With Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Harrison Ford returns to one of his most defining characters, the archeologist adventurer Indiana Jones. But unlike Lucasfilm's major moneymaker from a galaxy far, far away, Indiana Jones is not a character who has an extensive filmography.
Critics have reviewed every adventure, so Rotten Tomatoes has assigned each one a score. While not every entry is beloved by all, every Indiana Jones film has something to love about it.
6 Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (2023) - 61%
The final adventure of Indiana Jones comes in the form of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In this adventure, Indy is a man out of time looking to stop a former Nazi scientist from finding the Dial of Destiny. With the artifact, he could rewrite history, and Indy had to stop him with the help of his god-daughter.
Critics are not happy with this new entry. They did admit that there's enough nostalgia to propel it, but the James Mangold-directed film seems to fail to recapture the magic set down by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
5 Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984) - 76%
The follow-up to Raiders of the Lost Ark was the darkest entry in the franchise in the form of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Serving as a prequel to the previous film, Indiana adventures to India with his friend Short Round and a stowaway Willie to find out why the palace has taken all the children from a nearby village. He encounters a new Thuggee cult who are searching for all five Sankara Stones.
Fans were not in love with the second installment, but critics found it enjoyable. While it is darker than the last entry, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom serves as an exciting new chapter in Indiana Jones's life. It's a more confident turn from Spielberg, and Short Round gives Indy some much-needed heart.
4 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992) - 77%
Later re-edited as the 22-movie collection The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was an educational series that followed Indiana Jones at various points in the early 1900s. Throughout his adventures around the world with his father and, later, by himself, he meets many of history's greatest figures. And it was Lucas' hope that the series would help teach kids about history with the help of history's greatest adventurer.
Rotten Tomatoes' average for the series is 77%, but Seasons 1 and 2 have a score of 64% and 90%, respectively. While the first season was seen as a decent effort from Lucas and company, the second season was seen as a marked improvement due to its focus on a teenage Indiana rather than an eight-year-old one.
3 Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008) - 77%
A legacy sequel before the trend picked up, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull picks up 19 years after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This film sees Indiana getting captured by the Soviets in order to lead them to the mummified remains of an alien that crash-landed. Afterward, he loses his job at the university and is approached by a young man named Mutt, which propels him on a new adventure to save the world.
The first return of Indiana Jones was well-received by critics at the time. While fans weren't crazy about the film, critics felt that the story was a worthy fourth entry in the franchise. Harrison Ford delivers as the character, and the return of Marion Ravenwood is welcome. The third act remains controversial, and it may have come out too late, but it remains a classic Indiana Jones adventure.
2 Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989) - 84%
Uniting Indiana Jones with his estranged father, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade see the two Jones race to find the Holy Grail before Nazis beat them to it. After his father is kidnapped, Indiana is thrust into an adventure that will bring him and his father closer together as their search for the grail reveals an even greater treasure.
A much lighter film than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was a welcome return to form for the franchise. Uniting Harrison Ford and Sean Connery brings a unique energy to the film that the previous films didn't have. It's exactly the adventure romp that critics and fans were looking for.
1 Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) - 93%
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Originally titled simply Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first Indiana Jones film introduces audiences to history's greatest adventurer. Indiana is tasked with finding the Ark of the Covenant because the Nazis are looking for it, and the United States government doesn't want them to find it. Indy unites with his lost love, Marion Ravenwood, to seek out the location of the ark.
Like with many franchises, the first is often considered the best. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is a perfect introduction to a unique hero and a strong showing from Ford. Spielberg, Lucas and Ford clearly created cinema magic when developing this film, and even though the editing is rough by today's standards, it continues to be the seminal Indiana Jones film.