I would just like to state for the record, the order that I rank all of the Indiana Jones Films:
Raiders of the Lost Arc
The Last Crusade
Any craptastic film they could possibly make for the 4th film
Temple of Doom
It has been so long since I have seen The Temple of Doom that I don’t remember anything about it except that it was really really bad. I think the only reason I liked The Last Crusade so much was because it wasn’t another Temple of Doom.
But take my opinion for what its worth because I love CGI, and I thought the new Star Wars films were just great.
ETA: I also liked the redone with CGI original Star Wars
I kind of liked Temple of Doom. I was watching it in the dorm in college once, and my roommate, who was from India, joined me and was immediately pissed off by it.
Count me in as enjoying all three movies, and not really seeing much cause to rate them in order. While you can certainly let Winnie’s whining get to you, there’s plenty of classic bits, from the opening battle (great) to the bug room, to cover your heart Indy, to the the mine car chase. Say what you want about it not being perfect, it’s still a classic of popcorn funness.
Ha! That was my first thought as well. A film centers around the reality of the Holy Grail that gives immortality to those who drink from it and an 1000 year old knight who guards it, and it’s an optical illusion that causes you to disbelieve?
That’s like saying you couldn’t suspend your disbelief in LOTR because a doorknob placed in the center of a round door is poor engineering.
Answer me something: why is the knight guarding the grail old? I have a reason for asking, but I just sort of wanted to hear people’s explanations (and or what they think is movie canon) as to why he has aged, despite having drunk at least once from the grail.
Another part of The Last Crusade that grated my ass was Indy’s newfound and retro holier-than-thou attitude *This belongs in a MUSEUM!-*schtick.
The two previous movies pretty much established that Indy was a globetrotting rogue-ish graverobber.
It belongs in a museum? Yes, Indy. This golden idol that you’re trying to steal from a quite-alive and thriving Hovito Indian nation belongs in a museum and not in the temple of a people who seem to base their entire religion around it. :rolleyes:
The more I think about it, the more The Last Crusade seems like an excercise in epic failure.
Actually, it’s a pretty common reaction for people to more easily accept the huge absurdities, (supernatural events, faster-than-light travel, superhuman strength, etc.) in fantasy and adventure movies, but to still be very bothered by the more minor and mundane implausibilities. I think there’s a name for this effect, but I can’t think of it now. But basically, the closer to ‘reality’ an event is represented, the more the viewer will be bothered by minor details that betray it as not-quite-reality. Kind of similar to the ‘uncanny valley’ effect with regard to humanoid robots or CGI characters in movies.
That’s not really the same thing, because there were no important plot points in LOTR that hinged (pun intended) upon the placement of the doorknobs.
FWIW, I liked Raiders of The Lost Ark and The Last Crusade equally. Great films, and perennial favourites of mine.
Temple of Doom wasn’t bad, IMHO, but it’s definitely the weakest of the 3, with the screaming damsel, the somewhat grating kid, and the very dark story.
It’ll be interesting to see that the 4th movie is like… I’ve heard “Indy vs The Communists” rumours, which I reckon would work pretty well…
I’m pretty sure Mythbusters proved you could survive jumping from a plane using a life raft as a parachute. I remember watching Buster gliding to safety on one of those rafts, but don’t recall the actual myth they were testing.
I don’t really see a disconnect, there. He was taking the golden idol from some God-forsaken jungle where it would only be seen by a bunch of naked, ignorant savages, and bringing it to a museum where it could be properly studied and appreciated by enlightened white people in nice suits. It seems that would be a common enough attitude for that day and age, and not a bar to a little holier-than-thou moralizing at people after a precious artifact purely for economic (like Belloq, in the first movie) or political (Elsa, in the third) motives. It certainly doesn’t strike me as out of character for the Indy of the first movie, who wanted the Ark of the Covenant to be studied by archaeologists, and not turned over to be venerated by a Jewish synagogue.
