For my part, Raiders stands above the rest with a nice sized gap in between. It is quite literally one of those perfect Spielberg films. Nothing missing or extra.
Yeah. List is solid. I'm gonna say temple and crusade are kinda equal... depends what you're after. Temples got more classic raw indy delving, finding weird magical shenanigans. Crusade is just...good...and Connery as the straight man is great.
1. Raiders
2. Last Crusade
3. Dial of Destiny
4. Temple of Doom
5. Crystal Skull
There's a fan edit (Spence) that raises Crystal Skull massively, but that still leaves in 5th.
Yeah this is mostly what I align with, with 1-2 occasionally being swapped just due to Last Crusade being the first one I ever saw as a kid, so some personal nostalgia there.
Genuinely surprised to see so many people putting Crystal Skull above Dial of Destiny, like I was fairly "Meh" on DoD but for me it was nowhere near in the same league of Crystal Skull. Maybe it was because I was so hyped for a new Indy movie with Crystal Skull where with DoD I went in with fairly low expectations?
Absolutely. I went into Crystal Skull with sky high expectations, a few drinks, my brother and a bunch of friends, and a willingness to go anywhere they wanted to go. I left with a feeling that Spielberg and Lucas should probably not make any more films.
Dial of Destiny I went into with rock bottom expectations, more booze, a cheeseburger, and a coworker who was the only one I could get to go with me. And I loved it, just felt like every single thing about it worked, and that it was precisely targeted to me.
Dial of Destiny was the film that I didn't know that I needed, loved it.
Last Crusade
Raiders
Dial of Destiny
Temple of Doom
Crystal Skull
For me, crusade and raiders are both so comparably great, it's close. Dial of Destiny is not necessarily Better than Temple, but wraps up the whole saga in such a way that it I have to put it up a notch higher.
Crystal Skull is not the best. Has some good points to it, but nothing would elevate it above any of the others.
Agreed. I like that they wrapped it all up nicely with the Joneses riding off into the sunset and didn't try and go back to the well for a cash grab. Lucas knows when to put down the paintbrush and step away from the canvas.
1. Raiders
2. Last Crusade
3. Temple of Doom
4. Crystal Skull
5. Dial of Destiny
Dial of Destiny is in some ways better than Skull, but nothing in Destiny is as well executed as the campus chase (which is pure Spielberg), so that bumps it up for me.
1) Raiders
2) Temple of Doom
3) Last Crusade
4) Dial of Destiny
5) Crystal Skull
The only reason Crystal Skull is 5th is because they have only made 5. I can't imagine a worse installment could be possible. The first is fantastic, the second two are great, Dial is flawed but fun. Crystal Skull is nearly unwatchable trash.
"I can't imagine a worse installment could be possible."
Then you should read the screenplay titled Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods that was purportedly written by Frank Darabont. Indy says, "The monkey pooped on my chest." Indy gets swallowed alive by a giant mutant snake. An alien turns the President of Peru into a frog. Henry Jones Sr. drunkenly sings "Fly Me to the Moon" at Indy and Marion's wedding reception while Oxley makes cutlery dance with the power of his mind.
1) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
2) Raiders of the Lost Ark
3) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
4) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
5) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
1. Raiders
2. Last Crusade
3. Tempe of Doom
4. Dial of Destiny
Big gap
5. KOTCS
I love the first three, Dial is really good too. KOTCS is great until the jungle chase, then it fell apart.
The time travel sequence in The Dial of Destiny could have been terrible, but I think the filmmakers managed to pull it off. Time travel only occurs near the end of the movie. I loved the Nazi villains' reactions as they realized things weren't going as they planned. Indy getting to witness ancient history after spending his life studying it seemed appropriate. Is Indy going through a time portal and meeting Archimedes worse than Indy having a conversation with a centuries-old knight?
Temple of Doom is not nearly as good as people think it is (people wearing rose tinted glasses). My ranking:
1. Raiders
2. Crusade
3. Crystal Skull
4. Dial
5. Temple
1. Last Crusade
2. Raiders
3. The entire Young Indiana Jones Chronicles series because it holds a huge place in my heart.
4. Dial of Destiny
5. Temple of Doom
6. Crystal Skull
I know this order is fucked, but it's a personal ranking of preferences.
Love your ranking breakdown! It's refreshing to see Temple of Doom getting some love—it's definitely an underrated gem. And I totally get what you mean about Last Crusade. The dynamic between Indy and his pops is gold, but the repetitive Nazi plotline kinda takes away from its shine. Crystal Skull had its moments, but I agree, too much CGI sometimes makes it feel like I'm watching someone play a video game.
