Top 5 Film Series & Franchises

There are many ways to approach the question of "best film series", many ways to slice this delicious proverbial cake. We could draw the line according to the greatest box office success and ask which film series has sold the most tickets over the years.

We could use critical acclaim as our criteria and say that the best film series will be the one that garnered the most Academy Awards and the most positive critical reception.

More simply we could ask which film series has produced the most movies.

Or we could try to do all of the above, looking at sales, number of films in the series, and critical reception. Well, shall we?

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman

There can be no list of film series without mention of Zatoichi. A Japanese film series based on the novels of Kan Shimozawa, the Zatoichi character has appeared in 27 films. That is four more than James Bond. One wonders if Bond will catch up.

Both series continue to add title after title to the already considerable collections with no apparent end in sight.

This series parallels the story type of the American western with Zatoichi cast as a renegade with justice in his heart, ready to "throw down" with anyone, especially toward the end of the movie.

The Zatoichi film series spans over forty years, with the first Zatoichi made in 1962. The most recent film in the series was released in 2003.

The Zatoichi film series has been awarded with numerous international distinctions but has won no American awards.

James Bond

There are too many James Bond films to list all the names here. The first Bond, Dr. No, was released in 1962 and starred Sean Connery. Since then five more actors have played the part of the dashing international spy, James Bond, including Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

A total of 23 James Bond movies have been made in the film series, generating a diverse fan base and spawning numerous successful video games as well.

At one time, the James Bond film series was given the distinction of being the most profitable film series of all time by the Guiness Book of World Records. This lofty position has been overtaken by a classic science-fiction serial...

Star Wars

The highest grossing film series of all-time, George Lucas' Star Wars films have set the standard for science fiction and special effects.

The first film was released in 1977. Wooing audiences with its setting in outer-space, Star Wars: A New Hope secured Lucas's career as a film-maker and proved to be just the beginning of his massive creative success in the cinema.

Though he had made two films prior to Star Wars (American Graffiti; THX 1138), it was not until the first Death Star exploded that George Lucas would establish himself as a shining light of original, creative cinema.

The Star Wars series has spanned six feature films, now known as Star Wars episodes 1-6. Additionally, there have been two spin-off made-for-television Ewoks movies, an animated film (Clone Wars), and a cartoon television show.

Further distinguishing the franchise, Star Wars and its producers have written the book on merchandizing and film promotions. Action figures, playing cards, full-on geek conventions, fast-food tie-ins, and Halloween costumes top the list of promotional efforts but in no way do they exhaust the vast empire of Star Wars goodies that have drifted into our little galaxy out of the imagination of George Lucas.

Batman

The Batman film series continues to grow in box office success and in stature among the "best film series". This is due, in part, to the continuing evolution of the films in style and tone. Every time a new director tackles the Batman character, we see a very distinct vision and version of the Gotham City vigilante.

Tim Burton's Batman found the caped crusader ensconced in a colorful world very much akin to a comic book. Christopher Nolan's take on Gotham City creates a far darker and more "realistic" setting for the conflicted hero.

Seven Batman films have been made to date if we do not include the Adam West film from 1966. (video clip)

Harry Potter

A young franchise for young people, the Harry Potter films rank second on the all-time list behind only the Star Wars series for total franchise gross revenues in the U.S.

Six Harry Potter films have been produced, bringing in 1.7 billion dollars.

The first film in the series remains the number money-maker in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Friday the 13^th, Nightmare on Elm Street & Halloween

In the late 1970's, American culture turned its attention to teenagers and children. Where the U.S.A had been a nation of adults, striving, working, hustling for a dollar, it quickly became obsessed with the non-working class of people known affectionately as "kids".

The "brat pack" emerged - not because of their sheer talents - due to a shared demand from audiences and filmmakers alike for movies about young people. Numerous touchstone films of that era show this to be true. The Breakfast Club and Goonies were for young adults and even the blockbuster action films of the day were made with children in mind. Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom and Return of the Jedi spring to mind as examples.

It was this cultural climate that produced a new kind of film - the teenage horror. Where Poltergeist and Child's Play had intended to scare adults, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th became franchises with a consistent cast of teenagers.

Over the years each of these film series has endured and continues to turn out movies. Twelve films have been made in the Friday the 13^th, series 8 in the Nightmare on Elm Street seriesand 10 in the Halloween series.

Films in the top ten best film series of all-time: Star Trek; Shrek; Rocky; X-Men; Jurassic Park; The Matrix.

Resources:

Yahoo Movies
IMDb.com
AMC Filmsite