MolotovMocktail
Grimlock
Home of the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time 5-time Super Bowl Champion 49ers-and Wrestlemania 31
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Post by MolotovMocktail on Jun 27, 2023 21:31:22 GMT -5
1. Raiders 2. Temple of Doom 3. Last Crusade 4. Young Indy Chronicles 5. Crystal Skull
Temple had probably the best production value, but the stereotypes (I have several Indian-American friends who all hated the monkey brains scene) and Willie Scott being the weakest female character of the series knock it down a notch.
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Post by 'Foretold' Joker on Jun 28, 2023 3:57:49 GMT -5
Literally in order of release, so Raiders, Temple, Last Crusade, Skull. We'll see if dial of Destiny bucks that trend.
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Post by discoelysium on Jun 28, 2023 4:47:11 GMT -5
Crusade Raiders Temple The other one.
Raiders is incredible. But Last Crusade feels like the perfect distillation of an Indiana Jones movie. Plus the chemistry between Ford and Connery is incredible.
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Push R Truth
Patti Mayonnaise
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Post by Push R Truth on Jun 28, 2023 5:41:37 GMT -5
Raiders Crusade Skull Doom
Raiders of the Lost Ark isn't just a great Indiana Jones movie, without any hyperbole: it's one of the greatest movies of all time.
Special Note: ...and John Williams with just straight up god tier music in all of them.
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tirtefaa
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Post by tirtefaa on Jun 28, 2023 12:19:04 GMT -5
Raiders Temple Crusade
Skulls doesn't even register for me, since it seemed like a half movie overall. Raiders I think gets the most right, but I think Temple is a very close second. While I enjoy Crusade, I think it's definitely the worst of the original trilogy by a wide margin. Wide. Margin. Doesn't help that it's super similar to Raiders.
What makes a good Indiana Jones movie? Well I've tried to narrow it down to certain things and which movie did it best.
Favorite Indy look: Temple - you have Indy in the suit, traditional Indy and ripped shirt Indy. Ford is also very buff for the movie.
Best bad guys: Raiders - It's not even close here. Not only are the main bad guys memorable, but even secondary guys are good.
Atmosphere and Sets: Temple - The look of the scenes is awesome. The set design is by far the most elaborate.
Humor: Temple - I'll take gross out gags over the pratfalls of Crusade any day. Tame equals lame when it comes to Indy. If anything, Raiders probably had the darkest humor.
Deaths: Raiders - Again, hard to argue for anything other due to the Ark opening, the Cairo Swordsman or the German Mechanic getting propellered to death.
Violence: Temple - I wanted to keep this separate since while the deaths aren't as memorable, Temple is a more violent movie as a whole. And violence is one of the reasons I enjoy these movies.
Ensemble: Temple - Controversial, but I like Willie. I think she's a great counter to Indy. Raiders had Sallah and Marion, but the movie worked better when Jones was by himself. Crusade is fine, but I hated goofy Marcus, but unfortunately the movie needed him to be there.
Indy Girl: Crusade - Elsa is unique in that she is a villain and doesn't just become a damsel like the other two. Again, I like Willie too and think the contrast between her and Indy help make the scenes where she has to rise to the occasion better. Marion is fine, but she is mostly uninteresting once they get to Cairo.
Mcguffin: Raiders - The Ark is just such a great treasure, and unlike the other items that could be willfully swapped around with little regard, makes it more interesting. Every other items Indy goes after gets tossed around like a hacky sack.
Tone: Raiders - I prefer gritty to Temple's dark and to Crusade's whimsically silly.
Stunts: Crusade - While not the most memorable to look at, the jump from the horse to the tank is very impressive.
Traps: tie Raiders and Temple - both movies are memorable, with Temple being a little moreso with the spike room, but the light trap from Raiders was always really cool.
Use of animals: Temple - Weird category, but it's fitting. I like the bugs, the elephants, the dinner scene and Willie freaking out at everything. Raiders is good for the spiders, the snakes and the monkey, but I'd say the monkey dying was always dark to watch as a kid. Crusade is pretty lame overall with the fake rhino, or the rats. The scene where young Indy falls into the snakes would have been better if he never uttered the line earlier "it's only a snake". Leave it up to the audience to decide if this moment is what caused his fear of snakes or if it reinforced it. DON'T SPELL IT OUT.
Best chase: Raiders - Truck chase is awesome. Love the whole bit where the Nazi loses his hat, essentially signalling he's going to die. I like the tank chase too, but it's too whacky with the ink pen and Marcus making light of the situation.
Best opening: Raiders - the slow reveal of Indy is great, even if I love the musical number of Temple. Crusade is okay, if not for the fake out of Fedora being Indy. Also the Paramount logo dissolve into the mountains was cool.
Score: Temple - RLM mentioned this in their review, but everyone has their own little theme, and at one point it's all blended together. I love the Pankot theme. That's the kind of music you march into battle to.
Ending: Raiders - hard to argue with that shot of the Ark being wheeled into the warehouse, especially when it's been parodied many times.
Raiders: 7.5 Temple: 6.5 Crusade: 2
So overall, Crusade doesn't do much better than the previous 2 movies. I'll always assume much of it came down to the fallout of the PG-13 rating, but it seemed like they decided to be as tame as possible. Raiders just has the most going for it as far as the full movie. Temple of Doom will always be unique for not relying on any previous Jones lore to sell the movie and absolutely being its own thing, something that most sequels/prequels can't do.
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Post by Ryushinku on Jun 29, 2023 11:53:52 GMT -5
I last did these all a couple years back. So I'm pretty set on:
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Last Crusade Kingdom of the Crystal Skull The Temple of Doom
Raiders is the original and best, it just is. Hits all the right notes, managing to be both scary and funny in turn. Crusade is a lot of fun, with that great Connery double-act, despite aping Raiders a bit too closely in parts. Skull is interesting as a shift in perspective on Indy's life and Ford as good as ever, while never hitting the peaks of the others and with some poor CGI action. And Temple has a rip-roaring action finale in the last half an hour, I just find it a real drag getting there, with a nasty cynical edge and Willie screaming and screaming and screaming. Points for realism, points off for my eardrums.
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Post by Ron Woodsman aka Shempaholic on Jun 29, 2023 20:15:54 GMT -5
1. The Last Crusade - Loved it in the theater, then got it on VHS from McDonald’s and watched it over and over.
2. Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Probably equally as good as Last Crusade, though my nostalgia for Crusade wins out.
3. Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull - Really enjoyed it after watching it at the theater, but I haven’t seen it since and don’t really want to watch it again.
4. Temple Of Doom - The monkey brains scene scarred me as a child. I get half-way sick just thinking about it even today. It has it’s moments but a huge step down from Raiders.
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