The INDIANA JONES Appreciation Thread

[Fannya24]

It doesn't have to move aside for Indy 4

 

[DCW]

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS SET!




That is all.

 

[jacobed]

I love 3 of the 4 Indy movies. Cant stand Temple of Doom aside from the bridge scene. Cant wait for the blu rays

 

[Drizzle]

I'll definitely be picking up that set, Kingdom of the Crystal Stepchild and all.

 

[Bim]

I love all 4 movies, so i'm very much looking forward to this set t:

 

[Blue Sugar]

First one is a masterpiece, second one is good, third one is great and the fourth one is mediocre at best.

 

[Team Andino]

I look forward to hearing the extras on this set as well as getting to see how the box set will look.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

This is pretty cool - some scans from Harrison Ford's copy of the Raiders of the Lost Ark script, with notes, questions & suggestions and dialogue changes.

http://cinephilearchive.tumblr.com/post/41801743421

 

[Gianakin_]

The notes are great.

 

[steintym]

That's cool stuff. I always get a kick out of behind the scenes type things like that.

 

[Destructus86]

So, was just thinking about the Crystal Skull again and I think I know why I hate it so much. It wasn't Mutt or the action or the aliens...I could live with that. Heck, I culd even live with the fridge scene.

But calling him Henry? No...doesn't work for me. Not calling him Indy sucked all the fun out.

 

[TheDevilIsMe]

^Calling him Henry was because that was the only name Harold Oxley would recognize Indy by. The only person who called him Henry was Oxley.

Anyway, love all these films, yes even Temple of Doom! The Blu-Ray set was very well done.

 

[Lord]

BUMP

Now with Disney having Disney i wonder what will happen to the future of Indiana Jones, don't know what Steven Spielberg's going to do next, but would be great if he did the 5th Indy film. Anybody has an idea of what the next one should be about? One thing i wish is for it to look more old school and less focus on cgi scenes.

 

[Teelie]

I've heard they would like to do another movie, something to finish out the series supposedly but nothing beyond a discussion of doing so.

That being said, Atlantis is a recurring rumor that comes up for Indy to discover.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I'll probably get flamed for this but I wouldn't mind if they made a few prequel movies with a young Indy, I don't think it would be too out of the norm for the franchise, what with the young Indy show and the fact that they already did a prequel movie with temple of doom, this one would just have another actor playing young Indy. Don't get me wrong, I love Harrison ford, he's great in these movies and he made this character memorable...but I don't see him bring convincing in another Indy movie. People thought he came off as too old in crystal skull? It's been five years since that movie and Ford is only getting older.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

It's time to A) abandon live-action and hand the franchise over to Pixar and B) start making some good Indy videogames already.

 

[BatmanGoesToRio]

Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Masterpiece 10/10
Temple Of Doom - Very Good 8.5/10
The Last Crusade - Great 9.5/10

Best trilogy ever. And for me it'll always be a trilogy.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

Raiders 10/10
Temple 10/10
Crusade 7/10
Skull 7.5/10

Yes, that's right, I like Skull better than Crusade.


One of my favorite film series of all time. The hate for Temple is simply "WILLIE IS ANNOYING SO IT SUXXXXXXXX" which is really unfair. I can see why people find her annoying, but I think it's highly exaggerated as her whining pretty much stopped once the diner scene ended. After that she sort of begrudgingly goes along with everything with a "Well *****..." kind of attitude. I also think Kate Capshaw gives a GOOD comedic performance and her chemistry with Ford is spot on.
Everybody totes Marion up as this amazing female character and uses that as an attack on Willie. What does Marion do in Raiders, exactly? What does she do besides drink a man under the table and get captured with sass? All she does is talk smack, hardly the pinnacle of awesome female protagonists. I don't hate her or anything, she's fun but so is Willie. Both are entertaining in their own way.
Temple of Doom has the best score of the series, the best arc for Indy, the best cinematography, the most intimidating villain, and imo it's the most purely adventurous of the four. It takes place in mostly one location but it captures that serial feeling the character was meant for in the first place, the best. I also think the action is the most breathless and bombastic of the series. The whole last act is just a smorgasbord of awesome stunts and fights.
When someone says Indiana Jones, images from Temple of Doom pop into my head first.

