Some Indiana Jones fans will go into The Dial of Destiny merely hoping for something better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Those people will be very happy. The fifth and (supposed) final installment in the series is a big improvement over the fourth. But those who go in with loftier aspirations—viewers eager for a return to the experience and feeling delivered by the first three entries—won’t be so lucky. Because while Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has some truly great stretches and leading man, it has fundamental problems, too. An average script and a lack of joy combine to only dig up the franchise’s most “okay” film.

If you’ve ever watched an Indiana Jones movie and wished its titular archeologist was very sad, uh, good news? The Dial of Destiny features a depressed, lonely Professor Jones. After a truly amazing life, his only remaining companion is the bottom of a bottle. He does have a good reason to be miserable after suffering an unthinkable tragedy (yes, you can guess exactly what that is), but the state of his life casts a shadow over the entire movie. This is a very serious film that is downright dark at times. It’s just very different in tone than its predecessors. It’s not that the movie is entirely joyless. This isn’t Indiana Jones Goes Emo. It’s just not joyful. That’s a missing foundational piece of the magical Indiana Jones formula.

The film is also not especially funny. It has lighthearted moments, for sure. They’re mostly delivered by Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena Shaw whose energy stands in stark contrast to the older Indy. She’s his rogue goddaughter whose nefarious activities leads him to take one last adventure. But like Ford himself who outshines the film’s writing, Waller-Bridge’s charming performance as a dashing woman who is equal parts brilliant and reckless can’t give the movie the kind of levity it so desperately needs. The end result is a story that feels like too much of a course correction after the overly silly Crystal Skull rather than a return to form.

The movie, as absurd as this will sound, also suffers from too much action. The Dial of Destiny mostly operates at a proverbial 9 or 10 at all times, same as Waller-Bridge. But both her and the script would have greatly benefitted from an influx of quieter moments. (The few moments like that we do get are really effective, among the movie’s best.) That might sound antithetical to an Indiana Jones movie, but it was greatly needed with such a serious script. It’s just as much a drama as it is an adventure story. Once the movie opted to introduce a sad Indy it needed a different approach to telling that kind of story.

(It also could have used far fewer car chases. Or at least made some of them shorter. Eventually I started to wonder if I’d accidentally walked into a Fast & Furious prequel.)

The film does provide a fun MacGuffin for everyone to chase. The actual Dial of Destiny is an ancient device of Archimedes that legend says will let its user travel through fissures in time. That’s the driving desire of Mads Mikkelsen’s villain, a former Nazi scientist named Jürgen Voller now helping the U.S. land on the Moon. He wants to control “yesterday” so he can win a war he thinks Hitler foolishly lost. Mikkelsen’s stoic baddie makes for a worthy antagonist, but isn’t especially memorable like the franchise’s best villains.

What is scary (in 2023 especially) is the thought of surviving Nazis going back in time to change the outcome of the war. But the film’s use of its premise isn’t as good as the premise itself. The movie spends a lot of time driving to the fireworks factory only to set off a fraction of the fireworks it should when it arrives there. For an entry with a series-long runtime of over two hours and thirty minutes, it doesn’t use all that time as well as it should. That results in an ending that is not especially satisfying.

There are also basic storytelling mistakes that are so obvious they’re inexplicable. Great moments you think are being obviously foreshadowed don’t get payoffs. Meanwhile important moments that should be foreshadowed aren’t. There’s simply more promise in this script than there is payoff. If only someone could use the Dial of Destiny to go back and give the screenplay another pass…

So why isn’t the movie outright bad if it has so many problems? For one, none of its issues are true disasters. They all have a high floor that tend to go no lower level than mediocre rather than being outright awful. But more importantly, the film has a lot of great elements, too.

The first 25 minutes (set in 1945) are among the best in Indiana Jones history. If the whole film matched the quality of its start, we’d be discussing this as the best entry ever. There are also other sequences, like a lengthy chase through Tangier in Morocco, that is everything you’d want from one of these movies. The Dial of Destiny also features what might be the best de-aging in Hollywood history, a technological feat that genuinely enhances the plot. And its callbacks and Easter eggs to previous films never feel forced or overwrought. It not only gives us the right amount of them, they all feel like well-earned rewards for loving these movies rather than fan service.

And, even if we don’t like seeing him sad, its always fun spending time with Dr. Henry Jones Jr. Especially when Harrison Ford’s moving performance shows how much he clearly still cares loves the character and these movies. Indy might be heartbroken, but there’s still a lot of heart left in him. That comes across throughout the film and makes it better. It just would have been a lot more fun to see him again under better circumstances.

