VERSUS THE SCARECROW EPISODE SEVEN: SPECIAL EDITION: Nick and the Last Crusade of Raiders of the Lost Temple of Doom? I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites. You can read the rest of my series here.
Just a quick refresher: each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film. “….and here. We. Go!”
In this episode we’re going to bend the rules a little bit. On September 15th AMC Theaters screened a marathon of all four Indiana Jones Films. I thought this was a tremendous opportunity because I had never seen these films before and what better way to experience them for the first time than on the big screen! Because the Scarecrow Movie Guide was published in 2004, it does not cover Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which I’m okay with. But weirdly enough, the book only covers The Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade films of the Indiana Jones Franchise. So I’m going to bend the rules a bit by reviewing The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, and I’ll reflect on Raiders of the Lost Ark as well as the marathon experience as a whole.
A Relfection on Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Indiana Jones Marathon
Like I’ve mentioned in this post and on a few podcasts, I’ve never seen any of the Indiana Jones films. I wasn’t avoiding them; I just never saw them. Yeah I’ve seen bits and pieces, but that doesn’t count. SO when I heard that for $25 I could see all four films, I jumped on that opportunity. Films with such scale, score, and story need to be seen on the big screen. I got to the marathon early so I could snag a good seat and saw many people, including kids, dressed as Dr. Jones. We’re talking hats, jacket, whips, everything. AMC was even cool enough to have trivia questions in between films and gave away prizes. Many cheered as the first film began and I was pretty excited.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably the best film of the franchise. There are so many iconic images that have been adopted over and over again in pop culture, that the film has become a classic. The way the film introduces Indy is very cool. You see his shadow trail through the jungle and when danger rears its head, Indiana Jones steps into the light and into our hearts. The score swells and we’re off on a grand adventure. The film takes us to exotic locales and we meet characters that will recur throughout the franchise. Raiders does many things right, never faltering in tone or pace, as it breezes through a story that keeps you excited from beginning to end.
Heading into this marathon, I was told by many to not expect much out of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. What cemented that sentiment was the fact that over half the theatre left before the film began. I stayed and watched the film because, why not? I wanted to see for myself if it was that bad and, well, it’s not very good. The film picks up years after Last Crusade but doesn’t look or feel like an Indiana Jones film. It’s too bright and too waxy looking. The CGI overpowers the film, taking away from the realistic practical effects present in the other Indy films, leaving you to wonder why you care enough to follow the story. And what is the story really? From what I surmised, they found a crystal skull (potentially belonging to an alien) and they’re chased through the Andes mountains by Russian communists? I guess if it’s not Nazis, it’s Commies. Either way I was disappointed in the film but was okay with seeing it. Now I can say the film wasn’t good and not just blindly jump on the bandwagon.
All in all, I was thrilled to be apart of the Indiana Jones marathon, and I’m looking forward to whatever franchise AMC chooses to run a marathon for next.
You can read the rest of episode seven where I reviewed Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade. If you’re interested in more, you can find the rest of the Versus The Scarecrow series here.