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The Indiana Jones Trilogy (1981 – 1989) May 22, 2008

Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackback

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

As far as childhood heroes go, Indiana Jones certainly comes to mind as one of mine.  His action-packed explorations made for three distinctly different, but still wildly exciting movies, that everyone my age will have memories of growing up with.  But memories is all they are.

You see, unlike the Back to the Future trilogy, which I checked back in with on regular occasions, my recollections of the whip-cracking adventurer were far more vague.  I could point to plenty of scenes and moments, but they weren’t coherently focused enough to place them within each film.  So, for the first time in at least ten years, I went back to fill in the blanks.

(And just in case your memory is like mine, I’ve included some of the quintessential Indy moments for each film.  So now you can pretend like you remember too.)
 

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Notable for its shortened title (it would later inherit an ‘Indiana Jones and the’ for the video release), Raiders of the Lost Ark is a rip-roaring introduction to the character and extremely entertaining to boot.  Even now it holds up as a wonderfully spellbinding piece of action adventure and it’s no mystery as to why the franchise took off the way it did.  Steven Spielberg hardly needed to prove anything – sandwiching this after Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and right before E.T. – but he gives the proceedings a distinct polish and credibility that barely shows the flaws of what Spielberg himself described at the time as a “B-movie”.

The story introduces us to Dr Indiana Jones, an archaeology lecturer who practices the most extreme form of what he preaches.  It is 1936 and after returning from an unsuccessful expedition in South America, his friend and museum curator Marcus Brody visits him to tell the story of The Ark of the Covenant - a treasure of biblical importance that is currently being hunted by the Nazis.  But Hitler’s army are missing out on a vital piece of information: a medallion that is currently owned by one of Indy’s old flames.  With hat and whip, Dr Jones sets out to recover the medallion, and find the ark before the forces of evil do.

You could point to many things as the roots of its success: Harrison Ford’s chiselled but bedraggled portrayal of Jones, John Williams’ memorable score, Lawrence Kasdan’s well structured screenplay - but what really stands out right now is how good it looks.  Douglas Slocombe’s cinematography makes expert use of light and shadow, plus he knows when to hold the frame and simply capture a moment.  There’s little of the music-video action editing that is deemed a necessity today, and the film holds up as being one of the most visually rich adventure flicks of all time.  Plus it won four Oscars, which rarely seems to come up – although they were all technical awards, having lost out on four other ‘biggies’ (Best Picture, Director, Cinematography and Music).

A classic that has thankfully lost none of its charm – even if the ending is a bit of a let down (the Ark does all the work!).  Here are some of the well-referenced Indy moments from this film:


 

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Self-admittedly the ‘darkest’ of the Indy adventures, the change in tone is apparent quite early on in Temple of Doom, even if the real bulk of the moodiness saves itself for the second half.  In some ways, it’s a brave attempt at making an edgy family adventure; the question is whether the final film can still be classed as such.  The scenes within the Temple itself are both violent and unnerving, which always left me uneasy watching them as a child.  Plus there are some strange racial suggestions and the rather inappropriate inclusion of child slaves added into the mix, which lend the film to a more mature audience. 

The second of the Indy adventures sees the professor crashing down in the depths of India after a fateful escape from gangsters in the Far East.  Occurring a year before Raiders, our hero has acquired a helper in the form of a young boy named Short Round, and a mouthy club singer called Willie Scott who is accidentally along for the ride.  The gang are convinced to help a small Indian village whose sacred stone was stolen by higher powers.  Indy visits Pankot Palace and there discovers a dangerous cult operating in the hidden dungeons below ground - but before he can rescue the sacred stone he is pulled into the clan by mystic forces that threaten to turn him into a murderous slave.

Controversially still cut for its PG rating in the UK, the darkened tone is what I always remember from this film.  Watching the uncut version makes me realise just how malicious it gets – there are moments in each of the Indy films that question the PG boundary, but none that are so underwritten by a mood of near-horror-like quality as they are in Temple of Doom.  That said, just look out for the perculiar musical-inspired opening sequence that’s a little too Cabaret, or the inclusion of a mildly annoying child sidekick for Indy, for evidence that this wasn’t intended to be an outright sinister film.

Often regarded as the weakest of the trilogy, I hate to agree with the masses but overwhelming evidence would suggest that they’re right.  Its strengths in the visual and action departments are let down by misjudgements elsewhere – not that this film doesn’t have its share of classic moments:


 

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

The final instalment tacks from one side of Raiders to the other, replacing Temple of Doom’s overcast sensibility with an air of joviality and wit.  This is mainly down to Sean Connery’s inclusion as Indy’s headstrong father, replacing the unbearable “ha ha ha, you so funny” half-baked banter of Shorty with a genuine match for our hero’s temperament.  As stories go, I also really like the structure of this film: opening with a short but sweet flashback to a young adventurous Indy, the film follows the father-son relationship through without completely shoving it in your face.  It also has the ‘final challenges’ in its conclusion, which is the most narratively adept of all three.

In this third outing, our intrepid adventurer sets out for Italy, after hearing about the disappearance of his father, another famed archaeologist and Holy Grail expert, Dr. Henry Jones.  With only his father’s diary to guide him, Indy tracks down the last clues as to the location of the Grail.  After a quick rescue effort in Austria, father and son are reunited to go globe-hopping together, hunting down the location of Christ’s cup before those pesky Nazis get to it first.

I can only speculate on George Lucas’ influence (in this film moreso than the others) - you may remember another trilogy in which he was involved that also contained a pertinent father / son relationship.  Of all the movies, I remembered this one the best, and that’s probably because its light-hearted scenes make it the most obviously defined of the three.  Inevitably, that is also what some people don’t like about it.  That, and the fact that the story goes some way back to retreading Raiders territory - although I’d argue that this one, as a whole, is more organised.

This, for me, is the fave.  Not really because it betters Raiders in terms of doing justice to the character (it doesn’t), but because if you asked me to pick one to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I’d get more overall enjoyment out of this film than any of the others.  Moments from this flick haven’t populated Indy lore quite so much, but that doesn’t mean it won’t keep kids and adults hooked throughout:


 

Conclusion:
What it comes down to is this: Raiders of the Lost Ark is the definitive Jones film - an archetype that was never really matched, but rather adapted to different types of story.  Temple of Doom braves a thin line for the family adventure movie but seems to take even its most misguided steps in its stride.  The Last Crusade lets the light back in, and goes for all-out entertainment with its numerous action pieces and clear grasp of its linear story.  Most importantly, however, there’s no reason that these films won’t keep thrilling audiences for another twenty years.  ‘Dated’ is not a word that applies here.  Which is good because, like it or not, we’re about to be reacquainted with Dr. Jones.

This simple trip down memory lane has at least proven to me why there’s still a calling for Harrison Ford to don hat and whip once more.  The various wannabes that arose to try and claim the crown have mostly been unsubtle about it: Romancing the Stone, The Mummy films and the recent National Treasure movies [review] have all gone after the same fundamental attitude - none have yet come close.  Which means the pressure is on: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has a lot to live up to.  This week, we’ll find out if it has been worth the wait.

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