Harrison Ford’s stunt double actually had to be dragged through the jungle on the back of a truck. Practical filmmaking techniques always make for more visceral, hard-hitting action than featherlight CG spectac
Looking at every movie and its score on review aggregate site Metacritic, this list will hopefully give a newcomer to either franchise a better understanding of the movies and their sometimes complicated hist
From Weird Al Yankovic’s UHF to The Simpsons to even Disaster Movie, imitating Indy’s action-packed introduction is practically a cottage industry. Chicken Little took this to the extreme by literally showing the scene before the boulder rolled
One of the most iconic scenes of Raiders of the Lost Ark is when Indy falls into the Well of Souls and encounters a massive cobra that flares its hood. It's a deeply tense scene that helps convey Indy's paralyzing snake phobia. Unfortunately, like the aforementioned tarantulas, the cobra in question is geographically incorr
Harking back to the pulpy adventure serials they grew up on, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas brought a delightfully old-school vision to action cinema in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark . Ice-cool adventurer Indiana Jones is the quintessential Harrison Ford character and he got an unforgettable introduction in Raide
Modern movies tend to lean heavier into comedic dialogue and would've thrown in a few jokes or visual gags. What elevates Indy's adventure is that it's played straight. His introduction in the Peruvian jungle uses no words, only a head tilt, a flash of his whip, and a slow walk into the light. Similarly, the movie's humor is found through circumstance, not gags, such as when the vine Indiana's clinging to begins to slip, or the snake suddenly appears in his lap on the pl
Raiders can almost be interpreted as a revenge fantasy. Indy punches his way through legions of Nazis and a bunch of them are gruesomely killed by divine intervention when the Ark is opened, positioning Raiders as a staunchly anti-fascist mo
The first sequel in the Indiana Jones franchise, which is technically a prequel as it takes place before the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark treasure maps Ark , emphasized the darkest elements of the original movie but depicted its nostalgic genre elements in a much more cynical
Inspired by the classics of the martial arts genre – particularly the blood-drenched productions of the Shaw Brothers’ studio – Quentin Tarantino made his stamp as an action director in his fourth film, Kill Bill . Uma Thurman stars as the Bride, an ex-assassin who seeks vengeance against the former colleagues who left her for d
Perhaps what sums up Raiders' greatness __ is that it reflects the importance of filmmakers having a vision and being allowed to make the kind of movie they want. In an age of shared universes and formulaic filmmaking, it's refreshing to see a director know exactly what he wants and how to translate it into movie ma
Every fight scene in Kill Bill , especially the House of Blue Leaves massacre in Volume 1 , was meticulously crafted. Tarantino choreographed the fight scenes and all the mid-action cuts on the page before shoot
A couple of moments in Raiders push the boundaries of its PG-13 rating – particularly the climactic sequence in which a couple of the bad guys’ faces melt off their skulls due to the awesome power of the Ark. The face-melting effect is still terrifying after all these ye
The followup to franchise restarter Jurassic World in 2015, Fallen Kingdom from director J.A. Bayona was, as reflected by its score on Metacritic, one of the more polarizing entries into the franchi
Jackie Chan is one of the most prominent stars in action cinema, because he combines his prowess as a master martial artist with Buster Keaton-esque physical comedy. His 1978 hit Drunken Master has a wholly unique premise, as Chan plays a fighter whose abilities peak when he’s intoxica
One of Indy’s best friends is Sallah, a fellow archeologist and excavator who’s known for his jovial attitude. He’s also an Egyptian who’s portrayed by the Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies in both Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusa
After inserting the staff into the correct hole, it still ends up being taller than he is. As Harrison Ford is over 6 feet tall and looks it, this is a rather obvious but largely forgivable goof. Few people would bother working out these measurements in their heads and would rather just enjoy the mo
One of the most incredible things about re-watching Raiders is the relative lack of dialogue, especially towards the beginning. In the screenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan, the audience learns about the characters through actions rather than wo
The story of a fighter who needs to get drunk to fight made for the perfect action comedy , because the joke engine of the comedy is driven by action. The fights are masterfully choreographed and performed by experts, but it has a slapstick approach. As usual, Chan’s stunt work is impecca