Sorry for the hiatus. But I'm back and I brought Indy with me!
Indiana Jones is contacted regarding a search for the Holy Grail by a private collector. He discovers that his estranged father was the main researcher for the project, but has disappeared. Indy and Marcus head to Venice to find Indy's father, and in the meantime, find another clue to the Grail. Soon, Indy comes to realize that he was just a pawn of the Nazis in their search for the Grail.
Getting back to the original format of Raiders, Spielberg gives us more Nazis and more Christian artifacts in this third installment of the Indiana Jones series.
The glue that holds this movie together is without a doubt the banter shared between Indy and his father. Almost all of the laughs come from the sharp tongues of the Jones Boys, with Ford and Connery's undeniable chemistry making every scene with the dueling pair a rare gem.
In fact, the main action of the film, for me, is thrust to the backburner whenever Indy and his father start in on one another. The main plot, the quest for the Grail, is not quite on par with the quest for the Ark, but much better than whatever the quest in Temple was (I'm still not really sure: magic rocks, children, fortune and glory?). I was happy to see Indy looking for clues to the treasure once again, an element that seemed to be missing in Temple.
I also really like that Indy's main squeeze turned out to be bad: it just shows how any hero is susceptible to the charms of a woman. And she may have turned out to be a Nazi, but a least she wasn't annoying like Willie Scott. I still miss Marion though, and can't wait for her return in the fourth movie.
My only complaint is the 800+ year old knight. The absurdity of it all bothers me, though I am fully aware that the Indy films are nowhere grounded in reality. Granted he delivers a great line ("He chose...poorly."), but the idea of this guy living in that one room for all that time with a bunch of goblets is kind of...depressing.
So not quite the classic the first is, but a terrific movie nonetheless. The order I prefer is Raiders, Crusade, Temple. I have now studied and am fully ready to take the test on May 22 (or whenever I make it to see the fourth film).
Rating:
9 pieces of fan mail:
I love this movie! It's my fav of the three - partly because the heroine is evil. Plus, Sean Connery is just ridiculous throughout, in a great way. My order would be Crusade, Ark, Temple.
When I was younger, it was Crusade, Temple, Ark, but the times have changed me.
Yeah this was Connery in one of his last great roles, wasn't it? Raiders is definitely my fave!
Agreed. I just looked at Connery's resume after this movie, and I've only seen two, and one of them he was in for all of 2 minutes.
Nice primer for Indy 4!
I've been meaning to rent this one and give a view before then. It's been so long since I've seen it, I really don't remember much.
And even though I reserve judgement on *Last Crusade*, I agree that *Temple* is the worst. I really, really just don't like that film.
Your new site looks great. I love the new rating system.
Fox-When I was younger "Temple" was it for me: I loved it. Now it's almost like I have to watch it to get the full Indy experience, but I don't want to. So I know where you're coming from. But even Indy on a bad day is better than most other other stuff out there.
Carrie-Thanks! I think I'm finally where I want to be with it, so hopefully not too many drastic changes in the future.
If there's a movie better than INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, than I haven't seen it. And I've seen a lot of movies!
Well, Joseph, I've seen many movies too, and many movies that I enjoyed more than Temple, but alas, to each his own.
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