Controversial Opinions (For Everything Other Than DC Comics)

[Zelena]

Yeaaahhh, that's utterly missing the point. Indy was a player in a biblical game, played out over millennia. He was not a spectator, he was a key actor in an act of a very large, complex play.

To diminish the character because he didn't get to dominate the story? That speaks of a narcissistic need to believe our heroes dominate the events of their stories, so that by association, we can pretend we're in control of the stories in which we're merely a part.

I don’t diminish the character, it was fine until the end. The writer, apparently, didn’t know how to finish the story.

During all the movie, we saw him fighting, runnning… well, doing something. Indiana Jones deserved a better final: special effects stole the spotlight…

[achilles]

He manages to stay alive until the end of the movie… it’s not a small feat. He’s not an invicible super-hero, he’s only a man and it’s why he is so liked.

And let's face it, because Harrison Ford just knocked it out of the park each and every time. While I like Tom Selleck as an actor, and he is charismatic as well, I just can't imagine him or anyone else playing Indy.

[achilles]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ That had one of the great endings of all time.

Actually, though I made fun of it, yes, it did. And it was the ending it HAD to have, given the foreshadowing of the Ark's power that went on through the movie. Which in turn they had to do; the Ark had to be real and have that power, or the entire movie would have been pointless. It was actually a brilliant piece of writing IMO.

[achilles]

Seriously, you watch an Indiana Jones movie and you think this one is an archeologist? He explains the role of an archeologist in his classroom in the “Lost Ark”… and does exactly the opposite, as if archeology is about collecting artefacts.

Yeah, what he is more properly is a grave robber or looter. In the bit earlier than that day, most people who did that sort of work were like that or worse, destroying the sites they were investigating without recording anything. Indy...does tend to teach one thing and do the opposite now that you mention it. And why would the museum want to buy trinkets from Doctor Jones? They don't know anything about them...it'd just be displaying a pretty trinket of unknown origin and dubious provenance.

[achilles]

Jack Burton/Big Trouble In Little China

Most of the movie. But he did get Lo Pan, and thus caused the big Storm to burst as well.

[Kirby101]

I don’t diminish the character, it was fine until the end. The writer, apparently, didn’t know how to finish the story.

During all the movie, we saw him fighting, runnning… well, doing something. Indiana Jones deserved a better final: special effects stole the spotlight…

A weak ending would be opening the Ark and having a Maltese Falcon moment with nothing in there. Then Indy kills a few Nazis and escapes. But we got the wrath of God. It was not type of climatic finish you saw in movies.
Quick story, I saw ROTA at a preview in NY, before anyone knew what it was about. (pre-internet days) We just had the title and that it was from Lucas and Spielberg. I was expecting a sci-fi movie. Suffice to say it was an incredible experience. And the audience at that theater did not think it was a weak ending. It was a long standing ovation.
I don't know what it is like seeing this movie on a small screen and knowing all about it already. But going in cold and seeing it on the big scree, was the best movie experieince I ever had.

[The Darknight Detective]

A weak ending would be opening the Ark and having a Maltese Falcon moment with nothing in there. Then Indy kills a few Nazis and escapes. But we got the wrath of God. It was not type of climatic finish you saw in movies.
Quick story, I saw ROTA at a preview in NY, before anyone knew what it was about. (pre-internet days) We just had the title and that it was from Lucas and Spielberg. I was expecting a sci-fi movie. Suffice to say it was an incredible experience. And the audience at that theater did not think it was a weak ending. It was a long standing ovation.
I don't know what it is like seeing this movie on a small screen and knowing all about it already. But going in cold and seeing it on the big scree, was the best movie experieince I ever had.

Same here, Kirby. I saw it with my father and brothers on the silver screen and we were all floored by it. As for the ending, it was epic and, IMO, still holds up.

[The Darknight Detective]

Double post.

[DrNewGod]

A weak ending would be opening the Ark and having a Maltese Falcon moment with nothing in there. Then Indy kills a few Nazis and escapes. But we got the wrath of God. It was not type of climatic finish you saw in movies.
Quick story, I saw ROTA at a preview in NY, before anyone knew what it was about. (pre-internet days) We just had the title and that it was from Lucas and Spielberg. I was expecting a sci-fi movie. Suffice to say it was an incredible experience. And the audience at that theater did not think it was a weak ending. It was a long standing ovation.
I don't know what it is like seeing this movie on a small screen and knowing all about it already. But going in cold and seeing it on the big scree, was the best movie experieince I ever had.

Yeah, I was 16 or so, and all that I knew about Raiders Of The Lost Ark was that it was by those guys who did Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Star Wars. The early TV promotions for it were vague about setting and plot, focusing much more on the mood and feel of it.

I can't adequately convey how thoroughly it blew me away. I agree with you Kirby, on the big screen, with few to no expectations, it was especially powerful.

[achilles]

Same here, Kirby. I saw it with my father and brothers on the silver screen and we were all floored by it. As for the ending, it was epic and, IMO, still holds up.

Despite my point, which was a minor thing I noticed that amused me. IMO Raiders is the greatest adventure movie ever made. And one of the best popcorn movies ever made. I would also regard it as another nearly perfect movie, (like Star Wars).

[The Darknight Detective]

Despite my point, which was a minor thing I noticed that amused me. IMO Raiders is the greatest adventure movie ever made. And one of the best popcorn movies ever made. I would also regard it as another nearly perfect movie, (like Star Wars).

Cool!

BTW, this might be controversial (or not), but my favorite leading lady from the Indy films is Alison Doody. My God, she was so beautiful!

[DrNewGod]

Cool!

BTW, this might be controversial (or not), but my favorite leading lady from the Indy films is Alison Doody. My God, she was so beautiful!

She was. But Marion Ravenwood remains the best character of Indy's romantic interests (IMO).

[The Darknight Detective]

She was. But Marion Ravenwood remains the best character of Indy's romantic interests (IMO).

No disagreement there, not to mention my thinking Karen Allen herself was a cutie pie going all the way back to Animal House.

[Adam Allen]

Most of the movie. But he did get Lo Pan, and thus caused the big Storm to burst as well.

Jack Burton is an awesome hero because he comes through in the end, and otherwise in the story does not need to always be the biggest badass in the bunch. You know, Wang does better in pretty much every fight through the entire rest of the movie, but you never see Jack get insecure about it or anything like that. Seriously subversive for an 80s action movie hero, if you think about it.

[TheRay]

Regardless of whether you liked them or not, "Sex Pistols" is a terrible band name.