My Favourite Movie Franchises

With the summer blockbuster season in full swing, big budget movie franchises reign during this time. So I’d thought it’d be fun to share some of my favorite movie franchises.

This is in no particular order.

Indiana Jones

The creative child of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, this is the best action-adventure series. I’ll never forget watching them on reruns during the summer, and being absolutely terrified of the mystical elements.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is pure entertaining fun, and Harrison Ford as the title character is a movie and character icon. No one else can play Indiana Jones than Ford. Battling Nazis to secure the lost Ark of the Covenant, this film makes archeology (especially in its time period of the 1930s) an absolute blast of a job. Dangerous though, but fun. The set pieces are amazing, one after the other. A bar fight, a street brawl, the truck chase executed to perfection. It really is movie magic at its best. All culminating with the Ark’s opening and powers unleashed.

Temple of Doom I really enjoy, but yes, it’s very dark and violent. But still has that adventure and mystery element, that tensity. Exploring beneath a mountain an evil cult that practices dark magic, it’s Indiana at his most challenging. And the one I closed my eyes to a lot of times. The heart ripping out, mine cart chase, the bridge sequence, it’s at times the most daring and imaginative in the series.

Last Crusade is a blast, and while it’s lighter and funnier, it still has a variety of tense, action set pieces that deliver the thrills and adventure. Sean Connery as Jones’ father is perfect casting, and the dynamic and relationship between the two is quite powerful and emotional.

While the other 2 sequels aren’t great, I still love this franchise for all its creative, entertaining values. Plus, it’s got an amazing theme song by John Williams.

Mission Impossible

An amazing action spy series that keeps getting better with each entry. Tom Cruise performing death defying stunts is a sight to behold. While some plot threads are a bit similar (mainly the enemies using nukes) they go about them slightly different each time. For me, Rogue Nation and Fallout are the best. It widens the franchise a bit more, has more interesting side characters, and great villains. Fallout’s third act is one of the best in the genre, period. Cruise and company always but their entire heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into each entry, and it’s always worth the price of admission. A great blend of action, tense thriller moments, quitter spy elements, and humour that make it one of the best action franchises.

Pirates of the Caribbean

A movie based off a theme park ride? And it’s actually amazing?!

I love pirates, and this series delivers that perfectly. The first just has a bit of everything; adventure, action, romance, humour, and some scary elements with the undead crew. All the characters deliver. Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush are perfectly cast in their roles.

Jack Sparrow is one of the most iconic characters of the 21^st century. I was in tears at the end of the second when he was eaten by the Kraken.

The second and Third films aren’t as enjoyable as the first, and the plots get more convoluted and darker, but still, I enjoy them nonetheless. Especially because of Davy Jones. Bill Nighy’s performance is incredible, perfectly matched with the CGI. The epic battle of the Maelstrom is suited only for the big screen. A very worthy ending.

While the 2 follow ups didn’t do it for me, ( the undead/fantasy aspect is used all the time and feels tired) this is easily the best pirate franchise, and the best based off a park ride.

Predator

While not as commercially successful as others on this list, and it’s not as consistent, I still really enjoy this series. The first, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, is perfect. It starts off as action, but soon transitions to an almost horror aspect, and it’s not jarring. Watching the mercenary team get picked off one by one was awesome, especially showing the Predator’s perspective. Not a fan of when a few them get killed soon after each other, as it doesn’t let the tension and moment set in, but when it’s just Arnold alone, the movie makes use of tension without almost any dialogue for its third act. A simple premise that yielded excellent results.

Predator 2 was okay, as taking place in a city isn’t great to watch. Predators, while at times being derivative of the original, felt a lot more refreshing. Humans on an alien game preserve planet, hunted by a trio of predators? Awesome, just needed to lean into it a bit more. The Predator is garbage. Prey was a worthy prequel, and quite interesting showing the series in 18^th century Native America. I’d love a series on Disney + to just have episodes of the predator in different time periods of history.

It's a fun, albeit, slightly inconsistent, action sci-fi franchise.

