Indiana Jones Tetralogy
I watched both the first Indiana Jones and Star Wars film yesterday and my favorite rankings has not changed. I did enjoy Lost Ark and do feel Harrison Ford is better as Indiana Jones than Han Solo. I love Han and know he came before Indy. Han is easily one of my Top 3 SW characters. But I would rather be a college professor/archeologist adventurer where his female students are horny for him than a pirate/smuggler. Han wasn't the main guy in SW anyway although he stood out better and is more popular than Luke and Leia. Indiana Jones is more fleshed out thanks to his films and TV shows while Han Solo's background is still a mystery to most which is why I don't mind a stand-alone movie for him as a youth. Han is a little more cold-blooded and a selfish money grubber than Indy too. Han shot Greedo first, George.
I consider both first SW and Indy movie like the first Super Mario Bros (1985) or Metal Gear Solid (1998). They are still classics but future entries surpassed them. I have no qualms of their higher ratings but alot it is based on being first (revolutionary) when they were released and then still being loved today because of some blind nostalgia. I like both movies and neither are bad. But there is something with both I didn't like.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Location (Cairo), boring set pieces
- Special effects on the end look hokey and dated.
A New Hope
- Locations were basically Tatooine and the Death Star.
- Story can be written in one page.
- Computer screen when Han and Luke are shooting the tie fighters is laughable and is like the Airplane! scene when they are playing a basketball video game.
Other entries expanded the locations better, fleshed out the characters better, improved pacing, improved effects, improved ambiance, more escapism, etc.
Finished watching Temple of Doom, the prequel in story to Raiders and considered the darkest one since Lucas was going through a divorce. I find it strange this one gets voted the worst prior to Skull but it was always shown on cable movie channels during the late-80's/early-90's while I rarely saw Raiders. It seems the replay value is higher on this one with the memorable dinner scene and bridge. I like that Asia was the continent choice for this one starting from Shanghai to India.
Willie Scott is the most useless female character in the entire series. Thank goodness for Short Round to balance out Mrs. Spielberg's uselessness. Short Round easily had some of the best lines. I giggle everytime Ke Huy Quan goes, "Okie dokie, Docta Jones!"..."Indy, no time for love!"...."See! Strong wood." And my personal fav, "He no nuts. He craazy!" Not to mention some of Ke's lines in The Goonies. "Fifty dolla bill!" That's what I said, booby traps!" Short Round/Data pretty much created alot of the stereotypes and parodies on how Asians talk.
Spielberg said The Last Crusade is his favorite and it's also mines. It was the first Indy I saw in the theater when I was 8. It really is a father/son story, but the chemistry between Ford and Connery was fantastic even though their age gap is only 11+ years. Indiana Jones, son of the original James Bond. Marcus was also funnier in it and the set pieces/locations and ending were far superior than any Indy film. It had a good balance of story, action, pace, and humor. And Alison Doody easily surpasses Karen Allen and Kate Capshaw as the hottest actress in any Indy film.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull (2008) is without a doubt the worst Indy "film." But as a fun "movie", I actually prefer it over Raiders! There are alot of hokey scenes like the horrible Mutt/Tarzan scene, giant ant getting squished, Mac as a horrible and far more useless character than Willie Scott, the horrendous and cliché alien ending, and Indy surviving a nuclear blast inside a refrigerator. But for pure fun, better scenery, and Karen Allen's acting not being as bad like in the first, I really do it like more than Raiders.
My "film" scores
Raiders of the Lost Ark - 9/10
The Temple of Doom - 8/10
The Last Crusade - 9/10
The Kingdom of Crystal Skull - 7/10
My Indy favs (and continent of choice)
1. Last Crusade (Europe)
2. Temple of Doom (Asia)
3. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (S. America)
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Africa)
Including North America when Indy resides, they covered the five most populated continents with no need of a movie set mostly in Australia and Antarctica.
Still, I have never seen an Indiana Jones movie I didn't like. I generally liked them all. Star Wars has one entry, AOTC, that is far less watchable than my least favorite or lowest-rated Indy movie.
KOTCS > AOTC
Overall series & replay value - 9/10
AFI ranked Indiana Jones the 2nd greatest hero of all-time (above James Bond but below Atticus Finch) and is my 2nd favorite series ever. If a Breaking Bad cost $3M per episode to produce and the production values and locations with Game of Thrones look AMAZING, I would love to see a Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV show REBOOT.
