The 5th Best All-Time Film
(3rd 1973-1998)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Last Crusade (1989)
The Temple of Doom (1984)
When I was a kid, my parents put us all in the car one evening and told us they were going to give us a surprise. We drove to this strange parking lot with a giant screen at one end, pulled a speaker from a pole into the car window, and as it got dark, we snuggled up together to eat snacks and watch a movie. I had never been to a drive in before.
The movie we saw that night was “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
Every generation has their small list of favorite movies influenced by nostalgia. I am thankful that my nostalgia-sweet-spot is the early 80s, and that one of my favorite all-time films was an Indiana Jones flick, and not something like “High School Musical.” Not that that is a terrible movie, but “Raiders” is a true classic.
Some might argue that it isn’t perfect. Jones is too much of a passive character. I say that contributes to the theme and the story even more than if he had been an active agent in the outcome of events. You can’t have a story about the futility of opposing God with too much agency! And some like to laugh at the chances of Jones surviving the ride on the submarine. But that is not a problem unless you insist on it being one.
Instead, enjoy the rollercoaster ride of this adventure, and then carry on with the nearly as perfect “Last Crusade” and “Temple of Doom.” (If you aren’t a fuddy-duddy, then “Crystal Skull” is even an enjoyable carnival-ride version of a roller coaster.)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Last Crusade (1989)
The Temple of Doom (1984)
The movie we saw that night was “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
Every generation has their small list of favorite movies influenced by nostalgia. I am thankful that my nostalgia-sweet-spot is the early 80s, and that one of my favorite all-time films was an Indiana Jones flick, and not something like “High School Musical.” Not that that is a terrible movie, but “Raiders” is a true classic.
Some might argue that it isn’t perfect. Jones is too much of a passive character. I say that contributes to the theme and the story even more than if he had been an active agent in the outcome of events. You can’t have a story about the futility of opposing God with too much agency! And some like to laugh at the chances of Jones surviving the ride on the submarine. But that is not a problem unless you insist on it being one.
Instead, enjoy the rollercoaster ride of this adventure, and then carry on with the nearly as perfect “Last Crusade” and “Temple of Doom.” (If you aren’t a fuddy-duddy, then “Crystal Skull” is even an enjoyable carnival-ride version of a roller coaster.)
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