I watched TOD last night for the first time in ages, and, while it remains my least favourite of the films, I still think its alot of fun. Not wanting to spam what is basically an appreciation thread,i just wanted to make the following observations:
1. Its interesting how TOD is set in one location. All the other movies globe trot a fair bit. I guess this may be to make it distinct from Raiders which it certainly is.
2. For all the talk about it being 'dark', it struck me as being several scenes of daft (if amusing) comedy usually involving Willie, held together by three or four big action set pieces. The comedy scenes are many and more like sketches - I'm thinking Willie on the elephant, Willie in the Jungle, Willie and Indy thinking of sleeping together. In fact, I think its the most comedic of all the films.
3. Where this film differs for me, is it feels like they thought up the action and comedy scenes first, then tried to think up a plot to hang them on. It just feels a lot more slight to me - kind of like an incidental adventure, without the 'Epic' sweep of the others.
On the plus side, Short Round is great, the action scenes are excellent (the mine cart ride being my favourite of the series) and the rope bridge scene is extremely exciting - Indy at his best!
Anyway, these are just personal opinions - I'm NOT saying its a bad film!