Better Trilogy: TDK or Captain America?

[Kobra]

Then I showed the trilogy to a crippled child and he stood up and cheered.

I walked through a hospital carrying a portable DVD player showing The Dark Knight and disease was no more, blind could see, and don't get me started about the time I attended a funeral with a TDKR rises T-shirt on.

I believe you. It's a poweful work of art.

 

[Kobra]

No, because Stone Cold said so!

But in all seriousness, I think the argument should at least be had, to dismiss the cap trilogy in such a manner just makes you look like a holier than thou Nolan fanboy.

Some people genuinely think the "Cap Trilogy" isn't anything special. It has nothing to do with being a Nolan fan. Nolan is not my girlfriend. I don't support him just for the sake of supporting him. I support the movies he made because i thought they were great. We're not related, i don't have to be biased towards him. If he makes a movie i don't like, i won't pretend i liked it. It's not my fault he is a better filmmaker than the Russo Brothers and was able to create a much more epic, acclaimed and memorable trilogy. I wish Cap movies were just as good, cause i actually spend money on them.

 

[Erzengel]

Nolan is not my girlfriend.

Ooookay.

 

[Guts]

Nolan is not my girlfriend.

That's because he's taken.

 

[That9neGuy]

Ooookay.

He said with tears in his eyes, and wished it wasn't so.

 

[henzINNIT]

I prefer the Cap trilogy, though it's not really a trilogy. I prefer Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy to TDKT.

 

[Marvolo]

Id rank the films like this:

TWS
BB
TDK
Civil War
TFA
TDKR

 

[OcStat]

TDKT is the comics converted to film.

The Marvel Method is converting the film into a comic book.

TDKR gave us an ending only a self contained Batman story could. For better or worse. I think it works out fine, but it isn't what I envisioned for the story. It was divisive and it isn't surprising why.

Civil War is literally a Captain America comic on the big screen, from 22 pages to 2 and a half hours.

Different strokes for different folks, I enjoy both of series. As many of us do. I can appreciate what Batman Begins did for Batman, what The Dark Knight did for Comic Book Movies. Civil War is basically

But yeah, Captain America is not a trilogy, neither is The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit... 3 movies, but not 3 stories.

It is really a tough call, I love the Captain America series, let alone including the Avengers movies as well. I love Batman, I don't think any CBM has hit me as hard as The Dark Knight, but it was never my favorite. That was always Spider-Man 2. Now it's Civil War.

It is just awesome that we have another franchise that can be compared to TDKT without automatically being dismissed.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

TDK = CW > TWS > BB > TDKR > TFA

The Dark Knight: 9 - 10 - 8
Captain America: 7.5 - 9.5 - 10

Basically equal.

 

[BatLobster]

As many have already stated, it's highly debatable whether the Captain America movies really are a trilogy. Sure, they're three movies featuring the same character. By this logic though, you could basically make all sorts of "trilogies" out of the MCU films. Iron Man 2- Avengers- Iron Man 3 have a character arc you can track...does that make it a trilogy? Same with Cap 1- Avengers- TWS.

Even though I think TDKT are more memorable and iconic overall as individual films, if you're just looking at it as three films that tell one larger story I think TDKT wins by default.

Not only are the Captain America sequels reliant on other films in the MCU, but in all honesty Civil War feels very much like the Russos' making their Empire Strikes Back. As in it cranks up the drama and leaves the characters in an uncertain place. Because of this it's able to avoid many of the inherent challenges that come with wrapping up a three-film arc in a third movie. This does work to Civil War's advantage because it's a very sharply executed film as many "second" films are...and it doesn't have to clean up after itself and is allowed to leave stuff unresolved. The Russos have even stated that they see Winter Soldier, Civil War and both Infinity War films as one big story. So it's as if they themselves don't even view Captain America: TFA as part of the same story arc.

So while TDKR may have some more noticeable flaws than Civil War, it's also the only one of the two that is actually trying to be a conclusive third film and therefore has an arguably much trickier thing that it's aiming to pull off, historically speaking.

Overall it's apples and oranges to me. I don't want to take anything away from the Cap movies. TFA has its moments, and the two Russo films are very strong outings and I would say easily two of best CBMs of the past few years. But the context of everything just becomes too different to compare when the movies are so interconnected in this larger comic book universe. With TDKT, there's no gray area. It's a pure trilogy with one beginning, one middle, one end. I'll give the Cap movies credit in that Bucky is definitely a consistent element that tracks through all three, which a nice piece of connective tissue. Not enough for me to view them as one self-contained story though.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Did anyone come with the definition of a trilogy when we were discussing Iron Man trilogy? Placing restrictions on how to define a trilogy is pretty new.

Anyway, on the loose term that Cap has three movies with his name set in the same universe starring the same actor/cast, I will look at his films as a trilogy.

