1: Raiders of The Lost Ark
One of the first things I noticed about rewatching this at my age; did Indy rape Marion? Is Indy a pedophile? Here, this is their entire exchange (taken from IMDB):
Indiana:
Hello, Marion.
Marion: Indiana Jones. I always knew some day you'd come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. So, what are you doing here in Nepal?
Indiana: I need one of the pieces your father collected.
[Marion surprises him with a right cross to the jaw]
Marion: I've learned to hate you in the last ten years!
Indiana: I never meant to hurt you.
Marion: I was a child. I was in love. It was wrong and you knew it!
Indiana: You knew what you were doing.
Marion: Now I do. This is my place. Get out!
This is an uncomfortable thing that popped up in our rewatching of raiders that I didn't see when I was younger, and it kind of lends a fucked up flavor to the rest of the movie. Regardless, I just wanted to point it out in case any one else might have forgotten about it. Raiders is a pretty good movie about an "archeologist" working for the U.S. government and tasked with finding the ark of the covenant before the Nazis because it might be a weapon. Harrison Ford is really good at playing a rogue archetype. He has the looks and the charisma to pull it off well, which is why he also flourished as Han Solo. While the movie takes some pretty extreme liberties with archeology, it's still fun to watch. Like its sequels, you cannot take it to seriously. These movies are meant to be pulp-y adventures and Raiders catches that feeling well. Chases are over the top, the fights are exciting, and the movie revels in bombastic set pieces. The cast is good, and have good chemistry together. Its a fun movie, that influenced so much in cinema that it should be watched just to see the influence it lends.
Eshi: I've ignored the whole Indiana Jones franchise for years. Didn't watch it as a kid until the unspeakable fourth one came out, and that kinda poisoned me against the rest of the series. Recently, as Brian said, I've been trying to fill in some of my cinematic gaps. So we decided Indy had to happen. Raiders was lots of fun. Harrison Ford, as a tomb-raiding archeologist in a world where the average I.Q. is down thirty or forty points on average, is the lovable, bumbling douchebag so many action stars wish they could pull off. You end up liking him despite yourself, implied sexual exploitation and everything. It's worth the watch on a lazy weekend.
2: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
I am not really a fan of this movie. It feels too much like the people who made it wanted to make a more child friendly movie than raiders to expand the demographic. That being said, there is some gruesome shit in this movie that makes it not ok for kids. People are ripped apart by gators at one point. The main bad guy rips the heart out of someone's chest and the burns them alive (long story involving evil magic). This movie was the weakest in the trilogy until they decided to not make it a trilogy anymore. It seems a little too much like "white guy saves the day" for me, and I don't think it has a great grasp on the religion it portrays (why the hell was a voodoo doll in this movie?). That being said, some of the chase scenes are fun and the movie is at least watchable. Also, what the hell happened to Short Round? This movie takes place a year before raiders, but he is not in that movie at all. Just saying. Anyway, check it out.
Eshi: Racism is out of control. Temple of Doom develops an auto-fellatio problem that only seems to worsen as the franchise continues. ToD is a prequel, which has the unfortunate side effect of making Dr. Jones in the first movie an even bigger piece of shit. Indy isn't just an affable dickhead anymore, he's a willingly deluded (watches a dude murder people with his racist hate magic, still doesn't believe in all the "hocus pocus"), multiple-kidnapper (Short Round is a fucking street urchin that Indy just kinda takes, and he literally holds Kate Capshaw's character hostage in order to extort/escape from fucking mobsters), whose most endearing feature is a meme. Feel free to skip this one.
3: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
I really like this movie. Some of the "puzzles" that get solved don't make sense (the roman numeral one in particular seemed stupid) and how Indiana speaks English in Nazi Germany and isn't arrested didn't make sense, but it is still a fun movie. After watching all those James Bond movies it was nice to see Sean Connery as a bumbler. Connery is a great actor, and he has a lot of fun with this role. I found it odd that they made one of the Nazis seem like they might turn around and be a good guy but then just drops that and kills them off. The movie still remains action packed with some great chase scenes. I love it when a movie just decides to go over the top and does so well. It's so easy for that to get out of hand and dumb, but Last Crusade handles the action with finesse (most of the time). This movie is fun, check it out. Also, remember your Charlemagne.
Eshi: I feel like Sean Connery kinda saved this movie. Indy continues his decent into masturbatory material for Spielberg and Lucas, wandering ever farther into the land of unintentional competence porn. Allison Doody has no chemistry with Harrison Ford whatsoever, which makes his persistent molestation, and her apparent apathy, uncomfortable. Connery, however, is just the right amount of clueless nerd, confusedly stumbling through hostile situations, too oblivious to acknowledge his own immanent peril. Last Crusade is back to fun, despite it's flaws. Maybe give it a go.
