Top Ten Moments From The Indiana Jones Movies

June 27th, 2008

I recently watched the original Indiana Jones movies (Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade) and the recent Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Here are my ten favorite moments of perhaps the greatest summer blockbuster series of all time:

1. The Golden Idol sinks into the stone pedestal. Deep in a mossy temple, after switching the treasure with a bag, the idol sinks down, and Indy has that “oh crap” look on his face – his plan has failed. Next comes an exciting action sequence where Indy flees from the temple, and that iconic boulder.

2. Indy shoots the flamboyant swordsman. Really funny moment, a joke about action sequences that go on a bit too long. Rumor has it Harrison Ford was ill and didn’t feel up to filming a complicated fight scene.

3. Indy slides beneath a moving car, climbs back aboard, tosses the Nazi driver over the hood, as if to say “your turn.” This being pre-CGI, a stunt man really did this maneuver. The Nazi is another punchline – only Indy could pull off that daredevil feat.

4. After opening the Ark of the Covenant, the Nazis die. Indy tells Marion to keep her eyes closed – and he may as well have been speaking to us kids, scared out of our minds. Ultimately, is saved by the object he was searching for, by forces he doesn’t understand.

5. The Ark is stored away in a huge room of enigmatic crates. I always found this moment symbolic of humanity’s inability to truly know the world, and its infinite amount of secrets. The scene gives me that insignificant feeling, like staring through a telescope at the ka-zillions of galaxies.

6. Indy is forced to drink the blood of Kali and changes into “evil Indy.” Some scary, physical acting by Ford in a dark room lit with candles, and our hero changes into a mean thug who nearly kills his friends Short Round and Willie. Reminds me of the “evil Kirk” from Star Trek.

7. Indiana Jones cuts the bridge’s ropes. Indy, surrounded on both sides by baddies, threatens to send everyone into the river below. Short Round calls him crazy – and Indy actually does it.

8. “The penitent man kneels before God.” Indy figures out this clue at the last moment and narrowly escapes decapitation. Oh, so that explains those heads that rolled out of the cave earlier…

9. The Grail Knight says “he chose… poorly”. Donovan chooses an ornate cup as the Holy Grail to drink from and dies, rather graphically. The knight’s polite, understated response is a great punchline to the gruesome death.

10. Elsa reaches for the grail instead of Indy and she dies. Then Henry tells Indy to “let it go” – and Indy gives up the grail. The parallel actions of Elsa and Indy conveys a warning of greed vs. the value of family.

Note: I don’t have any favorite moments from Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. The more I think about it, the series could have easily ended with the four adventurers riding off into the sunset: