The 27 greatest movie franchises of all time, according to critics

Over the past decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has built an expansive set of films while raising the critical and commercial expectations for ongoing movie series.

But extensive film franchises have been around for awhile, and several older series, like the film adaptations from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth books, have received more positive critical acclaim on average than Marvel’s. And some are only getting better as time goes on, like “Mission: Impossible,” which reached its critical zenith with “Fallout.”

Stretching from the first James Bond film, 1962’s “Dr. No;” to the latest MCU and “Star Wars” entries; this list we compiled from Metacritic data ranks prominent film franchises by their average critical reception (derived from the critical scores for each movie in a franchise).

Note: Metacritic only included franchises that had more than four films with scores on its site, and it excluded horror films and animated series.

Here are the 27 greatest movie franchises of all time, according to critics:

27. “Die Hard” — 58.4%

“Die Hard.” 20th Century Fox

“Die Hard” (1988) — 70%
“Die Hard 2: Die Harder” (1990) — 67%
“Die Hard: With a Vengeance” (1995) — 58%
“Live Free or Die Hard” (2007) — 69%
“A Good Day to Die Hard” (2013) — 28%

“Clerks” (1994) — 70%
“Mallrats” (1995) — 41%
“Chasing Amy” (1997) — 71%
“Dogma” (1999) — 62%
“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (2001) — 51%
“Clerks II” (2006) — 65%

23. “Dirty Harry” — 60.8%

“Dirty Harry.” Warner Bros.

“Dirty Harry” (1971) — 90%
“Magnum Force” (1973) — 58%
“The Enforcer” (1976) — 58%
“Sudden Impact” (1983) — 52%
“The Dead Pool” (1988) — 46%

22. “Rocky” — 61.1%

“Rocky Balboa.” MGM

“Rocky” (1976) — 70%
“Rocky II” (1979) — 61%
“Rocky III” (1982) — 57%
“Rocky IV” (1985) — 40%
“Rocky V” (1990) — 55%
“Rocky Balboa” (2006) — 63%
“Creed” (2015) — 82%

21. “Barbershop” — 61.3%

“Barbershop.” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

“Barbershop” (2002) — 66%
“Barbershop 2: Back in Business” (2004) — 59%
“Beauty Shop” (2005) — 53%
“Barbershop: The Next Cut” (2016) — 67%

20. “James Bond” — 62.1%

“Dr. No.” United Artists

“Dr. No” (1962) — 78%
“From Russia With Love” (1963) — 85%
“Goldfinger” (1964) — 87%
“Thunderball” (1965) — 64%
“Casino Royale” (1967) — 48%
“You Only Live Twice” (1967) — 61%
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969) — 61%
“Diamonds Are Forever” (1971) — 59%
“Live and Let Die” (1973) — 55%
“The Man With the Golden Gun” (1974) — 43%
“The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977) — 55%
“Moonraker” (1979) — 66%
“For Your Eyes Only” (1981) — 54%
“Octopussy” (1983) — 63%
“Never Say Never Again” (1983) — 68%
“A View to a Kill” (1985) — 40%
“The Living Daylights” (1987) — 60%
“Licence to Kill” (1989) — 58%
“GoldenEye” (1995) — 65%
“Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997) — 52%
“The World Is Not Enough” (1999) — 57%
“Die Another Day” (2002) — 56%
“Casino Royale” (2006) — 80%
“Quantum of Solace” (2008) — 58%
“Skyfall” (2012) — 81%
“Spectre” (2015) — 60%

19. “Batman” — 62.3%

“The Dark Knight.” Warner Bros.