For some viewers that serious tone will be too much for the movie’s successful elements to overcome. For others it will absolutely work. They’ll love getting a new type of Indiana Jones story, one that is meaningfully different than the other four. But for most it will just make for an okay viewing, which is exactly what Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny ultimately is.

⭐ (3 of 5)

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Lucasfilm is mainly famous for three franchises; Star Wars, Willow, and of course, Indiana Jones. But for various licensing reasons, the four existing Indiana Jones films starring Harrison Ford have not been part of the Disney+ library. Until now, that is. In anticipation of the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Disney+ has brought all four Indy films—Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—along with the entire The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones television series, to the service. And they are now available to watch. Disney+ even cut a special trailer for the release, which you can watch right here:

Well, that brief trailer sure makes us want to marathon the whole series for the millionth time. For those wondering why it took so long for this iconic Lucasfilm property to make it onto Disney+, the films were distributed by Paramount Pictures. Which meant they had the release rights to the films, whether Lucasfilm produced them or not. And so, they’ve been on Paramount+ for the last several years. But now, they’ve come home, so to speak. Hopefully, they stay there, as many non-MCU Marvel films come and go from the service without warning.

In celebration of the Indiana Jones movies and series launching on the service, Disney+ subscribers in the US will receive special access to must-have Indiana Jones merchandise on shopDisney. This promotion goes from May 31, 2023 – June 8, 2023. For a limited time, US Disney+ subscribers can purchase highly anticipated items from the franchise before the general public. During this special window, eligible subscribers can visit shopDisney to check them out.

Originally published on May 16, 2023.

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Fans of Indiana Jones were shocked to read the news that Steven Spielberg bowed out of directing the fifth Indy movie. Instead, Logan’s James Mangold is helming the film. That means for the first time, both of Henry Jones Jr.’s creators won’t be at the helm. As of now, the only remaining member of the original Raiders of the Lost Ark creative team is Harrison Ford himself. We wish nothing but the best for Harrison in his sure-to-be final outing as the adventuring archaeologist. However, after this movie hits theaters, I think it’s high time for a new approach to Indiana Jones. Well, a new/old approach I should say. Because I believe it’s time for Indiana Jones to return to television, specifically with a series on Disney+.

Happily, Variety reports that may be in development. Sources told the outlet Disney “is actively looking to develop an Indiana Jones TV show for Disney+.” And although the fate of the show remains unclear at this time, recently Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy echoed the sentiment. She noted to Entertainment Weekly‘s Dagobah Dispatch that after Harrison Ford’s final Indiana Jones outing in Dial of Destiny, “if we were to do anything [related to Indiana Jones], it might be in series television down the road.” Here’s why it’s an excellent idea.

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Why Now Is the Time for a Disney+ Indy

From a studio standpoint, I could see why Disney and Lucasfilm be skittish about casting another actor to replace Harrison Ford. He’s one of the most iconic movie stars in Hollywood history, and Indiana Jones is arguably his most iconic role. Many people resisted seeing Solo in theaters, simply because having another actor as the big screen version of Han Solo seemed like sacrilege. I could see where the suits would be terrified of that same reaction happening again.

Lucasfilm

But what if a recast, younger Indy wasn’t for theatrical release? Because there’s already been another Indiana Jones before, in the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. That show wasn’t exactly a high adventure series, and was more about Indy’s journey meeting various famous historical figures in the early 20^th century. But having seen a younger Indy on the small screen before, it at least set the precedent. People might be more accepting of a different Dr. Jones if the medium is an all together different one. If it works, it breathes new life into the franchise. If it doesn’t, then the whole thing doesn’t tarnish the movie series. It’s a scenario in which you can’t really lose.

One Season, One MacGuffin

Lucasfilm

Imagine a big budget Indiana Jones steaming series, with the same care and big name creative involved as The Mandalorian recently had. It could feature a young Indy, only recently having become a professor. So perhaps late 1920s/early ‘30s. Everything before Raiders, but long after his teenage adventures in the ‘90s TV series. Each season, which would presumably be the standard 8-10 episodes, would feature one specific quest, for one specific Macguffin.

Season one of the series could be Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny, or Indiana Jones and the Lost City of Atlantis, and so on ans of forth. There is a metric ton of novels and comics which could serve as inspiration for these. And like the old serials  which inspired Lucas and Spielberg, each episode could also end on a spectacular cliffhanger.

