The toughest part of forming this list is thinking about trilogies that actually 1-substantially impacted my life (mostly my taste in movies), 2- I actually remember the 3rd movie (for most trilogies the 3rd movies were just awful...see Revenge of the nerds/Major league, but I remember them) 3- the awfulness of the 3rd (and 2nd in sometimes) is compensated by the sentimentalism I have for the first. By no means am I saying these are good movies (and for god's sake some of them are not), but I love them nevertheless (geez Ive been using that word a lot). you may notice some obvious omissions (godfather, matrix, star wars, jurassic park), but by the time i saw these films the plasticity in my brain and was no longer receptive to their specific form of stimuli, and although I enjoyed those trilogies they did not have the profound influence as the following trilogies
so in no particular order
Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2/Army of Darkness (1981-1992)
AoD actually made it onto my Yearbook page "Buckle up bonehead, cuz you're going for a ride" where upon a skeletal copy of the hero is launched from a catapult out of a castle and explodes. Introduced to me by my bros (the same guys who used to scare the shit out of me by yelling when large marge freaked out in PeeWee's Big Adventure 
The sheer volume of blood, mayhem, chainsaws and pump action shotguns makes this trilogy one of my favorite. I still enjoy unexpected, and unnecessarily extreme gore (contemporary example: The blood spitting Raccoon in Harold and Kumar go to white castle (which they are making a sequel to...what!?!) I still remember a quote from my friends girlfriend (junior year of high school). She said, after a demon got its head chopped off with a shovel, "Is she dead?" while typing this I realize that it doesnt really sound all that funny, but the sincerity in her voice made me laugh for 5 straight minutes. I love these movies oh so much.Back to the Future I,II,III (1985-1990)
Wait a minute, Doc. "Are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?" "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" This series had it all: puffy vests (which I still rock), Clocktowers, Biff, Flea, a fucking hoverboard just an all around classic, and watchable throughout the 3rd installment. This movie influenced Ornstein's and I's rewrite of the Orientation skit, taking it from crap to a DeLorean filled adventure down FandM's history. As we wrote the script in his orange room let's just say that Ornstein drew most of his inspiration from NBA Street (I cant believe they cut the "Serendipity" reference...f'ing editorsIndiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark/Temple of Doom/Last Crusade (1981-1989)
Perhaps the ultimate adventure trilogy, nazis, cobras, indigenous people with blowdarts, rolling rocks, that dude from "Sliders" (what an unappreciated series), the token Asian dude from "Goonies" (short round where you at?). This probably made me want to become a professor. Seriously how awesome would it be to have your students paint "Love you" on their eyelids, kill some nazis, get the women around the globe, speaking of which getting to travel the world, swing from stuff with a whip. Unfortunately, I feel my advanced degree in Animal Behavior will just wont be able to compete with Indy and Ill end up sifting through dehydrated squirrel poop in search of cortisol levels or measuring the elasticity of monkey nipples(oh wait too late)...If I only had an Asian understudy (I hear by dub you "Small Square")Conan the Barbarian/Conan the Destroyer /Red Sonja(1982-1985)
"Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women"
Technically, this isnt a trilogy because Conan isnt Conan in Red Sonja(he's Kalidor), but for all intensive purposes he's Conan..same loin cloth, same grunts, same BAMF attitude. Yes that is a picture of Conan killing a vulture with his mouth, and now coincides with my facebook profile picture. The cast list reads like a who's who of acting greats: james earl jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Andre the Giant, Grace Jones, Olivia d'Abo (the older sister on the wonder years), Brigitte Nielson, Ernie Reyes Jr (in his first major role a and of course Ahhhnold. There should be an Arnold themed restaurant (or at least party) where all the waiters dress like one of his characters (Commando, Predator, Terminator, Junior, Jingle all the Way, Pumping Iron, Twins, Running Man, Total Recall, Batman & Robin (Mr. FREEEZE!!!)... hands down the best actor of mine or any generation....seriously he bit the head off a vulture, fuck YOU brando...okay so that was a bit of tangent. but one of my favorite trilogies of all time, and apparently there is another one being made for release in 2009
Major League I/II/Back to the Minors (1989-1998)
"I good to you. I stuck up for you Jobu. You no help me now...I say fuck you Jobu. I do it myself."Sound Bite
I spent so much time looking for Vaughn's glasses. I loved that they had a little skull in the middle of them. Thats absolutely priceless, I guess it took me until just this moment to realize that they probably just glued a pewter skull on to them, and they didnt exactly manufacture it for mass production. The reason the trilogy made it on my list is based mainly on how many times Ive seen the first one and how well the script and soundtrack have stuck with me. The sequels had its notables: charlie sheen sells out, the replacement of Tom Berenger (bat shit crazy in 1986 Platoon with Sheen no less) with Scott Bakula (of Quantum Leap, and Unnecessary Roughness) and the token crazy asian guy who breaks a bat over his head. They kind of sucked but, I still will watch them if they come on, besides I will pretty much watch anything with Ted McGinley (see Revenge of the Nerds).
