Quentin Tarantino shares some surprising thoughts on the Indiana Jones franchise, saying his prefers Kingdom of the Crystal Skull over The Last Crusade. The acclaimed auteur and serious cinephile has shared no shortage of film opinions over the years since he first burst onto the scene in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs. For instance, Tarantino recently offered a glowing review of Top Gun: Maverick, the summer’s biggest movie, which the filmmaker called a “true cinematic spectacle.”
Released in 1989, The Last Crusade acts a direct sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark and the final installment in the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Alongside Harrison Ford returning as the titular archeologist, the threequel sees James Bond alum Sean Connery join the franchise as Indy’s father, Henry Jr., a professor of Medieval literature who is captured by the Nazis during his search for the Holy Grail. After laying dormant for several decades, the Indiana Jones franchise returned in 2008 with the legacy sequel, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which saw Shia LaBeouf play Indy’s son and new sidekick, Mutt Williams. The maligned fourth film is generally considered the franchise’s weakest installment, and divided both critics and audiences over its pulpy storyline and overuse of CGI.
During a recent appearance on the ReelBlend podcast alongside his long-time friend and collaborator Roger Avary, Tarantino shared a few surprising takes on the Indiana Jones franchise. The Pulp Fiction filmmaker says he prefers Crystal Skull over “the Sean Connery one,” referring to The Last Crusade. Tarantino calls the Indiana Jones sequel “boring.” Read what he said below:
I like Crystal Skull more than the Sean Connery one. I don’t like the Sean Connery one. I don’t like the Sean Connery one at all. … That’s such a boring one. It’s boring. And he’s not an interesting character. The joke is made immediately. It’s like Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.
As usual, Tarantino’s take is sure to raise a few eyebrows. The filmmaker made it clear he has no love for the “boring“ Last Crusade, since he considers Connery’s Henry to be a wholly uninteresting character. A devout cinephile, Tarantino makes an unexpected comparison between The Last Crusade and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, a 1992 buddy comedy which stars Sylvester Stallone as a tough cop who teams up with his frail mother. Tarantino instead prefers the critically-panned Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which, interestingly, actually features a very similar father-son dynamic between Indy and his son, Mutt.
Tarantino’s preference for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull over The Last Crusade certainly diverts from the consensus opinion, which should be expected from the legendary filmmaker at this point in his career. That said, Tarantino will likely have to revisit his rankings in a year when the currently untitled Indiana Jones 5 from James Mangold releases in theaters. If some of its newcomers, such as star Boyd Holbrook, are to be believed, audiences are in for another promising adventure when Ford’s hero returns.
Key Release Dates
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Release Date:2023-06-30
