Skip to main content

Movie Opinion: Let's Talk About Indiana Jones Movies (Probably Spoilers)

I love the character of Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford. Recently I bought a DVD box set of all four Indiana Jones movies so I could finally have them in my film collection.

With Indiana Jones 5 ramping up production, and set to be released in 2021 (after being pushed back from 2020) it seems like a good time to look back at the previous four films.

I won't be reviewing each film. Chances are, if you're reading this, you've either seen them, or decided not to see them based upon the reviews when they were released. I just had some thoughts about each film for discussion.

General consensus is that Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Last Crusade (1989) are the best two of the series, followed by Temple of Doom (1984), and probably the least favorite, Kingdom of the Crystal skull (2008).

Raiders of the Lost Ark


As the first movie it's the most important of the series. People often say The Last Crusade is the better movie, and it is, but only if you've seen the first one. Raiders establishes everything about Indiana Jones as a character that gets carried through to all of the other films.

Even though it was made in 1981 it's still very watchable today. Largely because it's a period piece. It doesn't make any modern references that might date it. The special effects in the climax are a little dated compared to films of today but still compelling to watch the techniques used all the same.

There is a theory going around (that I first heard on the TV show The Big Bang Theory) that the movie would've had the same out come without Indiana Jones and that somehow this diminishes the events of the film.



I guess it depends on what you think the point of the movie is?

Sure Indy fails to secure the Ark but is that the point of the film? It can be argued that The Last Crusade and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull both would also have had the same outcome with their MacGuffins without Indy. In each case it would have just taken the people looking for them longer to get there.

The point of these movies is to follow Indy's adventures. Whatever the outcome, it's about the journey and the people. It's about action and escapism. It's about watching Indy solve puzzles and make discoveries whilst racing against people looking for the same thing. It's not about winning.

In fact Raiders sets up, right from the beginning, that Indy often finds the treasure but loses it to a competitor at the eleventh hour. That's part of what makes the character compelling. Despite being very capable, he doesn't always win in the end.

Temple of Doom


The first Indiana Jones movie I saw in a theatre. I remember liking it at the time but was aware that it didn't quite live up to the first movie.

These days people say that the film is somewhat racist with its cultural stereotypes. I was going to comment that I didn't think it was racist but then I read some articles on why it is, and I kind of agree. At the very least its stereotypes are culturally and gender insensitive.

Stereotypes exist for a reason and not all of them are offensive. Most have an underlying truth to them, and only seem to offend if they aren't positive stereotypes. Indiana Jones himself has become a stereotype that, in this day and age, is starting to become an issue for diversity in movie heroes (white male who is very capable and often gets the girl - you don't have to think to hard for how often you've seen that).

Temple of Doom does have several negative stereotypes; poor, defenceless Indian villagers, Indian Cult leaders and henchmen, Asian Gang members, and, of course, comedy relief, Short Round, and Willie Scott.

None of them are particularly offensive in and of themselves, it's only when you view them as a representative of their culture and/or gender that they really become an issue. None of the characters are out of place in what is essentially a film trying to emulate a B movie from the 1950's.

In many of the articles I read, discussing the racist/gender inequality aspects, most agree the film is still very watchable and a lot of fun, rather than offensive.

The Last Crusade


I don't have a lot to say about The Last Crusade other than it was genius to make it a father son story, and brilliant casting to put Sean Connery in the role of Indy's Dad.

The opening flashback scenes with young Indy really establish their relationship, though it's a little corny that adult Indy bases his adventurer outfit on a guy he had a run in with as a teen (and how most of Indy's character traits were all founded in one event from his youth).

Otherwise it's a solid film, the best of the series, but even better if you've seen the first movie.


The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull


Probably the least liked of the series, and likely the reason Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg are even considering another movie in the franchise. The character deserves to go out on a high.

People were sceptical that Harrison would be too old to play Indy at this point, and he kind of is, but I think he just manages to prove otherwise in this film.

Whether he can do that again in Indy 5 is going to be even more of a stretch but if you see the behind the scenes of Indy 4, Harrison is still pretty spry, climbing up the large crates in the warehouse scene effortlessly.

I enjoyed the alien theme for this film. There's plenty of theories amongst ufologist that the human race is actually descended from aliens, citing evidence in actual hieroglyphs and other art from ancient times. The concept also fits well with the 1950's B movie aesthetic of the Indy franchise.

Where it all started to go wrong, in my opinion, was the film's attempt to recreate a reversal of the father son relationship from The Last Crusade. Not a bad idea in itself, just executed poorly. We get to meet Mutt (Shia Labeouf) fairly early in the piece, and it doesn't take long work out he's Indy's son well before Indy finds out.

We don't really get to see the father/son dynamic until halfway into the film which I think was a big miss for me. Indy get's no time to digest he has a son and no time to explore that relationship by the time he finds out.

It was hinted that Mutt might become the new Indy but thankfully they didn't follow through on that idea. The character didn't earn the title at all. (Not to mention I'm just not a Shia fan. He can act but, even now he's older I have no desire to see him play an Indiana Jones like character, Indy son or total reboot of the franchise).

The other main issue this movie had was an over reliance on CGI but I'd dispute that. Whilst the CGI wasn't great in a franchise that didn't need it this much, what really brought the film down was CGI sequences bordering on the ridiculous - Shia swinging through the jungle with monkeys was the worst offender for me.



