The art of the threequel is no easy science. Whether it ends a trilogy or sets up a franchise for years to come, the third film in a series must be incredible and fulfill expectations that are hard to live up to. While there are plenty of great sequels, many that are better than the original, the story of a third movie living up to expectations is a lot harder. Ever since the release of The Godfather Part III, there have been many third entries that have disappointed fans. Disappointing third films include but are not limited to X-Men: The Last Stand, Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Blade Trinity, Alien 3, Little Fockers, The Hangover 3, and so on and so forth.

Yet third films do get a bad rap. There are plenty of third films, be it final movies in trilogies or just another entry, that are great and, in many ways, just as good if not better than some of the previous entries. In 2023 alone, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Equalizer 3, Creed 3, and A Haunting in Venice were all third films that delighted audiences. While there are many great sequels, we wanted to highlight the greatest threequels to show that they do not always have to disappoint.

Update January 9, 2024: This article has been updated with more threequels that are great and where each title can be streamed.

15 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon found the perfect formula for the franchise in The Bourne Supremacy, so it makes sense that they perfect it spectacularly in The Bourne Ultimatum, where Bourne (Damon) finally finds all the secrets of his origin and who he really was. Released the same summer as disappointing third entries like Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Bourne Ultimatum seemed to do the impossible: deliver a satisfying third film.

Why We’ve Put It on the List

Action, action, action, and many answers the character (and audience) has been waiting for since the first film gave this movie everything that the franchise needed. The Bourne franchise was rare; it was a spy action film series aimed at an older audience, and it paid off as The Bourne Ultimatum remains to this day the best-reviewed entry in the franchise and also the highest-grossing film in the series. The film also shares some concerns with having a spy cell that believes it's above the law and uses all the cameras in the world at its disposal to create a state of continuous vigilance, something that became a smart view of the future as it’s something much more worrying in the 2020s. Stream on Max

14 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Creating a film in the shadow of one of the greatest superhero films ever, along with the death of one of its stars — Heath Ledger — is no easy task. Christopher Nolan’s fitting end to his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises does just that by raising the stakes on every level, using the character of Bane, played in brooding brilliance with the brutality of a monster by Tom Hardy. Bane embarks on creating a criminal revolution, holding the entire city of Gotham hostage.

Why The Dark Knight Rises Is on the List

Nolan takes Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne to the brink, fighting for his livelihood and soul as he tries to save Gotham and himself. The film has some of the best shot scenes in the whole franchise, like the plane hijack, or the destruction from Bane, football field included, creating an atmosphere of pessimism like no other. All the performances are great, the idea of getting Gotham trapped without bridges to escape is inspired, the villain is crazy scary, and there's even a happy ending for the hero. All those things make it the perfect ending for Nolan's trilogy. Stream on Max

Related: 15 Best Superhero Sequels of All Time, Ranked

13 Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Nightmare on Elm Street is the rare horror franchise where the debate comes up to determine which is the better film: The original 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street or the third entry, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. The third film was originally intended to be the final film in the franchise and focused on the original film's final girl, Nancy Thompson, now working as a psychiatrist as a medical facility who with the help of a young girl, Kristen who has the power to bring others into her dreams, teams up with other kids to finally stop Freddy Krueger.

Why Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is the Best in the Franchise

Nightmare on Elm Street 3 solidifies many of the conventions audiences know from the franchise. While the film was always known as a movie about a killer who gets you in your dreams, this was the movie that defined Freddy Krueger as "the funny killer". Robert Englund was given more comedic reign and, thanks to a script by Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Chuck Russell, and future Shawshank Redemption writer Frank Darabont, made Freddy both scary and funny with a series of incredibly creative kills that the franchise would try and top. While the first film set the template, Dream Warriors perfected it. Rent on AppleTV, Vudu, or Prime Video.

12 Skyfall (2012)

Sam Mendes made one of his best films ever when he directed Skyfall, the third entry in Daniel Craig’s James Bond story, and looked both to the past and the future of the franchise to make the best Bond film (a little bit ahead of Casino Royale) of the 21st Century. With the character and his allies already known, the movie uses Bond’s affection for M (Judi Dench) against him, creating one of the best Bond villains ever in Silva (Javier Bardem), who might as well be a mirror of 007 and to what could happen to him if he wasn’t so bound by honor for his country.

