Rank The Indy Movies

Doomtrooper said:
Would be good if we got some news soon and I'd imagine we will at some point this year. Only two years away from now they'd be wise to get started on the script.
Click to expand...

Spielberg just recently confirmed it will begin shooting next summer and be out for release summer '20. So we are only about 2 years away now. Harrison is getting older, but he was good in Blade Runmer so I think he will be great in this still. Honestly they need to make sure they pick a fantastic script this time and it would be nice if Lucas didn't intervene so much and let a good script come to the table and go with that instead of what he did with KotCS. I blame a lot of Crystal Skull's shortcomings on him.
 
I saw the confirmation news recently, which is great. After Ready Player One, Spielberg definitely has it in him for one final Indy film for sure. RPO brought back so much of that same magic.
 
I've seen some rank the Young Indy series in with the films. The series gets a very 50/50 reception, but some agree the best episodes of the show were worthy to be ranked alongside the films. It's been so long since I last saw them and the DVD sets are unfortunately just way too pricey. I've heard the bookends from them were actually omitted too, to add insult to injury. Not even Indy is safe from getting the Lucas treatment.
 
Been a while since this thread was last active. My ranking remains as is:


TOD
ROTLA
KOTCS
TLC


I enjoy them all but TLC gets too goofy and campy for me and is too much like Raiders 2.0, though I still enjoy it. I honestly feel it and Skull are pretty even for 3rd/4th place.
 
We're a few days late, but Happy 40th, "Raiders of the Lost Ark!"

Watched this movie in my backyard over the week-end with a few friends. Still the greatest.
 
Got tickets to see Last Crusade next week at a theater here in L.A. for my return to the movies after vaccination. It will be a wonderful welcome back. Excited to see Indy on the big screen again!
 
ClanVizsla said:
The downtown Alamo. All the Aero and New Bev reopening shows I wanted to see sold out before I had a chance -- they were as hard to grab as Target exclusives.
Click to expand...

Seriously? Aw, crap. i wanted to go to the aero screening. Totally forgot the Alamo existed! guess I shouldn't be surprised that people are clamoring to get back to theaters.

I did see a Raiders/Crusade double feature at the Mission Tiki Drive-In last year, which was great.
 
ClanVizsla said:
The downtown Alamo. All the Aero and New Bev reopening shows I wanted to see sold out before I had a chance -- they were as hard to grab as Target exclusives.
Click to expand...

Still annoyed there weren't 40th Raiders screenings! WTF. I feel like the Arclight would have been on top of that.
 
Lance_Quazar said:
Still annoyed there weren't 40th Raiders screenings! WTF. I feel like the Arclight would have been on top of that.
Click to expand...

AMC had some Raiders screenings mixed in with some other "welcome back!" rep movies. But by the time I found out, all the nearby screenings were sold out and while I want to see that on the big screen again, I didn't want to drive out to the Inland Empire to do so.

I never did the Mission Tiki Drive-in during the pandemic, but absolutely should have. That fell off my radar. It'll be good to have the movie houses up and running around here...and the rumors that the Hollywood Arclight may actually reopen is heartening.
 
ClanVizsla said:
AMC had some Raiders screenings mixed in with some other "welcome back!" rep movies. But by the time I found out, all the nearby screenings were sold out and while I want to see that on the big screen again, I didn't want to drive out to the Inland Empire to do so.

I never did the Mission Tiki Drive-in during the pandemic, but absolutely should have. That fell off my radar. It'll be good to have the movie houses up and running around here...and the rumors that the Hollywood Arclight may actually reopen is heartening.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there were Raiders screenings in far flung places like Chino Hills. pass!

Not too late to do the drive in, even though regular theaters are open!

I hadn't heard about the Hollywood Arclight/Dome. Just that AMC was going to take over the theaters at the grove and americana. Shrug. I hardly ever went there to begin with. But here's hoping! It's stunning to me that they just decided to let Arclight/Pacific die.
 
Lance_Quazar said:
Yeah, there were Raiders screenings in far flung places like Chino Hills. pass!

Not too late to do the drive in, even though regular theaters are open!

I hadn't heard about the Hollywood Arclight/Dome. Just that AMC was going to take over the theaters at the grove and americana. Shrug. I hardly ever went there to begin with. But here's hoping! It's stunning to me that they just decided to let Arclight/Pacific die.
Click to expand...

Totally agree about Arclight and Pacific -- they seemed like such staples that it's crazy that they could go away. Hopefully the locations can be salvaged with the quality of the experience maintained.

Sorry to the non-Angelinos in the thread for the extended tangent. These things matter to us out here.
 
