Where's the "They're all crap" option?

in terms of a series, it has to be lord of the rings - all 3 films are at least good.

half of the star wars movies are frustratingly wank, the majority of the star trek movies are wank, the first matrix movie was followed by an incredible amount of wank, and as i've never seen a harry potter film i'll just have to guess that they're all pretty wank.

best individual film though: empire strikes back

Get heated, this poll will.

OK, My choice is a big obvious Star Wars but here’s why:

1). Star Trek
There has never really been a great Trek movie. I always liked DS9 but I always found trek to be very limiting. There is the clinically dry Asimov type Sci/fi which becomes quite limiting and there is is the Frank Herbert style of Sci/fi/fantacy which leaves room to grow and expand and expand. I found Trek to be in the Asimov category. (I still like it though)

2). Lord of the Rings
Rings delivered greatness, it had to or it would have flopped. The books gave way to a whole new fantasy world and expanded into things like D&D and inspired worlds upon new worlds. The movies however were not inspirational in themselves. Well done and a great watch but the punch was already given to the books.

3). Harry Potter
Again, The books were well done and drew in every kid from around the world. The entire world was recreated by Rowling which sucked you in and put you in that world. The movies are well made and fun to watch but they don’t explore or break any new ground in movie making.

The Matrix
4). Expanded our views and took us on an adventure that was unique and new, It had a premise to be an amazing series and truly it was. The special effects were great but the effects started to become the movies by the last film and overshadowed the storyline. They just didn’t have a clear direction to take the movie into and for some reason felt they needed to conclude the story, although they didn’t.

5). Star Wars – Winner!
Star Wars hit the world with a wake up slap to the face. Maybe you had to be in our generation to have felt the slap. I was in grade 4 or 5 when it came out. It became THE most influential Sci/Fi/Fantacy movie ever, re-defining the entire genre and raising the bar on every other genre. The world could not get enough. From special effects to sounds, musical score, creatures, animatronics and stop motion. Star Wars set the Bar so high that 30 years later, people are still trying to top it.

YES, The prequels didn’t have the punch the original 3 had! But as a Spaghetti Sci-fi it has all the pieces. Not to mention the reach it has into our culture, Quotes from all 6 star wars movies are everywhere, ingrained in our everyday language. The religion, the lessons, the imagination, the books it inspired, the gaming, the slave Leia costume.

Star Wars. And not the shitty prequels, but the original trilogy. Nothing I've seen has yet matched the excitement I felt as a child anytime one of those three movies was playing on HBO.

When my father bought me the first VHS Star Wars trilogy for Christmas one year, I must've played it a thousand times; always fearful the VCR would chew the tape making this the last time I would be able to view it.

The original trilogy is still as incredible and awe-inspiring as it was in 1977, that is if you can get your hands on a copy that isn't part of the Special Edition.

>> ^blankfist:
Star Wars. And not the shitty prequels, but the original trilogy.


absolutely agree. if it was possible to vote just for the original star wars trilogy i would. however i refuse to click that little fucker when those stinking little prequels are involved.

Star Wars is the best Sci-Fi, LOTR is the best fantasy. Both series' have their flaws (episodes 1-3/The Two Towers), but ultimately both are high quality.

At the risk of being tarred and feathered, I must admit I've never really liked any incarnation of Star Trek, TV or Film. Harry Potter is great, but it doesn't have the depth and gravity of SW or LOTR. I liked the first two Matrix flicks, but consider them more action than sci-fi.

Interestingly enough, both Rowling and Lucas borrowed heavily from LOTR (the book obviously).

Where's the "They're all awesome" option?

It's tough to choose, because they each have individual properties that are better than the others. Some of them are good as films and a good exhilarating experience, which does not stimulate the intellect. While others are good sci-fi which are thought provoking, but are not as entertaining as films.

My thoughts:

1. Star Wars
On a whole different level as far as mythic filmmaking. Rings very deeply, almost universally, with people of our generation (I'm 33). It rings so deep that it's a better guide to basic humanity than most parents and religions.. or at least the OT is. Too bad the prequels get so confused with the morality, having Anakin basically just "turn evil" for what the average viewer takes out of the story. I really regret not attending the marathon OT screening which I bought tickets for in 1995.

