Indiana Jones - All Movies Ranked and Reviewed

Listen, I respect your opinion… but that Last Crusade section has gotta be top 10 worst takes of all time 😭 Ford and Connery have some of the best chemistry ever put on screen and the way their characters’ relationship develops throughout the story is beautiful. All Indy wants is to be validated by his father. They aren’t even close but Indy will go to the ends of the earth and fight the world’s greatest evil just to save him. When his dad finally calls him “Indiana” at the end… absolutely beautiful. It’s all he ever wanted. And for Henry Sr, he has been so obsessed with his own interests his whole life. Books, learning, structure. He finally just embraces adventure at the end, tying his handkerchief around his head and riding off on his horse towards the sunset. It’s perfect

The only thing I disagree with is the take on Last Crusade. I think they did a great job grounding and humanizing indiana more then the other films, which makes his character more relatable and realistic.

I personally think Last crusade is the best 1 out of the series.

As expected, I have to disagree on the Last Crusade. I'd give a solid 8 or even a 9. Probably the most fun to watch, and an iconic Sean Connery in addition, what's not to like

The Last Crusade was a perfect sequel, and it was so fun to see in the theaters nothing like his Grail trials had ever been shown before

Dude Temple of Doom rules, you’re nuts

So, fun fact about the intro of Last Crusade, the guy who was in charge of the dig who gives Indy his hat was originally supposed to be Abner Ravenwood, Indy’s mentor and Marion’s father. It was technically changed but that was the original intent and viewing it through that context makes the intro so much more meaningful.

Can’t disagree more on your take of last crusade. The relationship between Indy and his father isn’t forced, it’s strained, this is clearly explained in the airship scene. The comedy aspects fit in well within the context of each scene. Henry Snr is hardly a screaming damsel in distress, he’s the calm personality to tame Indy’s impulsive behavior.

Fun fact about Temple of Doom. Lao Che is the only villain not to die. I don't consider Fedora Man at the beginning of Last Crusade a villain. He was only working for one (maybe just for that one job), but he really respected young Indy and clearly inspired him. His boss was a villain who later died. Raiders had the same main villain for the opening and main story and he of course died.

I think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the greatest sequel ever made. I say sequel because, technically, the events of this film take place two years after his quest for the Ark. This film has everything we could possibly want and more. The pacing is also flawless, and we have Marcus and Sallah returning. We open with an Indy origin story. Turns out he was indeed a cowboy, growing up in a state where the Wild West would have been thriving. Indeed, the early 1910s are acknowledged by most historians as being the final years of the era. We have plenty of Biblical references, with the Cross of Coronado subplot, Indy once again falling into a pit of serpents, and finding himself in a “Daniel in the lion's den” dilemma, and on a moving circus train, no less! It's an exhilarating first act. We go globetrotting again, stopping at many exotic locations. Utah, Italy, Austria, Germany, Greece, and Hatay. In beautiful Venice, we find out that X really does mark the spot. We descend into creepy rat-infested catacombs and uncover the remains of a knight from the Dark Ages. We also get a nice reference to Indy's earlier discovery of the Ark. After a heart-pounding boat chase through the Venetian waterways, we arrive at an ancient castle in Austria, where Indy revives the grand old tradition of jousting - with motorbikes! Next, we take a detour to Berlin and Indy comes face to face with the Führer, and gets an autograph to prove it! From here we board an airship and engage in a dogfight over the Greek coast, where Indy and his dad haphazardly take down two fighter planes. No sooner have we got our feet back on the ground, we're venturing into the Arabian desert. At the Sultan of Hatay's palace, Donovan negotiates a joint expedition across the desert to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon while Indy and Henry meet up with Sallah at Iskenderun. We then come to my favourite action sequence of the entire series, the tank chase. Indy, on horseback, takes on an entourage of German soldiers and their WW1 tank, which is a relic in itself. We eventually arrive at our final destination, where Indy faces his toughest challenge yet. Donovan is betrayed by Elsa, and pretty much turns into a zombie. We meet a 700 year old Templar knight guarding the cup of Christ, which is ultimately lost, but Indy realises that the real treasure was staring him in the face all along. The quest for the grail has rekindled his relationship with his estranged father. To top it off, we discover how Indy got his name. What more could you ask for? This movie is absolutely jam-packed. As a sequel, it delivers on every level, never leaves the viewer wanting, and the ending shot is simply spectacular. My only criticism would be that the Path of God test makes no sense. If the bridge is hidden via optical illusion, then the trial has nothing to do with faith and those who are not pure of heart may cross it as successfully as the faithful. On the other hand, if the bridge is an invisible one that only manifests if you have true faith, how did Donovan and Elsa cross it? They are not true believers, so shouldn't they have fallen to their doom?

I adore last crusade. I highly relate to the relationship between Indy and his dad aswell as love the crusade/medieval period of history. It all just speaks to me on a personal level.

Fun fact: temple of doom is the reason we have the pg13 rating. It was so violent that it couldn’t classified as pg, but not violent enough to be rated R, so Lucas encouraged the esrb to create the middleground: pg13

I've never understood the level of shade thrown at Temple of Doom. It's always been my favorite Indy movie. Maybe because it was my first Indiana Jones movie when I was a kid and I was a HUGE Indy fan. I mean, I bought a hat and whip and dressed up for adventures in my backyard (dont judge me, I was an only child), and even enrolled in junior archeology programs, although I lost interest as there was very little whip swinging or Nazi shooting. Anyways, aside from the boulder scene in Raiders, Temple of Doom has more iconic moments than any other movie in the series--The mine carts, the rope bridge, the heart-ripping scene... Overall, it's still my favorite.

I'm not so sure Kate Capshaw got the job because she was with Spielberg. My understanding is that it's the other way around. She was cast in the role and that's how she and Spielberg met and started dating then eventually married. I remember seeing an interview with Spielberg where he says he really disliked Temple of Doom and disagreed with a lot of Lucas' choices, but the one good thing that came of the movie was that he met Kate Capshaw.

Honestly the Indiana Jones movies have some things that arent that great but they are still masterpieces in my opinion (all 4 of them) and that being said i cant wait for the 5th movie to come out Oh and also at 4:41 the reason why Indy knows when to close his eyes is because as to simply put it "he went to sunday school" Basically in the bible its explained that anyone who saw the power of god was turned into dust wich is also referenced earlier in the movie so Indy knowing when to close his eyes is justified.

Raiders is flawless period! Temple of Doom is flawless! Last crusade flawless! Crystal skull does not exist!

Raiders was the best. Suspension of disbelief? The payoff was wondering what was inside the ark.

The young indiana jones series actually explains why indy traded the urn for the diamond at the beginning of doom. The diamond was an artifact he has been looking for for a long time.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" - It's original and fun to watch. "Temple of Doom" - It's very original but not as fun to watch. "The Last Crusade" - It's not original but very fun to watch. "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" - It was fun for a bunch of 60-somethings to make, I'm sure.

I always thought that when Indiana Jones closed his eyes at the end, that was because he was a well studied scholar, who knew his Bible well, “no one looks upon the face of God and lives.” so I never really thought of it as a plot point problem.