A little update is that I stumbled on a post about a triple-feature of 35mm screenings of the Indy trilogy at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown L.A. Of course, I jumped at the chance to go -- an even more triumphant return to the theatrical experience than just seeing Last Crusade.

My ranking is very basic and seemingly standard, but at least I have a fresh revisiting of the movies to reinforce them:

1. Raiders
2. The Last Crusade
3. Temple of Doom
4. Crystal Skull

Temple of Doom is a little creaky for a while, and the parts that are a little annoying (sorry, Willie) don't get better with age. But good lord, those final 20 minutes or so are just pure action glory. Not bad at all for the movie that still only comes in third on the list.

And I'll also note the one thing I picked up on today that I've never noticed before: there's an interesting parallel between the shot in the opening sequence of Indy letting out the excess sand from his hand before swapping the bag for the Golden Fertility Idol and Dietrich picking up the sand from the Ark and letting it run through his fingers before contemptuously tossing it back into the container. There's something there about Indy facing the accuracy of Belloq's stance that they are not that different -- maybe seeing a Nazi colonel acting the way he did around an artifact is what helps give him the final push to give in to believing in the power of these artifacts, and showing the needed eye-shutting reverence to survive.

Or maybe not. It's fun to over-think movies sometimes.
 
Well, here is my ranking as well:
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Temple of Doom
3. The Last Crusade
4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I find it interesting how TOD has changed people's opinion over the years. This and I recall, Gremlins, began the PG-13 rating after these movies came out. For Lucas, there always seem to have one darker-in-tone film in each trilogy.

For me, The Last Crusade was very good esp. with Sean Connery, but I felt it was trying to, in a way "reboot/remake" into another Raiders in story and tone after TOD.

As to, right now, the last film, parts I enjoyed and as some have mentioned here, some parts did not work at all.
I think if it was re-edited as some did with Ep. 1, it would be better.
Also, after seeing Rise of Skywalker, Kingdom went a bit in that direction esp with Ford's double/triple crossing friend (blanked on this name).
No flashback or some set up regarding that character. I feel the actors were not at fault. I did have my suspicion when Connery passed on it.
If I chose between kingdom and rise, right now I would pick kingdom. I felt Rise was a major disappointment, but that is another topic. Plus, it shows there seemed to be no plan as Abrams seems to have confirmed recently. That is more on Disney and Kennedy.

Thank you.
 
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (A+)
2. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (A-)
3. The Last Crusade (B-)
4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (D)
 
Last edited:
Going by grades, the first two are a very easy A+ for me and the other two would be about a B. B+ sometimes depending how I feel.
 
Raiders
Last Crusade
Temple of Doom






Crystal Skull
 
I know objectively that Raiders is the best, but I still like Temple of Doom the most.

Last Crusade is OK, but it kinda drags and gets boring.

Crystal Skull is....dung.
 
Raiders
Temple of Doom
Last Crusade
Crystal Skull

I would like ToD to be first as well as I really enjoyed it but Raiders always going to be no1.

ToD was unique as it had that really dark vibe to it.
 
Doomtrooper said:
Be interesting to see where Dial Of Destiny will rank for most people.
Click to expand...
Judging by the trailer it looks good but trailers always make films look good.
Im feeing it might be like Last Crusade but better .
 
Raiders
Last Crusade
TOD
Skull

But TOD probably has more action figure possibilities that I would.
 
Trailers can be incredibly deceptive with their advertising. So many bad movies that looked good by their trailers, and likewise lots of good movies that had awful trailers that misrepresented them.
 
1.) Temple of Doom
2.) Raiders of the Lost Ark
3.) Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4.) The Last Crusade

Really enjoyed TOD; very dark & disturbing in tone, and completely different from Raiders.

Didn't like TLC much - and not just because it was very similar to Raiders. I felt having IJ's father play such a big role & talking down to him (as if he were a 5-year old) didn't sit well with me. I remember reading a book back in the '90's focusing (in part) on all of the IJ films, and even Spielberg stated that he felt Sean Connery as Henry Jones Sr. would "unbalance" the film - and it did. Note that the late Connery was a great actor; I just feel his role in the movie didn't work. Going along with this, IMHO the film had too much humor. Sure, there was also humor in ROTLA & TOD - but not to this extent.
 
Last edited:
My list:

1. The Temple of Doom
2. Raiders
3. Last Crusade
4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I hope Dial of Destiny is a great film, but sadly, it can never be more than fan fiction to me considering the absence of the Maker. Similar to the ST, it just won't be Canon in my mind without GL's involvement. That's just my issue and don't expect others to feel the same.
 
