Allow me to expound the brilliance of the cinematic trilogy...it is quite simply this: time.
There is time to fully develop the characters, time that is not avaible in a standard 2 hour (or even 3 hour) film.
There is time to fully develop and explore the diagetic world - this especially holds true for the genres of science fiction and fantasy, in which the world(s) often differ from our known one.
There is a superior story arch which encapsulates the three individual story arches - the beginning, middle and end of an overall beginning, middle and end.
Speaking of which, there IS a definite ending, concluding with the finale of the third part. This separates the trilogy from its close cousin - the series film - avoiding their possible pitfalls of repetition, boredom and obsolescence.
Needless to say, I'm suffering a bit of withdrawal from my film education, and am on a bit of a trilogy kick lately ;)I'm starting with the latter-day ultimate trilogy, The Lord of The Rings (which is in fact one trilogy, all though it is the length of two!) and then plan to move on to the original Star Wars trilogy (TRULY original, pre-special edition crap). After that, I am undecided...possible contenders include Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, The Godfather and the Matrix (although that last one is really more like a single movie with two sequels :P) I'm tempted to include Harry Potter as well since there have been 3 released so far, but it is actually a series, and NOT a planned trilogy, and so the feeling is a little bit different...maybe I'll save it for the end then.
Well, if anyone else has any other recommended trilogies, I'll be glad to add them to the roster...sorry about the pictures from Spain taking so long to upload, but that's how it happens when you only have dial-up. Believe me, it's worth the wait!
Until then...
