Simple question: which of the four Indiana Jones movies do you think is the best? Note that this is not a poll of which you like best. The one you like best and the one you think is best may be the same thing, but that's not automatic. Pick the one you objectively think is the strongest movie of the 4!
Kingdom of Chrystal Skull. It took a lot of heat for a preposterous story, but all these movies had preposterous stories. I liked all the actors and thought they did their characters justice. Old Indy getting fired and under appreciated by employer and country was a nice shade of dark for the series. I can’t be objective about this choice, sorry Colin.
I have a feeling this one is going to be a landslide for Raiders of the Lost Ark, but we shall see! To borrow a sports cliche reference, "That's why you play the game." Here is my order: 1. Raiders of the Lost Ark 2. The Last Crusade 3. Temple of Doom 4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Honestly, I trouble even getting through the Crystal Skull. It was barely watchable once for me. The other 3 are always watchable whenever on.
I voted for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The addition of Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. was wonderful. "I'm as human as the next man." "I was the next man!"
I felt inspired to run the poll due to another thread that includes a link to a video that debates whether "Raiders" or "Last Crusade" was superior. The link implies this has been some hotly-contested argument for years, which puzzled me, as I don't think there's ever been a real debate...
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark 2. The Last Crusade (Connery's bungling gets a bit much) 3. Temple of Doom (Kate Capeshaw whinging gets annoying...its the character, I know) 4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Ruined by too much CGI)
I'm going with The Last Crusade. Not just for Connery, I liked Alison Doody and felt like it was just the most cohesive plot and script...
I mentioned this in another thread, but it fits better here. I voted for Raiders as the best. The Last Crusade could have been much better, but they botched the ending. The typical James Bond ending with everything blowing up (or in this case falling down) and then having them riding off into the sunset was such a lame ending. Indy's father had his life's ambition to find the Chalice of the Carpenter. The guardian of the chalice was dying. Sean Connery should have taken his place and guarded the chalice. The place should NOT have been destroyed.
That would have been an unacceptably dark ending for a popular film. Indy would lose his father, trapped in an inaccessible cave. Presumably his father would live forever, drinking from the chalice, so he'd outlive Indy (at least until another potential replacement showed up and he could finally die.) Also, how boring would that life be for an older, but still vigorous, man? A life of monastic purity after a fling with a beautiful Nazi?
Really close between Raiders and Crusade. I remember being in the theater as a 6 year old and was blown away when everyone's face melts at the end. I still think that entire closing sequence-when the Nazi's perform their ritual over the Ark, and the ghosts come out-is the best scene in the entire franchise, and probably in the top 10 of any movie that was done in the 80's.
Not a dark ending at all, but clearly not one that adhere's to the "ride off in the sunset" ending so typical of hollywood feel good movies. Indy's dad was a devout believer. It would not have been a terrible thing for him, nor would it be boring, but rather an honor. If Indy understood his father at all, he would also understand his father taking on this role. Perhaps one has to have the perspective of a true believer to see this as an alternate ending, and not the "feel good" ending so typically done to appeal to the mass audiences. (And I realize that you are not in the typical mass audience since you see so many films each year). Of course your opinion on movie endings may vary.
Raiders is one of the best adventure movies ever. It also has that great cinematic widescreen look of the old Hollywood big budget productions of the 50s and 60s. Love every thing about it. I'd put Temple of Doom ahead of Last Crusade. It's so different in style compared to Raiders and that's a good thing. Man, what a fun movie that I loved as a kid! Only saw Crystal Skull once (at the theatre). I enjoyed it, but it's not a very good movie. You would think that Spielberg/Lucas would cut down on all that silly cgi nonsence after the lukwarm reception to the new Star Wars prequel trilogy. Also, the script could have been a lot better. Like Star Wars... Spielberg's 2000s after Catch me if you can wasn't very good or productive, except for Munchen. War Horse was good but Lincoln was his best film since 2002. That's ten years...
I understand that he would be doing God's work, guarding the chalice, but that would be a tough sell to the masses.
A little surprised no one's voted "Temple" yet! Not that I expected it to do great, but I thought it'd get some votes!
Yes definitely. But that movie seems to get a bad rap these days while everyone loves Last Crusade. It might have been the other way 'round 15-20 years ago
People complain about the CGI in the 4th Indiana Jones movie, but never question whether a solid gold idol weighs as little as a fairly small bag of sand?
The opening was THE demo laserdisc for home theater for quite a long time. As long as you stopped it before Kate Capshaw started shrieking like a fishwife.
A terrible female lead for that movie, or any movie for that matter. Spielberg should have done like Ron Howard does with his brother and cast her as minor parts in movies, not as a main character.
There ya go! It just received one vote. Temple of Doom was the one that blew me away. I saw Raiders in '81 when I was 8, and I liked it, but I wasn't blown away by it. I saw Temple of Doom when I was 11, and I was blown away by it. I saw it quite a few times in the theater that Summer. That movie made me want to be an archaeologist. I know. Aww, how cute. I actually checked out books from the library on archaeology because I wanted to go on an adventure like Indiana Jones. I love the first two. I'm not particularly fond of Last Crusade. It's a rehash of Raiders, and it's just way too goofy. There is a joke in nearly every scene. Perhaps they were overcompensating for the dark tone in the previous film, but it is to Last Crusade's detriment. Some of the jokes border on slapstick, such as the library scene in which Indy is slamming the pole against the tile in sync with the clerk stamping the books.
