Which Indy film is the best?

Out of all the films, which one is definitively the best?


  • Total voters
    264

Peacock's-Eye

New member
Crusade>Raiders, you seem to be confused as to what the function of a shooting script is. Most of what you mention falls under other departments: fight coordinator, editor, director etc.

The script usually gets tossed when a movie gets physical. And you just don't know if alot of good scripted ideas were left unattempted, or were filmed and cut from the movie etc. Stop blaming the script for everything.

Spielberg wanted the ant fight to be an old fashioned brawl, I guess. He kept it very simple. People kept saying "we want it like it was in '81". Well, there you have it - a 100% straight up fistfight. Now you want something else...yeesh.
 

Lynx

New member
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. The Last Crusade
-
3. Temple of Doom
4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Raiders and Crusade are really, really close, as are Temple and Kingdom. Here's why:

Raiders was the perfect action movie. It was Indy in all of his glory. He had the perfect anti-thesis for his rival, who had the Nazis backing him, and for a good portion of the movie, it was just Indy and his best leading lady, Marion. Sallah was used to good effect without being too silly or overused. And the action pieces are fantastic. The marketplace scene and the truck chase in particular are so well done, it hurts. And, of course, the simply stunning opener. The only problems I had with it were some slow pacing moments. The search of the Ark can be a little dull, as can the time on the ship. Some people say the ship was character development, but I felt we had gotten enough of that earlier in the film. The ending, though, is easily the best of the four films. Raiders is truly the Classic of the four films.

However, I find Last Crusade to be more fun. The dynamic between Ford and Connery is simply outstanding. And, again, we return to the Nazis. We get Indy's backstory. What hurts the film is the overabundence of characters. Marcus was funny, yes, but he worked better in his bit role. Sallah, too, became far too comical. However, out of Crusade's three big action sequences, two of them really worked and one fell flat. The tank scene and the motorbike scene were both great and hilarious. The boat scene, though, didn't work. The ending was a watered down throwback to Raiders, but the emotional resonance that you get from the end makes up for it. Unfortunately, LC suffers from having the worst villain. Donovan is supposed to be Henry Sr.'s answer to what Belloq was for Indy in Raiders, and he just came out as dull. Finally, Elza sits firmly as the second best Indy girl. Nowhere near as good as the incredibly fiesty and independent Marion, but her morally gray attitude and incredibly sultriness work for her and put her leagues ahead of Willie. Close to the perfection of Raiders, but not quite.

Next, we have Temple of Doom. Temple of Doom is a movie that I've had a love/hate relationship with for years, ever since I saw it when I was about 4. On one hand, Doom has, arguably, the most badass version of Indy in all four movies. He's increadibly machismo in this movie and it works to his advantage. Next, we have Short Round. Shorty is both a plus and a negative. On one hand, he's adorable, increadibly daring and hilarious. And the other hand, he's somewhat out of place and occasionally grating. But, overall, I have a soft spot for Shorty. Not so with Willie, though. Willie is easily the weakest of the three leading ladies and gets incredibly annoying incredibly quickly. The ONLY thing she has going for her is sex appeal, and honestly, Elza did it better. The plot is interesting, if ultimately forgettable. The Sankara Stones are probably the weakest of the four artifacts and it shows. But, you can sympathize with the village's plight of famine and the kidnapping of their children. However, the movie can be blindingly dark, especially during the Black Sleep of Kali segment, the disgusting dinner scene, and the sacrifice scene. Finally, the one thing that Temple definitely has above the others is the best villain. Mola Ram is so damn convincingly evil, that you really, really hate him and it's a triumph to see him die, even if it is the most pedestrian death of the main villain. Overall, a good movie riddled with flaws.