Crusade is considered by many fans of the series as the best, even better than Raiders. I cannot see or understand why. People hate on sequels all the time for being copies of the first film but for some reason Crusade gets a pass. Skull is cited (negatively) as the most lighthearted and comedic film in the series. All I can do when this happens is think: "Do these people even watch Crusade?" Almost all of the action in this film has some slapsticky, comedic payoff that just isn't used as much in Raiders, Temple or even Skull. The opening scene is something out of a Disney film and the film is so tame it feels utterly safe and almost dull at times. It is safed by the skin of it's teeth by Ford and Connery carrying the film on their shoulders most of the time. If the tank chase wasn't a damn showstopper, I would say this the least exciting film in the series. Two action scene stand out. That's it. The boat scene and the tank scene. Everything else has this odd feeling of restraint. I often say you can almost see Spielberg recoiling from the accusations of Temple being too dark and violent with Crusade.
The plot and structure of Crusade is literally almost beat for beat lifted from Raiders. Another downfall is that the love interest and villain for Crusade are incredibly boring. Shockingly so. Villains were never this series strong suite but Belloq was at least charismatic, Mola Ram at least intimidating. Donovan and Elsa had no charm, wit, or personality at all. Hell, there wasn't even a good henchmen.
I know it sounds like I'm hating on Crusade, I swear I'm not. I do enjoy it but it's flaws always stood out to be more than any of the other films. If it weren't for Ford and Connery being AWESOME in it, some genuinely good humor and the tank chase I would say Crusade would have been a MAJOR letdown.

And now we get to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For my money, this is the most unfairly hated movie EVER MADE. It's perfectly in line with the rest of the series. You can whine about nukes and Prairie Dogs all you want, I don't see the big deal. Ford eases back into the character with noticeable relish, he has good chemistry with LeBeef, it's shot wonderfully and I for one loved the alien plot. It is no more stupid or less developed than any of the other plots. And what is with the hate for Blanchett as Spalko? She is the villain with the most screen time of the series and she is entertaining as hell. She's also written with just a bit more meat than any other villain. I liked her genuine curiosity and want of discovery. It wasn't just "MWAHAHA I'm evil give me the McGuffin!" The action in Skull is shot with more personality than most of the stuff in Crusade and the cinematography is great looking (I especially love the look of the civilization during the climax). Ya ya, the shot if Shia swinging with monkeys is a bad looking shot but I bet my freakin' paycheck if that was Indy on those vines it wouldn't get NEARLY the amount of hate.

Face it, the Indy movies have ALWAYS had implausibility and silliness. Justify it all you want, but how did Indy get on that U-boat in Raiders and not drown? How did Willie not melt or die from being lowered and raised over and over again in Temple? How did Indy manage to grab that ledge after the tank fell over the cliff in Crusade? How did they outrun a wall of water in Temple? Ya, a nuke is a big step up from a wall of water but I think it's safe to say if you get caught by a giant, rushing wall of water you are just as dead as locking closing yourself in a fridge to protect yourself from a nuke.

I don't think Skull is perfect. I hate the character of Mac and hate Ray Winston performance. I dislike Winston in general. I also see him acting if you catch my drift. I just don't think he's as great as people say he is. And yes, Marion's entry in the film feels wonky and a little forced but the banter between her and Indy and the chemistry help ease the sloppy introduction.

 

[MrMaooz]

I just watched Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Good movie.

 

[MrMaooz]

I hope they make a fifth one. Didn't Spielberg say that Lucas was developing a story for another installment?

 

[Whiskey Tango]

It's been under consideration. iirc they haven't been able to decide on the MacGuffin. Ford just a few days ago said he'd be up for another one.

 

[MrMaooz]

Ford said he was up for another just recently? That's awesome!

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Yeah took me a bit to find it - http://www.superherohype.com/news/a...do-another-indiana-jones-in-a-new-york-minute

 

[MrMaooz]

Thanks! It'd be awesome but we'd need it like in 2016 or maybe 2017 IMO due to Harrison's age.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

I wouldn't mind if they made a 5th film if the script was actually good this time around, don't get me wrong I liked PARTS of the fourth film, but the whole alien thing ruined it for me as well.