My Top 10 Favorite Movie Series of All Time

Yes, many of you foresaw this and to be honest, I knew from the very start that this would obtain the #1 spot, but can you blame me? Star Wars is the ultimate cinematic experience and a saga that takes all we love about movies, literature, and stories in general and blends them into one solid smoothie. The original trilogy has been met with nearly universal acclaim, for all three films display a unique telling of Joseph Campbell's Hero Cycle. The prequels have been met with a mixed reception, but I think they are just as brilliant as the originals. Unlike the originals, the prequels follow more of a greek tragedy and show how a little boy from Tatooine became the most terrifying enforcer in all the galaxy. It's quite interesting watching these films in their intended order, for the main theme of the series is the rise, the fall and rise again of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. The six Star Wars films have unique characteristics and trademarks that make them stand out from one another and with Disney buying Lucasfilm with the intent of making more Star Wars flicks, it looks like the saga is about to get a whole lot bigger.....and better.

Both Disney and Marvel have reached high proportions with their various superhero films, all set within a massive Marvel Cinematic Universe. You have Iron Man, the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Thor, the god of thunder, the Incredible Hulk, the green brute who likes to smash and Captain America, the red, white and blue WW2 veteran with a shield for whooping butt. All these characters have had their moments to shine in their own movies and have all come together in the greatest superhero flick ever, The Avengers. But even with The Avengers being as big as it was, this summer's Iron Man 3 has proved that Marvel's solo films are just as popular and profitable as their team ups. Hopefully, in the future, we can see many other Marvel creations enter the MCU like Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Power Man and even Iron Fist. That would be SWEET!

This was a book series once said to be unfilmable, but along came a filmmaker named Peter Jackson to bring Tolkien's Middle Earth to countless cinemas. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as the recent Hobbit film have captured the essence, the nature and the very pulse of Tolkien's fictional world and have delivered entertainment unlike any other fantasy series. My personal favorite is the film that started the whole craze, The Fellowship of the Ring, which I saw when it was first released on DVD back in the early 2000s. Since then, I have rewatched it several times along with it's sequels and marveled at the excellent imagery, stylized surroundings, breathtaking scope and all out epicness .Would J.R.R. Tolkien be proud of what Jackson has done with his baby? I think he would be. Watching the films is like watching the words he wrote come off the pages and fly onto a screen for people to watch and enjoy.

X-Men is my favorite superhero team of all time and the movies based upon them have been mostly hit or miss in the eyes of many. I personally like all the movies, although I think The Last Stand is the worst of the series with it's often bland moments and axing of classic characters. Still, the X-Men series has some of the best comic book movies I have seen in years. X-Men: First Class had a wonderful story and brilliant characters to follow, especially Michael Fassbender's Magneto. X2: X-Men United had the best action in all of X-Men and gets an A+ for doing a fine job adapting God Loves, Men Kills to the big screen. The first X-Men film is swell as well and had a suspenseful final battle atop the Statue of Liberty. When it comes to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, some wish it wasn't made, but I think it's a much better flick than The Last Stand and it will be interesting to see how much farther Hugh Jackman's Wolverine goes in the upcoming sequel, The Wolverine. The X-Men franchise is a feast fit for any comic and action film savorer and with X-Men: Days of Future Past coming out next summer, the series isn't running out of gas anytime soon.

Like Batman, Spidey has seen his share of reboots, reinterpretations and reinventions. But I can certainly say that I like all the movies, even Spider-Man 3 with it's silly dance scene and womanizing "emo" Peter as he is called. Sam Raimi hit a bullseye with his Spider-Man trilogy, Spider-Man 2 being my second favorite comic book movie as of right now. I thought Alfred Molina was superb as Dr. Octopus and Tobey Maguire amplified his Peter Parker performance 100%. And Marc Webb's recent reboot was sensational and really did a good job remolding Spidey for a new, fresh audience. New audiences will grow up with Andrew Garfield's Spidey just like older audiences grew up with Tobey's Spidey and people won't be as annoyed with the female lead as they were with Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane. Hopefully with Webb's sequel, he can develop the characters even further and bring in old favorites with new actors in their shoes.

Which ones? Well, how about all of them. Even if Batman has been revamped on the big screen several times throughout the decades, he still remains a pretty iconic movie image in his own right. My favorite Batman film is Tim Burton's Batman from 1989, for I love the dark grittiness of the Caped Crusader mixed in with Tim Burton's exotic, twisted imagination. Michael Keaton is also a relatable Batman and Jack Nicholson steals the show as Jack Napier/Joker. The sequel is also great with Danny Devito's sympathetic and even tearjerking take on the Penguin. The Joel Schumacher films may be despised by many and I'll even admit, they're not among my favorites, but I still think they're fun from a certain point of view and I'll admit that I watch them on occasion. Then there's Christopher Nolan's trilogy with Christian Bale donning the cowl. These films are superb with The Dark Knight being the strongest of the series. Heath Ledger is a ruthless and unstoppable Joker with a erratic plan and taste for destruction and chaos. There is also the "Timmverse" based films like Mask of the Phantasm and of course the 1965 film starring Adam West and if you want to go back even further, there are the movie serials from the 1940s. Yes, Batman has seen many interpretations, many reimaginings and many actors put on the bat ears.

Indiana Jones is a throwback to the great serials and suspense thrillers of the early days of film. In fact, several characters in these serials and thrillers were known for their fedora hats and tattered jackets. Nevertheless, the Indiana Jones films find their way home at #7 on the list. It's quite clear that many consider Raiders or Crusade to be the best of the four film saga, but in all honesty, my favorite is Temple of Doom. I think the characters (with the exception of Willie) are funny and that some of the over the top goofiness is perfectly timed and well paced. It also has children showing the abusive adults who's the boss! As for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, well, it's probably my least favorite of the series, but it still has those cheesy, yet entertaining Indiana Jones trademarks that got us into the series to begin with. This series is in no way in short supply of action packed goodness and all out fun.

Okay, I'm kinda jumping over the fence with this one, but I'd regret not putting this film series on the list. This series was not only one of the pinnacle series of my childhood, but to many other people's childhoods as well. And the entire series revolves around a bunch of talking toys who come to life when people are out of the room. How original and thought provoking this concept is. This series begged the question whether our action figure collections or toy soldiers came to life when we were out of the picture. I'd still like to figure that out! Anyway, the Toy Story series gave us some very imaginative and humorous entertainment and the series got better and better with each new installment. The series may be over, but Woody, Buzz, Jesse and the rest will live on through short films and specials. Long may they reign.

I never read any of the Harry Potter books, but the movies have always been appealing to me. With their magical elements, their diverse mythology and memorable creatures (house elves, basilisks), the Harry Potter films have something for every movie goer, but that's not the main reason why I like this series so much. I saw the first movie when I was very young and to see the various actors grow up and change along with me as each film was released, it really made the whole experience much more magical and special. The last film ended on such a high note that it just can't be topped nor tempered, which is one of the many reasons why Harry Potter has it's place at #9 on this list.

When it comes to Star Trek, I consider myself an average fan. I think it's amazing what Gene Roddenberry and company were able to do with the various series that have been on television throughout the years, and this also goes for the motion pictures. Whether it's The Wrath of Khan or JJ Abrams' reboot, the Star Trek films are some of the most intriguing, most complex and most visually stunning sci-fi thrillers out there. And it's not always true that the odd numbered films are the bad ones. I personally think Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: Nemesis are fine films in their own unique ways. Even The Final Frontier has it's moments.