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Quentin Tarantino names his most and least favourite ‘Indiana Jones’ movies
It’s nice to see fellow cinematic visionaries praise each other’s careers, with Quentin Tarantino recently discussing the work of Steven Spielberg with great enthusiasm. Inspired by the work of Spielberg throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it is likely that Tarantino may have never got into filmmaking without the magnetising pull of the Jaws and Jurassic Park director who made a monumental impact on 20th century cinema.
Holding a great love for the innovative filmmaker, Tarantino has long praised Spielberg’s attention to detail and enthusiasm for the art form, with the director of countless 20th century blockbusters having championed cinematic change since the 1970s. One film, that sparked an entire franchise, is well recognised as a great among Spielberg’s glittering filmography, with 1981s Raiders of the Lost Ark often being recognised as the best in the Indiana Jones series.
Starring Harrison Ford at the helm, Spielberg’s film followed the adventures of an archaeology professor who ventures out to seize a biblical artefact known as the Ark of the Covenant, becoming embroiled in a Nazi plot at the very same time. Receiving great critical and commercial acclaim, Raiders prompted the celebrated sequels, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade to be released in 1984 and 1989, before Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was widely believed to dent the franchise’s reputation in 2008.
Discussing his favourite films in the Indiana Jones series on the ReelBlend podcast, however, Tarantino surprised fans across the world by naming a going against the grain and picking films that few other fans would opt for.
Choosing the second movie in the series, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as his favourite, Tarantino even goes so far as to say that it’s Spielberg’s second best film of all time. “He [Spielberg] pushes the envelope, he creates PG-13; a movie so fucking badass it created a new level in the MPAA,” Tarantino states, adding, “there is a comedy aspect as gruesome as the cinema is; there is an ultimate comedy aspect that’s just not quite there as much in the first one [Raiders of the Lost Ark]”.
Fans of Indy may want to fold their wide-brimmed sable fedora over their ears for what’s coming next too, with Tarantino praising the fourth film in the series, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, over 1989s celebrated Last Crusade.
Stating his contrarian opinion on the film, Tarantino claims: “I like Crystal Skull more than the Sean Connery one [The Last Crusade]. I don’t like the Sean Connery one… it’s such a boring one… he’s not an interesting character”.
Aside from his love of Indiana Jones, Tarantino also asserts that the 1975 film Jaws is Spielberg’s best ever movie, calling it a film that deserves to be “carved out on its own Mount Rushmore”. Whilst we can somewhat agree that Jaws is Spielberg’s best, we certainly cannot get behind the notion that The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was better than The Last Crusade.
Take a listen to the conversation between Tarantino, Roger Avary and more, on the podcast clip, below.
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