Hot Take: A Great Movie Trilogy Must Have ONE FLOP | Hey Tablo Ep.39
Hey Tablo
The host explores the theory that a perfect movie trilogy is an impossibility because there is always one installment that fails to meet the
Key takeaways
- The Godfather Part III is criticized due to its significant time gap from the original films and Al Pacino's 90s hairstyle.
- Star Wars' Return of the Jedi is noted for its overreliance on Ewoks, which disrupts the epic scale.
Main topics
- Movie Trilogy Analysis
- Film Criticism
Notable quotes
There's no such thing as a perfect movie trilogy.
Conclusion
While cinematic trilogies often contain a 'flop,' their flaws do not d
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) Hot take. There's no such thing as a perfect movie trilogy. Hey, Tableau. Speaker 1 (0:09) Some of the greatest movies in history come in trilogies. Why? Because the first one, if it was that great, they'll make you make a sequel, right? And if you made a sequel and it was great, they'll make you make a third one. So a lot of great movies in history that people love come in sets of three trilogy, right? Like the Dark Knight trilogy, for example. Today, I'm going to look at the 35. Greatest movie trilogies of all time according to Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. I'm looking at it right now online. I am not going to reveal the top three, basically the top one trilogy. But I'm going to start with the second one. According to this, the second greatest trilogy of all time is The Godfather, Godfather 2, and Godfather 3. Speaker 1 (1:04) Godfather? Godfather 2? And Godfather 3. So have you all seen Godfather? It's like a movie that everyone pretends to have seen, but a lot of people surprisingly have not seen it. I'm certain that one of you did not actually watch The Godfather, but you just answered yes or nodded because you felt like I would judge you. I haven't watched 3. You haven't watched Part 3. So The Godfather, the first one is... Speaker 1 (1:37) Most critics will agree that it's like the perfect work of cinema, right? Speaker 1 (1:46) regarded as the greatest film ever made. Francis Ford Coppola, actors like Marlon Brando, Al Pacino had it, like Al Pacino became Al Pacino through this movie. And it was created, it was from a novel by Mario Puzo called The Godfather. It was a very popular novel, but nobody was confident enough to tackle turning it into a film. It went against so many odds to be created. First of all, the studio didn't want Al Pacino. They didn't want Francis Ford Coppola. They didn't trust these people to create a hit film. The Mafia. Speaker 1 (2:36) literally tried to shut it down, this movie. There were like death threats because they didn't want like movies portraying their inner world in a negative way, right? Which is why the term mafia never appears in the script. The producer of this film made a deal with the mafia that they will never mention the word mafia in the film, right? In the films. Speaker 1 (3:05) And that was the deal that he made. He was a great producer. He basically eventually won the Academy Award for this film. But anyways, it's just masterfully made. Like if you just watch the film, like the lighting, cinematography, it's like a painting. The acting, every actor in this film is just fucking top notch. The story having crime, but also it being like, actually a story about a family. It's also an immigrant story. The great thing about this trilogy, it became a trilogy, is that the first film deals with an aging Don, right? Like the head of the mafia, the head of the family. And Al Pacino, who eventually becomes the head of the family, is in this movie, just is sort of the outsider. and is innocent. And you see the process of him going into the underworld and becoming what he didn't want to be. Like he didn't want to be his dad, right? But it's the story of him becoming his dad through this trilogy. And the second trilogy shows the father as a young person simultaneously with his son, Al Pacino. you know, going deeper and deeper into the underworld, right? And Godfather 2 is considered the only sequel, like, truthfully, the only sequel to outdo the first one. The only other film, I will say, where that's true is Dark Knight. Batman Begins was great, but Dark Knight was better in all aspects. But anyways, Godfather 2, complete fucking masterpiece. To do a film that long and that complicated, to tell two different stories of two different fathers, two different times in America, and to do it in an entertaining way that keeps your eyes... glued to the screen, it's just very hard to do, especially after such a big hit like the first one, right? And then we get to the third one. So here is the thing. The first two pictures were made in 1972 and 1974, two years apart. But the third one came in 1990. So it came after Al Pacino had aged. And