Why Skyfall is Great

Skyfall deserves extra credit for not only being a great third film (and a major step up from the previous film, Quantum of Solace) but also a great celebration of Bond as a franchise as it was made to tie in with the series 50th anniversary. The movie questions if Bond is still relevant for the 21st century and what his place as a character and a piece of pop culture is now. The movie works both as the end of a trilogy, as the film's final moment feels like James Bond is fully formed, including him walking into the iconic M office of the original Sean Connery films, but also a mid-point as two more films would follow. Bond is now fully formed, with Spectre acting as a classic Roger Moore over-the-top style Bond adventure and No Time to Die being his final outing. Stream on Amazon Prime

11 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

When it comes to the "third" Star Wars film, it really came down to Return of the Jedi or Revenge of the Sith because nobody's favorite is The Rise of Skywalker. While Return of the Jedi falls into the Day of the Dead "is still great despite not reaching the heights of the first two epic films," Revenge of the Sith gets the slight edge for not only being the best of the prequel trilogy (which was not hard) but also because it was a major rebound for the franchise and one many do hold up as at least equal to Return of the Jedi. Finally getting to see Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader and watching the rise of The Empire is what makes it the Star Wars movie to be on this list.

Revenge of the Sith is Great

It's the best Hayden Christensen performance because his often-stale line delivery is heightened by his lustful rage and blind loyalty to the manipulative Chancellor Palpatine. George Lucas proceeds with plenty of operatics throughout the whole film, a great idea of why Anakin goes to the Dark Side, and an incredible showdown between master and student hits its peak on the fiery planet of Mustafar. As Obi-Wan's (Ewan McGregor) reluctant but ultimate heroism to stop Anakin in his tracks comes short, the showdown is as tragic as the trilogy arcs come. Although the road to that moment wasn't as smooth as some would've hoped, especially in the other two prequels, this ending is devastating and shows how the galaxy is the way it is in Episode IV. Stream on Disney+

10 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Indiana Jones must fight the Nazis and retreat a unique artifact, the Holy Grail, as who drinks from it might get eternal life. This time he must do so while saving his father Professor Henry Jones (Sean Connery), creating a much more funny and fun movie that still has all the thrills and action of its predecessors.

What Makes The Last Crusade Great

What makes Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade such a unique movie is that it has all the adventures and greatly directed action scenes from the other movies, but with much more bickering and incredible chemistry between Connery and Harrison Ford. Spielberg was at the top of his game, creating chases in cars, bikes, trains, and even a tank! But what really sells the film is the heart that Ford and Connery give to their son-father relationship, creating a perfect closure to the trilogy, even if, with time, there’s been two more adventures with the archeologist with a fedora and a whip. Stream on Disney+

9 War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

The third film in the Caesar trilogy of The Planet of the Apes film series, War for the Planet of the Apes, shows Caesar and humanity's final days before apes become the dominant species on the planet. The film focuses on Caesar going on a revenge mission after a human military team kills his family. Caesar is imprisoned in the human camp and must find a way to escape and find his way home as his ape community is moving to a new safer location.

What Makes It Great

War for the Planet of the Apes is an epic conclusion for the trilogy, but instead of going traditionally bigger than the previous film with massive war scenes between the apes and humans, it is a much more personal story and rather small in scale. What is large are the emotions as the film becomes somewhat of an epic tragedy. Making the film a prison escape movie and an exploration into the heart of darkness shows that a third movie does not always have to go bigger in scale but can instead be deeper. Stream on Fubo TV.

8 Logan (2017)

James Mangold is a director who adjusts to the times, often hi-jacking what film trends are popular and finding a way to subvert the genre to his liking. Teaming with veteran screenwriter Scott Frank, Mangold did just that with Logan, creating the perfect ending for Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Taking the all-powerful Wolverine and making him a dying, dour older man, he turned the superhero film into a classic Western. As a withered and grizzled Wolverine teams with an even older Professor X, the two discover a young mutant and embark on an epic journey that tests their limits.

