Indiana Jones franchise (movies, books, comics, games)

[JD]

Since they've been added to Amazon Prime I've been working my way through the Indiana Jones movies for the first time in ages, and I've been really enjoying myself.
Raiders of the Lost Arc:
A great introduction to the character, and just a fun movie overall. I really don't have any criticisms of this, pretty much everything works. Indy is a great hero, he's charming, he kicks ass, he's smart, and he's actually allowed to be hurt. With so many perfect heroes who can come out unscathed after numerous fights, and shootouts, and near death experiences, it's nice see a hero who actually is shown in pain.
The supporting cast is also outstanding with Karen Allen's Marion and John Rhys Davies' Sallah as highlights. The movie's two big villains Paul Freeman's Belloq and Ronald Tracy's Toht are good to, with Belloq as nice rival to Indy, and while Toht isn't given quite as much to do, he is very creepy. The action scenes are great, with the standouts being the opening in the South American jungle, with the iconic giant stone ball, the big fight in the bar, and the chase and fight in the desert.
The story is good to, with quest for the Ark as a nice motivation for all of the action, and tomb exploration.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom:
Definitely the weakest movies, with an annoying love interest, some borderline rascist content, and a very different tone from the other two movies.
While the first movie's sidekick and love interest were a lot of fun, this one has an annoying love interest and a borderline racist sidekick. After the kick ass Marion from the first movie, who definitely stood alongside Indy as an equal, this time we end up with Kate Capshaw as the whiny, annoying Willie Scott. Now I will admit, she did kind of grow on me as the movie went along, but she never reached the same heights as Marion. This one also trades out the adult Sallah, for the kid sidekick Short Round, who talks in an over the top accent. Now other than the accent Short Round is actually a pretty good character, as far as kid sidekicks go, he keeps up pretty well with Indy, and even gets to kick a bit of ass as he goes along.
While it does still have a bit of humor in it, the overall tone of the movie is much, much darker than the first one.
There's also the dinner scene, with over the top disgusting food that, according to wikipedia, have never actually been eaten in India.
Now are still some good things in this one that are able still make this one enjoyable overall, even if it isn't as good as the rest. Like the first one, there are some good actions scenes, like the opening fight in Shanghai, and the famous mine cart scene. Amrish Puri's Mola Ram isn't quite as interesting as Belloq, but he's still a pretty good villain.
The story is pretty good too, with an interesting mcguffin in the sacred stones, and wanting to save the village and rescue the children as a nice motivation.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:
This one takes things right back up to the quality of Raiders IMO, with a lot of the negative points from Temple of Doom being countered in this one.
Of course the biggest highlight in this one is Sean Connery's Dr. Henry Jones Sr., Indy's dad. The bantering and bickering between the Joneses really does a lot to make this movie fun. Elsa Schneider is definitely a much more interesting love interest than Willie Scott, and come close to the same level as Marion. The reveal that she is a Nazi, and her betrayal of the Joneses is a nice twist, and the Joneses reaction when they realize they both slept with her gives us a couple of funny moments. Sallah and Marcus Brody's returns are also a nice after both of them having skipped Temple of Doom. Julian Glover's Donovan is another cool villain.
The quest for the Holy Grail is a nice story, and leads to some more great action scenes.
I haven't watched Kingdom of the Crystal Skull yet, but I probably will next week.
Watching the movies has gotten me really into the series again, and I was wondering if an of the books, comics, or games worth checking out?

 

[Gaith]

 

[Tosk]

It's a fairly old game, but Fate of Atlantis is the balls.

I never cared for the comics much, but a handful of the novels are pretty good.

 

[Kor]

"Temple of Doom" works best if you consider just about everything that happens in the temple to be some kind of hallucination induced by that stuff they forced Indy to drink.

Kor

 

[Hugo Rune]

Raiders of the Lost Arc:

Oh you get the Special Edition where they tell the story of Indy strapped to the submarine whilst it sailed through the Mediterranean without diving once, or Indy dying from thirst?

Good find!

Hugo -

 

[UssGlenn]

Raiders is my favorite movie of all time. My Avatar is Spock dressed as Indy, from artwork done by ILM while they were making Temple of Doom and The Search for Spock at the same time.

The Submarine sequence has a few issues, but not always the ones people think. They cut a sequence of Indy lashing himself to the periscope with his whip, there are photos. However Indy doesn't appear to have his whip with him when he climbs on board the submarine. Secondly, there is no reason for the Submarine to submerge in the first place, as there is no war going on and diesel subs are faster on the surface. But if they don't submerge, then everyone wouldn't go below and Indy would be seen by the lookouts. Sound effects and german dialoge indicate they are submerging, but we never actually see it happen. If you look very closely at the end of the travel montage you can see a small brown blur clinging to the periscope as the submarine approaches the island.
http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders/gallery/dvdscreenshots/348.jpg

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

It's a little known fact that WW1 and WW2 subs spent more time on surface than underneath the surface. They were more submersible ships than true submarines.

 

[JD]

I did not know that.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Always rely on a Trekkie to bleed the fun out of things.

Fun fact - until I read it on Cracked I never thought about Indy strapping himself to a submersible ship, possibly for days. Why? Cos the film's so fast paced and freaking fun that I never noticed the "plot hole". Or the fact that nothing Indy does matters in any shape or form from a plot perspective.

Hugo - sometimes ignorance is bliss

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

Oh you get the Special Edition where they tell the story of Indy strapped to the submarine whilst it sailed through the Mediterranean without diving once, or Indy dying from thirst?

Always rely on a Trekkie to bleed the fun out of things.

Fun fact - until I read it on Cracked I never thought about Indy strapping himself to a submersible ship, possibly for days. Why? Cos the film's so fast paced and freaking fun that I never noticed the "plot hole". Or the fact that nothing Indy does matters in any shape or form from a plot perspective.

Like I already explained, WW2-era submarines spend most of their time surfaced running because of the limitations of their diesel engines. They dived only when attacking or getting attacked.

Plus the submarine was traveling from Egypt to a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. That's what, about 400 nautical miles distance? How is Indy going to die of thirst on a few hours voyage?

 

[Hugo Rune]

Yeah. OK. You're not even worth a "Whoosh".

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

Yeah. OK. You're not even worth a "Whoosh".

WW2 era submarines didn't make a "whoosh" either. It was more like a "splash" sound, obviously.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Hugo - moving swiftly on then...

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

You were asking if there was any other more "Indiana Jones" material worth checking out-

(& not know-it-all nonsense about periscopes)....

-The 10-12 Indiana Jones novels are worth investigating. By Rob McGregor, Martin Cadin, Max McCoy. They fill in the post-"Young Indiana Jones"/ pre-"Temple of Doom" Era. Their covers are generally feature awesome artwork too!

-For my money, "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles"" features some of the best work George Lucas ever did.

If you have an appetite for history, and appreciate production values like great music, costumes, locations, cinematography, etc., there is so much to enjoy in this show. I think YIJC was a very ambitious show, and too good for American TV in 1992. Sometimes the pacing is slightly laborious, but I think YIJC as a whole is just excellent.

The books "The Complete Making of Indiana Jones", and "The Making of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" are worth purchasing as well.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the only good movie in the Indian Jones franchise. Not just 'good' ... hell ... it's phenomenal! After that, the movies progressively sucked worse and worse. I'm really not looking forward to the next one and didn't even want to see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, except that I was given it as a present and ... it sucked so bad. I can't watch anymore of these shitfull nostalgia movies. If they reboot the Indy series and keep him in the 30's and 40's I'll give it a go, but Harrison's aged himself out of the role long ago and it's become as tired and old as he is. Time for some fresh blood! Hell ... I'd even chance a Mutt Williams version of an Indy movie, if it were handled the 'right' way (of which I'm doubtful). Having said that, Willie Scott made Temple of Doom very enjoyable for me. That opening of her singing "Anything Goes" was Hollywood Gold! ROTLA was so good that a sequel was demanded. There was no getting out of it. But ToD really should've been the last Indy movie and as a fan, I'm really sorry it wasn't ...

 

[DimesDan]

I've always prefered Temple of Doom.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Plus the submarine was traveling from Egypt to a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. That's what, about 400 nautical miles distance? How is Indy going to die of thirst on a few hours voyage?

A German U-Boat, such as the Type I or the Type VII, both of which launched in 1936, had a top speed of 17 knots, or 20 miles an hour. Assuming top speed, that's still a 20 hour journey.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

A German U-Boat, such as the Type I or the Type VII, both of which launched in 1936, had a top speed of 17 knots, or 20 miles an hour. Assuming top speed, that's still a 20 hour journey.

So you agree with me that Indy wouldn't die of thirst on a 20 hour journey. Thank you!

 

[Allyn Gibson]

He could survive the 20-hour trip, sure. People have survived far worse. See, for instance, the survivors of the USS Indianapolis.

 

[Gaith]

People bang on and on and on about the submarine thing, but I've seen only a handful of people point out how Wonder Woman 1) has both leads on a sailing ship sleep at the same time, which is negligent at best and suicidal at worst, 2) implies that a sail from the Mediterranean to the heart of London can be done overnight (with a minor tugboat assist)*, and 3) if getting to London is a high priority, why not disembark at Cornwall and take a train, rather than sail all the way around the southern coast of England, and then up the Thames?

(*And if it isn't overnight, and the movie skips a week or two while giving the distinct impression of not doing so, why doesn't Diana quiz Steve on world history, instead of remaining so very ignorant of just about everything?)

Indy's submarine ride stretches plausibility, granted. But Doom's magic raft ride and Donkey Kong mine-cart level both smash any notion of plausibility to pieces, as does Last Crusade's nonsensical Sr. faulty memory (he's studied the Grail his whole life, but doesn't remember three very basic clues?!), and as for Skull... well, everyone's pretty clear on that one.