On Friday, to celebrate the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, we asked you to name your favorite film starring George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Harrison Ford’s awesome archaeologist. In first place was the original film itself, Raiders of the Lost Ark, with an overwhelming 52.1 percent of the results. It was an expected result, although the percentage was still surprising given how good Last Crusade was; regardless, Raiders is a perfectly constructed film, from its iconic opening sequence, to its Nazi-melting climax, and the haunting final shot of the Ark of the Covenant disappearing into the warehouse Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would eventually begin at.
Last Crusade came in second place with 37.5 percent. The third film brought in Sean Connery as Indy’s stuffy father, Professor Henry Jones Sr., greatly upping the comedy and pathos for a beautiful tale of a family reconciliation. In third place with 10.4 percent was Temple of Doom, which despite being exhausting and offensively outdated even when it was released, has merits like future Academy Award-winner Ke Huy Quan’s delightful debut as Short Round, and the whole attempt to do something completely different from the other films. (Plus, Spielberg met his wife Kate Capshaw making the movie, so good for them.)
As you can tell from those numbers, there were no votes for Crystal Skull or Dial of Destiny, which is understandable: even if you don’t hate the fourth movie, it’s certainly not the best Indiana Jones film either, and as much of an improvement as James Mangold’s follow-up is, the final movie will likely only become most people’s third favorite in the series. While both films have their poignant moments, they seem wary of emulating Last Crusade‘s emotional focus, emphasizing the action and adventure instead, which is odd given how long it took for these sequels to materialize.
Thanks for voting, and stay tuned for our next Reader Poll on Friday!