Logan Bucks Conventions

Unlike most trilogies, where people think the third is the weakest, The Wolverine trilogy is the opposite as it gets better with each entry. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is typically regarded as one of the worst movies in the entire X-Men saga; The Wolverine is an improvement but still feels weighed down in the third act to become a standard superhero movie, while Logan feels like a modern masterpiece. It's one of the best superhero films of the last ten years, proving the heart and grit a comic book movie can possess while also showing how much pain and sadness being a superhero can cause you. The film's final moments, of Logan finally becoming Wolverine one last time to save a group of children, is powerful. Even with Jackman reprising his role in Deadpool 3, Logan still serves as an incredible end to Hugh Jackman's then 17-year time with the character. Stream on Disney+

7 John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

The third entry in the popular action franchise, John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum, sees John Wick taking on the world as he is being hunted after breaking the rules of the Continental in the previous film and killing on sacred ground. Now he has a bounty on his head and must fight to survive in a movie that takes him across the world and then back to New York, where he has to fend off an entire army's worth of people in the Continental. Just like with every entry in the franchise, it is filled with incredible action and some of the best in the series.

Why John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum is Great

The thing about the third John Wick movie is it might be the least popular in the franchise. That is not to say fans don't love it or that it is not great; many people do love it and think it is better than most action films. Yet it speaks to how highly the other three are regarded that one has to be the weakest one, and it is often considered the third one. Yet John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum does not disappoint and is a great action movie and a fun watch, with really standout performances by Halley Berry and Asia Kate Dillion. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is also the only entry in the franchise to open in the summer movie season, and it shows how beloved the films are that it did so well, even beating out what seemed like more popular brands at the time like X-Men, Godzilla, and Secret Life of Pets. Stream on Netflix.

6 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Alfonso Cuaron helmed the transition of the Harry Potter franchise — after Chris Columbus directed the first two — into much darker and more mature territory with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. While still glistening with the sheen of magic and wizardry, Harry's life gets more complicated as he gets older. Not only introducing a family foil in the name of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) to show Harry how deep the rabbit hole goes and how his life is constantly in danger, Cuaron also introduces a family sentiment while keeping the world fantastical and dangerous, showing that from now on, things will get much more serious, dark, and dangerous for our heroes and that death might be around the corner.

Why Prisoner of Azkaban Makes The List

While at the time the lowest-grossing film in the Harry Potter franchise, to this day, by many, it is considered the best film. It took the franchise in a much darker direction than the previous entries, but it also maintained a bit more of the magic and wonder than the later films do (part of that might be this is the last Harry Potter film John Williams did the score for). With beautiful direction by Cuaron, the Wizarding World never looked this likely and, to this day, might be the best-looking entry in the franchise. While the Potter film series might have taken a hit in relevance lately thanks to the poor reaction to the Fantastic Beasts films and author J.K. Rowling's controversial comments, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban still stands as a high point of the entire franchise and one most people want to revisit. Stream on Max

Related: These Are Gary Oldman's Best Performances, Ranked

5 Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

The third Avengers movie saw an entire universe come together. The Avengers, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and the Guardians of the Galaxy all unite on various fronts to stop Thanos from assembling the Infinity Stones and achieving his plan to kill 50% of all life in the universe. Avengers: Infinity War is filled with action, drama, humor, and heart, with a final cliffhanger that leaves audiences speechless and waiting in anticipation for a year.

What Makes It Great

While it is debatable if Infinity War should count as a third movie since it is the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is the third Avengers movie, so it counts. Also even if you've only seen the Avengers movies, the film does a good job in filling the audience in on the new characters not seen in the previous Avengers movies. The accomplishment of Avengers: Infinity War really cannot be overstated, as it is an incredible achievement in merging so many narratives together while being a satisfactory film in its own right. Everyone seemed to enjoy it as it became the highest-grossing movie of 2018 and is still one of the most beloved entries in the MCU today. Even with all the third films that have come in the franchise from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Captain America: Civil War, and Thor: Ragnarok, most people likely would say this is the best third movie in the saga. Stream on Disney+.

