Is TLC Anyone Else's Least Favorite?

[Shadow Master]

It's super rare for Last Crusade to be anyone else's least favorite Indy film, especially with Crystal Skull into account, but I wonder if there's any others here who feel that way. While I still like TLC it just holds up the least well for me and it initially wasn't even my least favorite. I was definitely in the camp of fans who for a long time regarded Crystal Skull as the weakest but overtime I grew to enjoy it much more once the pre-release hype died down and marathoned it alongside the original three. There's just something about TLC that doesn't stand the test of time as well as the others for me. It's the only one with a bit of a "been there, done that" feeling with how it tries to be so similar to Raiders with the Nazis again, a biblical/Christian relic again, the desert setting again, etc. and while maybe people who weren't fond of Temple Of Doom enjoyed this I felt after how well TOD showed Indy doesn't always need this to work it felt like a letdown. It lacks the pulpy style of the first two that made them feel so special and unique. It never has the same feeling of danger or tension the first two had in spades and I've never been a fan of it's much more slapsticky, comical tone. Sure the other films have humor including the dark TOD, but the humor came naturally whereas in TLC the humor is deliberate and for me really undermines the tension and stakes so much. Makes the movie feel like a cartoon version of Indy. It also has the dullest villains of the series, I found the Holy Grail the least interesting of the relics and don't get me started on how this movie ruined both Brody and Sallah.

I still enjoy TLC but of all the Indy films it's the one I have the most issues with. Raiders and TOD are as awesome as ever and Crystal Skull despite it's many flaws improves overtime whereas TLC is the only one that diminishes. I know TLC being considered the worst is controversial and probably outright blasphemy to many, but I still enjoy it. It just isn't as entertaining as the rest for me.

 

[tbay]

Last Crusade was my favorite and my wife’s as well. It also was the first Indy film we watched. I hated temple of doom and Kingdom skull. Short round and Mutt are beyond annoying.

 

[Johnny Utah]

It's my favorite. All down to the chemistry between Harrison and Sean.

 

[karamazov80]

I can't rank it Lower than crystal skull, but hear where the op is coming from. Compared with the prior to films, it does seem more intentionally Bland and family friendly. The interaction with Sean Connery is a bit cutesy at times, and the level of danger is not really there to my eyes. But I still like it quite a bit. No Shia Lebouf or computer-generated monkeys swinging around in this one.

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[Khev]

The entire first half of the film is pretty cringeworthy but it really picks up when Connery appears. More of a fun buddy/family movie than the previous two but infinitely more watchable than KOTCS.

 

[karamazov80]

The train sequence is one of the most memorable scenes to my eyes, and the transition to Indy on the boat.

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[SpaceCrawler]

Temple of Doom and (ESPECIALLY) Crystal Skull are far worse than TLC. IMO.


Sean

 

[mfisher]

For me.. it's right on par with KOTCS... just way too cheeky... Raiders will always be my favorite... with TOD a close second (granted that has to do with the fact I saw it in the 3rd grade at the theatre).. But it was such an anticipated event for me as a kid - as I had been an obsessive Indy fan at that point - shocker... Funny side note... the day that TOD premiered was also a solar eclipse... kids at school chatted all day about how if you looked right at the sun you'd go blind... knowing my parents were taking me to see TOD that night, I walked all the way home from school staring at my feet.. the thought of going blind before seeing the new Indiana Jones movie was a travesty !!!! True story.... fast forward years later... TLC premiers.. I saw it on vacation as a young teen down in Florida.. and was not impressed.. fell flat.. No matter how many times I watch it, it always just seems overly.... cheesy.... then there was KOTCS... sigh... I just hope that now with Disney at the helm.. and the magic they have done with the Star Wars franchise.. that they will spin their magic on Indiana Jones.. because obviously Lucas went off the rails and dang near destroyed BOTH franchises..

 

[Khev]

The train sequence is one of the most memorable scenes to my eyes,and the transition to Indy on the boat.

 

[The Jerker]

If throwing the Crystal Skull into the mix then no, not my least favorite. It is my least favorite of the original three but don't get me wrong, I still love it. Just seemed a little too corny compared to Raiders and Temple.

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[karamazov80]

I didn't say it was the best. But particularly watching it as a kid, that stuck with me. I could kind of imagine myself as a young Indy.

 

[punisher1974]

I love Raiders best but Last crusade is enjoyable. I don't like what they did to Marcus though. I don't think of him as a bumbling oaf. Loved Connery as Henry though.

 

[RIDDICK]

I like it better than the rest.

 

[Shadow Master]

I love Raiders best but Last crusade is enjoyable. I don't like what they did to Marcus though. I don't think of him as a bumbling oaf. Loved Connery as Henry though.

He didn't have that much screentime in Raiders but there was no indicator at all he was such a buffoon as TLC made him.

