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LTTP: Indiana Jones trilogy

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Nibel

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So, I've watched the entire Indiana Jones trilogy some weeks ago. I always knew about the movies as a kid because of dozens of pop references and seeing clips here and there, but I never got the chance to watch them in their entirety. I think the only real contact I had with Indy was a 3D game on PC and consoles that was rather decent.

And now that I've seen all the movies, I must say: I loved every second of all three movies. What a thrill ride.

I consume a lot of movies from these days but man, none of them comes even close giving me a sense of adventure like the Indiana Jones movies did. Every movie works on its own and has its own set of mysteries to discover. There is a lot of great visual humor, a fantastic variety of locations, a bunch of lovable characters and even some violent stuff that makes sense and adds to the tension. In fact, knowing that there are three movies and that Indy is in all of them could have taken away the tension from some scenes in Raiders and Doom, but I think the scenes where the stakes are high were so good that you really fear for Indy and his companions.

I'll try to play Fate Of Atlantis some day and hope for a good reboot in the future. They really don't make 'em like this anymore.

Ranking: Last Crusade > Temple of Doom > Raiders
It feels kinda dumb having three excellent movies and ranking them, but this is popular and would have happened anyway, eh? Also, I think this might be the only movie trilogy that got better with each movie? Not to dismiss Raiders (that chase scene!) or Doom, but Last Crusade was stellar.

Are there any movies out there offering a similar experience as the Indy movies do?
 
There's a fourth movie.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
 
No way is Temple close to Raiders.

If you're looking for similar movies, I'd go watch Tintin (2011).

Or you could watch the 4th Indiana Jones film (Crystal Skull). I mean, if you enjoyed Temple that much, you'll probably dig Crystal Skull.
 
Same with Last Crusade being top.

I feel Raiders is more iconic and technically a better movie, but I felt more warmth and enjoyed Crusade more over the years

Infinitely quotable and Connery/Ford banter was first rate.
 
I liked how Indiana was often incidental to the whole plot. For example, in Raiders, if Indy hadn't intervened... Wouldn't the Nazis have opened the Ark anyway and killed themselves the same way?
 
Glad you enjoyed them but... Did you just... put Raiders last in your ranking?

I guess you mean on a personal level but still... damn odd.
 
BocoDragon said:
There's a fourth movie.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
Click to expand...

Dunno what you are talking about

SCULLIBUNDO said:
No way is Temple close to Raiders.

If you're looking for similar movies, I'd go watch Tintin (2011).

Or you could watch the 4th Indiana Jones film (Crystal Skull). I mean, if you enjoyed Temple that much, you'll probably dig Crystal Skull.
Click to expand...

You prefer Raiders?
I loved Raiders but Doom was just such a fun ride; the underground temple, the action scene at the end with the mine cart.. great stuff

I was interested in Tintin anyway, but this might push me over

EGM1966 said:
Glad you enjoyed them but... Did you just... put Raiders last in your ranking?

I guess you mean on a personal level but still... damn odd.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I think ranking these three movies is dumb since all are not only excellent but have strengths and weaknesses. I loved Raiders and putting it on the third place doesn't mean I dismiss it. It's just the other two movies go even further in my opinion, that's all
 
Raiders >>>> Temple >>>> Last Crusade

Release order is best order.

The fourth "thing" I re-watched not so long ago (was tempted to make a RTTP) and it was no as bad as I remember it from the cinema (yeah, since the actual release I hadn't watched the movie again) but still, fucking Shia.
 
I watched them all again back to back (1-3) on blu ray for the first time at the end of last year. So good, so many great childhood memories. Easily my favourite film trilogy of all time.

And for what its worth Crystal Skull is alright up to the point where he goes to Akator.
 
The first Mummy film really caught some of the charm of Indy. It's nowhere nearly as good, but it's got... moments.
 
Temple of Doom > Raiders >> Last Crusade >> Other movie not worth mentioning

It's close for me between Raiders and Temple but Temple is more exciting and more fun. I like that it's darker and I like the scarier atmosphere. Also, I despite the ending for Raiders - that the nazis just killed themselves by opening the Ark.

....Actually, now that I think about the ending, it's not close. Temple is a lot better.
 
Finally got around to watching these three on full a few months ago myself (as opposed to just bits and pieces)
I really felt that Raiders was on a much higher level than the other two though.
 
Drencrom said:
I never understand the hate for Temple of doom, it's a hell of a ride and refreshingly dark compared to 1 and 3.
Click to expand...
Short Round.

Rewarching it recently I realized this was probably a main reason. Which is a shame because i totally forgot about his existence in the film before.
 
Last Crusade > Raiders > Temple of Doom

Crystal Skull isn't great, but it's better than a lot of the "Indy-lite" films that people throw around in these threads. I mean, Sahara? Really?
 
Drencrom said:
I never understand the hate for Temple of doom, it's a hell of a ride and refreshingly dark compared to 1 and 3.
Click to expand...