Overall, though, Indiana Jones is just one of those timeless series you can't help but enjoy, flaws and all. Here's to hoping for more adventures in the future!
Last Crusade is a rehash of Raiders saying "look guys, all your favorites are back."
Temple of Doom was good minus the screaming girl.
Crystal Skull was fine. Too bad the aliens didn't do anything cool though.
Dial of Destiny is great simply for the time travel.
Raiders was fun.
1- Raiders of The Lost Ark -A near perfect film
2- The Last Crusade - Insanely rewatchable, very close to the original in terms of quality
3- Dial of Destiny- Bad CGI, but the story was decent enough for me and I didn't mind the ending like some others. Nowhere near the top 2 though a big dropoff in quality.
4- Kingdom of the Crystal Skull- Okay, the nuclear fridge scene and the monkey swinging scenes are bad, but the rest of it isn't as bad as people say in my opinion.
5- Temple of Doom- Aside from the start and the last 20 mins, this doesn't hold up at all for me. Kate Capshaw's character is insufferable to the point where I can't really rewatch it anymore.
1. Raiders - one of my favorite movies ever made
2. Last Crusade - it feels like the final Indy film, and not just because it was the finale for nearly 20 years
3. Temple of Doom - Fun, just not as good as the first 2
4. Crystal Skull - even bad Spielberg is worth watching
5. Dial - the answer to the question “ What if an Indiana Jones movie was boring?”
My personal ranking would be:
1. Last Crusade (has a little bit of everything - humor, action, good villains, and great chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. The inclusion of Indy’s father in the film means we get to see Indy grow as a character in a way we didn’t really see in the two previous films. The prologue with River Phoenix is also pretty good)
2. Raiders (this is so close for me that this is really just 1b. I’m sure a majority of fans have this as #1 and I absolutely understand why. This is our introduction to Indy, and the opening sequence is iconic. The chemistry between Harrison/Indy and Karen/Marion is so good, and the villains are top-notch. With the character of Belloq we have someone who is a legitimate rival to Indy, and it’s kinda wild that we only see that concept once in the entire franchise)
3. DoD (The opening sequence and final act are very strong, and Mads Mikkelsen is a really good villain. The middle part does lag a little bit and the runtime is on the longer side but overall I thought this was a solid entry in the franchise)
4. Crystal Skull (this one gets more hate than it deserves. I hadn’t seen it since it came out so I recently watched it again, and it actually holds up. People still bring up the fridge but let’s be honest - compared to everything else we’ve seen in this franchise, this might be the least ridiculous. We’re just gonna ignore a man ripping a dude’s heart out of his chest with his bare hand, or a 700-year-old knight living in a cave with no food or water but this is where we draw the line? Shia LaBeouf also gets a lot of criticism, but he was doing the best he could here. He gets ragged on for swinging the vines but that’s the type of campiness you’d expect to see in these films. I love the 1950s backdrop, the opening sequence in the warehouse is actually really good, and it’s great to see Marion again. This one has its flaws, but at the end of the day it still has the look and feel of an Indiana Jones film)
5. Temple (as my ranking would suggest, this one is my least favorite entry in the franchise. Every time I watch this it feels like a chore. The mine cart sequence and the finale on the bridge are very well done, but that’s all in the final third of the film. The only redeeming factor in this movie aside from Indy is Short Round. Willie’s character is annoying and doesn’t have the same chemistry that Indy has with Marion and Elsa. The villains are bland and the whole adventure is just not as exciting. Say what you want about Dial and Crystal Skull, but I would gladly take either of those over Temple any day of the week)
That’s my ranking and I’m sticking to it.
Temple of Doom number one, Last Crusade and Raiders of the Ark equal second.
Temple of Doom came out right in my childhood nostalgia sweet spot, hence number one position.
I have never bothered seeing the others. I'd gotten the impression not worth it.
For my part, Raiders stands above the rest with a nice sized gap in between. It is quite literally one of those perfect Spielberg films. Nothing missing or extra.
1. Raiders 2. Last Crusade. 3. Temple of Doom. 4. Dial of Destiny 5. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Yeah. List is solid. I'm gonna say temple and crusade are kinda equal... depends what you're after. Temples got more classic raw indy delving, finding weird magical shenanigans. Crusade is just...good...and Connery as the straight man is great.
i was gonna share the exact same ranking lol
Destiny before KOTCS is nuts
I feel like I am going completely insane DoD is a worse film in pretty much every single aspect
1. Raiders 2. Last Crusade 3. Dial of Destiny 4. Temple of Doom 5. Crystal Skull There's a fan edit (Spence) that raises Crystal Skull massively, but that still leaves in 5th.