And next, I come to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I have to admit, I had to see this twice to get a good feel for it. It was so different from the previous movies that, when I first saw it, I had some incredibly conflicting feelings about it. But, I can say it works better on a subsequent viewing. The problems with KotCS are a number of things. First, as many point out, is the CG. It is littered with CG. And, honestly, I wouldn't have a problem with this if the CG was actually good, which much of it isn't. My guess is this has something to do with the way it was shot (Analog instead of Digital), as well as a different cinematographer than the last movie. Also, the movie has some jarring scenes. The monkey scene, of course, the gophers, and the finale, which is increadibly far out there, even for an Indy movie. If they had left the alien out and had the blatantly old school flying saucer be a little more abstract, I think it would have worked better. The monkeys and the gophers, though, were just cheese. Also, some of the dialog is very forced (Read Crusade>Raiders' critique for more info on that). However, some of the dialog, I felt, was quite good, especially a lot of the dialog between Indy and Mutt and the earlier dialog between Indy and Marion. The opening scene, although far fetched, was a perfect way to bring the movie into the 50s and was quite hilarious. Also, the two main action scenes were brilliant. Especially the bike chase, from the greaser versus preppy fight all the way into the library, was just amazing. The jungle chase, too, was well done. . .but again, the blatant use of blue screen hinders an otherwise great scene. Finally, the characters. One of the things I and a friend of mine noticed was the simply staggering amount of characters in this film. Indy has FOUR companions. It's just way too many. Hell, Last Crusade felt like too many. My friend actually coined the name "Indiana Jones and Friends" for KotCS. But, down to the nitty gritty. Spalko was an interesting character, but underutilized. She also dies in an uninteresting way. Mac was completely pointless, and although Winstone plays him well, he's just one character too many. Ox is. . .ok, but I feel he could have gotten more development without Mac there. Marion is awesome for the two scenes she has lines, but is totally underutilized after that. Mutt was a delight and probably the strongest character next to Indy himself. Finally, we have Indy, who does a great job of combining aspects of the Indy of yesteryear and an older, wiser, more tired Indy. Essentially becoming a mixture of Henry Jones Sr. and Indiana Jones. Overall, a decent movie, especially after a subsequent viewing to get over the shock factor of some of the more out-there and ridiculous scenes. It's very close to Temple of Doom's quality of clunkiness mixed with charm, but I still consider it the weakest of the four.

It's interesting, though. I'm curious if we now have an Indy curse. Although I know people's lists are different, the general consensus seems to be Raiders and Crusade having generally positive reviews, while Temple and Kingdom have more mixed reviews. An even number curse? I guess that depends on how well Indy 5 will be received, if it's ever made. :whip:
 

Crusade>Raiders

New member
^Very good post, I feel like I have to explain my rankings now, but thats for another time.

Thanks for pointing out my critique on the script. Kingdom had some REAL clunkers, but so did Temple(We.AreGoing.ToDie. *most fake frown Ford has ever done*).
 

Bowie Fett

New member
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (BEST Action film of all-time)
2. The Last Crusade
3. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4. Temple of Doom

:whip:
 

AHegele

New member
Snakes said:
1. Raiders and Last Crusade
2. Temple of Doom and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

All fantastic movies.

same here. I honestly love Raiders and Crusade the same, and Temple and Kingdom are the same for second.
 

Mrs_Fedora

New member
Wow, there are even people who think that LC is worse than KoTCS.. :eek:

Anyhoo:

1. LC :D
2. TOD :)
3. ROTLA :p
4. KOTCS ;)

I almost put TOD in first place, because of that movie i started to love Indy, but LC is such a ride! KOTCS is in last place (for now) maybe someday it will go to 3rd place, but not now...
ROTLA in 3rd, but VERY close to the others. I do like this movie but i have no special memories of it.
 

TennesseeKorben

New member
1. Temple
2. Raiders
3. Kingdom
4. Crusade

Raiders is by far the best made and probably the best action movie ever made but I love Temple. But trying to rank these movies is like trying to rank the top 4 hottest women on Earth. They are all great!
 

WitAndAWhip

New member
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark :hat:
2. Last Crusade

3. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull


4. Temple of Doom

Personally, I really enjoyed KOCS, I just think Raiders and Last Crusade are in a class of their own.
 