Came to post this. It's the best out of the four for me. Fuck the boring nazis and desertic settings.

4 was better than I expected (I read it was a piece of shit), I just ignored the existence of the over the top stupidness like the freezer or Shia LaTarzan.
 
Crusade>Raiders>Crystal Skull>Temple of Doom

I'll be honest, I didn't particularly love any of them. The series didn't really stick with me for some reason. Crystal Skull and Temple of Doom are straight-up bad IMO and Crusade/Raiders were enjoyable but like I said they didn't stick with me.
 
Woof at this talk of Temple. The movie starts off pretty great with that restaurant scene, and then drops dead as soon as the leave the raft. It's a super long time 'till the pacing picks up. You know, versus Raider that never idles too long on a dialogue or action scene. Crusade is pretty fun though.
 
Bishop89 said:
Watch the mummy if you haven't already
Click to expand...

The Mummy and The Mummy Returns is the greatest action/adventure duology ever created.

tumblr_lhjkstQtjZ1qb82v1o1_500.gif
 
Toa TAK said:
Short Round.

Rewarching it recently I realized this was probably a main reason. Which is a shame because i totally forgot about his existence in the film before.
Click to expand...

I think it's Willie more than Short Round.

But I actually like Temple of Doom a lot. It's surprisingly fucked up, which I liked.
 
The movies lessen in quality as they go.

Raiders is maybe the perfect action film
Temple is closest to the pulp serial shit they were inspired by
Crusade is a lighthearted sitcom version of Raiders
Skull is like a high-school reunion version of Raiders.

Temple is the only one of the three following Raiders that feels like its own movie. Crusade is too much of an apology for Temple to be that. Skull is too compromised by the behind-the-scenes troubles and the distance of time between Crusade and it to really connect like it wants to.

Also, none of the action sequences in either Crusade or Skull manage to approach Temple's level, much less Raiders. And as Willy mentions below, Temple's score is probably the best out of all four movies, only narrowly (naaaaarrowly) beating out Raiders.
 
1. Temple of Doom
2. Raiders
3. Crusade
4. KotCS

Although Raiders is a classic; Temple is just everything firing at all cylinders. Crusade and Skull are pretty close, but Crusade wins due to it's superior John Williams score.
 
Temple>Raiders>Crusade

While Crusade is a fun move, I really don't care for the father son dynamic and super lightheartedness of it all. Felt wholly like a retread of Raiders, just biggerer, and really never did it for me. Good movie, very well executed, but never stuck with me like the first two. It always lacked purpose for me.

Temple is my favorite, it just hit all the right notes and was very different from Raiders while still keeping all the same charm and quality that makes an Indy film. It was dark, pretty much exploitative and spooky, but was rather coy about the supernatural aspects going on in it which worked really well, unlike Raiders which was pretty upfront and Crusades which all but threw out any ambiguity. It was awesome.

Raiders is the solid middle ground to me. It's the gold standard mold for a great action adventure film, everything is just so, no fluff, lean and mean. But in so doing it's kind of safe, relatively speaking when compared to the rest of the series. It has all the right beats and notes, and is without question a great movie, but lacks that subtle uniqueness Temple has which puts it over the top.

Skulls isn't even worth mentioning. None of it makes sense and it's like a bad dream. It's like Crusaders, if they did everything poorly, and threw in aliens instead of the grail. It's big and flashy and lacks any character or sense of purpose or reason beyond "hey look it's Indy again, and his son, and Marion for some reason."
 
Crusade was my favorite growing up but going back Raiders blows all of them out the water. Not to say the other two were bad by any stretch but I find it a odd after 30 years Spielberg/Lucas never came close to replicating what the first did
 
Doom has such a fun premise, but it's entirely ruined for me by Willie and, to a lesser extent, Short Round. I really like Raiders, but I absolutely love the way Harrison Ford and Sean Connery play off each other in Last Crusade.

Last Crusade>Raiders>Doom>The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles>>>The Mummy 5: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
 
You know, I loved Last Crusade the most when I first saw the movies as a kid. But the more I watch them I think it's actually my least favourite. Sure, it's a great movie, but it feels the *safest* of all of them, if that makes sense. Temple of Doom is fucking crazy and I think really underappreciated.
 
Raiders is more realistic while Temple of Doom has some dumb stuff that completely takes you out of your suspension of disbelief. Willie and Short Round aren't nearly as good as the characters from Raiders.

Also the pacing in the middle is sub-par until things pick up and things move to the Temple.

Temple of Doom is still fun, but Raiders is pretty much superior in every way.
 
Temple was my favorite as a kid, and during my teen years it was probably Last Crusade. Nowadays, I'd say I like them all about equally, and I appreciate the slight differences in genre/mood between the three. Mola Ram is still one of my all-time favorite villains. Got me into watching Amrish Puri's Bollywood roles.

I've never seen the fourth.
 
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