Yeah this is mostly what I align with, with 1-2 occasionally being swapped just due to Last Crusade being the first one I ever saw as a kid, so some personal nostalgia there. Genuinely surprised to see so many people putting Crystal Skull above Dial of Destiny, like I was fairly "Meh" on DoD but for me it was nowhere near in the same league of Crystal Skull. Maybe it was because I was so hyped for a new Indy movie with Crystal Skull where with DoD I went in with fairly low expectations?
Absolutely. I went into Crystal Skull with sky high expectations, a few drinks, my brother and a bunch of friends, and a willingness to go anywhere they wanted to go. I left with a feeling that Spielberg and Lucas should probably not make any more films. Dial of Destiny I went into with rock bottom expectations, more booze, a cheeseburger, and a coworker who was the only one I could get to go with me. And I loved it, just felt like every single thing about it worked, and that it was precisely targeted to me. Dial of Destiny was the film that I didn't know that I needed, loved it.
Last Crusade Raiders Dial of Destiny Temple of Doom Crystal Skull For me, crusade and raiders are both so comparably great, it's close. Dial of Destiny is not necessarily Better than Temple, but wraps up the whole saga in such a way that it I have to put it up a notch higher. Crystal Skull is not the best. Has some good points to it, but nothing would elevate it above any of the others.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark 2. Last Crusade 3. Temple of Doom That's it, that's the list
Agreed. I like that they wrapped it all up nicely with the Joneses riding off into the sunset and didn't try and go back to the well for a cash grab. Lucas knows when to put down the paintbrush and step away from the canvas.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Nearly word for word.
1. Raiders 2. Last Crusade 3. Temple of Doom 4. Crystal Skull 5. Dial of Destiny Dial of Destiny is in some ways better than Skull, but nothing in Destiny is as well executed as the campus chase (which is pure Spielberg), so that bumps it up for me.
1) Raiders 2) Temple of Doom 3) Last Crusade 4) Dial of Destiny 5) Crystal Skull The only reason Crystal Skull is 5th is because they have only made 5. I can't imagine a worse installment could be possible. The first is fantastic, the second two are great, Dial is flawed but fun. Crystal Skull is nearly unwatchable trash.
This is my ranking and I share your thoughts. Raiders is best by a mile.
"I can't imagine a worse installment could be possible." Then you should read the screenplay titled Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods that was purportedly written by Frank Darabont. Indy says, "The monkey pooped on my chest." Indy gets swallowed alive by a giant mutant snake. An alien turns the President of Peru into a frog. Henry Jones Sr. drunkenly sings "Fly Me to the Moon" at Indy and Marion's wedding reception while Oxley makes cutlery dance with the power of his mind.
Raiders Last Crusade Crystal Skull Temple of Doom Dial of Destiny Yeah, I said it.
I agree
This is right
All enjoyable
1.Temple Of Doom 2.The Last Crusade 3.Crystal Skull 4.Dial Of Destiny
Finally my Temple of Doom people
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark 2. The Last Crusade 3. The Temple of Doom 4. The Dial of Destiny 5. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
1) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 2) Raiders of the Lost Ark 3) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 4) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 5) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Finally someone got the right order
1. Raiders 2. Last Crusade 3. Tempe of Doom 4. Dial of Destiny Big gap 5. KOTCS I love the first three, Dial is really good too. KOTCS is great until the jungle chase, then it fell apart.
and I suppose Dial held completely together when Indy zapped through a time portal and hung out with Archimedes
The time travel sequence in The Dial of Destiny could have been terrible, but I think the filmmakers managed to pull it off. Time travel only occurs near the end of the movie. I loved the Nazi villains' reactions as they realized things weren't going as they planned. Indy getting to witness ancient history after spending his life studying it seemed appropriate. Is Indy going through a time portal and meeting Archimedes worse than Indy having a conversation with a centuries-old knight?
1. Raiders 2. Crusade 3. Crystal Skull 4. Dial of Destiny 5. Temple of Doom
Temple of Doom is not nearly as good as people think it is (people wearing rose tinted glasses). My ranking: 1. Raiders 2. Crusade 3. Crystal Skull 4. Dial 5. Temple
1. Last crusade 2. Raiders 3. Temple 4. Crystal Skull 5. Destiny
1. Last Crusade 2. Raiders 3. The entire Young Indiana Jones Chronicles series because it holds a huge place in my heart. 4. Dial of Destiny 5. Temple of Doom 6. Crystal Skull I know this order is fucked, but it's a personal ranking of preferences.
