Temple of Doom versus Crystal Skull

[Canadave]

This past Saturday, some friends and I watched all four Indiana Jones movies. A local theatre had a triple bill of the original trilogy, and we rented KotCS for the sake of completeness. It was the first time I'd watched all four in that rapid succession, and after we finished, we had an interesting discussion on which films we liked best.

We were in general agreement that Raiders was first, with Last Crusade fairly close behind, and then a big gap before Temple and Crystal Skull. But we were split on which was better.

Personally? I came to the realization that I actually prefer Crystal Skull to Temple. Yeah, it's not a great movie by any stretch, but while watching Temple, I couldn't help but be reminded of just how bloody boring it is. After the opening, there's virtually no interesting action or set pieces up until the last 15 minutes of the movie! The mine cart chase is kinda fun, I guess, but it's at least as silly as any of the action sequences in Crystal Skull, and the fight on the bridge descends into pretty ridiculous camp.

Add to that the fact that the supporting cast is better (Mutt and Willie cancel one another out, and Short Round is good, but not up to Marion, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, and Ray Winstone's level), and I was left with the surprising conclusion that Crystal Skull is the better movie.

Anyone with me?

 

[Stevil2001]

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but it's hardly a surprise. I knew that the moment I stepped out of the theatre. It's just a nice, fun movie. I mean, it's not Raiders of the Lost Ark, but then few movies are. I was more than entertained by it.

 

[Ward Fowler]

TOD has a lot of flaws but Crystal Skull has way more. Plus, IMO, TOD is much closer in spirit to Raiders than Crystal Skull is. There's really no comparison.

 

[Anwar]

Shouldn't there be a "Both" option? I liked them bother equally, even if they weren't as good as Raiders.

 

[Caligula]

The real question to ask would be how I compare either film with The Last Crusade, but for the sake of this thread I'll go ahead and say I like Temple of Doom more than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

 

[Amaris]

It's close, but I prefer Temple to Kingdom. "Maybe he like older women!"

 

[Ward Fowler]

Thinking about it, IMO, The Crystal Skull didn't have anything nearly as entertaining as the beginning scene of TOD. Not even close.

 

[Agenda]

Temple of Doom by far. Crystal Skull was just going through the motions, lacking the charm and charisma of all the Indiana Jones flicks. Even if you hated Short round and Willie, at least they were memorable, unlike Shia LaBeouf. And Mola Ram was badass. OTOH, you couldn't take Cate Blanchett and her Russian gang seriously at all.

 

[Nardpuncher]

Even taking into account nostalgia (I saw TOD when I was 10) I pick Temple of Doombecause it doesn't have bloody aliens or Indy hiding in a fridge or monkeys with pompadours or a 10 minute speeding chase through dense jungle with sword fighting.

 

[Gojira]

I prefer Crystal Skull because I found Temple to be boring other than the dinner table scene.

 

[Sparky]

Temple of Doom by far. I would rate them in this order.

Raiders
Temple



Crystal Skull

Last Crusade.

 

[clint g]

I'm going with Crystal Skull. At leas it never put me to sleep.

 

[Broccoli]

All four are awesome.

 

[DeafPoet]

Temple of Doom

Crystal Skull is the worst Indy movie, but Indy movies are like sex and pizza. Even when they're bad they're still pretty good.

 

[Myasishchev]

Temple is better than Skull; it is also better than Raiders and possibly Crusade.

 

[Canadave]

Temple is better than Skull; it is also better than Raiders and possibly Crusade.

You know, I honestly can't understand this. To each their own, I know, but what makes Temple the better film for you? It honestly bores me to tears, while the others do not.

 

[Gaith]

KotCS by a mile. I don't much like it, but Willie's constant screaming alone makes ToD unwatchable. Who knows, maybe someday when I'm an old fart I'll appreciate KotCS on a pure cheese level as much as Ebert - unlikely, but stranger things have happened. But I'll be damned if I ever enjoy ToD.

The more interesting question, imo, is which movie has better potential through fan editing. InfoDroid's edit of Doom actually makes it a good movie, though it doesn't quite go far enough.

As for any Indy movie being better than Raiders... no, never, not possible. The best Indy movie is Raiders, and the second-best is The Mummy. After that, the conversation may start, so long as it's understood that ToD ranks dead, dead last, right down there with Mummy Returns in terms of club-yourself-unconscious-rather-than-watch-bad.

 

[Pauln6]

It's not an easy comparison to make. ToD suffered in my view because it dropped a lot of the characters from RotLA (I felt the absence of Marion particularly keenly). Many of the supporting cast were brought back in LC to good effect.

I think Shia was pretty cool in CS but while I've longed to see Marion again, I felt she was a bit muted and under-used, although still far better than a lot of other movie heroines, obviously. I felt that CS dragged in a couple of places and I'm not a fan of allowing sci-fi to overshadow mysticism. I think the last factor is why I prefer ToD overall.

 

[Shurik]

Crystal Skull by a light year. It was fun to watch, it wasn't boring and I have no problems with aliens in the end of the movie. Raiders is still the best Indy movie for me, and Last Crusade with Crystal Skull are close second. Temple Of Doom is far behind.

I don't understand why lots of people seem to have a problem with the aliens. The ark of covenant with ghosts coming out of it and melting people's faces made more sense? The 800-year old knight who guards the holy grail is more logical?

 

[Shazam!]

I much prefer Temple Of Doom. There's nothing in that movie that makes me go "I kinda wish that wasn't there..."

I liked Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, but there are a few things that bug me post fridge scene (a scene which I don't really mind, btw).

Monkey swinging, cars bouncing of trees, giant waterfalls, aliens who aren't aliens (why couldn't they have just been aliens?) and redundant cast members gave me the feeling of a first draft that they forgot to refine.

I wish it had been a much smaller story. The first scene should have been the finale.