2. Star Trek
A bit uneven, but in my opinion I, II, III, and VIII (First Contact) are classics in sci-fi/fantasy film. Part II, nobody can argue with. I don't think First Contact gets enough respect for having lots of action while hitting emotional beats, all with a tight plot. Yes it subverts the whole idea of the borg a bit, but they already did that with the TNG episodes about the borg "Hugh". Can't wait for the blu-ray of that film. Also pretty excited to see the new version, which I believe opens next week. One of the rare times lately that I'll be going out to see something rather than wait for the blu-ray.

3. Lord of the Rings
Also totally classic, but a bit repetitious with all the walking and swordfighting and hobbit jargon and slow-mo moony-face shots of Elijah Wood. Still, classic enough that I'll be buying it on blu-ray or maybe even the next higher-def format beyond that.

4. Harry Potter
Didn't read the books. Really didn't like the first film, found it all too precocious and tedious. Was curious enough mainly due to boredom at the time to see the second, which was a decent improvement in terms of relatability for the non-readership. Part 3 was frigging awesome, really liked the visual style and the story was satisfying, finally some real darkness. Part 4 was a bit boring, I think I fell asleep in the movie theatre. Recently watched part 5 on blu-ray, found it pretty amusing and like the visual style which is understated compared to part 3 but wonderfully art-designed. Looking forward to the next two movies although not exactly salivating.

5. The Matrix
What more can be said? Could have been the greatest. Could have unseated Star Wars. For my generation, the first one is an all-time, top-five classic regardless of genre, and from a certain POV can be taken as a hard sci-fi film. Then the second and third come along and they're just so far up their own asses that it's almost hard to watch. To put this in perspective I say that about Matrix Reloaded having seen it a total of six (possibly seven, can't remember) times in theatres.

Aren't my polls awesome?

^   [ ]Yes    [X]No

^ And yet, here you are.

Come on now, everyone knows that there was waaaaaaaaaaay too much boring filler in the LOTR series, and they cut out a lot of the best parts from the books. Star Trek had like ONE good movie, the Harry Potter movies are abysmal, and I wasn't even motivated to see the third Matrix movie.

So Star Wars.

btw Throbbin, nice polls.

Thanks JAPR.

At this moment we got Star Wars ahead by 1 (10-9).

Any bets on which one wins?

Harry Potter? what are you, twelve? the only true trilogy is Star Wars, but I hate Lucas for choosing to make money with the prequels instead of history ... Star Trek is gay, LOTR is boring and gay, the first Matrix blew my mind, but -- it's not really a trilogy

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I wish I could say The Matrix series, because I had my mind blown by the first Matrix. It was one of the most perfect surprise movie moments - I had some time to kill so I decided to check it out - I knew nothing about it. I thought it was going to be just a typical conspiracy thriller or something. So when he started to turn to liquid metal and woke up in the pod - I was cheering internally.

But the rest in the series were shit. So I vote Star Wars.

I voted Matrix - as the only fucking one, you ingrates - because it was the one the appealed to my brains the most, with Star Trek as second choice.

As pure movie experience, I'm not certain. Star Wars was a great experience (Lightsabers - without those, Star Wars would never have been popular. You all know it.), but ultimately a simple story about Good vs. Evil. Same with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Harry Potter has the added value that you see the kids growing up, so there's like teenage development going on as well. Star Trek is a crappy movie series, but it's still good sci-fi - though I suppose the TV series is superior to the movies.

Matrix had both the movie experience layer and the brain boogling aspect down, even if they dropped the ball in the last one. It was not nearly as big of a let down as BSG, for instance, but it still had way too many unanswered questions - wtf was the gold code Neo saw? In the I think it was the most interesting and interpretable story and therefor it got my vote.

I think the gold "code" was machine aura. Neo had become fully enlightened and could thus see the A.I. as alive. Something to do with mind=consciousness or some shit.

Star Wars - I loved the first three films. The second three were frickin' shit. No vote.

Star Trek - Mediocre at best. No vote.

