Dah Doo Doo, Dah Doo Doo, Dah Doo Doo

And please, let me know if it's too quiet.

Doo Dah Doo Doo, Doo Dah DOOOOOOO

Today, we continue the Indiana Jones series with the third movie – The Last Crusade. As you may remember from yesterday, this is a film that I’ve not seen since the first release, so this should be a bit of an adventure for us all.

Made “as an apology for the second film”, The Holy Grail came five years after The Temple of Doom, and was supposed to be the final chapter in the original trilogy envisioned by Spielberg and Lucas.

Taking place primarily in 1938 (although there is an opening set in 1912, introducing us to Young Indiana Jones – and opening the franchise up in a whole new direction), The Last Crusade sees Indy on the trail of his father who has disappeared while on his on trail – that of the Holy Grail (fitting, really, since the first film was all about the Arc of The Covenant). Along the way, he crosses paths with a secret society who are trying to protect the Grail from evil, as well as, you guessed it – the Nazis. After finding his father and learning that they had been doublecrossed, the Jones’, along with their old pal, Sallah, end up at the Canyon of The Crescent Moon – the location of the Grail.

The Last Crusade definitely returns to the lighter tone of the first film and is a fitting end for the original trilogy. One thing I always remembered about my first viewing of this film was that it felt somehow “drier” than the others, and, while it is not as dry as I remembered, it wasn’t as forgettable as I had thought. While nowhere near as memorable as the first two films, it does definitely hold to their spirit. Plus, as a more personal bonus, since my interest in the grail mythology has greatly increased between that first viewing and now, I definitely got a heck of a lot more entertainment from it than I remember.

Now, I know that this film is particularly loved by a lot of Indiana Jones fans, primarily for the interplay between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery as Jones’ Jr and Snr, and I can definitely see that. Both men are at their crotchety best with each other which makes for some fun back and forth, which definitely helps the film move along. One thing I found in my studies of this film is that it had an uncredited rewrite from Tom Stoppard, one of my favourite playwrights – and I can definitely see it in a lot of the dialogue, particularly that of the Jones’.

All in all, I did like the film. It’s not something that I really need to revisit all that often, nor will I; but it did pass the time.

Tomorrow, The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skulls.

Doo Dah Doo Doo, Doo Dah Doo Doo DOO

We continue the revisting of the Indiana Jones film series with the second film – 1984’s The Temple of Doom. In addition to being, in my opinion at least, the best of the series, this film also has a couple of firsts to its name – it was the first film to be rated PG-13 (once a badge of honour, now kind of a kiss of death given the “softening” of the rating in recent years) as well as the first film to be officially labelled a prequel.

Much like Raiders, this is a film that I’ve not seen in over a decade (hell, the last time I saw it was on a VHS tape), so lets see if it holds up as well as the first, shall we?

Set a year prior to the action of Raiders, Temple of Doom sees Indy (this time backed up by Short Round, a Chinese orphan; and Willie, a nightclub singer he meets in Shanghai) in the wilds of India crossing paths with a cult who want to rule the world, at the behest of a local village whose children the cult have kidnapped. Accidentally(?) stumbling on a blood ritual to the goddess Kali (hey, no-one ever said that these things were learning tools) lead by the sinister Mola Ram, who has taken the children to help him mine for the rest of a series of stones that he needs to give the power to rule the world, our heroes must escape not only with their lives, but the lives of the children.

I said at the start that this is my favourite film in the series, and it holds as true now as it did then.  Filled with just as much action and adventure as Raiders, Temple of Doom manages to up the ante by adding some horrific elements to the mix as well, with the addition of the Thuggee cult (the scene where Ram pulls the heart from the chest of a hapless sacrifice, while not as scary as it was when I was a kid, is still pretty damn dark). Hell, even the addition of a Gumption Magee love interest, and worst of all, a wise cracking kid, can do nothing to dull the brilliance of the film – thankfully, they prove themselves useful and aren’t just there to get a chick and a kid into the mix.

While this film doesn’t introduce as many iconic elements as its predecessor, it does still give us a more than a few memorable scenes – in addition to Mola Ram and his aforementioned heart removal scene, you do get the awesomeness of the mine cart escape, which still holds up to this day. In fact, everything to do with the Thuggee temple is memorable, introduction to escape – Spielberg and his crew managed to make an amazing bunch of enemies for Indy to square off against, ones that even managed to top those in the first film.

Once again, this is a film that manages to hold up as well as anything could.

Tomorrow, The Last Crusade, a film I haven’t seen since its original release in the early 90’s. I don’t remember a whole heck of a lot about it – will it be good? Tune in to find out.

Doo Dah Doo Doo, Doo Dah Doo

Next up in the reviews, a bit of a well known series. Created by two of the biggest names in movies as an homage to the adventure serials of the 1930’s (and designed by comic artist Jim Steranko), Henry Walton Jones Jr. (known best by the nickname “Indiana”) first appearing in 1981, subsequently showing up in 3 more films, a television series, 3 video games, several books and a series of theme park attractions. They are films that I (most recent aside) haven’t seen in over 15 years.

I, of course, will only be reviewing the movies, starting with Raiders Of The Lost Ark. I remember loving the holy crap out of the first two, so let’s see how they hold up, shall we?

