Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull · 3. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The start of the Indiana Jones franchise actually began with the desire to make a film in another established film series. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were vacationing together in 1977, during the first weekend of Star Wars, when Lucas asked Spielberg, who was in post-production of Close Encounters of the Third Kind at the time, what kind of film he wanted to make next.
Spielberg said that he had always wanted to direct a James Bond film, to which Lucas replied: “Well, I have that rhythm. The Star Wars filmmaker proceeded to present an adventure film along the lines of the series of the 30s and 40s starring a heroic archaeologist named Indiana Smith. Spielberg loved everything but the name, he suggested Jones as the new last name, and thus one of the most enduring film franchises in history was born. What makes Jones a unique action hero is that he's always a little over his head.
He doesn't have all the rhythms worked 30 steps in advance, there's an on-the-fly quality in his attitude that makes the trip much more enjoyable, because as a member of the public you don't necessarily feel that Indiana Jones can survive anything. Yes, of course, but it's always close. The iconic image of Indy always trying to hold on to his hat at the last moment is not only intelligent, but also indicative of Indiana Jones as a whole. He does it in one piece, but often because of the skin on his nose.
Forty years ago, In Search of the Lost Ark premiered and introduced us to one of the most emblematic heroes of blockbuster cinema, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), an inveterate globetrotting archaeologist dressed in a leather jacket and a felt hat and armed with a whip. Conceived by George Lucas as a return to the adventure series of the 1930s, the Indiana Jones films by director Steven Spielberg offer a unique mix of international period adventures, thrilling action and encounters with the supernatural. In addition to four feature films (and a fifth on the way), the franchise has demonstrated its popularity with an expanded universe that includes television series, comics, games, theme park attractions and even a legendary fan remake of In Search of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones movies have also proven to have a strong influence on the action-adventure genre, inspiring films such as The Mummy and National Treasure from 1999, and even video games such as the Tomb Raider and Uncharted franchises.
Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) is a forgettable and underdeveloped companion, and his chemistry with Harrison Ford pales in comparison to the sidekick dynamic of previous films. Ordinary Russian villains are predictable, but Cate Blanchett's turn as a KGB scientist is strangely observable. While delving into silly territory towards the end, the plot of ancient aliens is intriguing and fits well with the setting of the 1950s. The John Williams soundtrack is also a highlight of the film, as it offers an exciting musical accompaniment to the action, as well as a spooky theme for the skull.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull isn't all bad, but it's not quite as compelling and exciting as its predecessors. In 1957, archaeologist and adventurer Dr. He returns to action and is embroiled in a Soviet plot to discover the secret behind the mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls. Indiana Jones is one of the most iconic action heroes of all time.
But which of his adventures reigns supreme and which doesn't? Below are ALL of the Indiana Jones movies ranked from worst to best. Looking back at In Search of the Lost Ark, it's refreshing to see what's based on dialogue and characters in the film as a “blockbuster” movie. As false as some of the bugs in Temple of Doom seemed, they still felt tangible in relation to the actors, and tangibility goes a long way in leading the audience to dive into the adventures of Indiana Jones. They don't have to breathe new creative life into something like Indiana Jones, which people will line up in droves to watch regardless of the plot.
Temple of Doom isn't a bad movie: the sequence of booby traps on the way to the temple is one of the most effective Spielberg scenes in history, and the mining car chase in the end is exciting. Some disagreed with the fact that Indiana Jones would face aliens in the fourth Indy film, and while another MacGuffin focusing on religion might have been more appropriate, it makes sense that Lucas and Spielberg would want to address this particular type of story by moving the series to the 1950s. It's hard to imagine a better film to conclude the Indiana Jones trilogy than Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. When they leave the cave, his father calls Indy “Junior” again, which Indiana ultimately doesn't reluctantly discuss.
A skirmish in Shanghai puts archaeologist Indiana Jones, his partner Short Round and singer Willie Scott at a crossroads with an Indian town desperate to recover a rock stolen by a secret cult under the catacombs of an ancient palace. What differentiates this from a “secret identity dynamic”, as seen in superhero stories, is that Jones' daily work and adventures are the same: he enjoys knowledge and action, and doesn't even need to hide one side of his being from the other. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull focuses on the Soviet Union's covert operations and its search for The Lost City of Gold in the Amazon Rainforest. Indiana Jones, the antithesis of the most familiar material from George Lucas's Star Wars saga, promised to examine the effects of violence on the human soul, with a dark sense of humor that made the film more appealing to parents.
At first, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom didn't get the reception one might think it did when it first arrived in 1984. The problem with Temple of Doom isn't that it's a bad movie, but that it doesn't look enough like an Indiana Jones movie. . .
