Best Cinema "Saga"

[Bosco B Thug]

Or Serial films. Or Series. Or I'm not sure what qualifications I'm setting...

Some will say Feuillades' Les Vampires. Some will say the Star Wars films. Some will say The Dekalogue.

I will say Romero's six, count 'em six, DEAD movies. It's just I'm most impressed with him and his making six meaningful (if not entirely quality) films that all seem to jump off the one before.

Is there anything else out there like this?

[MacGuffin]

You might try the Coffin Joe movies. I haven't watched them yet, but I think they qualify under your guidelines.

[Bosco B Thug]

You might try the Coffin Joe movies. I haven't watched them yet, but I think they qualify under your guidelines. Yeah, I think the only qualifications I'm going for is one single mind/director with a series of related films.

I've seen the 1st Coffin Joe film, I believe. A trilogy, has potential maybe.

Raimi's done 3 Spider-Mans. Spielberg's done 4 Indiana Jones films.

[baby doll]

Since Feuillade's serials have already been mentioned (in addition to Les Vampires though, both Fantômas and Judex are pretty spiffy), I'll add Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, and the Indian Epic (The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb); and Sergei Eisenstein's unfinished Ivan the Terrible. I wouldn't count something like The Decalogue as a "saga," since it doesn't have a continuous storyline.

[Spaceman Spiff]

The Ze do Caixao movies, and Les Vampires are pretty much the best things ever.

[Bosco B Thug]

I have actually not seen Les Vampires (or Feuillades other serials), so I don't really know what it does to the conditions I was trying to set...!

I still accept The Decalogue under the terms of my query, even if it means my use of "saga" is off. It's a massive, 10+ hour series that both continues something concrete between them (here, the setting of the stories and the continuation of the Ten Commandments) but also "re-sets" something (here, the stories and characters/actors).

I don't know whether to count Peter Jackson's LOTR films as an achievement of this kind. At first I thought yes, because they're each an individual film adapting an individual book, but then I'm thinking no, because he made them back-to-back (right?), retained the same actors/crew, and there's no "re-inventing" between them. I'm not sure if this now discounts the old serial films now, but I'm sure it doesn't, since I imagine those old serials are pretty multi-storied and sprawling.

Guess I'll finish off the Coffin Joe/Ze de Caixao trilogy!

[Sycophant]

Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive trilogy.

[Sycophant]

Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive trilogy.

:pritch:

Sycophant likes this.

[soitgoes...]

Kiarostami's Koker trilogy needs to be mentioned. It isn't a straight storyline, but each successive film plays off the first.

[Morris Schæffer]

If not the Missing in Action holy trifecta, than certainly the original Star Wars saga. And The Indiana Jones saga. I'll add the Die Hard saga as well.

[D_Davis]

Once Upon a Time in China
The Leone Westerns (thematically tied)

[Russ]

My slightly tongue-in-cheek vote for best series:

The Hunting Trilogy:

Rabbit Fire (Chuck Jones, 1951)
Rabbit Seasoning (Chuck Jones, 1952)
Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (Chuck Jones, 1953)



http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/2466/rabbitseasoning1rb.jpg

[Bosco B Thug]

I guess we can expand to very literal "sagas," even if directed by multiple directors. The Star Wars series I definitely accept, since it's George Lucas' self-pioneered story-telling throughout.

Leone's Eastwood Westerns is a prominent one I forgot. Not only theme, but it has that concrete connecting gimmick I'm looking for: the Eastwood character.

I've seen the first 2 Dead or Alive films, that's a good one. Two shared actors/characters.

Also:

- The Evil Dead trilogy
- Von Trier's America films (although I hope Von Trier hears me when I say: Just 2? Weak.)
- Argento's Three Mothers films as a "meh" example

[Skitch]

The Samauri trilogy

[Ezee E]

I guess with Romero, I've seen every other one of his films. Do they actually connect in any way? Or is it just another zombie movie with years in between? I always thought it was just another zombie movie.

[Dukefrukem]

Really? Romero?

As much as I don't want to say it, the Star Wars Universe goes way beyond anything ever created IMO. 6 movies separate 30-40 years and it's even spilled over in books, TV and video games. It's hard to rival that.

[Ezee E]

Really? Romero?

As much as I don't want to say it, the Star Wars Universe goes way beyond anything ever created IMO. 6 movies separate 30-40 years and it's even spilled over in books, TV and video games. It's hard to rival that.
Agreed.

The same could probably be said for in the Leone World, except nobody's really attempted to do fan fiction (that got published), and the toys/video games obviously wouldn't take off either.

The Aliens/Predators have spawned off into quite the saga, even if the recent releases have all been awful.

[Russ]

Although I haven't seen any of the films in the series, I'm pretty sure the Up documentary series fits this bill, if for no other reason than scope and longevity.

[Bosco B Thug]

I agree about Lucas and his franchise and world-building, it's the definition of the feat I'm looking for.


I guess with Romero, I've seen every other one of his films. Do they actually connect in any way? Or is it just another zombie movie with years in between? I always thought it was just another zombie movie. Romero has made six different zombie films that each take on a different aspect of his zombie world. It doesn't connect-connect, but connects in the way it re-invents and avoids re-hashing. I'd say it's quite equal an achievement to the expanse of storytelling that, let's say, Leone does with his Man With No Name trilogy.

Aliens and Predators are pretty good, cohesive sagas (if by different directors, trying to cohere to a single canon).


Although I haven't seen any of the films in the series, I'm pretty sure the Up documentary series fits this bill, if for no other reason than scope and longevity. Yeah, I haven't seen them either, but from what I know about them, that's a good one.

[Dukefrukem]

The Aliens/Predators have spawned off into quite the saga, even if the recent releases have all been awful.

It's about quality right? I mean, how many of the movies contradict themselves? The Aliens were first discovered on a planet in Alien? Nope, they were discovered in Antarctica? Nope, they all came to a small little down in the woods? Well why didn't someone talk about it? The Antarctica scenario would have worked...


If they killed off everyone... maybe they did.

[Dukefrukem]

I guess with Romero, I've seen every other one of his films. Do they actually connect in any way? Or is it just another zombie movie with years in between? I always thought it was just another zombie movie.

The ideas connect. So;

Night of the Living Dead; the start of it (origin)
Dawn of the Dead; how to deal with it (living with zombies)
Day of the Dead; how to ignore it, with hints and experiments that zombies can be "taught" and can communicate
Land of the Dead; showed zombies learning/communicating
Diary of the Dead; how to document it
Survival of the Dead; rebuilding? (haven't seen it yet)

[Spinal]

Although I haven't seen any of the films in the series, I'm pretty sure the Up documentary series fits this bill, if for no other reason than scope and longevity.

I have seen them all and yes, this would be the winner.

[bac0n]

I'll always have a soft spot for the Heisei era Godzilla films:


Godzilla 1985
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Destroyer

[baby doll]

Also, Tsai Ming-liang's films, particularly The River, What Time Is it There? and The Wayward Cloud (I haven't seen Vivre l'amour, though it's my understanding that Lee Kang-sheng plays the same character in that movie as well).

[D_Davis]

I'll always have a soft spot for the Heisei era Godzilla films:

Godzilla 1985
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Destroyer

Yes, these are great.

[endingcredits]

Zatoichi wasn't a saga but had an epic run.

[Sven]

The Beaver Trilogy

[lovejuice]

I'll always have a soft spot for the Heisei era Godzilla films:


Godzilla 1985
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Destroyer


ding ding ding. we have the winner.