 

[Rexus]

The Last Crusade is my favourite, hardly a dull scene from beginning to end. Great opening for young Indy, the library, boat chase, rescuing Sean Connery from the Nazis, the airplane/blimp scene, tank chase in the desert, the final 3 challenges...hard to top all that.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

TLC is MY least favorite. I was 16 when the movie came out and I was a huge Indy fan ever since Raiders. I loved Raiders even more than I did SW. I think I still do. TOD blew my mind when that came out too. It felt relentless, like it did not let up on the action for a single second and it was all super intense and deadly. It was exhilarating and exhausting to watch, and so damn fun! So I suppose I must have had some majorly high hopes for TLC when it was coming out. But my disappointment was just as huge as my anticipation. I was heartbroken as I watched TLC. It felt bland and dull, like a pale imitation of Indy and Raiders. The action was not very dangerous, and sometimes flat out illogical and lazy. The effects looked damn cheap, like shot-on-video level. The sets also looked extremely cheap, particularly the stuff on the water like in the beginning and the propeller in Venice, like they were shot in a tiny bathtub. The jokes were not funny to me in the least. I thought the whole “origin” story was preposterous (him getting the scar, the whip and the hat and overall “look” all in one fateful afternoon), even though I had initially loved the idea of River Phoenix playing Indy. I’ve watched it a few times since, always trying to give it another shot. But it just never gets any better for me. I don’t think I’ll even leave the channel on it if I happen to come across it on TV, but I would the other movies. I just kind of ignore it. It’s not anger-filled hate I feel towards it, like it “ruined” Indy and all the other movies. It’s just disappointment and I scarcely ever think about it.

Crystal Skull I found…fine. I knew what to expect from both Lucas and Spielberg at that point in their careers. Lucas gave us the utterly dreadful prequels, and Spielberg was VERY hit and miss (although I loved his Minority Report and War of the Worlds but figured he would go more towards young kid’s level action for Indy). So I knew the movie would skew for a young audience and it all played fine for me. I laughed a few times and felt the action was ok, definitely better than LC. Yeah, some of it is really hokey and illogical, but I guess I’m a little more accepting of those flaws in my older age. But I can see CS is lightweight and not on the same level as Raiders or TOD. Honestly I think Indy should have been in a different place in his life at that age, not still gallivanting after artifacts in the same way he was when he was in his 30s, and they could have done a lot with an interesting character arc with his age, but it’s not my movie.

So my list has Raiders on top (not even close), followed by TOD, then CS and finally TLC.

 

[RIDDICK]

I just figured it was an age thing.
some people DO get forgetful when we get older.

Exactly. My grandma's in her 80's and still has a healthy mind. In contrast, my grand-grandma was pretty out there at the same age.

It also can be very sudden. An old lady who lives in the same building I am was fine last year, I talked to her from time to time. This year... oh man, she's only talking to her cat while carryin' it in her arms everywhere... NONSTOP. It's unsettling.

 

[Shadow Master]

I just figured it was an age thing, I don't think he was a buffoon at all. But I can see where it could annoy someone. But in all fairness, some people DO get forgetful when we get older (maybe it's not the age, it's the mileage), it doesn't make the person a buffoon, just human.

He definitely acts very silly though and doesn't seem anywhere near as smart as he came off in Raiders. He seemed like a smart, wise person in Raiders and in TLC he gets lost in his own museum.

 

[Shadow Master]

TLC is MY least favorite. I was 16 when the movie came out and I was a huge Indy fan ever since Raiders. I loved Raiders even more than I did SW. I think I still do. TOD blew my mind when that came out too. It felt relentless, like it did not let up on the action for a single second and it was all super intense and deadly. It was exhilarating and exhausting to watch, and so damn fun! So I suppose I must have had some majorly high hopes for TLC when it was coming out. But my disappointment was just as huge as my anticipation. I was heartbroken as I watched TLC. It felt bland and dull, like a pale imitation of Indy and Raiders. The action was not very dangerous, and sometimes flat out illogical and lazy. The effects looked damn cheap, like shot-on-video level. The sets also looked extremely cheap, particularly the stuff on the water like in the beginning and the propeller in Venice, like they were shot in a tiny bathtub. The jokes were not funny to me in the least. I thought the whole “origin” story was preposterous (him getting the scar, the whip and the hat and overall “look” all in one fateful afternoon), even though I had initially loved the idea of River Phoenix playing Indy. I’ve watched it a few times since, always trying to give it another shot. But it just never gets any better for me. I don’t think I’ll even leave the channel on it if I happen to come across it on TV, but I would the other movies. I just kind of ignore it. It’s not anger-filled hate I feel towards it, like it “ruined” Indy and all the other movies. It’s just disappointment and I scarcely ever think about it.

I don't dislike TLC but you hit the nail on the head with it's many problems. That's another thing I forgot to mention, how shoddy and cheap some of the effects look, especially the blue/green screen. Hard not to be distracted sometimes when I watch the film.

 

[bmarz1000]

I love the Last Crusade. My only real issue is how they turned Marcus Brody into a bumbling fool for the second half of the film.