“Batman” (1966) — 71%
“Batman” (1989) — 69%
“Batman Returns” (1992) — 68%
“Batman Forever” (1995) — 51%
“Batman and Robin” (1997) — 28%
“Batman Begins” (2005) — 70%
“The Dark Knight” (2008) — 82%
“The Dark Knight Rises” (2012) — 78%
“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016) — 44%

16 (tie). “Hannibal Lecter” — 62.4%

“The Silence of the Lambs.” Orion Pictures via YouTube

“Manhunter” (1986) — 75%
“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) — 85%
“Hannibal” (2001) — 57%
“Red Dragon” (2002) — 60%
“Hannibal Rising” (2007) — 35%

16 (tie). “Terminator” — 62.4%

“Terminator Genisys.” Paramount

“The Terminator” (1984) — 84%
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991) — 75%
“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003) — 66%
“Terminator Salvation” (2009) — 49%
“Terminator Genisys” (2015) — 38%

16 (tie). “Planet of the Apes” — 62.4%

“War for the Planet of the Apes.” Fox

“Planet of the Apes” (1968) — 79%
“Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (1970) — 46%
“Escape from the Planet of the Apes” (1971) — 69%
“Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” (1972) — 49%
“Battle for the Planet of the Apes” (1973) — 40%
“Planet of the Apes” (2001) — 50%
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011) — 68%
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014) — 79%
“War for the Planet of the Apes” (2017) — 82%

15. “Star Trek” — 62.5%

“Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” Paramount Pictures

“Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979) — 48%
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982) — 66%
“Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (1984) — 56%
“Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986) — 71%
“Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989) — 43%
“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” (1991) — 65%
“Star Trek Generations” (1994) — 55%
“Star Trek: First Contact” (1996) — 71%
“Star Trek: Insurrection” (1998) — 64%
“Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002) — 51%
“Star Trek” (2009) — 82%
“Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013) — 72%
“Star Trek Beyond” (2016) — 68%

14. “X-Men” — 62.8%

“X-Men: Days of Future Past.” 20th Century Fox

“X-Men” (2000) — 64%
“X2: X-Men United” (2003) — 68%
“X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006) — 58%
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009) — 40%
“X-Men: First Class” (2011) — 65%
“The Wolverine” (2013) — 61%
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014) — 75%
“Deadpool” (2016) — 65%
“X-Men: Apocalypse” (2016) — 52%
“Logan” (2017) — 77%
“Deadpool 2” (2018) — 66%

13. “Ocean’s Eleven” — 63.8%

“Ocean’s 8.” Warner Bros.

“Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) — 74%
“Ocean’s Twelve” (2004) — 58%
“Ocean’s Thirteen” (2007) — 62%
“Ocean’s 8” (2018) — 61%

“Spider-Man 2.” Sony

“Spider-Man 2.” Sony“Spider-Man” (2002) — 73%
“Spider-Man 2” (2004) — 83%
“Spider-Man 3” (2007) — 59%
“The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012) — 66%
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014) — 53%
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017) — 73%

“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) — 85%
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984) — 57%
“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) — 65%
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008) — 65%

8 (tie). “The Hunger Games” — 68.3%

“The Hunger Games.”  Lionsgate

“The Hunger Games” (2012) — 68%
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013) — 76%
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” (2014) — 64%
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” (2015) — 65%

8 (tie). “Millennium Series” — 68.3%

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”  “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (2009) — 76%
“The Girl Who Played with Fire” (2010) — 66%
“The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” (2010) — 60%
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (2011) — 71%

6. “Bourne” — 69.0%

“The Bourne Supremacy.”  Universal

“The Bourne Identity” (2002) — 68%
“The Bourne Supremacy” (2004) — 73%
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (2007) — 85%
“The Bourne Legacy” (2012) — 61%
“Jason Bourne” (2016) — 58%

5. “Star Wars” — 69.6%

“Star Wars.”  Lucasfilm Ltd.

3. “Harry Potter” — 73.0%

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”  Warner Bros.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001) — 64%
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (2002) — 63%
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004) — 82%
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005) — 81%
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (2007) — 71%
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (2009) — 78%
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” (2010) — 65%
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” (2011) — 87%
“Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” (2016) — 66%

2. “Middle-earth” — 76.0%