Revenge of the Nerds/Nerds in Paradise/The Next Generation (1984-1992)
OMG- See the first two immediately if you havent done so yet. This movie change my life, giving hope when there was none: Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Timothy Busfield, Ted McGinley, Donald Gibb (AKA: Ogre), Curtis Armstrong (AKA: Booger, and the greatest sidekick in 80s comedies)"I think I have a frush." "What the fuck is a frush?"
I mean seriously: they had their own music video and half of Ogre's dialogue is composed of yelling the word "Nerds." It is so unapologetically bad (the most awesome thing I have youtubed this year), that you cant help but love it. The sad part is that at some level I completely identify with this movie, spending my socially awkward middle school (and high school...and college...okay pretty much my whole life since 3rd grade) years wondering where I fit into the whole scheme of things. There must have been a direct correlation with seeking entertain in movies and the limited social stimulation I received from my peers...one could say because of middle school I am now writing a blog about the top trilogies that affected my life (of which I list Major League)... What else can I say, even though the 3rd was made for TV, the first two are so amazing they more than compensate...and besides Ill always have Ogre.
El Mariachi/Desperado/Once Upon a Time in Mexico
(1992-2003)Perhaps my first real grown up trilogy, in that I was actually 11 when it came out (vs 3) and actually rode my bike to to "west-coast video (this place smelled like if jujubee had just run a mile and hadnt showered in a few days)" to rent el Mariachi. What I really like about this trilogy is that instead of jamming the budget high, they just got creative, and actually used their heads to produce well thought out scripts, the first movie was made for something like 5000 bucks and went on to gross like 2million and win Sundance. It makes you hate movies like "Delta Farce" "Wild Hogs" and "Witless Protection" so much, almost as much as the people who pay to see them (okay so I saw Wild Hogs in the theater, but it was my last night in Jersey, and I was drunk on Margaritas, and I was hoping it would be just funny awful...anyway I digress) Pretty solid through and through, and what separates it from most of the other trilogies Ive listed is that it isnt kitschy (did i just drop some yiddish?, wtf mate), they are all just well-told, entertaining stories.
Mad Max/The Road Warrior/Beyond Thunderdome (1979-1985)
So even though Mel Gibson is kinda Tom Cruise crazy, he does a great job portraying that badboy with a heart of gold.
He absolutely fall for the little feral kid thats running around
grunting (what was that all about). I also think sloth from the goonies, and the mutant crew from Weird Science makes an appearance (Tina Turner too, but you can lump her in with the mutant crew). I mean seriously a town's energy source is the production of methane (anaerobic breakdown exciting) by pigs in beyond thunderdome (but everyone know that cows give you highest rate of methane to biomass thats why they always feature them in ecology textbooks...except for the giraffe and the giant giraffe head sized butterfly in my Nitrogen cycle diagram...what the f is that all about). But post apocalyptic death races in austrailia make for a very entertaining series.Die Hard/Harder/ With A Vengeance (1988-1995)
Pretty much introduced the modern classic hero to our culture (well that and Hard Boiled): flawed, one-liner spewing, bad ass...actually pretty similiar to Mad Max in that its is just a really good action series, with a decent plot, and some subtle political commentary. Plus it has a villian named Hans Gruber...and his brother. Its got Samuel Jackson, Mr. Winslow from Family Matters, Jeremy Irons, that dude who showed his butt on NYPD blue Dennis Franz...
-Why do you keep calling me Jésus? Do I look Puerto Rican to you?
-Guy back there called you Jésus.
-He didn't say Jésus. He said, "Hey, Zeus!" My name is Zeus.
-Zeus?
-Yeah, Zeus! As in, father of Apollo? Mt. Olympus? Don't fuck with me or I'll shove a lightning bolt up your ass? Zeus! You got a problem with that?
-No, I don't have a problem with that.
Stuff explodes, expletive expletive expletive, car chase, expletive, some more stuff explodes (preferable a mode of transportation), repeat...
Blade/II/Trinity (1998-2004) So my friend Fergus and I would talk about throwing a Blade Party at the Pepperland back in my Chicago days. The party would consist of a rave like trance in the courtyard, where the blade theme song would play and wed go to the roof and spray some sort of blood like substance on the ravers below letting them revel in the ecstasy of blade. this, of course is absolutely nuts concept. lets play this out: vampires drink/eat blood and so when they go to party, they of course like to be sprayed with what they drink. so i drink a lot of coffee, does that mean I can take my raving to the next level by dousing myself with a frappuccino....count that shit, ive got an idea for a new coffee club. thinking about it, i would love to be dancing and sprayed with food, and drink, and other such goodies.
honorable Mention: Robocop. Re-animator, Creepshow, Problem Child, Shrek, From Dusk til Dawn, X-men