you could tell that Al Pacino was now the older version of Michael Corleone, right? So even if, I don't know if the director intended it this way, because you can say that he waited. He waited until, in reality, that much time passed, right? In that family, in that Corleone family. And it shows now Michael Corleone, who used to be the young... outsider. He's now head of the family and he's where his father used to be in the first film. So it's like full circle moment. Now here's the problem with The Godfather Part 3. The 70s and the 90s were significantly different times visually. So in the 70s, when the first two godfathers were made, it was still a period piece because it took place during, I think, World War II, like right after World War II, right? So it looked more, I don't know, like more beautiful. Speaker 1 (7:00) The 90s, unfortunately, is in itself a little tacky. Right? Like the decor, the atmosphere of the buildings and everything, the homes. The 90s were not as picturesque as the 70s and the 50s and 40s, right? So there was that problem. And also Al Pacino, I don't know why Francis Ford Coppola allowed Al Pacino to have that haircut in part three. Because in the first two... Godfathers, like he's he seriously looks amazing because he's like, you know that he's this frightening, terrifying mob boss, but he looks so classy. Right. Which gives like an edge to his character. Right. Like he's he seems like somebody that that will reason with you and that will be. that will choose peace but at any moment he can turn into this menacing monster right that's what was charismatic about their character but he cut his hair like he did it like a 90s haircut okay it's just i just i just can't get over the haircut and also francis ford coppola decided to cast his own daughter as michael corleone's daughter and she was not Speaker 1 (8:34) I don't think she was like she had sufficiently practiced acting for him to give such an I know I love my daughter. I love my daughter. But to give such an important role in the last film of such an important trilogy. To his own daughter who was not yet who she would blossom to be. She's Sofia Coppola, right? So she became a film director. Made Lost in Translation. But what I'm saying is she was not ready to take this role. Okay, so The Godfather Part 3 comes out and everyone's like, oh, fuck. They walked out of the theater. They're like, why did they make it? You ruined a perfect trilogy. Okay? And here's the thing. As time goes on, though, I still like it. But a lot of people don't consider this a part of the trilogy. They just say Godfather 1 and 2 are the only Godfathers for me. Part 3 just doesn't exist. And I think that's sort of a disservice to the film. I think it wasn't that bad, but compared to the first two masterpieces, it kind of ruined the trilogy. Okay. Always high, Epik High! Do you live in the United States or Canada? Epik High is coming to you from September 30th all through October. Check for your city right now at EpikHigh.com and get your tickets! The next one. Star Wars. The original trilogy. Episode 4, 5, and 6. It's 4, 5, and 6, but it's 1, 2, 3. Like, you know, this is weird Star Wars logic. Let's see here. A New Hope, groundbreaking. An original sci-fi epic. Just people didn't even know movies like this could even be created. So it was a masterpiece. Empire Strikes Back. I will... say that this is even better than the first one. Okay, this is another one, like Godfather. Second one was fucking great. Return of the Jedi was also great. Like, this is the first trilogy that we've stumbled upon. It's actually the only second one after Godfather. But I'll say all three films were good, except the third one had Ewoks. You know what Ewoks are? They're like these small furry teddy bears that somehow come out for half the movie. If you're a fan of the Ewoks, I'm sorry. But like, it's not like I hate them, but I'm like, do they need to be in so many scenes? Do they need to play such an important role? Like, does half the movie need to have them? And also, do we need... need this long ass scene where they're literally dancing, where they're, it's like a bunch of teddy bears dancing to music. Like, why do we fucking have this scene in here? Like, let's get to the fate of the universe, but can we, so I will say Return of the Jedi is not as good as the first two. Okay, again, not a perfect trilogy, in my opinion. Okay, moving on to the next one. Speaker 1 (12:03) Okay, Batman trilogy, the Christopher Nolan. Yes, the Odyssey, Oppenheimer, Inception, Interstellar, Master, Auteur, Christopher Nolan's superhero trilogy. Batman Begins, Dark Knight, and the Dark Knight Rises. I won't dwell on this too long because I, you know, you know, I talked about this in a previous episode at length. Batman Begins. Fucking amazing. You know what's crazy? For some odd