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Harry Potter
The best film: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The Alfonso Cuaron film takes the giant leap from light fantasy to gritty darkness without violence or death and even manages to add small details (not in the book) that make the whole franchise more believable.
The worst film: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Director David Yates turns one of the better books into a mush-fest — everyone suddenly moves in pairs — at the cost of underplaying many important moments.
The biggest stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson.
The most popular characters: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape, Lord Voldemort.
The best line: Lord Voldemort: “Harry Potter... the boy who lived come to die.”
The moment: The first meeting between Harry and Voldemort in the graveyard — in The Goblet of Fire — where Harry’s wand connects with Voldemort’s and he is able to escape death.
The motifs: The glasses, the wands, the golden snitch, the broomsticks.
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James Bond
The best film: From Russia With Love. Good ol’ fashioned spy story set when Cold War was at its hottest and Bond wasn’t yet a relic of that age (as Judi Dench tells Pierce Brosnan later). Crisp one-liners, gorgeous girl (Daniela Bianchi), no complexities... full timepass, 007 ishtyle.
The worst film: A View to a Kill. The last Roger Moore film. He looked old and haggard — come on, he was 57! — the plot was weak and all the action set-pieces looked tired and tasteless. [We of course are not considering the George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton disasters.]
The biggest stars: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig, Ursula Andress... Vijay Amritraj.
The most popular characters: James Bond, M, Q, Moneypenny, Goldfinger, Scaramanga, Dr No.
The best line: “The name’s Bond, James Bond!”
The moment: The prologue in Casino Royale where the black-and-white images make it clear that James Bond is entering a very different blood-and-sweat phase on the muscular shoulders of Daniel Craig.
The motifs: The tuxedo. The Martini, shaken not stirred. The cars. The guns, the gadgets and the girls.
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Star Wars
The best film: Empire Strikes Back. The second film to be released in the original order, Episode V has Luke meeting Yoda for the first time, getting his official Jedi training and coming to terms with his lineage.
The worst film: Attack of the Clones. Too many Clones run amok — without rhyme or reason — in the second of the prequel trilogy. It didn’t help that Hayden Christensen screamed and groaned so very petulantly. Though the film had some spiffy action scenes, this cannot hold a candle, er lightsaber, to any of the other five.
The biggest stars: Harrison Ford, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGreggor, Natalie Portman.
The most popular characters: Yoda, Luke, Leah, Hans Solo, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jabba the Hutt, R2-D2, C-3PO.
The best line: Yoda: “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?”
The moment: The scene in Revenge of the Sith when Anakin Skywalker finally dons the menacing black helmet and takes his first wheezing breath… Darth Vader is born!
The motifs: Lightsabers, Death Star, Starship Troopers, black helmet.
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Shrek
The best film: Shrek 2. Not just because Puss in Boots was introduced in this one, this blockbuster sequel proved — like Toy Story had done — that animation films can make for a fantastic franchise. The second film works on the premise of how love is stronger than superficial beauty with the rocking climax involving loveable characters like Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio.
The worst film: Shrek the Third. Sometimes some sequels are made hastily to make a quick buck and when you can make that out sitting in the audience, it’s bad news.
The biggest stars: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, John Cleese, Julie Andrews.
The most popular characters: Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots.
The best line: Shrek: “Donkey, two things okay? Shut... up!”
The moment: At the end of Shrek 2, Shrek and Fiona have the option of drinking the potion and becoming human and handsome. But they remain ogres by choice! “I want what any princess wants... to live happily ever after... with the ‘ogre’ I married.”
The motifs: Green! Shrek’s cone-shaped ears. Puss’s hat and sword.
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Indiana Jones
The best film: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Sean Connery as Indiana Jones’s father may tip the scales in favour of The Last Crusade for many but it is the first George Lucas-Steven Spielberg film that stays tops for us. It was novel and had it all — a dashing hero, adventure, action, frights, romance, mysticism and a healthy dose of comedy.
The worst film: Temple of Doom. Okay, Amrish Puri played the evil Mola Ram but really it’s difficult to sit through the gory and preposterous second film.
The biggest stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett, John Hurt, Shia LaBeouf.
The most popular characters: Indiana Jones, Marion Ravenwood, Henry Jones.
The best line: Indiana: “Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?”
The moment: Indy rescues his father, played by Sean Connery, from the Brundwald Castle and together they follow the trail of the Holy Grail. Just watching two legends sharing a surname and a few frames. Classic!
The motifs: The fedora, the bullwhip, the leather jacket.
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Batman
The best film: The Dark Knight. It’s said that it’s the villains that make a great superhero film. Well, Nolan’s sequel to Batman Begins perhaps had the greatest ever — Heath Ledger as the Joker. He even managed to eclipse Jack Nicholson’s version in Tim Burton’s Batman.
