10 Most Ambitious Movie Trilogies, Ranked
Making one movie is full-on, and having it turn out good should be celebrated. If the ambition pays off, that’s always good, because pretty much every movie is ambitious, to some extent, often including the not-so-great ones. So, it stands to reason that making three movies that all add up to one whole is an even grander undertaking, and this list highlights trilogies that felt ambitious and, for the most part, were relatively well-executed.
The Three Colours series pairs each film with a distinct color and mood — Blue is heavy and about grief, White is lighter and farcical, and Red is romantic and mysterious — making it a rare arthouse trilogy. Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies are ambitious in their tonal leaps, moving from straight horror to a comedy-horror hybrid to fantastical slapstick.
The Qatsi films take a different route: unconventional documentaries without narration or interviews, built from edited footage and driven by Philip Glass’s striking scores.