Discuss: Your Favorite Indiana Jones Moments
As we rapidly approach May 22nd and the release of the long awaited Indiana Jones movie, our good friends and Canadian brethren over at MoviesOnline.Ca have put up a little post outlining their 5 favorite Indiana Jones moments. They read like this:
1) Indy shooting the expert swordsman in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”: As a practitioner of martial arts my entire life I had a problem with the blocky and cheesy combat in the indie films but have to say this moment was pure genius.
2) Indy and the boulder in the opening scene of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” : This is one of many great sequences where indie ‘escapes’. This one was fun because it was a giant boulder which makes it stand out but as a whole there is a multitude of great scenes in this movie.
3) Indy reaches under a closing door to grab his hat in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”: Another great scene. Almost as good if not equal to the giant boulder chase scene.
4) The mine cart escape from the “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”. This was a fun and intense chase and a really creative and new spin on the ‘car chase’ angle instead making it be mine carts on tracks.
5) The snake pit in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”: Humanizing Indie and showing what really scares him was funny and effective in really bringing the human element to Indiana Jones.
I love their list… personally I would have found a place in there for that moment in “The Last Crusade” when Indy tells his captors that they’ll never find Marcus Brody because Marcus is a master of 10 languages, knows how to blend into cultures and disappear… yadda yadda yadda… and then the camera cuts to Marcus totally lost and confused in a busy marketplace asking people if they speak English. I HOWLED at that… still do after seeing it 30 times.
So what about you? What are some of YOUR favorite Indiana Jones moments?
24 Comments, Comment or Ping
smiling yoda
“He chose poorly” Last crusade, that was a great scene.
I am really looking forward to the crystal skull.
SmilingYoda :)
May 5th, 2008
Terry Letourneau
The truck chase in Raiders has always been my favorite. Even after 25 years, it still holds up as on of the best action sequences in film.
May 5th, 2008
Dr. Strangelove
temple of doom, when short round tells indy: “Indy! Cover your heart! Cover your heart!”
one of my all-time favorite oneliners, even if temple of doom is my least favorite indy movie.
May 5th, 2008
Hiccups
In ‘Last Crusade’ when enemy fighter plane is straffing Indy and his dad on the beach, and Indy can’t think of anything to do. Indy’s pop pulls out his umbrella and sends all the seagulls into the air, destroying the plane.
Indy looks at his dad with a newfound respect and he’s sorry he had underestimated his abilities. The look on his face is priceless. Sean connery follows with ‘I remembered my Charlamagne, Let my army be the birds of the sky….yadda yadda’
And Indy’s fight with the muscle man under the ‘big ‘Flying Wing’. The bad guy gets his comeupance with a face full of propeller
May 5th, 2008
audioout
Indy throws the German officer out the blimp with everyone looking at him, he replies.
“No ticket.”
Everyone pulls out their ticket.
May 5th, 2008
Gareth
^^ That is the best scene from Last Crusade
May 5th, 2008
medavidson
I don’t even think Crystal Skull is coming out. Spielberg, Ford, Lucas are just too old to pull it off.
May 5th, 2008
Andrew
Actually, the scene where Indy reached under the door to get his hat happened in Temple of Doom, not Raiders. In Raiders, he reached under the closing door to get his whip. Moviesonline.CA made a little mistake. Rewatch Temple of Doom if you don’t believe me. But here are my top 10 Indy moments.
10) Jones. Indiana Jones. You only get one chance to make a first impression for a movie audience. In the opening jungle scene in Raiders, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas combine their talents to make one of the best introductions to a character, have them follow the character around, but not show his face, and finally show him doing something awesome, like using his whip to stop an attempt on his life.
9) Holy Booby Traps! Compared to the special effects used in today’s movies (Transformers, Iron Man, etc.) these special effects are extremely outdated. However, in 1989, these were some of the best special effects ever used in a movie. Dodging a couple of sharp circular saws, spelling Iehovah on a tiled floor, and the Leap of Faith, all three challenges make for a great final setpiece in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
8) Shit’s For Real! The best special effects you can have is a set of balls. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, legendary stunt double Vic Armstrong, doubling for Harrison Ford, makes a brave leap off a horse and onto a tank, without any CGI used.
7) Roller Coaster Ride through Satan’s Asshole- Taking a mine cart ride through a whole bunch of twists and turns over boiling hot lava pits, makes the mine cart chase from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom make any car chase from action movies today look like minor incidents. And bringing on a huge reservoir of water to drown our heroes in the tunnels is just as awesome!
6) Parachutes are for Pussies! Your a few thousand feet in the air, with a plane about to crash, and no parachutes. What do you do? If you’re Indiana Jones, you grab a life raft and your two friends, bail out, take a small sled ride, plunge off a thousand foot drop from a cliff into the raging rapids below, and stop in India and give props to a Hindu holy man!
5) Kali Ma, Bitch! Mola Ram is the best movie villian of all time, IMO, and in this scene form Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, while causing a bunch of criticism from parents, controversy from the American Ratings Board, and giving older brothers something to scare their younger siblings with for the rest of their youth, Mola Ram pulls out a man’s heart in a way that puts the Terminator to shame, and lowers the man into hot pits as a sacrifice to his Satanic god! Something that is now done by Black Sabbath every day of the week!
4) The Original Fear Factor- Seventeen years before the popular show made its debut, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom pushed the boarderline of eating disgusting foods. Baby snakes? Not to bad. That guy eating them like Gummy Worms! Okay, I’m starting to feel a little queasy. Eating out the asshole and guts of a beetle? Someone get me a bucket! Eating monkey brains! That’s it, launching escape pod in 3, 2, 1! (makes loud puking noises)
3) X-Files Warehouse- Twelve years before Agents Muller and Scully made starting investigating weird government and alien secrets, this has become the most watched ending credits sequence in all of film history. Makes you wonder what other cool shit is in the crates at the warehouse!
