Some examples of bad threequels are Batman Forever, Spider-Man 3, Superman III, and The Matrix Revolutions.
However, there are times when the third installment can shine and been seen as equal to or better than their predecessors.
With that in mind, I have decided to put together a list of what I think the 15 best threequels are in movie history, using my personal opinion combined with what critics and fans(i.e, using scores from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB to help me out).
Let's get started(Warning: There are spoilers so if have never seen any of these movies, you may not want to read this article or just scroll down to see the list and read the text)
15. Back To The Future Part III(1990)
This was the one set in the west as Marty McFly(Michael J. Fox) tries to bring Doc(Christopher Lloyd) back to 1985 after he learns that Doc is killed in 1885.
The film is highlighted by McFly using the name Clint Eastwood when he is in the west and Doc's romance with Clara(Mary Steenburgen) which gives the film its emotional lift.
While it might be considered the weakest of the three movies, the final chapter of the Back to the Future trilogy provides a satisfying conclusion to the series as it provides finality with the DeLeorean being destroyed and Doc settling down with Clara with a time-traveling locomotive.
14. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation(1989)
While initially given mixed reviews when it first came out, Christmas Vacation has become recognized one of the great Christmas movies and it is easily the funniest Vacation sequel.
13. Rocky III(1982)
Rocky rediscovers the "Eye of the Tiger" thanks to his former rival Apollo Creed, who makes a babyface turn(that's pro wrestling lingo for a bad guy turning into a good guy) as he helps train Rocky into reclaiming the heavyweight title and begins one of the great bromances in cinema history, with the infamous beach run scene which ends with them hugging in the water.
The film also features a memorable sequence as Rocky fights Thunderlips, played by Hulk Hogan, and numerous classic lines by Mr. T including "I pity the fool" and his prediction for the fight "Pain."
The film is considered to be one of, if not the best Harry Potter as we see more character development and signs of the brooding romance between Ron(Rupert Grint) and Hermoine(Emma Watson).
11. The Bourne Ultimatum(2007)
The third Jason Bourne movie sees the title character played by Matt Damon finally learn regain his full memory and helps bring down the CIA plans for a new black operations program called Operation Blackbrair, an upgrade over the Operation Treadstone program of which Bourne is the only survivor.
The film is critically accliamed, with a 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and ranks in the top 250 movies, as voted on by users of the Internet Movie Database(IMDB).
10. Thor: Ragnarok(2017)
After a decent first movie which was followed by perhaps the weakest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor's third solo movie delivered with its mixture of action and humor.
With help from other Avengers, the Hulk and Doctor Strange, plus the the introduction of Valkyrie, a drunken female warrior from Asgard, and another great performance by Tom Hiddleston as the mischievous Loki, Ragnarok gave Marvel fans what is easily the best Thor movie.
9. Captain America: Civil War(2016)
Divided on whether they need oversight, the Avengers split into two factions: Team Captain America(Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch) and Team Iron Man(Iron Man, Black Widow, War Machine, Black Panther, Vision, Spider-Man) culminating in an explosive battle.
Despite the numerous Marvel characters, as well as the splendid additions of Black Panther and Spider-Man to the Universe, the film's heart is still Captain America(Chris Evans) and his loyalty to help Bucky Barnes(Sebastien Stan) who has become a brainwashed assassin known as the Winter Soldier, revert back to the man who he was in the first Captain America movie.
The highlights of the movie is the battle between the two factions and the numerous funny moments including Spider-Man using his webs to bring down a Ant-Man(Paul Rudd) who has grown to giant size, with a quip "Hey, you guys ever see that really old movie, The Empire Strikes Back" and the back-and-forth banter between Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
8. Toy Story 3(2010)
The third installment of the Toy Story franchise is the most emotional one as our favorite toys have to deal with the fact that their beloved owner, Andy, is growing up.
The toys are sent to a day-care center where they are confronted by a sadistic Lotso, a disgruntled Lots-O-Huggin bear who decides which toys are played with toddlers(who play roughly) and older kids(who do not play as rough).
The toys eventually escape and get one last chance to play with Andy before he leaves for college as he hands off his toys to a new owner in a girl named Bonnie.
Even the movie is very emotional, it does feature an hilarious sequence in which Buzz Lightyear, who had been in demo mode by Lotso, is but in Spanish mode resulting in a funny dance with Jesse, the cowgirl companion to Woody.
Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy and others team up to face off against Thanos, who is trying to collect all the infinity stones so he can wipe out off the universe.
With a cast of almost two dozen heroes(that's 24), the directors of the film, the Russo brothers, are able to pull off a balanced story and give significant screen time to almost every hero.
Plus, it was fun to see the great pairings such as Iron Man and Doctor Strange or Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy(especially Rocket Racoon) or Captain America and Black Panther.
And it had the best villain in the 20-plus Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thanos, by making him an seemingly unstoppable force and winds up successful with his mission to "balance" the universe in his eyes with a snap of his fingers.
6. Return of the Jedi(1983)
We got to see Jabba the Hutt for the first time(though he was seen in A New Hope when it was the special edition of the film was released in 1997) and for better or worse, we are introduced to the Ewoks, the little creatures that occupy the forest moon of Endor.