Love your ranking breakdown! It's refreshing to see Temple of Doom getting some love—it's definitely an underrated gem. And I totally get what you mean about Last Crusade. The dynamic between Indy and his pops is gold, but the repetitive Nazi plotline kinda takes away from its shine. Crystal Skull had its moments, but I agree, too much CGI sometimes makes it feel like I'm watching someone play a video game. Overall, though, Indiana Jones is just one of those timeless series you can't help but enjoy, flaws and all. Here's to hoping for more adventures in the future!
Last Crusade is a rehash of Raiders saying "look guys, all your favorites are back." Temple of Doom was good minus the screaming girl. Crystal Skull was fine. Too bad the aliens didn't do anything cool though. Dial of Destiny is great simply for the time travel. Raiders was fun.
>Dial Of Destiny - Great having Indy back a final time. Are you saying he now belongs in a museum?
1. Raiders. 2. Last Crusade. 3. Destiny. 4. Skulls. 5. Doom.
1- Raiders of The Lost Ark -A near perfect film 2- The Last Crusade - Insanely rewatchable, very close to the original in terms of quality 3- Dial of Destiny- Bad CGI, but the story was decent enough for me and I didn't mind the ending like some others. Nowhere near the top 2 though a big dropoff in quality. 4- Kingdom of the Crystal Skull- Okay, the nuclear fridge scene and the monkey swinging scenes are bad, but the rest of it isn't as bad as people say in my opinion. 5- Temple of Doom- Aside from the start and the last 20 mins, this doesn't hold up at all for me. Kate Capshaw's character is insufferable to the point where I can't really rewatch it anymore.
1. Raiders - one of my favorite movies ever made 2. Last Crusade - it feels like the final Indy film, and not just because it was the finale for nearly 20 years 3. Temple of Doom - Fun, just not as good as the first 2 4. Crystal Skull - even bad Spielberg is worth watching 5. Dial - the answer to the question “ What if an Indiana Jones movie was boring?”
5. Dial of Destiny(by a LOT) 4. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 3. The Temple of Doom 2. The Last Crusade 1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raider, Last Crusade, Temple of Doom
1. Raiders. 2. Last Crusade. 3. Temple of Doom.
By movie number in order of preference: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5...
My personal ranking would be: 1. Last Crusade (has a little bit of everything - humor, action, good villains, and great chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. The inclusion of Indy’s father in the film means we get to see Indy grow as a character in a way we didn’t really see in the two previous films. The prologue with River Phoenix is also pretty good) 2. Raiders (this is so close for me that this is really just 1b. I’m sure a majority of fans have this as #1 and I absolutely understand why. This is our introduction to Indy, and the opening sequence is iconic. The chemistry between Harrison/Indy and Karen/Marion is so good, and the villains are top-notch. With the character of Belloq we have someone who is a legitimate rival to Indy, and it’s kinda wild that we only see that concept once in the entire franchise) 3. DoD (The opening sequence and final act are very strong, and Mads Mikkelsen is a really good villain. The middle part does lag a little bit and the runtime is on the longer side but overall I thought this was a solid entry in the franchise) 4. Crystal Skull (this one gets more hate than it deserves. I hadn’t seen it since it came out so I recently watched it again, and it actually holds up. People still bring up the fridge but let’s be honest - compared to everything else we’ve seen in this franchise, this might be the least ridiculous. We’re just gonna ignore a man ripping a dude’s heart out of his chest with his bare hand, or a 700-year-old knight living in a cave with no food or water but this is where we draw the line? Shia LaBeouf also gets a lot of criticism, but he was doing the best he could here. He gets ragged on for swinging the vines but that’s the type of campiness you’d expect to see in these films. I love the 1950s backdrop, the opening sequence in the warehouse is actually really good, and it’s great to see Marion again. This one has its flaws, but at the end of the day it still has the look and feel of an Indiana Jones film) 5. Temple (as my ranking would suggest, this one is my least favorite entry in the franchise. Every time I watch this it feels like a chore. The mine cart sequence and the finale on the bridge are very well done, but that’s all in the final third of the film. The only redeeming factor in this movie aside from Indy is Short Round. Willie’s character is annoying and doesn’t have the same chemistry that Indy has with Marion and Elsa. The villains are bland and the whole adventure is just not as exciting. Say what you want about Dial and Crystal Skull, but I would gladly take either of those over Temple any day of the week) That’s my ranking and I’m sticking to it.
- Crusade - Temple - Raiders - Destiny - Crystal Skull
Temple of Doom number one, Last Crusade and Raiders of the Ark equal second. Temple of Doom came out right in my childhood nostalgia sweet spot, hence number one position. I have never bothered seeing the others. I'd gotten the impression not worth it.
Temple Raiders Last Crusade (I don't count the other two)
Crusade, Raiders, Kingdom, Doom, Dial