JTKenobi said:
I hope Dial of Destiny is a great film, but sadly, it can never be more than fan fiction to me considering the absence of the Maker. Similar to the ST, it just won't be Canon in my mind without GL's involvement. That's just my issue and don't expect others to feel the same.
Click to expand...

I feel the same. And when GL was still involved with SW, he at the very least got rough outlines for Expanded Universe stories and approved them. He was involved, and a part of things, even if very little. People also do not realize how involved he was with The Clone Wars show. People bag on him as losing his touch with storytelling and he was a very big part of the show and the story itself. And it is near-universally loved.

If Star Wars fans were not so, well, whatever they are (spirited? energetic?), he may very well have created the ST for us! He was worn thin/exhausted and just wanted to leave it behind and move on with his life.

Everything Disney is now glorified fan fiction. I still find some value in what Dave Filoni does. He worked very closely with GL and seems to "get it."
 
comicalUser said:
I feel the same. And when GL was still involved with SW, he at the very least got rough outlines for Expanded Universe stories and approved them. He was involved, and a part of things, even if very little. People also do not realize how involved he was with The Clone Wars show. People bag on him as losing his touch with storytelling and he was a very big part of the show and the story itself. And it is near-universally loved.

If Star Wars fans were not so, well, whatever they are (spirited? energetic?), he may very well have created the ST for us! He was worn thin/exhausted and just wanted to leave it behind and move on with his life.

Everything Disney is now glorified fan fiction. I still find some value in what Dave Filoni does. He worked very closely with GL and seems to "get it."
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, CW was absolutely George's show and he was intimately involved. I am also with you regarding Filoni. He's by far the closest thing GL has to a protege and George is surely very proud of Dave. And notice in interviews, etc. that Dave ALWAYS gives props and credit to George whenever given the chance. Dave absolutely knows what's up. Without GL in the picture, Dave's storytelling is the closest we can get to legit canon as far as I am concerned.

It's always been ridiculous how much 'fans' rag on GL. Seems that only now, with the ST come and gone, do people realize the brilliance of the PT and CW. When George hand-picked KK as his successor to head LFL, I think GL felt she was his Trojan horse and that he'd be able to have his cake and eat it too. By that I mean he likely felt he had someone loyal to him (KK) and he could still guide/lead SW storytelling creatively while not having to deal with the business stuff. Unfortunately this was GL's miscalculation and Bob Iger and JJ (ironically KK's pick to direct TFA) chose to go in a different storytelling direction. In the end, this was very short-sighted of Iger. GL's Ep7 may not have done the box office of TFA, but I feel it's safe to say that GL's ST would have been far more cohesive and richer than what we got. This would have been better for SW long-term.

To me it's the ultimate travesty that George is still with us, yet not involved with SW storytelling. God Bless George Lucas!!
 
1. Last Crusade
2. Raiders
3. Temple of Doon
4. Kingdom of the Crystal

For the record I don’t even dislike any of them. I still find the aliens of Crystal Skull to be this hurdle for me to fully get into but I like all the stuff with Indy, Mutt, and Marion. And I LOVE the motorcycle chase setpiece that starts in the diner. That ranks with the best Indiana Jones action setpieces for me.
 
I get a feeling I'll probably like DOD quite a bit and it'll at least be somewhere around the middle for me. But I'm keeping my expectations in check for sure.
 
Updated ranking with Dial Of Destiny:


TOD
ROTLA
DOD
KOTCS
TLC


How I feel at the moment. I enjoyed DOD and found it a fitting series finale. Couldn't ask for much more.
 
I'm guessing I'm going chalk here, but my updated rankings:

1. Raiders
2. Last Crusade
3. Temple of Doom
4. Dial of Destiny
5. Crystal Skull

Clear delineation between each, though 1&2 are in a top tier and 3&4 are in a second one below it. And they also made another movie.

(Actually, I re-watched Crystal Skull for the first time in at least a decade in the lead-up to DoD, and...it's better than I remember. Which isn't saying much, as I'd now say it's a C-/D+ instead of a D-/F. But, still...it's a little something, at least.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

SpectreOne
Adventure Series concepts and ideas to continue the line
Replies
32
Views
10K
comicalUser
comicalUser
Kooshmeister
Toht
Replies
18
Views
8K
yodashizzle
yodashizzle
Jobi-Wan
New Indiana Jones Figures Revealed!
Replies
5
Views
4K
jimmii
jimmii
Jobi-Wan
New Indiana Jones Decor From Regal Robot Coming Tuesday
Replies
1
Views
2K
DarthMickeyMoose
DarthMickeyMoose
@dr.indianajones
Raiders of the Lost Ark recreating the movie.
Replies
0
Views
1K
@dr.indianajones
@dr.indianajones
Back
Top