The longer any movie series goes on, the bigger the chance that its overall quality will drop with the subsequent movies. Usually, because the viewers get fed up with the plots, and the characters, or because the creators don't know in which direction they should take the story.
As a result, there are only a handful of excellent movie franchises that haven't failed at one point or another when it comes to critical reviews online. Seeking movie franchises that have no rotten scores on Rotten Tomatoes is a good way of choosing the best movie series out there to watch. They belong to different genres and fictional universes, but they all have one thing in common - they're worth watching as a whole.
5 Harry Potter
Harry Potter was and remains one of the most popular and influential movie franchises of all time. Unlike its successor, Fantastic Beasts, which failed to repeat Harry Potter's success, two out of its three movies have rotten ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Each of the eight Harry Potter movies offers a different adventure, and judging by their ratings, critics and viewers alike enjoyed returning to the magical world of Harry Potter, his friends, and his enemies.
The best-rated movies from the franchise are the final one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) with 96 percent, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) with 90 percent. And even the worst-rated Harry Potter movies achieved a rating of over 70 percent. Overall, the series kept a high quality and allowed its young viewers to age alongside the heroes. Considering the series' popularity and box office gross, it came as no surprise when a lot of the actors came back this year to recall their time on the series in the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.
4 Hunger Games
Science fiction movies, especially those aimed at a younger audience, often get a lot of attention from the viewers. Still, the Hunger Games franchise stands out from the rest, at least when it comes to young-adult dystopian tales. Just like Harry Potter, the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy was separated into two movies. Despite that, the series kept a high rating from the first movie to the last. A part of the reason for its success was the strong cast. Other than Jennifer Lawrence in the leading role of Katniss, the cast included several well-known names, such as Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Hunger Games offered a rich and imaginative world, especially when it came to the depiction of the deadly arena where the tributes battled for their lives. Since the book and film series alike were successful, it will please all fans that a new movie from this universe will premiere in 2023. The prequel movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will focus on the youth of President Snow, originally portrayed by Donald Sutherland.
3 Mad Max
Starting in 1979 and including four movies, the Mad Max series remained popular with critics throughout its existence. A part of its success is the series' unique visual style. Even though the first movie didn't have a high budget, it became iconic thanks to its presentation of a world where people are fighting for their survival. To this day, the Mad Max movies have a rawness to them that other sci-fi movies can only hope to emulate.
George Miller successfully returned to the trilogy in 2015 when he offered the audience another epic adventure taking place in the post-apocalyptic wasteland and starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Since the fourth movie turned out to be a hit, another trip into this world is due to arrive. The fifth movie will focus on Furiosa's younger days and is set to premiere in May 2024.
2 Back To The Future
Time travel is a popular topic in sci-fi movies and the Back to the Future trilogy remains one of the most popular time travel adventures. The movies offer a mix of humor, action, and romance, something that sat well with the audience and made it a hit. It centers on Marty McFly who travels back in time by accident and has to make sure his parents get together, or he'll never be born. From there on, things get even more complicated.
Even though Back to the Future didn't correctly predict what the year 2015 would be like, its popularity with the audience didn't suffer because of it. And while the trilogy's ratings on Rotten Tomatoes vary, going from 97 percent to 80 percent and 63 percent, sci-fi fans generally agree that the whole trilogy is worth watching.
1 The Lord Of The Rings
Just like with Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, the original Lord of the Rings trilogy has a better Rotten Tomatoes rating than its sequel/prequel The Hobbit. That won't come as a surprise to the fans since The Lord of the Rings is easily one of the most prominent fantasy franchises of all time, and it redefined the genre, both the movies and the novels.
The trilogy is set in a beautiful world full of unique characters, some heroic, some evil, and it includes not only wonderful special effects but also strong performances from the entire cast. And as this year's series The Rings of Power proved, the audience likes to return to Middle-earth.