Live Blogging Indiana Jones

I finally indulged SnoBorderZero and watched Raiders.


Thoughts:


— Is the Disney+ version in 4K? Of the three Indy movies (the two newer ones don’t exist), I always felt Raiders looked the worst. The film stock isn’t very good and it has that brown tint to it that I’m not too fond of. But this version of it is pretty good. Some weird lighting aside, I wasn’t too bothered by the look of it.


— Raiders and Last Crusade get lumped in together. “IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!” wasn’t a theme at all here. Indy is compensated for the artifacts he brings in. People criticize Temple of Doom because Indy sells the remains of Nurhaci to Lao Che, but that’s very much in character based on what we see in Raiders. Indy got paid by the government to bring in the Ark. At the end, Marcus and Indy aren’t complaining “cause it belongs in a museum.” They’re arguing they should be allowed to research it. The Ark is government property. It isn’t owned by the museum.

— Marion does a fair amount of screaming and whining. This notion that she’s “the tough girl” is overblown. She’s very much a damsel in distress. Indy saves her life like three different times and Belloq very much intended on making her his sex slave. Then there’s also the weird backstory between Indy and Marion. My understanding is that Indy was a student of her father and Indy slept with Marion (who was underage) and her father got upset and disowned Indy. So Indy just dipped. Indy ripped and dipped Marion and then 30 years later marries her? Yeah, ok.

— The Big Bang Theory is incorrect. Indy is vital to the story. Without him, they don’t get the medallion that leads them to the ark.

— On that note, I’m still not quite sure what Indy’s plan was all along? He makes it easy to get discovered and pretty much does all the heavy lifting for Belloq and the Nazi’s. Indiana Jones isn’t a very good hero. He just has more common sense than the bad guys. That’s probably what makes him appealing to audiences. He’s certainly very human.

— Which leads me to my final observation. The U.S. government did the right thing. They threw the Ark in a box and put it away in storage. lol.

— Also, the line, “it’s not the years it’s the mileage” has a lot more weight to it when you’re an adult.

Temple of Doom


— It has my favorite opening of the series. Anything Goes. Club Obi Wan. Short Round’s introduction. Dan Aykroyd. “We’re not sinking. We’re crashing!” This is peak Indiana Jones.

— Controversial opinion. I like Willie Scott. She screams and whines a lot but the movie is self aware of it and gets a lot of humor out of it.

— Another controversial opinion. I think Kate Capshaw has better chemistry with Harrison Ford than Karen Allen. Marion was too young for Indiana Jones. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Carrie Fisher. Princess Leia. But Carrie Fisher had a lot of sass that played off well opposite Han Solo. Marion in Raiders might as well been that college girl who wrote “love you” on her eye lids. Kate Capshaw, as an actress, came across more mature and had great banter with Harrison Ford. The scene in which Indy and Willie are contemplating sleeping together, the 5 minutes scene, is a very fun comedic set piece that is enhanced by the performances. Kate Capshaw isn’t given the credit she deserves. She’s excellent in the role.

— Temple of Doom was my favorite Indy as a kid. I didn’t know people hated it till I got the internet. But I can see why it doesn’t hold up. The script ends and the movie just keeps on going. Indiana Jones gets the stones and frees the kids and then we gotta sit through THREE action set pieces?? The story is over! Spielberg, what are you doing? The script certainly needed to be refined, or at the very least, those action scenes needed to be trimmed down or condensed.

— George Lucas gets a lot of heat for Temple of Doom. “I was going through a divorce!” But Spielberg needs to take accountability. He had waaayyy more creative control than he’s willing to admit. This felt waaayyy more like an Amblin era Spielberg film than a George Lucas production. This fits in more with Poltergeist and Gremlins than Howard the Duck and Willow. Spielberg’s fingerprints are all over this but the PG-13 controversy certainly got to him.

Not a huge fan of the opening. Doesn't feel like Indiana Jones for me. But it's funny seeing him in a white tux a la James Bond.

Kate Capshaw is so annoying in Temple of Doom. No redeeming element to her character other than to just scream and ask questions for Indy and Short Round to answer that are essentially for the audience. I can't tell if she's just not good at acting or if she's actually really good at playing an extremely annoying character.

The final action pieces are really good and pick the movie up from the sort of middling territory it basks in for much of the film. Indy makes a lot of stupid decisions and Temple of Doom just isn't nearly as fun as Raiders despite being a much more absurd movie. A lot of moments that aren't great. Like when they drop from the plane on the raft and miraculously slide on it all the way down the mountain to safety. It's borderline fridge scene from Crystal Skull. Ford's acting isn't great when he's possessed and you sort of aren't sure the whole time if he's faking it or not until the spell is broken. He's not very convincing and it's kind of strange because Temple of Doom almost feels like they're figuring out the Indiana Jones character which doesn't make sense because they already nailed it in Raiders.

Nah, this has the stink of George Lucas all over it. He and William Hyuck pushed it into extreme silliness devoid of charm, just like they did with every movie they collaborated on. Short Round saves Temple of Doom. Without him, it's the Crystal Skull of the original trilogy. Temple of Doom isn't great, but I think it does justtttt enough to squeak by for me to consider it an alright movie.

Raiders: 9/10, 10/10?
Temple: 7
Last Crusade: 8
Crystal Skull: 5
Dial: 6