Ranking the Indiana Jones movies

            In honor of the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I figured this was a great time to rank one of my all-time favorite film franchises. As if you didn’t know, Indiana Jones is a five-part film franchise that was released from 1981 through 2023. Harrison Ford plays the titular character in all five movies and even though there are a few recurring characters, he is the one constant throughout. Despite your personal feelings about sequels, I think we can all agree that these films and the character of Indiana Jones are some of the most well-known on-screen in the history of cinema. The best thing about lists such as these is this is strictly my opinion, so you may not agree with my order and you may even be surprised by one or two of my choices. Enough on that… let’s get to my ranking.

5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) – So, no real surprise here right? I’m pretty sure if you poll people and ask them what their least favorite Indy movie is, you will get this as your answer most times. No movie with Harrison Ford as Dr. Jones is bad, but this one left a lot to be desired. Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Jones didn’t really land with me and neither was the thought of him taking over the name and making more films without Ford. Thankfully that never happened and the shot of Ford taking the hat from him at the end was a nice gesture to the fans I think. Him swinging through the jungle on vines like the monkeys also isn’t a part that I enjoy (although I can appreciate it more now on a rewatch). Overall though, I just felt like this was missing something and it lacked the charm of the others. I do love that Karen Allen was back as Marion and John Hurt was phenomenal here… like he was in most things. I’m not totally against the whole alien ship at the end because there have been some bizarre things happen in the other films as well, I just didn’t like how it was revealed at the end. Again… no surprise here at number five.

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – This may be the first thing that people disagree with on this list. I have to admit that it feels odd putting Raiders this low, but I looked at it over and over and it sort of a tie for third place, I gave the nod to Dial of Destiny based on how they progressed the characters and the story. But more on that in a minute. Raiders of the Lost Ark is a great movie and when the world was first introduced to Indiana Jones (even though his name isn’t technically in the title). We also get to meet Marion and his friends Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) who assist him on his adventures. Honestly, the ten minutes of this is one of the best in the whole series, but after that it does slow down a bit. I still think this is an absolute classic and miles ahead of number five.

3. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) – Like I said up above, these two are basically tied for third. I know I will probably get some backlash over this, but I don’t care. I really enjoyed the fifth (and possibly final) installment of the franchise. I love where they took the characters, I love the cameos from some of the characters from the previous films, and they did a fantastic job shooting the action scenes with Ford. You know he doesn’t do a lot of his stunts anymore, but they shot it in a way where it didn’t take away from the movie. The new cast also made a huge splash with me. Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Voller, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena Shaw, and Toby Jones as Basil Shaw all knocked it out of the park and gives me hope that maybe they can let this legacy live on in another way.

2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – Here is where I’m probably going to get unpopular comments again. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this movie and it is a very hard choice to pick between my top two. Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. was the best choice for that role and he and Harrison Ford play off each other in the best way possible. This is one of the most action-packed of the franchise and it’s filled with tons of memorable scenes and quotable lines. The part at the end when he’s going through the different rooms to get to the Grail, could almost rival that opening scene of Raiders that I mentioned earlier. I really can’t think of a better film that’s a sequel that is this great.

1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) – The only problem with Last Crusade was timing. Temple of Doom was the first Indiana Jones movie that I ever watched as a kid and I fell in love with it. I didn’t watch Raiders until later on and thought Temple of Doom was the original. When I got older and realized the Temple of Doom came out second, but was a prequel I laughed because I watched them in the correct chronological order and didn’t even know it. There is so much I love about this movie, from the bridge scene (which my household still quotes lines from), to the voodoo dolls, to the laughs scattered throughout. But the two things that bring me the most joy are the scenes in the mine carts and Ke Huy Quan as “Short Round”. Quan’s character is perhaps the best Indiana Jones character outside of Indy himself. He really brought “Short Round” to life and made him his own. He brought the laughs, the love, and the excitement that we all should feel when watching these movies.

So, there you have it for my Indiana Jones rankings.

What are your rankings? What did you think of mine? Let me know in the comments.

Check out my other lists here.