Marion: Indiana Jones. I always knew some day you'd come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. So, what are you doing here in Nepal?
Indiana: I need one of the pieces your father collected.
[Marion surprises him with a right cross to the jaw]
Marion: I've learned to hate you in the last ten years!
Indiana: I never meant to hurt you.
Marion: I was a child. I was in love. It was wrong and you knew it!
Indiana: You knew what you were doing.
Marion: Now I do. This is my place. Get out!
This is an uncomfortable thing that popped up in our rewatching of raiders that I didn't see when I was younger, and it kind of lends a fucked up flavor to the rest of the movie. Regardless, I just wanted to point it out in case any one else might have forgotten about it. Raiders is a pretty good movie about an "archeologist" working for the U.S. government and tasked with finding the ark of the covenant before the Nazis because it might be a weapon. Harrison Ford is really good at playing a rogue archetype. He has the looks and the charisma to pull it off well, which is why he also flourished as Han Solo. While the movie takes some pretty extreme liberties with archeology, it's still fun to watch. Like its sequels, you cannot take it to seriously. These movies are meant to be pulp-y adventures and Raiders catches that feeling well. Chases are over the top, the fights are exciting, and the movie revels in bombastic set pieces. The cast is good, and have good chemistry together. Its a fun movie, that influenced so much in cinema that it should be watched just to see the influence it lends.
Eshi: I've ignored the whole Indiana Jones franchise for years. Didn't watch it as a kid until the unspeakable fourth one came out, and that kinda poisoned me against the rest of the series. Recently, as Brian said, I've been trying to fill in some of my cinematic gaps. So we decided Indy had to happen. Raiders was lots of fun. Harrison Ford, as a tomb-raiding archeologist in a world where the average I.Q. is down thirty or forty points on average, is the lovable, bumbling douchebag so many action stars wish they could pull off. You end up liking him despite yourself, implied sexual exploitation and everything. It's worth the watch on a lazy weekend.
2: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
I am not really a fan of this movie. It feels too much like the people who made it wanted to make a more child friendly movie than raiders to expand the demographic. That being said, there is some gruesome shit in this movie that makes it not ok for kids. People are ripped apart by gators at one point. The main bad guy rips the heart out of someone's chest and the burns them alive (long story involving evil magic). This movie was the weakest in the trilogy until they decided to not make it a trilogy anymore. It seems a little too much like "white guy saves the day" for me, and I don't think it has a great grasp on the religion it portrays (why the hell was a voodoo doll in this movie?). That being said, some of the chase scenes are fun and the movie is at least watchable. Also, what the hell happened to Short Round? This movie takes place a year before raiders, but he is not in that movie at all. Just saying. Anyway, check it out.
Eshi: Racism is out of control. Temple of Doom develops an auto-fellatio problem that only seems to worsen as the franchise continues. ToD is a prequel, which has the unfortunate side effect of making Dr. Jones in the first movie an even bigger piece of shit. Indy isn't just an affable dickhead anymore, he's a willingly deluded (watches a dude murder people with his racist hate magic, still doesn't believe in all the "hocus pocus"), multiple-kidnapper (Short Round is a fucking street urchin that Indy just kinda takes, and he literally holds Kate Capshaw's character hostage in order to extort/escape from fucking mobsters), whose most endearing feature is a meme. Feel free to skip this one.
3: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
I really like this movie. Some of the "puzzles" that get solved don't make sense (the roman numeral one in particular seemed stupid) and how Indiana speaks English in Nazi Germany and isn't arrested didn't make sense, but it is still a fun movie. After watching all those James Bond movies it was nice to see Sean Connery as a bumbler. Connery is a great actor, and he has a lot of fun with this role. I found it odd that they made one of the Nazis seem like they might turn around and be a good guy but then just drops that and kills them off. The movie still remains action packed with some great chase scenes. I love it when a movie just decides to go over the top and does so well. It's so easy for that to get out of hand and dumb, but Last Crusade handles the action with finesse (most of the time). This movie is fun, check it out. Also, remember your Charlemagne.
Eshi: I feel like Sean Connery kinda saved this movie. Indy continues his decent into masturbatory material for Spielberg and Lucas, wandering ever farther into the land of unintentional competence porn. Allison Doody has no chemistry with Harrison Ford whatsoever, which makes his persistent molestation, and her apparent apathy, uncomfortable. Connery, however, is just the right amount of clueless nerd, confusedly stumbling through hostile situations, too oblivious to acknowledge his own immanent peril. Last Crusade is back to fun, despite it's flaws. Maybe give it a go.
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