Lucasfilm

These potential seasons don’t have to tie explicitly into any of the pre-existing movies, but it would be fun to address certain things if they wanted to. How exactly did Indy’s relationship with Marion Ravenwood and her father go sour? How did Indy meet (and later adopt) Short Round? In Temple of Doom, the character of Wu Han says he “followed Indy on many adventures”. We get hints about those backstories in the movies, but a show could flesh out the details. Even if the show never addresses those things, we know there are still dozens of untold adventures that Indy had over the years. We haven’t even scratched the surface.

Why It’s Time for Harrison to Hang Up the Whip

Lucasfilm

While I wish for nothing but good things for the latest Indiana Jones adventure on the big screen, truth be told, the entire project as-is sounds destined to disappoint. When this film reaches theaters in 2021, Harrison Ford will be 78 years old. Not that I’m against the idea of an “Old Man Jones” as it were. I thought Ford was brilliant as an elderly Han Solo in The Force Awakens. But the part of Han Solo mainly has him flying spaceships and shooting blasters. Indiana Jones calls for fist fights, swinging on vines, and jumping on moving vehicles. That’s a wee bit harder to do when you’re pushing 80.

There’s also the time frame issue. The movies have so far moved along in real time. Last Crusade took place in 1938, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull took place in 1957, exactly 19 years since the previous film. Which means that whatever the fifth film is, it will take place in or about the early ‘70s. Now, I love ‘70s period films to death, especially as a child of that time. But the era of high adventure pulp novels and Republic serials was roughly the ‘20s through the ‘40s. This is just Indy’s milieu. I’m not sure he fits in as a concept in the time of hippies and The Brady Bunch.

Lucasfilm

No one can ever take away Harrison Ford’s status as “the original Indy.” But just as James Bond eventually moved on from Sean Connery, it’s time for Indiana Jones to move beyond Ford. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg envisioned Indy as “the American 007” after all. This would be the most Bond-like thing to do for the character.

All of this would keep the franchise viable long term. Believe me, Disney and Lucasfilm don’t want to make the property seem like one of Indy’s old relics – they want it to stay current. And by having it in a different medium with a new actor, it would be far less likely to ruffle the feathers of those who claim there can only ever be on big screen version of Indiana Jones. A younger Indiana Jones on Disney+ is the best “you can have your cake and eat it too” option for everyone.

Originally published on February 27, 2020.

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By day, he’s a mild-mannered archaeology professor with longstanding daddy issues. By night—and, actually, also plenty of daylight hours—he’s a jet-setting, whip-wielding adventurer with a yen for preservation. He, of course, is Henry Jones, Jr., a.k.a. Indiana (after the dog). And he’s gearing up for a fifth cinematic adventure, more than 40 years after his first.

Here’s everything we know about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Title

The title of Indiana Jones 5 is officially Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘s Plot

Happily, we finally know a little bit more about what will happen in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. According to Empire, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny “finds Indy in 1960s-era New York City.” And he’ll be taking on his most hated foes, the Nazis, once again.

Inspired by the film, the subscriber cover for Empire’s Indiana Jones 5 issue finds Indy in 1960s-era New York City, bathed in golden light, whip in hand. Illustrated exclusively for Empire by Sam Hadley.

READ MORE: https://t.co/LMIMWIF8CS pic.twitter.com/vdP0Y6HvxY

— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) November 18, 2022

Mads Mikkelsen will, of course, play the villain in the movie, the nefarious Voller. Empire reveals that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny “finds our hero in 1969, living against the backdrop of the space race – but the American effort to beat the Russians to the moon brings with it some uncomfortable truths for Indy.”

Director James Mangold also shares of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as a whole:

It became really important to me to figure out how to make this a movie about a hero at sunset. The issues I brought up about Indy’s age were not things I thought were being addressed in the material being developed at the time. There were ‘old’ jokes, but the material itself wasn’t about it. To me, whatever you greatest liability, you should fly straight towards that. If you try to pretend it’s not there, you end up getting slings and arrows the whole way.

Joining Indy on his adventure will be his goddaughter, Helena, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridge notes of Helena, “She’s a mystery and a wonder.” Meanwhile, director James Mangold offers that she’s a “slippery, charming, the girl next door, a grifter.” While Ford adds that Helena is “a pioneer in ethical accounting.” Well, all in all, that doesn’t really tell us much. But we’re excited to stay tuned for more.