Indy movies have always been over the top with their action pieces but, no matter how unbelievable they are, there's always an element of 'yeah, maybe that's possible... for Indy'. Crystal Skull kind of lost sight of that, particularly in the fridge sequence, and the final three waterfalls sequence.

The end of this film is also kind of, what was the point of it all? Just like the first movie, you would've got the same result as far as the Crystal Skulls go without Indy. Then I remind myself it's about the journey not the goal.

Whilst it was great seeing Indy reunited with Marion (Karen Allen), probably the best part of the film, overall it didn't focus nearly enough on the character relationships the way The Last Crusade did. The fact it ended with a wedding suggested strongly that Indy was finally going to settle down and live the quiet life.


Indiana Jones 5


Indy 5 is meant to begin shooting in April of 2019 according to director Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford is confirmed to be reprising his role as Indy.

One could argue that Harrison is too old to play Indy, particularly by 2019, but it really depends on what version of Indy you're thinking about. He's not Raiders Indy anymore, but he is still very close to Crystal Skull Indy. A guy who clearly isn't as able bodied as he used to be but can still take a punch.

That said, one angle the film could take would be to properly cast 'Junior' in the 'Senior' role and team him with an aspiring Indy type (maybe even a female Indy type). Shia isn't supposed to be reprising his role, though I wouldn't be opposed to him getting another shot at Mutt with a better character arc.

It is supposed to be Harrison's last time in the role so whatever they do, I hope it's epic, and just plain fun adventure. I'll definitely be looking forward to it.

Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

Popular posts from this blog

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood  Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch

Robot Uprising Update: Robot Waiter, Fasta Pasta, South Terrace, Adelaide CBD, South Australia

On the second evening of my partner, Enigma, and I's weekend stay in Adelaide we decided to have dinner at Fasta Pasta . Strangely enough our hotel staff, at the Alba, had not mentioned Fasta Pasta as an option for an evening meal while their restaurant is closed for refurbishment, even though it is literally next door on the corner of South Terrace and Pultney Street. You may be aware that Fasta Pasta is an upmarket Italian restaurant franchise with its beginnings in Adelaide. Currently they have 19 restaurants Australia wide (with the majority in South Australia - we even have one in Gawler, our home town). I've never had bad food at a Fasta Pasta, and their food never looks like a franchise meal. You always feel you're at a restaurant that's a little bit more quality than your typical hotel/motel meal. Maybe it's because you don't see as much pasta based meals on an Aussie pub menu. Despite the name, it's not all pasta. I went with a basic plate of fish a

Looking for a Conspiracy Starter? Try The Conspiracy Theory Chart (2021) by Abbie Richards

Abbie Richards - creator of The Conspiracy Chart. I've never heard of Abbie Richards until today, while I was trawling the internet for something to post to this blog. She claims to be professionally obsessed with TikTok, a mis and disinformation researcher, and a research fellow at @TheARConsortium but she may just be an A.I. bot programmed by the far left to annoy right wing keyboard warriors, probably? Anyway Abbie produced an updated version of her Conspiracy Theory Chart to reflect more recent thinking (up until November 23, 2021 at least). Whether or not you believe anything listed to be a conspiracy or 'truth that will come out as more people wake up' the chart is a great starting point for anyone investigating 'new, enlightened thinking' with dubious connection to actual facts to draw their conclusions. Conspiracy theories are everywhere and people don't understand how harmful they are. I made the original Conspiracy Chart over a year ago. An update was

Are Ion Thrusters the Future of Flying Cars? Spoiler - Probably Not But... Hover Boards... Maybe?

Undefined Technologies Ion Propulsion Drone prototype 3D concept image. You may have heard of Ion engines or, more likely, Ion thrusters. NASA uses them on their spacecraft to help maintain a craft's position or to propel them through space.  Upon hearing that you might think they're big, powerful engines, but actually they are not. They work well in the vacuum of space but, once any kind of atmosphere and gravity is involved they'd be hard pressed to launch you off the ground if you strapped four of them to your lawn chair and yelled "up, up, and away!" I am no expert on Ion thrusters - they're basically magic that science has an explanation for. If you want to know the details, The Space Techie website has a layman's explanation .  Build Your Own Ion Thruster Earth based Ion Thrusters work a bit different to their  space based cousins by Ionizing the same air that we breathe to create thrust (an effect known as Ionic-wind ).  While they sound highly soph

"Life's Tough, Get a Helmet" - Literally!

Imagine if we took this quote literally for any tough situation we had to face. I can just see it now. You hear a voice from the other room... "Honey, I think the baby needs changing?" Better go get your helmet. Not just any helmet either. You'd have a range of helmets to suit whatever life throws at you. Big presentation at the office? You'll have a helmet for that. Job interview? You'll have a helmet for that. Helping the kids with their homework. You'll need a helmet. Having the 'Talk' with your teenage children? I think you'll need a specially designed helmet for that! There seems to be some debate as to where the quote  Life's tough, get a helmet originates from? Some attribute it to Denis Leary whilst others attribute it to the TV show, The Hills , and still others say it's from the TV Show, Boy Meets World ? Personally I think we can rule out The Hills but we'll probably need a helmet to resolve this. All in