My order is as follows:

1. TOD
2. ROTLA
3. LC


4. KOTCS

I placed spaces between them because Crystal Skull (IMO) isn't anywhere even close to as good as any of the originals.
 

UltimateManGod

New member
Now that I've seen Skull, and had some time to let it sink it I can make my list.

1. Raiders
2-4. Temple, Skull, Crusade

Raiders is my clear favorite, but the rest all have their great points and weak points, so I can't really pin down an exact order. It fluctuates depending on the day, my mood, etc.
 
Is there a better ending to a trilogy than the Last Crusade?

Sallah: "Please what is with this 'Junior"?

Sr: "That's his name...Henry. Jones. Junior."

Indy: "I like Indiana."

Sr: ~In the most hilarious, disgusted/repulsed father-to-son condescending tone~

"We named the dog 'Indiana.'"

Indy: " I had many fond memories of that dog."

Sallah: "You? Were named...after...the dog?"

That line by Sean Connery is the funniest, yet touching, line ever.

...and then they ride off into the sunset...
 

Mrs_Fedora

New member
1. Last Crusade (10/10)

2. Temple of Doom (9/10)

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (9/10)

4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (7.5 8/10)


Just love, love LC... don't know why, maybe because it's so d*mn funny. I keep watching this movie with a smile on my face from beginning till the end.
TOD was my first Indy, therefore it has to be second (bring on the chilled monkey brains!)
ROTLA is 3rd but don't get me wrong, i DO love this movie, it's brilliant! But if i'm planning to watch an Indy movie, it's always one of the other two.
And KOTCS in 4rd place, still have to watch it a second time to maybe, very, very maybe place it higher... This movie just needs some years to sink in (y)
 

Crusade>Raiders

New member
*warning long-winded post ranting about Indiana Jones*

The Last Crusade is my favorite, because its basically is Raiders, but with more humor, best Indy performance(widest range of emotions), amazing chemistry between two great actors in Ford/Connery, personal favorite opening, best pacing, best dialogue, and most importantly, it has the most heart. When Henry Sr. hugs Indy "I thought I lost you boy." you can really feel the love he has for his son, if only for the briefest moments. The only things I think Raiders has over Crusade is originality, best villain, and love interest. I can't pick between Truck Chase and the Tank Battle as my 2nd favorite set piece(Kingdom Jungle Chase was awesomesauce). The first time the movie was over, I couldn't believe two hours had already passed by, not a single boring/slow moment. I always love that sexy tie Indy has in the escape from the Nazi Castle/Zepplin Escape. Whenever I set out to get an Indy outfit, that will be a priority. Honestly, there isn't anything I really hate about this film. Even Raiders has that stupid ****ing monkey. Some people hated the humor, but damnit he got an autograph from Hitler and pretends to a French lord to sneak into Mickey Mouse's castle. Some might not like how Sallah and Marcus turned into comic relief, but at least they were funny, which is more than I can say for that ****ing monkey. Ugh. Anyway, The Last Crusade is my second favorite action movie to Die Hard. I can pretty much recite it verbatim, and it just never gets old. LOOOOVE this movie.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, on the other hand, may be the best one, if I can say that and make sense. From beginning to end Raiders of the Lost Ark established a recipe that has been imitated for 27 years: The perfect bland of action and humor, mixed with sprinkles of romance and supernatural mystery, all cooked by a masterful chief while listening to a beautiful score. One of the best villains, one of the best love interest, and the best hero in any fictional world ever created. Everything comes together to perform of adventure of epic proportions. The movie is really a classic, and is the watermark for which every adventure movie is compared to(which only the sequel The Last Crusade was ale to match). The only things I don't like its that its kinda slow for a couple of minutes every now and then. The movie stays an consistent pace for a long while, barely slowing down for Indy to find more about the story. I love this movie too, and its actually pretty close to the quality of my favorite. A timeless masterpiece.

other two movies later.
 
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