When it comes to Indiana himself, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will feature a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford that harkens back to the Indiana Jones of the original trilogy. According to Empire, the opening sequence of the movie “dials the clock back to 1944, set in a castle swarming with Nazis. Through the miracle of de-ageing technology, we’re going back towards Raiders-era Indy.” And then, the clock will fly forward, and the audience and Indy will land in 1969.

The de-aged Indiana Jones will come to life thanks to archival footage of a younger Harrison Ford. This footage will then be matched with newly shot material. Apparently, the original Raiders jacket even came out of storage for the occasion. While de-aging can so often go wrong, the creators of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hope that fans will see this as a technological marvel and a chance to turn back the clock.

You can take a look at all these ideas in action in Indiana Jones‘ latest trailer.

Make sure to enjoy Indy while you can because Ford confirmed recently that this would indeed be his last outing as Indiana Jones. He told Total Film magazine (via GamesRadar), “This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I’ll play the character. I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film.” He went on to add he won’t be involved in the possible Indiana Jones TV series “if it does come to fruition.”

Behind the Scenes

The prospect of a fifth Indiana Jones movie has been underway, formally or otherwise, since shortly after the fourth film. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull released in 2008; middling reception notwithstanding, Steven Spielberg maintained the intention to carry forth with another story.

Given Harrison Ford’s alleged skepticism about the project, early rumblings suggested the graduation of Shia LaBeouf to the starring role; LaBeouf had portrayed sidekick Mutt in Crystal Skull. For one reason or another—or both, or all, or every conceivable—that idea died out before long.

Further development stalled up through Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012. Another three years passed before Kathleen Kennedy confirmed development on Indy 5, just shy of The Force Awakens’ release. (And overwhelming box office success.) Lucasfilm originally scheduled the movie for a 2019 release. However, further shakeups behind the scenes preempted that plan…

The first big switcheroo involved replacing original screenwriter David Koepp. Koepp was enlisted for the script after writing Crystal Skull. In 2018, Koepp left the project and the team brought in Jonathan Kasdan, son of Lawrence Kasdan and co-writer of that year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. However, Kasdan’s draft was eschewed in favor of a new turn by Dan Fogelman.

Most fans expected that Spielberg, director of every Indy film so far, would return to helm the fifth installment; in fact, it seemed as though Spielberg was considering the job for some time. However, in 2020, the still-unproduced movie fell into the hands of a different director: James Mangold.

At this point, the screenplay saw yet another change of hands. Mangold took the reins in this department alongside screenwriting partners and brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. In a more harmonious fashion (in more ways than one), John Williams is returning to score the picture.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘s Cast

Early resistance notwithstanding, Harrison Ford ultimately signed on to revive the character of Indy proper. This time, he’s be joined by a slew of exciting costars. Topping the list: Fleabag creator and No Time to Die writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who costarred in the aforementioned Solo; and Mads Mikkelsen (per Deadline), ever the welcome entry in any anticipated project. Also on board (per The Hollywood Reporter): Narcos‘ Boyd Holbrook and the MCU’s Shaunette Renée Wilson and Thomas Kretschmann. (She played a Dora Milaje; he played Baron von Strucker.) The latest high-profile casting for the movie is Antonio Banderas, per Deadline.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘s Release Date

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is set to arrive in theaters on June 30, 2023.

Originally published on May 14, 2021.

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He’s been Han Solo, Jack Ryan, Deckard in Blade Runner, and of course, he’s Indiana Jones. In short, there have been very few movie stars in the history of Hollywood bigger than Harrison Ford. And although he might not have an Oscar to his name, he now has an honorary Palme d’Or award from this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Ford received a standing ovation from the crowd, who were gathered there for the world premiere of his final outing as Dr. Jones in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. You can watch the iconic movie star get emotional at receiving this prestigious honor in the video below:

The usually stoic Ford fought back tears as he accepted the award. The festival preceded this honor with a reel of the actor’s greatest hits from 50 years of movies on screen. He jokingly said, “They say when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes. And I just saw my life flash before my eyes.” But Harrison Ford didn’t overstay his welcome on stage, reminding the audience that they had a movie to see. And afterward, the crowd watched the very first screening of Indiana Jones’ final on-screen adventure.

Harrison Ford wasn’t there alone in that auditorium for his big moment. His co-stars Mads Mikkelsen and Phoebe Waller-Bridge were right there with him, along with his wife Calista Flockhart and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits theaters everywhere on June 30, 2023.

