Indiana Jones

[Jigsaw Killer]

Doing prequels with a Young Indy might be difficult since the Young Indy series covered that, but maybe there might be room for it if they can cover at least a decade before the events of the original trilogy, with an actor who bares a decent enough resemblance to Ford.

[Jigsaw Killer]

I was rummaging through my closet recently and going through a box of books I found my old copy of From Star Wars To Indiana Jones: The Best Of The LucasFilm Archives. It came out in the 90s and I remember getting it as a gift. Covers the original three Indy and Star Wars films with all sorts of great production stills and artwork as well as prop pictures. It comes highly recommended for both Star Wars and Indy fans and you should be able to get a good condition used copy for a decent price.

[Jigsaw Killer]

I finished watching Temple Of Doom just a moment ago and while it's not a straight-up Horror movie it definitely has some very strong elements of Horror in it. The much darker, harsher tone and macabre vibe and imagery of it, the occult undertones and moments in it like the bug chamber, the human sacrifice, Indy being possessed, etc. definitely very Horror-like along with the setpieces. It's easily the most pulp-inspired of the series and has the feeling of a 50s-era EC Horror comic with the supernatural aspects and the lighting effects.

What do you think? I think it might count as at least being semi-Horror. It certainly wouldn't be out of place in a Horror movie marathon and I think this October I'll throw it into my Halloween playlist.

[Jigsaw Killer]

I'll have an all-day marathon of them all this weekend. Anyone ever marathoned the whole series in one sitting? I've done it many times, one of my favorite series to do it with. I usually watch them in order of release, even though TOD is a prequel set before Raiders, I think they flow better when Raiders is viewed before the rest, mainly due to TOD's frantic pacing.

[Jigsaw Killer]

When viewing the series, do you prefer watching them chronologically (Temple Of Doom before Raiders) or in release order? I far prefer watching them in release order, TOD's frantic pacing makes it work better when viewed after Raiders and it also adds some nice variety in between Raiders and TLC.

[Sculpt]

Originally Posted by Jigsaw Killer

When viewing the series, do you prefer watching them chronologically (Temple Of Doom before Raiders) or in release order? I far prefer watching them in release order, TOD's frantic pacing makes it work better when viewed after Raiders and it also adds some nice variety in between Raiders and TLC.

Maybe you can enlighten me. I've never seen how Temple of Doom functions as a prequel to Raiders. What's notable?

[Jigsaw Killer]

TOD is set in 1935, a year before Raiders which is set in 1936.

[Sculpt]

Originally Posted by Jigsaw Killer

TOD is set in 1935, a year before Raiders which is set in 1936.

OK. But what I mean is, what's important about that? All the things that happen in Doom could have happened after the events of Raiders, right? Or am I missing something?

For instance, Shortround doesn't die in Raiders, India didn't become uninhabited after the Nazis took power in Germany. Seems to me labeling Doom a 'prequel' is 100% arbitrary.

[Jigsaw Killer]

Well the chronological canon has TOD set a year before the events of Raiders, but I feel TOD would've been better as a direct sequel. I feel the much more frantic pace of the film makes it work better when watched after Raiders and the different mythology and locales also add good variety since Last Crusade shares so much with Raiders.

Plus, in Raiders Indy says he doesn't believe in the supernatural when in TOD he clearly witnesses supernatural occurances. Granted, I always wrote that off as him simply not making mention of TOD's events so he wouldn't lose credability with the university he taught at, but still, it makes more sense that he'd have a cemented belief in the supernatural after what he witnessed and experienced during the finale of Raiders and much of TOD.

[Sculpt]

Well said. I agree, all good reasons for Doom not to have been labeled a prequel.

When Indy said he didn't believe in all that hocus pocus stuff, he was only talking to Marcus, who believed the Ark was different. Also, I think Raiders works better when we believe Indy really doesn't believe in the 'supernatural'. A main character that changes through his experiences is almost always a better story.