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Rank The Indiana Jones Films


Temple Raider

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Hey all, been here a while but only recently got around to posting after checking my e-mails and seeing I still had a membership here, remembering I signed up. I searched for this topic but couldn't find it, if it exists by all means merge it.

This is one of my all-time favorite film series and I love every entry in their own way, even the much-maligned Crystal Skull. How do you rank them all in order of preference? My ranking is untraditional and probably even quite controversial, but it goes:

Temple Of Doom
Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

The Last Crusade



I'm sure numerous will want to come after me with torches and pitchforks for having Last Crusade last on my list, but don't take it as me disliking the film because I still dig it very much and even tend to rotate on it and Crystal Skull. I find Last Crusade was a little too comical at times for my liking and too much like Raiders, but I still enjoy it a lot. I think Raiders is the best in many ways but I find Temple Of Doom the most entertaining. I love it's much darker, harsher tone and how it differs from Raiders with more exotic locales, different enemies and a different mythlogy, plus I love the set designs and music. It's also got easily my favorite sequence in the series with the mine cart chase.

I think all four are excellent and I wouldn't mind a fifth one if they get on it ASAP.

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1. The Last Crusade

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark

4. Temple of Doom

Disqualified. That Crap with the Aliens

The Last Crusade is probably my all-time favorite "popcorn flick," and Raiders isn't far behind. I just found Temple of Doom too dark, and really out-of-place with the others. The heart scene is one of only two movie scenes I've ever had a nightmare about, and I've seen a lot of pretty dark movies. I agree with about 95% of the Nostalgia Critic's take on the film - I just don't find it an enjoyable movie. I actually was really expecting to enjoy Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and most the first half of the film lived up to my expectations... and then it just went completely off the rails. What was that bullshit with the ants? And I'm pretty sure I've mentally blocked the climax of the film. And then there's the fridge...

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Raiders of the Lost Ark is the only one which I hold in high regard, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the only one which I actively dislike. Of the other two, I think the crusade one is better than the skull one by a factor of six or seven zillion.

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I don't dislike KOTCS. I think there's some cringey stuff, some overly campy stuff... but I don't totally dislike it. And I definitely don't have a problem with the alien angle. That's the best thing about it.

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For me they just got better and better (with the exception of KOTCS) as Spielberg matured as an artist, and became a man rather than an overgrown kid. RAIDERS is fun but pretty hokey - CRUSADE is a richer film and stands up better to the test of time.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Last Crusade

Temple of Doom

Kingdom of the Crystal Thingamabob

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For me they just got better and better (with the exception of KOTCS) as Spielberg matured as an artist, and became a man rather than an overgrown kid. RAIDERS is fun but pretty hokey - CRUSADE is a richer film and stands up better to the test of time.

Man Spielberg is boring compared to manchild Spielberg!

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For me they just got better and better (with the exception of KOTCS) as Spielberg matured as an artist, and became a man rather than an overgrown kid. RAIDERS is fun but pretty hokey - CRUSADE is a richer film and stands up better to the test of time.

Man Spielberg is boring compared to manchild Spielberg!

What you say?

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I don't dislike KOTCS. I think there's some cringey stuff, some overly campy stuff... but I don't totally dislike it. And I definitely don't have a problem with the alien angle. That's the best thing about it.

It was definitely a disappointment during the first viewing but rewatches and viewing it alongside the original three helped it for me.

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To elaborate on my ranking, now that I have more time to. I like the first two better because they feel truest to the old serials with Indy having to crawl his way out of a hole only to fall into another. STAR WARS kind of had that too in its tribute to space opera serial. I enjoy THE LAST CRUSADE, but it's clearly by a Spielberg who's sensibilities have changed and isn't as interested in just doing another adventure with Indy, it needs to be about a father and son and how they bond after straying apart. As Sharky says, it's much more adult. I have nothing against that, I just prefer the more straight up adventures of the first two and the way they're paced. THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL pretty much follows what CRUSADE put up with Indy finding a new family with Marion, Mutt, Oxley and Broadbent, but it simply isn't as good.

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Either some have not seen CRYSTAL SKULL or they're being over dramatic.

I just never cared for Temple of Doom.

Short Round, for me, is the most annoying character in cinema history.

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Short Round, for me, is the most annoying character in cinema history.

jarjar2.jpg

I'd watch Jar Jar on a loop for 24 hours before 5 minutes of Short Round.

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Fuck the hate, Short Round is a child sidekick done right. When he gets chained to mine, he doesn't wait for Indy, he takes the initiative to free himself then break Indy from the spell. And he can kick ass!

THIS!

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