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Originally Posted by Jigsaw Killer
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.
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Well said. And really Raiders plays a great deal with fear and other elements of horror. TOD was darker and added even more horror elements, but I wouldn't say those were the things that made it a step down from Raiders. There was less awe and wonderment, and also less surprise and suspense.
Ultimately the subject matter is certainly going to make its mark on the film. Going from the Ark of the Convenant tug-of-war with Nazi Germany to an extremely isolated cult in India is going to take its toll.
TOD is a hell of an Indy film, I think it pushed into the TV serial much more than Raiders did, which was really the inspiration for both, but the Raiders story just went for epic and hit it, whereas TOD had no such aspiration.
And so true, Crusade had one of the weakest villain(s) in film. For the most part Crusade lacked the omni-present visceral fear that Raiders and TOD carried throughout. There were dangerous thrilling moments in Crusade, but along with lacking an arching continuity, the goofiness of the humor-for-humors-sake as opposed to seamless comic relief, and the sense of parody, left the audience feeling much too safe and aware of the "film".