Lord of the Rings - Thought they were decent films, but I'm just not into the fantasy stuff. No vote.

Harry Potter - Not into them at all. No vote.

The Matrix - First movie was brilliant! The other two were decent. Gets my vote.

I voted for Harry Potter.




















BWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!1

A vote for Star Wars is a vote for Ron Paul!

Alien(s). Only the first two. Game over, man!

I heart xenomorphs and Jonesy the interstellar house cat.

(Out of the options given though, LotR.)

I have to agree that Aliens was probably the best, and I actually liked the last one, but the first two rocked. The second is hands down one of the best sci-fi flicks ever.

"Wrath of Kahn" was a good Treck flick.

Matrix...hey, need I say more? The first one will always be a classic.

Loved LOTR.

I liked all of the Harry Potter flicks except for the last one. I think the kids are too old now, but maybe they can pull off one more show. Kind of fun to watch them grow up on screen. The one where he and his ghost parents battled Voltemart was very good.

For over-all quality of story and craft, I'd have to give the award to Harry Potter.

Obviously nothing approaches Star Wars / LOTR. If Lucas never made the prequels, it would be close, but their existence cannot be ignored. LOTRFTW.

I actually sat here and thought about what series' I could be missing for about 5 mins before posting the poll - how the hell can I forget the Alien movies?

This is great though - @ 11:20 PM EST on April 29, 2009 Star Wars and LOTR are tied @ 13 apiece.

The Matrix, it's absolutely awesome. Too bad they never made any sequels.

Blakes 7. There is no other!!

>> ^blankfist:
A vote for Star Wars is a vote for Ron Paul!


You've got it all wrong. Star Wars is a vote for the young Jedi.

>> ^Throbbin:
I actually sat here and thought about what series' I could be missing for about 5 mins before posting the poll - how the hell can I forget the Alien movies?


And you missed out Species

so as the only girl here amongst all you nerdy virgins, i will leave a comment.

star trek gets my vote for the sheer emotional appeal. (and also my crush on patrick stewart)
i remember getting so excited to watch tng with my dad
and getting history lessons while watching all the old episodes
and the excitement that built in my house before a new star trek movie came out and then the 15 minute ride home in the oldsmobile talking about what a let down it was and then still buying the thing on vhs and watching it 150times over the summer
oh and when we discovered books on tape, well we listened to every star trek book ever every time we got in the car
the sustainability of the star trek series alone
decades and decades and decades of show, movies, books. pure greatness.


im too young to have that grand star wars feel you are all masturbating about. so thats all irrelevant. i am old enough to remember the retarded overhype of the prequels and how much they so so suck. so that kills alot of the appeal

lotr it has plenty of good qualities sure but..nah
1. because im more of a scifi nerd and a no no on the fantasy nerd part
and
2. because the movies droned and dragged toooo much

and matrix. aldkjfaldkjfa;ldkjfomygodihatekeanureevessssoooomuchexceptforbillandtedsexcellentadventureadsf
adsfasdofcourseandonlythefirstonealdkjfa;ldkjfa;ldskjfa;ldksjf;alskdjfadfadfad
hisfaceruinseverythingkjfal;kdjfal;sdkjfals;dkjfa;lsdkjfa;lskdjfalskdjaldkjfald

harry potter i can appreciate these for what they are and i wont say theyre bad. but again im not big on the fantasy.

Thought you guys might enjoy this.

>> ^Deano:
>> ^Throbbin:
I actually sat here and thought about what series' I could be missing for about 5 mins before posting the poll - how the hell can I forget the Alien movies?

And you missed out Species


There were only two, relatively symmetrical reasons to see Species.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
>> ^Deano:
>> ^Throbbin:
I actually sat here and thought about what series' I could be missing for about 5 mins before posting the poll - how the hell can I forget the Alien movies?

And you missed out Species

There were only two, relatively symmetrical reasons to see Species.


Yes...Forrest Whitaker and Michael Madsen are great!

Can't vote since I like Matrix, Star Wars, and Star Trek!

The Matrix is a fantastic movie, it's a shame they didn't make any sequels.

Voting for this poll ended with the majority of users voting Lord of the Rings.