What's Your Favorite Indiana Jones Movie?

[Pittman4Two]

Raiders
Last Crusade
Temple of Doom
Dial of Destiny
Crystal Skull

 

[chintai80]

the last crusade
raiders of the lost ark
temple of doom
kingdom of the crystal skull
dial of destiny

to me, there's no bad indiana jones movie.
it's just that the first 3 are so top tier and iconic, the last 2 films have no way of matching them.
i like them all, just some less than others.

 

[OnLeatherWings]

1.) Raiders of the Lost Ark
2.) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
3.) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
4.) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
5.) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Raiders is a near-perfect action/adventure film. It looks quick and dirty - shot on the fly, with so much in camera, and a script that hasn't an ounce of fat on it. It's a film that's layerd and flavored to perfection, with amazing sets, sequences, action, enough winks and nods to keep things fun but still taking enough of it seriously to kick severe butt. Indy is a rogue - and I love him way more in this film before the third film sanded a lot of his edges off. It's the high-water mark that the series never hit again. That's not a knock on the series, just a compliment to how killer this film is.

Most people wouldn't give side-eye ranking Dial third as that's not an unpopular placement - but putting it over Crusade I can see that ruffling some feathers. But I personally connect with the theme of 'time' a bit more, and there's a lot of dramatic meat on the bone with Harrison's performance that I get a lot of mileage from. And I find the setting/era and the usage of Nazis really refreshingly interesting for the series. The finale is absolutely incredible, Voller is a killer villain, the opening is amazing, the McGuffin's use twist is cool, the locations/setpieces are unique, and it just works for me. I love the use of Indy's age in it. It's also the only of two Indy films to come out in my lifetime, so there's this ownership I feel over it a bit more.

Crusade is amazing and likely one of the strongest mainstream sequels of all time - I just feel like it's the least vibrant of the series and it is a bit dull, at times. Still awesome, though - but I feel like the chemistry of Connery/Ford is the secret sauce of that film that without such a successful pairing, a lot would fall flat. Donovan feels like a bland Bond villain - Vogel was way better and should've been the main baddie. That, and it's a bit too comedic. But it is amazing and the tank-sequence is second only to the truck chase in Raiders in terms of greatest action setpieces of the series. The score is incredible! Overall, the film is amazing - I just feel like talking about its weaknesses is where I can add more to the conversation because it doesn't typically get anything outside of praise. It's likely better as a film than Dial, too.

Kingdom is the most lopsided of the series, with a really strong first half (the 'Doom Town' sequence rules, and I will never be convinced otherwise) and a second half that's overstuffed with sidekicks, over-the-top bits that fall flat and needing a rewrite. But the '50s b-film vibe, the pulp style, the fact that we get an older yet still able to kick butt Indy, the action, chemistry between Ford/LaBeouff, the bold choice of aliens with a classic flying saucer finale - it's just so bold and gutsy that I can't help but appreciate the film. The CGI is overused and it's the most 'artificial' feeling film of the series by far, and it's not as comedic as Crusade but its comedy is way more cartoonish, to its detriment.

Temple of Doom slays. It being last on the list does not negate that fact. It is the most action-heavy, largely only due to its third act which is pretty much a non-stop action sequence. My main issue with it is that it is the only film that cannot decide what it wants to be - it goes from action to comedy to horror to comedy back to action and horror so frequently and the Sankara Stones are the least fleshed-out McGuffin, same for the villain's plan.

Willie is annoying. And without the finale being non-stop action, the film would feel relatively light on the setpieces. And it's likely the least exotic - once we get to Pankot Palance it's all sets, from here on out - which is a shame.

But either way, the series rocks.

to me, there's no bad indiana jones movie.
i like them all, just some less than others.

This is me, too. It's likely my favourite film series.

John Wick, Toy Story (sans the 4th), The Dark Knight Trilogy, etc. are all close!