Quote:
Originally Posted by Sculpt
Too true, I didn't follow the thread title specification for horror films. 
And you have a great memory... yes, I do like Temple of Doom better than Last Crusade, particularly because TOD is fully engrossing, suspension of disbelief is well maintained, and it's just flat-out fascinating. Whereas Last Crusade feels much too self-aware, like it knows it's being watched by an audience, often feels like a parody, and it's less engrossing and less believable as a result.
However, comparing the first viewings at the theater of both films, Doom was a let down to the long shadow of 'Raiders' (certainly a difficult act to follow, especially via a prequel that must ignore the character changes Indy earned through Raiders), but I really enjoyed Crusade. I think seeing Crusade in the more forced engrossing confines of a theater, and the big screen, quite simply helps Crusade mightily. |
No worries there, mix-ups happen :D
I wasn't born yet when the first two Indy films were out (I was 2 when Last Crusade came out), but I can imagine TOD at the time being so hot off the success of Raiders probably had massive expectations and probably didn't meet them for a lot of people, and moreso with it in terms of the story and tone being a big change from Raiders. TOD is so much darker and at times goes into some uncomfortable territory such as human sacrifice and child slavery, which I felt just added to how evil the villains were and made you want to see Indiana Jones succeed that much more against them. People probably weren't expecting such a dramatic tonal shift and the movie to get as dark and grim as it did at times.
Last Crusade is entertaining but at times way too goofy and comical, and definitely far too deriative of Raiders at times. Spielberg has even said when he made the film he had the idea to basically have it be Raiders but with Sean Connery in the mix, which at times it very much feels like. It played it too safe much of the time and also suffered from dull villains, a somewhat underwhelming climax and really hurt both Sallah and Brody's characters. Still a fine film, but a sizable stepdown from the first two for me.
TOD is the closest the series ever got to Horror and I'd like it if the next film was more Horror-oriented. Indy is a character who lends himself well to Horror scenarios for sure. Funny enough, one of the earlier concepts for Last Crusade involved a haunted castle, which I would've liked to have seen.