February 25, 2022
The Trilogy Edition
When one good movie is not enough, try three! These are the official trilogy picks from our Driftwood staff that’ll leave you at the edge of your seat.The Dark Knight Trilogy
The Dark Knight trilogy, directed by Christopher Nolan, is probably the best Batman story told through film. It’s a bold statement to make, but let me explain why you need to watch or rewatch this saga right now. Throughout all three movies, we witness Bruce Wayne become Batman, living the double life of spoiled rich kid and mysterious, crime-fighting hero of Gotham. Of course, this is not before we share in the grief of Bruce’s tragic childhood story. This history is important because without it, Batman’s entire reason for being would not exist. It’s an iconic and well-known story. Batman Begins follows Bruce Wayne as he travels to the Far East where he encounters the secretive League of Shadows. He is trained in martial arts by the League, but soon finds out their plans are a bit sinister. Bruce does not fall off to the dark side, instead choosing to return to his home city to fight crime. If only it were this simple. The rest of the movie explores Batman’s new identity as he fights the first villain of the trilogy. The Dark Knight, arguably the best film of the three, features a darker villain and a darker storyline. When Batman fails to understand the Joker, this wreaks havoc in Gotham. Batman then faces a very narrow road between heroism and vigilantism.In the final installment, The Dark Knight Rises, Batman is offered redemption. Gotham needs him once more, and Bruce is a man who deep down believes in the greater good.What this trilogy gets right is the precise balance between a multi-faceted narrative and great action scenes. Christopher Nolan’s Batman is dark, provoking, and a thrilling ride from beginning to end. The grey winter sky outside is a perfect excuse to give The Dark Knight a shot. It’s an impeccable match with its gothic vibes. Find the complete trilogy on HBO Max.
If you’ve ever taken a creative writing class with me, you know that all roads lead back to Star Wars. Not the prequels, which I largely ignore, nor the sequels, which I pretend do not exist, but the original trilogy released starting in 1977. I’m old enough to have seen Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in a theater on its original release. (Everyone pause now to consider why Professor Rysavy hasn’t sponatenously crumbled into a pile of dust yet.) Of course, I was barely out of kindergarten, but the opening crawl, the triumphant first notes of John Williams’ stirring score, and the incredible space battle that followed remain one of my earliest childhood memories. The original film holds up to multiple watchings even today—mainly because it’s a good, old-fashioned Hero’s Journey featuring Luke Skywalker, who lives with his aunt and uncle on the desert planet of Tatooine and yearns for adventure. When a new droid (sentient robot) named R2D2 accidentally releases a holographic message of a beautiful princess pleading, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope,” it’s the call to an adventure that will take him across the galaxy; onto a deadly, planet-destroying space station called the Death Star; and firmly into the heart of a small but mighty Rebellion against the evil Empire. As an added bonus, Princess Leia proves to be no mere damsel in distress but a smart, strong role model from a decade where smart, strong female role models were few and far between. The Empire Strikes Back has Luke expanding on the new skills he learned through using the Force, the energy that binds all living things, in the first film. He wants to become a Jedi Knight, like Kenobi and his long-dead father, so he goes off seeking Yoda, the famous Jedi master who has been in hiding since the Empire slaughtered most of the Jedi years ago. Leia, meanwhile, escapes the Rebel base on the ice planet Hoth, along with Harrison Ford’s cocky pilot Han Solo, after said base is attacked by the Empire, but the Empire’s forces are only a step behind them. Helmed by Irvin Kershner, Empire dials back the slightly corny dialogue and too-cutesy characters producer and writer George Lucas is known for, while dialing up the suspense and the darkness. And unlike adolescent me in 1982, you can jump right from Empire‘s massive cliffhanger into Return of the Jedi. Lucas is back in the director’s seat, so you’ll have to put up with the endearing if slightly cloying ewoks, teddy-bear-like aliens from the forest moon of Endor. But Jedi brings all of our heroes together again for one final nail-biting face-off against Darth Vader, the evil and uber-powerful Emperor, and a new Death Star that, though unfinished, is even more powerful than the original. The prequels are okay, and the sequels are so awful they make my head hurt. But the original trilogy is perfect, and no one can tell me otherwise. Especially not in a creative writing class. (You’ve been warned.) Find the complete trilogy on Disney+.