2) Fuck This Guy! In most other movies, the hero would take the honorable route and fight this guy sword-to-sword, but what makes Indiana Jones special is the fact that he does what we all would do in a situation like that. Indiana has a gun. Swordsman has a sword. Use your advantages in battle!
1) Switch ‘Em Ups! What makes Indiana Jones one of the best movie heroes of all time is the fact that Steven Speilberg and George Lucas got together to make three great movies over the course of eight years. I cannot wait for Memorial Day weekend to have popcorn tumbling from my mouth and onto the floor, to see what stuff that Steven Speilberg and George Lucas will do in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, saying holy shit, that’s fucking awesome!
May 5th, 2008
Phil Gee
Hands down, my favourite moment in all the series is when Indy cuts the rope bridge in ‘Temple of Doom’; just the combination of tension, great dialogue, the music and the breathtaking sight of the actual bridge splitting in two with a dozen animatronic Thugee Cultists falling to their deaths still makes me cheer. The scene features two of the best tough guy lines in movie history:
“Drop them Doctor Jones, they will be found……….YOU WON’T”
“Prepare to meet Kali…….in hell”
The bad guy demises in the Indy films are unique in all of cinema; melted by the power if God, eaten by crocodiles etc. Even Walter Donovan in ‘Last Crusade’, a lame villain, gets an incredible death that everyone remembers. He did indeed, choose poorly.
May 5th, 2008
Grave
Ya know I could have sworn that the scene where Indiana grabs his hat just b4 the door closed happend in “Temple of Doom” not “Raiders” Anyway one of my favorite scenes is in “Raiders” where Indiana is fighting that muscle bound german and he getting his ass handed to him until the plans perpellers move and chops the german to bits. Another one was in “Last Crusade” Where its revealed to us that Indiana’s real name is Junior and Indiana was the name of the Jones’s dog lol.
May 5th, 2008
Rodney
One of the most amusing things that was Indy related to me was back when watching Last Crusade and Indy was trying to figure out the clues to bypass the booby traps on the way into the Grail Chamber.
Only the repentant man may pass.
I turned to my girlfriend at the time since I was unaware of all sorts of bible talk words and asked her,”what does repentant mean”. Then Indy gets it and kneels as the blade passes over head.
She replied without missing a beat, “Short”
Thanks Jenn.
May 5th, 2008
tobor68
“i don’t know. I’m making this up as i go.” - my favourite IJ line.
favourite moment:
i had seen raiders on the opening weekend, i’m 13. i convinced my mother to go see it, so i took on the $2 tuesday (i was buying). it was something to get her to see a movie i liked, so i was excited.
she seemed to be enjoying the film but i wasn’t sure. when indy shot the swordsman, the entire theatre, including my mom, leaned forward with a gutbusting laugh and then a smattering of applause. i was ready for it and waiting for her reaction. she seemed to be enjoying herself a little more after that.
i think that was the last time i ever got either one of my parents to enjoy anything i was into.
my best. movie moment. ever.
May 5th, 2008
xgdfalcon
In Raiders after Indy and Marion escape from the “well of souls”, Sala asks Indy how he’s going to get the Ark, and Indy says, “I don’t know. I’m just making it up as I go along”.
May 5th, 2008
Steven Carroll
That is probably the best moment listed TOBOR68. The in movie moments for me are really too many to list. I really loved these films.
May 5th, 2008
Antonio
Two words: No Ticket.
May 5th, 2008
John Hitchy
“Asps. Very dangerous. You go first…”
May 5th, 2008
nbakid2000
In Last Crusade where he’s on the tank, and the Nazis all line up on the edge to get at him and he shoots a single gunshot through their stomachs at once.
I think one of the most intense moments in Last Crusade that still leaves me on the edge of my seat is when Indy comes face to face with Hitler. Then Hitler takes the book and autographs it and hands it back.
May 5th, 2008
Darth Sarcasm
My favorite is probably the entire opening scene of Temple of Doom. From the night club Obi Wan, to the car chase with Short Round at the wheel (No time for love Dr. Jones!), to the end at the airport (with uncredited cameo by Dan Akroyd). I remember going to see it a second time with a friend who hadn’t seen it yet. His parents thought it was 2 movies, Indiana Jones AND The Temple of Doom. Lol!
May 5th, 2008
Mkfreak2
How about the entire ending sequence to Raiders? Single greatest scene in history, let alone Indiana Jones history.
May 5th, 2008
James
Someone mentioned Indy’s fight with the ginormous bald german mechanic in Raiders, and I would have to agree. One of the best fight scenes ever. Indy is just pounding the guy at one point and it. does.nothing.
Even the way the fight begins, with Indy taking his time to get off the plane and fight the guy, looking like he is just kinda not ready to be doing this. *LOL*
May 5th, 2008
Meli
Monkey Brains! LoL, j/k. Though man did that gross me out as a kid.
The family and I are watching the Indy movies as a lead up to May 22nd…last week was Raiders, this week Temple and then Crusade. It’s a lot of fun reliving the movies with my brother, who I grew up watching the movies with and with my daughter who has only seen the first two films, and that was a long time ago.
May 5th, 2008
Simple Simon
Gotta agree with you on the Marcus blending in line…I still quote that whenever I’m with a group of people and someone asks where so-and-so went.
May 5th, 2008
J
First line I thought of:
Henry Jones - “We named the DOG Indiana.”
Too many amazing moments. I still watch these films like an eleven year old.
May 5th, 2008
Keith
The Melting Faces and Exploding Head. :)
May 5th, 2008
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