into movies I’m sure that I’ll watch them a lot more. Best part is – I’m ok with it because they’re that good.

Rewatchability: Godfather – 7 / Toy Story – 9

 

Finally we come to the Rotten Tomato Average. Nothing to really write up here. With the Godfather they gave the first one a 100%, the 2nd one a 99% and the third one a measly 67%. (Guess I’m not alone in my loathing of the third film) Woody and crew scored a 100% for number one, a 100% for number two, and a 99% for number three. So that makes it pretty easy to see who wins out. Unless you’re very poor at math.

Rotten Tomato Average: Godfather – 8.6 / Toy Story – 9.9 (crap … decimals really screw my system up)

 

Final Score: Godfather – 8 / Toy Story – 9 (yes, I rounded)

It was a close matchup indeed. Without going through the scoring I don’t know who I would have originally picked to win out. Round 1 was a lot of fun and I hope the readers of Unreality land enjoyed it. Who would you have picked to win among this trilogy matchup? Do you think I scored them fairly? After going through the motions and watching clips online, I have to say that I’ve really got a need to watch some more from these classics.

Stay tuned for Round #2! Who knows what trilogies will do battle next…

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Hey guys & gals, my name is Lucas Tetrault and if you like this post or any of the others I’ve done – please feel free to venture over to my Blog and take a gander at some other stuff I write about. I promise I don’t intend to waste your time.

I work as a Creative Director and spend time away from my job with my wife and son, writing for Unreality, and trying to be creative with my own personal projects.