Jurassic Park

Like Predator, the Jurassic Park franchise isn’t consistent for me. I absolutely love the first. A great blend of animatronics, CGI, and practical effects. It has characters you love and care for when they die or are in danger, philosophical themes and questions, and wonder and amazement at the premise.

When the dinosaurs break loose, then it becomes a tense survival action thriller. The kitchen scene with the raptors is always tense to rewatch. Oh, and the music is epic.

The two sequels are fine, but can’t quite recapture the magic of the first.

Jurassic World, for all its faults, is perfect action entertainment. I love the premise of a functional park, and what happens when all hell breaks loose. While the first film dealt with playing God for recreating extinct species, this one takes it further with creating a whole animal. The Indominous Rex is terrifying, and the action scenes with it are great. Especially versus the T-Rex. Again, the next two sequels really don’t do it for me, but movies with humans and dinosaurs? It’s too much fun.

James Bond

A massive franchise, mainly thanks to offering a new iteration of the character played by someone else. Bond has seen his highs and lows. Had his ups and downs.

I didn’t get into this franchise into about a decade ago, and boy, I’m glad I finally decided to! Who’s your favorite Bond actor? I’m sure most of you will say whichever one played when you were growing up.

It’s the perfect spy franchise. Exotic locations, visiting around the world, conniving villains, beautiful women, crazy gadgets; everything you want from the spy genre is in this franchise. There’s so many movies and moments to discuss, but it’s impossible to properly give them their respect.

My personal favorites are Goldeneye, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Thunderball, and The Spy Who Loved Me. With great action set pieces, and recently, more nuanced character developments, 007 is here to stay with his licence to kill, and vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Love it or hate it, the MCU is a powerhouse franchise.

Its innovative storytelling of multiple shared universes, worlds, and characters, set the template for Hollywood blockbusters. Yet few replicated its success.

I actually didn’t get into the MCU until the Infinity War/Endgame years. Crazy right? Perfect timing though.

While I don’t enjoy all the MCU films (I primarily watched the first three phases) most I enjoy rewatching. Some personal favorites are Ant-Man, Iron Man 1, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Some of the best are the Captain America Trilogy, and Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Endgame in particular because of the three different acts. The first is the remaining heroes accepting their defeat, the second is them rallying together, and time traveling to get the infinity stones. I love the use of time travel here, because as the culmination of the Infinity Saga, we got to see moments from past films, a much clever way of fan service that drives the story, rather than hinder it. The final act is an absolute titanic battle that emotionally ends with the death of Tony Stark. It was a theatrical experience I’ll cherish forever!

Overall, the MCU is great because of its diversity, whether action, heist, spy thrillers, there’s so much here, and while it’s fallen off recently, I always enjoy rewatching many of these films.

Star Wars

Probably the greatest franchise ever created. It’s probably my favorite as well.

What a cultural phenomenon George Lucas created, more so than anything else. Especially its unique story telling of the original trilogy, then making the prequel trilogy. Non-linear before it became a thing.

Star Wars works in a variety of multimedia’s, from films and television shows (both live-action and animated) to books, video games. And succeeds in a variety of genres in those medias.

It changed Hollywood for better or worse, and despite inconsistency with a variety of works, there’s still so much to love about this franchise.

The various iconic music pieces from Joh Williams (who else?) to the practical effects that still hold up today. The iconic characters, lines (especially Vader’s “I am your father” twist) lightsabers, the force; it’s just incredible. All the cosplay events, people actually creating a Jedi religion, it’s so integrated in our lives and society more than any other entertainment.   

During Christmas, after going through a roll of wrapping paper, I’d play with the cardboard roll pretending it was a lightsaber. And who hasn’t moved their hands across an automatic door thinking they used the force?

Whether it’s telling an overarching story, a stand-alone one, it just works. The galaxy and worlds feel real, inhabited, and the parallels drawn to our own world and history is genius. The inspiration of weapons, symbols, vehicles, dogfights, it’s all there.

What’s great to is seeing the next generation come to enjoy Star Wars. It’s something that’s so big it’s difficult to fully give it justice. But overall, I love Star Wars, it’s faults and all.

Well, those are some of my favourite movie franchises. What do you think? What are some of yours? Comment below!