The worst film: Batman & Robin. It had the most enviable cast ever — Clooney, Arnie, Uma Thurman — but Joel Schumacher’s film was less a Batman film and more a fairy tale gone yawningly wrong.
The biggest stars: Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny Devito, Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey.
The most popular characters: Batman, The Joker, Two-Face, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, Robin.
The best line: The Joker: “Why so serious?”
The moment: Off screen? When Christopher Nolan decided to infuse fresh blood into the franchise with Batman Begins. The film was the first big budget studio production about the human side of a superhero. On screen? Ledger’s Joker jutting his head out of the car for a breath of fresh air in The Dark Knight.
The motifs: The ‘bat’. Plus the black cape, Batmobile the car, Batpod the bike and large red lips.
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Matrix
The best film: Matrix. From the moment Neo takes the red pill offered by Morpheus till the last scene where Neo hangs up the phone and takes the final flight, Matrix is a thrill ride of never-before-seen action sequences, stunning special effects, thumping soundtrack and adrenaline pump. Whew!
The worst film: Matrix Revolution. With the final film, the plot just gets weird. Indian mysticism and philosophy meets sci-fi. The whole concept of Neo meeting a girl called Sati in a limbo, sacrificing himself to save the world, and all that funda-spouting leave the audience to grope through the plot, just like the blinded Neo.
The biggest stars: Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne.
The most popular characters: Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, Agent Smith.
The best line: Agent Smith: “You hear that, Mr Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your death.”
The moment: The scene where Neo enters the Matrix and fights with multiple Agent Smiths in the final film, is symbolic of all that the Matrix franchise stands for.
The motifs: Black leather gear, snazzy sunglasses, digital green codes.
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The Lord of the rings
The best film: The Return of the King. The third film of the Peter Jackson-directed trilogy is a fitting finale to an epic franchise with bigger battles, more spellbinding moments and more intense emotions than the first two films.
The worst film: The only franchise on the list that does not have an easily identifiable bad film. But we pick the second movie, The Two Towers, because of the slow pace dictated by the journey of Frodo and Sam through Mordor.
The biggest stars: Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee.
The most popular characters: Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Gollum.
The best line: Gandalf: “One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”
The moment: The formation of the fellowship of the ring at Rivendell where men, elves, dwarves and hobbits first squabble and then volunteer to aid Frodo’s journey to Mount Doom.
The motifs: The One Ring, Gandalf’s white staff, robe and beard, Legolas’s bow and arrow, Frodo’s sword Sting, the horn of Gondor.
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Pirates of the Caribbean
The best film: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The Gore Verbinski-directed first instalment in the never-ending franchise remains the best of the lot. The film introduced us to a bizarre world of swashbuckling heroes, pirates with funny bones and talking skeletons and managed to chart the course for many-a-brilliant trip down “stranger tides”.
The worst film: On Stranger Tides. Simply because the franchise didn’t deserve a fourth film. By the third film, in fact, Verbinski seemed to have lost control over his erratic characters and their lives. World’s End had way too many plot detours and managed to lose the audience’s attention along the way.
The biggest stars: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Keira Knightley, Penelope Cruz, Orlando Bloom, Bill Nighy.
The most popular characters: Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, Elizabeth Swann.
The best line: Jack Sparrow: “This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow! Savvy!”
The moment: Can anyone forget Jack’s first-ever grand entrance? Jumping from ship to ship to sinking boat to jetty in jaw-dropping style… it is the on-screen birth of a whole new icon. A cheeky one at that.
The motifs: Jack’s hat, sword, beaded bandana.
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Twilight
The best film: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. After the first two films set the pace, the third finally moves beyond the moping Bella and gets down to some serious vampire-werewolf action, with the Cullen and Quileute wolves putting aside their differences to take down an army of new-born vampires.
The worst film: The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Edward leaves, Bella cries, Bella goes on thrill ride with Jacob, Edward thinks she has died, Edward plans to kill himself, Bella shows that she is not dead and saves Edward. In between there is a lot more crying, a little more depression and self-loathing from all concerned and all the while Robert Pattinson pouts and sparkles. Repeat: pouts and sparkles. Enough said.
The biggest stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner.
The most popular characters: Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, Jacob Black.
The best line: Edward: “I don’t have the strength to stay away from you anymore.” Bella: “Then don’t.”
The moment: The first time Edward takes Bella to his meadow, flying through the trees. This is the first glimpse she gets of Edward’s world, sees him for what he really is… an ethereal monster with a heart.
The motifs: Dull-gold contact lenses, over-sized enamel incisors and litres of gooey red liquid... the Cullens have patented them.