Set in 1936, Raiders pits Dr Jones (at the behest of the US government) against a troupe of Nazis, lead by the mustache twirllingly evil Major Toht and Indy’s rival archaeologist Belloq, who are hunting for the mythical Ark of the Covenant. Travelling across the globe, Indy is joined by Marion Ravenwood (the daughter of his mentor) in Nepal and his friend Sallah in Egypt; eventually racing against the Nazis to find the location of the Well of Souls (where the Arc is said to be kept).

There are so many now iconic images introduced in this film that have since become, basically, film lore; that I don’t think I really need to mention them in all that great a detail. In addition to Indy himself (a character who has become one of the most recognisable on the planet), you have the introduction scene in the South American temple – itself, one of the most well known scenes in all filmdom; the scene in which the Arc is opened and the final scene of the film – all of which have been parodied and referenced in countless films and TV shows since; alongside many other well known scenes and images, plus, one of the most iconic scores ever put to tape (seriously, just start whistling it near any film fan and I guarantee that you will have instant accompaniment – plus, tell me that hearing it doesn’t make you want to put on a fedora, grab a whip and get adventuring).

One thing that I noticed, especially while watching the first three films (and it’s somewhat similar to what I noticed during my time watching the Back To The Future films) is, these are definite products of their time. A time where pretty much EVERYTHING was done practically (yes, there is a little bit of bluescreen and model work, but most times – what you see on screen is what was shot on the day), which just helps to add to their awesomeness. There is almost no chance that you’d get these films these days, what with all that new fangled CGI and stuff, and that is a real shame – sure, the CGI can look awesome when done right, but you get a much different feeling seeing that compared to people interacting with an actual awesome set.

All in all, Raiders of The Lost Ark is a film that, while dragging a little bit more than I remember it as a kid, does hold up really well. With good reason, it’s a damn fun adventure.

Tomorrow – The Temple of Doom.

It's Not Shark Week, It's Just Shark Day

Today’s film is one of the best horror films of, if not ever, then at least the last 35 years (and, let’s faces it, with the amount of remakes that get pumped out these days, 35 years IS forever). And, while it wasn’t his first film, was the first superhit for Steven Speilberg. In fact, it was such a hit that it pretty much altered the way that big films were released (ushering in the concept of the Summer Blockbuster, which is pretty much a staple of the film year, at least in the US). Today’s film is Jaws.

This isn’t a film that I need to go too deep into, because everyone at least knows it, if not having seen it multiple times themselves. But for those 3 people (legitimately 3 people) who don’t know what the film is about: a shark attacks Amity during the 4th of July weekend, and, against the wishes of Chief Brody (Seaquest DSV’s Roy Scheider), the beach remains open – leading to more shark attacks. So, it is up to Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss to stop it.

And, because I feel like it; this will be a Things I Do/Don’t Like style review.

Things I Do Like About Jaws

First and foremost, this is one of those movies that subscribes to one of my favourite things to do in horror – DON’T SHOW THE DAMN KILLER UNTIL THE END. Yes, we all know it’s a shark, but not actually showing the beast in full until the last 20 minutes of the film does so much to ratchet up the tension. It’s something that I wish a lot of horror films these days would subscribe to.

Bruce the Shark. Sure, anyone who knows the slightest bit of trivia about this movie, knows that there was all sorts of technical issues with the shark/s that were made for this film (in fact, it’s these issues that caused the whole “don’t show the shark til the end” aspects that made the movie even more awesome). But, when you actually see the shark, it is one menacing motherfucker.

The score. John Williams is one of the best composers of the modern era (I have long subscribed to the fact that all of today’s best film and TV composers will eventually be looked at in the same light as we look at the classical composers of yesteryear), and, while the Jaws theme owes more than a passing debt to Anotonin Dvorak’s The New World – I don’t think that there is more than a handful of people who would not instantly think “oh crap – shark!!” when they hear that particular tune.

The performances. For as much as I talk down about Speilberg and how I find a lot of his output very family friendly and milquetoast, the guy really does know how to tell a story and get great performances from his casts. I honestly can’t think of a film of his in which I have seen someone give less than 100% (that could be because of the cache his name has carried for many years, I doubt I will ever personally know), and that always adds to the believability of his films.

Quint. In a film filled with damn good performances, Robert Shaw stands out. Every time he’s on screen, you are drawn to him – like a magnet made of Michael Caine. The scar comparison scene on the Orca is a classic example of this, and, according to the rumours, is based on a true story that Shaw himself was involved in.

Things I Don’t Like About Jaws

Quint. OK, OK, I can hear you from here “but, Shane – didn’t you just say that he’s a great character and he’s totally integral to the plot, and every time Robert Shaw is on screen, he owns the scene”, and none of this I can, or will, argue with, because it’s true – all you have to do is tilt your head slightly up to see. He really is a great character and Robert Shaw really does own every scene he’s in. But that is the problem – he just steamrolls over Scheider and Dreyfuss to the point that they are basically redshirts (figuratively and, in one case, literally).

So, once again, it’s a film that I find a hell of a lot more to like than not. What can I say, I make it a habit not to own films that I don’t like.