 

[Lencho01]

I went with TDK because I feel it actually works as a true trilogy. Beginning, middle, and end. The Cap films feel more like 3 parts of a 5 film (and more upcoming) story for the character to me. There's info and events from the Avengers films that come into play. Same goes for the journey Tony as gone on since his first film.

 

[hafizbat]

Yeah, Cap's 3 movies can most definitely be considered a trilogy. A trilogy simply means a set of 3 movies...telling one story with a beginning, middle, and end is not a requirement.

Two of the most popular "trilogies" are far less connected than Cap's movies. The "Dollars" or "Man with no Name" trilogy ("A Fistful of Dollars", "A Few Dollars More", "The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly") are all standalone movies that are simply spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood and having the same director, yet are considered a trilogy. The cult favorite "Cornetto" trilogy is even less connected, the only link being the same director, actors, and themes, yet it's often cited as one of the best trilogies out there.

TFA, TWS, and CW are far more eligible than the aforementioned trilogies as they are still the same story with the same characters. Again, a trilogy does not mean a movie with a sequel and threequel. What the TDKT accomplished in telling one beautiful story is commendable, but should not take away from Cap's trilogy.

 

[BatLobster]

I don't mean to say I think you're wrong if you see the Cap movies as a trilogy. If you do and you get added value when viewing the three movies as one bigger thing, great. Personally I still think the fact that there are other films outside of the three films that advance themes and character arcs as well as the plot is what muddles things up. And yes, myself and others were saying that after Iron Man 3 came out too- a film that's way more of a sequel to the Avengers than it is to Iron Man 2- which was more of a prequel to The Avengers than anything else.

And it's definitely true that there are all different types of trilogies including thematic trilogies. I just think, as is, there are better viewing experiences one can have within the MCU that flow better than Cap 1, 2 and 3. Yet I'm not going to call any of those trilogies, even though they feature the same characters.

Personally, for me the true test of whether or not a series is a good trilogy is whether I feel the movies enhance each other and are greater than the sum of their parts when viewed as a whole. There are quite a few series out there that just happen to have 3 movies and are "trilogies" in the loosest sense of the word IMO and I tend not to think of them as trilogies the way I do with Star Wars, Back to the Future, etc.

Maybe I'm just overly traditional when it comes to this, but it's only because I love myself an honest to goodness trilogy and it's just difficult for me to get past the fact that Cap 2 and 3 very much felt like Avengers 1.5 and 2.5.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

I vote Dark Knight trilogy. Captain America movies are not trilogy. They just three out of five movies that have Captain America. They still great but not trilogy. There be more Captain America movies too lol.

 

[GENERAL RAAM582]

Dark Knight Trilogy for me, but it's pretty close.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

TDKT seems more sophisticated than it really is.

CW is a pure comic book movie. The airport scene is groundbreaking. Never has a scene stated to the world why comics are awesome than that 15-20 minutes.

 

[spiderman2]

Spider-Man 3 better than TFA? I though TFA was a B-, B at best, but it's a much less of a fustercluck than SM3.

I have only seen cap 1 once and I fill zero need to watch it again where sm3 I have seen a lot of times and I can always go back and watch it and find it entertaining.

 

[The Shape]

I really like the last two Cap films, but TDK trilogy wins this one easily for me -- especially I consider it to be an actual film trilogy.

I wouldn't swap The Dark Knight for Marvel's entire combined output, so the Batman trilogy.

I have to say that I agree with this. The Dark Knight is really special.

 

[Iron_Stark]

Civil War is the only movie with Iron Man in it. So Captain America's movies for me.

 

[Boom]

The Dark Knight Trilogy.

 

[OopsWhat89]

TDKT seems more sophisticated than it really is.

Thank you. Well, Batman Begins is fantastic, my favorite superhero film to date. But the sequels....eh.

 

[Supernova]

The dark knight trilogy easily and the deciding factor is all 3 endings are better then all 3 endings of cap and left me wanting more.

 

[BatLobster]

TDKT seems more sophisticated than it really is.

CW is a pure comic book movie. The airport scene is groundbreaking. Never has a scene stated to the world why comics are awesome than that 15-20 minutes.

If the poll were about which is the most "pure" comic book adaptation, anything Marvel would pretty easily win since the whole thing is a comic book universe come to life. (And I think you could argue that the climax of The Avengers was just as much if not more of one giant celebration of the larger world of comics)

But that doesn't make Cap a better trilogy. Also, being "sophisticated" has nothing to do with why I think TDKT is superior. If anything, I've been arguing that it's simpler because it doesn't have all the complications of a shared universe and therefore it's much easier to engage with them as a three film arc.

TDKT simply has more clarity, and IMO more impact as a result. My argument isn't that the Cap films (esp. the last two) aren't great, it's just that what Marvel has created is unprecedented in film history so I look at it as its own thing.

 

[Erzengel]

I like that at least it's agreed with most of the posters in there that it's not a crazy argument to compare the 2.