4 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)

A fitting finale to the iconic Dollars trilogy from director Sergio Leone and stands as an iconic film in cinema history. Three gunslingers, the Good (Clint Eastwood), the Bad (Lee Van Cliff), and the Ugly (Eli Wallach), trying to find a fortune in gold buried in the desert. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly understands better than most films that having three antihero characters going to war with each other in a series of showdowns and face-offs is enough action to fuel an epic.

Why We Love The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

There is something to be said about a great title. Sure, the other films in the Dollars trilogy are iconic, but something about the simple title of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly resonates with people that it is still spoofed and quoted to this day. With Leone’s patterned tense close-ups paired with Ennio Morricone's iconic music, the film still exhilarates today. Even if someone has not seen it (which you should), this is a film that has seeped into so many elements of pop culture you recognize the influence. Stream on Max

3 Toy Story 3 (2010)

When Andy goes to college, his toys get delivered to a daycare center, making Toy Story 3 much more existential and sad for Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), and the rest of the gang, who must find a new purpose and escape from the daycare center, prison break style. This was a movie years in the making, and Pixar wisely waited 11 years from the release of Toy Story 2 to make it as it allowed the audience who grew up with the previous two films to now finally match the age of Andy to make the movie even more emotionally resonate not just for them, but parents as well.

Why Toy Story 3 Is a Great Threequel

It was the perfect goodbye to the characters, and for a moment in an incinerator, it looked like the saddest goodbye ever. The idea of what toys do when their owner grows up was brilliant to create bigger stakes than usual, and the film had both heart and fun. As with many other threequels in the list, this was intended as the end of the story for Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toys, but since the film was released, the franchise has continued with short films, Toy Story 4 and a now in development Toy Story 5. Yet in the summer of 2010, Toy Story 3 captured the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere and became the highest-grossing movie of 2010 at the domestic box office. It even went on to become nominated at the Academy Awards, not just for Best Animated Film (which it won) but also for Best Picture, making it one of only two third films to be nominated for Best Picture. We will get to the other one in just a moment. Stream on Disney+

2 Before Midnight (2013)

The third entry in Richard Linklater’s romantic and heartbreaking franchise is one not only a great threqueel but one of the best in his entire filmography. As the first film is a young love adventure and the second is a rediscovery, Before Midnight pops the balloon as Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are now married with kids, but their love is dissipating, slowly going to combust.

What Makes Before Midnight One of the Best Threequels

The arguments are heartbreaking, and the romance between the two that audiences have come to love is disappearing as they both have become much more realistic and cynical views of life and love. The possibility that this love story might end is as scary as they come for the fans of the franchise, but it shows how love must evolve to keep being alive in this last entry that happens in Greece. The ending is hopeful enough to think they'll make it, but the trip to get there is much darker and more stressful than the other two entries combined. Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Video, and Google Play Movies

Related: Why Linklater's Before Trilogy is the Most Realistic Story About Love

1 Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King (2003)

We may never see a big-budget fantasy epic on the same level as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy again as with The Return of The King, Jackson more than delivered. The film Ends the epic quest in an action-filled, heartbreaking, but resoundingly feel-good way as Frodo (Elijah Wood) fulfills the promise of destroying the ring and Aragon (Viggo Mortensen) becomes the savior of an empire. This was the culmination of everything that had come before, creating even more incredible fights, having perfect endings for each of the characters audiences followed through three movies, and making an ending as satisfactory as sad.

Why Return of the King Best Threequel of All Time

Peter Jackson landed the plane and created what might be the biggest trilogy ever, as every movie adds to the one before, and the tone, style, and genre are never lost. The film was both a success with audiences and critics, so much so that the film would make history, winning a still record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was not only the first time that a fantasy movie had won Best Picture but makes it the only time a third film in a franchise had won Best Picture. It is hard to argue with a Best Picture Oscar, universal praise from critics and audiences alike, and a still massive part of the pop culture that Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is the best third film of all time. Stream on Max