But at the heart of the movie is the redemption of Darth Vader, as he is brought back from the dark side by his son, Luke, who in in this episode is a complete bad ass, as he has mastered his Jedi skills and sheds his whiny persona that we saw in A New Hope.
Plus, we see Luke's wisdom come through and he tries not to fight Vader and then tosses his lightsaber away after the Emperor suggests he join him after defeating the Sith Lord in an epic lightsaber duel.
Lando Calrissian(Billy Dee Williams) also redeems himself as he helps Luke, Chewie, and Leia help rescue Han Solo from Jabba and pilots the Millennium Falcon in the awesome space battle in an attack on the new Death Star, with Wedge Antilles getting a chance to shine as he becomes Red Leader in the battle.
But the most important reason Return of the Jedi is one of the great three-quels: Princess Leia in a gold bikini.
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(1989)
The banter between Connery and Harrison Ford was fantastic as it provided many funny moments including the sequence where the two are tied together to a chair while they are surrounded by fire and the revelation that they both slept with the same girl(not at the same time because that would be disgusting).
Last Crusade also features the return of Sallah(John Rhys-Davies) and an expanded role for Marcus Brody(Denholm Ellliott)where it is revealed that he is a complete ditz as Indy reveals that Brody once got lost in his own museum.
And then there there is memorable the appearance of the old knight guarding the Holy Grail towards the end of the film with his "Choose wisely" when it comes to finding the Grail.
All the humor and action(the boat chase through Venice and the prologue that sees how Indy got his fear of snakes, his scar, and his attire) make Last Crusade far and away the best Indiana Jones sequel.
4. The Dark Knight Rises(2012)
The film delivers us a new villain, Bane(Tom Hardy), who is so strong that he breaks Batman's back in a fight midway through the film and brings anarchy to Gotham City as he has bridges to Gotham explode, holds the city hostage with a nuclear bomb, and releases all the prisoners out into the city.
The theme of the movie is rising from the ashes, as Bruce Wayne(Christian Bale), climbs out of the prison that Bane put him in after their fight, and returns to Gotham to save the city from Bane and Talia ah-Gaul, (in a not-so surprise twist if you are a comic book fan), with help from Commissioner Gordon(Gary Oldman), John Blake(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who saw through Wayne's playboy persona to know that he is really Batman, and Selina Kyle, played by Anne Hathaway, who does a fine job in the role of Catwoman after initial backlash to her casting in the iconic role.
Plus, the movie gives Bruce Wayne a happy ending, as throughout the film, many of the characters like Alfred and Bane, believes he doesn't care if he dies, only to find out he runs off to Italy with Selina after saving Gotham from the atomic bomb.
3. Goldfinger(1964)
Goldfinger features some of the most memorable moments in James Bond history including the naked girl painted in gold, Goldfinger threatening to kill Bond with a laser, to which Bond responds "You expect me to talk" with Goldfinger's classic response "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die" and the stoppage of the bomb to explode Fort Knox on "007".
Plus, it also has the most infamous Bond girl name: Pussy Galore
The best moments of the film include the dramatic Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Aragron accepting his destiny as the king of Men, and Sam saving Frodo from Gollum's diabolic scheme as they are able to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom.
The only thing coming Return of the King from being the #1 threequel is the 15 endings that the film had before the movie was finally over.
1. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly(1967)
Clint Eastwood plays the "Good", a bounty hunter, while Lee Van Cleef plays the "Bad" a ruthless mercenary, and Eli Wallach the "Ugly", a Mexican bandit, who all after $200,000 of gold during the Civil War.
The film is thought to be the standard-bearer for the "Spaghetti Western" a satire of the old John Wayne Westerns, as Eastwood is more of an anti-hero as he more interested in money rather than saving people as evident in the film's first act as he captures Wallach's character to collect a bounty and set him up for a hanging, only to have "Blondie" as he referred to in the film by Wallach's "Tuco", shoot the noose just before he is killed so the two could do the act in another town to collect more money.
The film has been rated on many all-time movie lists including Empire Magazine's "500 Greatest Movies" where it placed 25th and it was listed on Time Magazine's "100 Greatest Movies" thanks in large part to the performances by Eastwood, Van Cleef and Wallach, plus the fantastic cinematography of Leone(especially the climactic standoff) and of course, the famous theme song.
While is officially the 23rd movie in the James Bond franchise, some consider Skyfall a three-quel as its the second movie following the reboot of the franchise in Casino Royale.
Following the dark Quantum of Solace, Skyfall balances out the new mood set by the Daniel Craig movies and the old-fashioned quips and gadgets in previous 007 films such as Bond jumping onto a passenger train in the film's prologue, where he calmly adjusts his cuffs and tells M(Judi Dench) through his earpiece that he was just "changing carriages".
Skyfall also re-introduces Miss Moneypenny, who starts out the film as a field agent but goes back to her role as secretary at film's end and a new, younger version of Q who tells Bond "Were expecting you a exploding pen? We don't really go in for that anymore" when he gives 007 his gadgets in their first scene together.
And the movie features one of the better James Bond theme songs, thanks to Adele.
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