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This summer, Harrison Ford will say goodbye to Indiana Jones forever. The 80-year-old legend has announced The Dial of Destiny will be his final performance as the famed archeologist. That should make for one bittersweet entry in the series. But before Professor Jones goes on one last adventure, you can revisit the story that started it all. And you can do that in the best place possible. Before the franchise’s fifth film goes on a goodbye treasure hunt, Raiders of the Lost Ark will return to movie theaters for a special event. The Indiana Jones movie won’t be in theaters for long, though. So don’t get lost in a big warehouse if you plan on being there.

Next month, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s 1981 classic is going to roll onto the big screen like a giant boulder once again. Fathom Events has announced it’s bringing Raiders of the Lost Ark to movie theaters for only two days, June 4 and June 7. Tickets are already on sale for this screening. So, if you want to see Indiana Jones and friends at the theater, you can purchase them now from Fathom’s website.

Also starring Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, and John Rhys-Davies, Raiders of the Lost Ark is an unquestioned classic that launched one of Hollywood’s most beloved franchises. It also gave us one of cinema’s most beloved characters in Indiana Jones.

We’ll take any excuse we can to rewatch one of our favorite films ever. But is it possible this special movie theater release is about more than re-experiencing Raiders of the Lost Ark on the big screen? The Dial of Destiny‘s title and trailers are giving off major time-foolery vibes. Could there be some direct time travel connections between its story and the story of Raiders of the Lost Ark?

We can’t wait to find out. But even if there isn’t, it’s not like we need an excuse to go on a treasure hunt—whether it’s an old one or a new one—with Indiana Jones.

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Hasbro’s Indiana Jones Adventure Series has given Indy fans some incredible figures over the past year, celebrating the beloved film series. With Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hitting theaters this summer, now is the perfect time to start collecting. These ultra-detailed figures celebrate the 40-year legacy of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s iconic high adventure franchise starring Harrison Ford.

Hasbro has detailed this latest batch of action figures. Each is made to look like the characters from Raiders of the Lost Ark. They feature premium detail and multiple points of articulation. This wave features Professor Henry Jones Jr. (that’s Indy to you) as well as Indy’s best friend Marcus Brody, and also his rival in archeology René Belloq. You can check out detailed images of each of the figures and their packaging below:

Indiana Jones Adventure Series, Indiana Jones (Cairo)

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This wave features Indy in his look from the early scenes of the Cairo segment from Raiders. Along with the figure, there’s a detachable pistol, coiled whip, regular whip, satchel, and the monkey spy as accessories. There are also 2 pairs of additional hands. It will be available for pre-order on April 13 at 1PM Eastern Time on Amazon and Fan Channel retailers. Retail price is $33.99, and it will be available in Fall 2023.

Indiana Jones Adventure Series, Marcus Brody and René Belloq (Ark Showdown)

Click To View Gallery

Next up is Indy’s friend Marcus Brody and his nemesis René Belloq, in his Ark Showdown suit. This 2-pack is detailed to look like the characters from Raiders, featuring premium detail and multiple points of articulation. It Includes two figures, a detachable machine gun for Belloq, Brody’s apple that he nicked from Indy’s desk, and Brody’s book of Biblical history as accessories. It will be available for pre-order on April 13 at 1PM Eastern Time on Fan Channels and via Amazon. Retail Price is $55.99, and it will be available in Fall 2023.

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Retirement? It might be nice and quiet. But we all know in our hearts it’s not really for Indiana Jones. How can Indiana Jones put his adventuring days behind him when mischievous goddaughters are running around causing trouble? Or when evil quasi-Nazi forces are threatening the world? And, most importantly, how can Indiana Jones settle down for good without his treasure of a lifetime? The latest trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny promises one last great adventure, one that’s apparently been a life-long quest for Indiana Jones. Take a look.

We finally get to learn more about the mysterious “Dial of Destiny” that features in this Indiana Jones movie. It looks like the artifact can turn back time. Mads Mikkelsen’s Voller wants to use it to correct what he deems to be the mistakes of the Nazis. But it’s hard to know what that means. He’ll have to cross Indiana Jones’ whip, though, in order to carry out his evil plans. Indy has it swinging in this Dial of Destiny trailer, and we know he’s fully back. As for why Indiana Jones has looked for the Dial of Destiny his whole life, we can’t say for sure.

But one thing we can say is that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny looks like it will give us that perfect bite of nostalgia. It will offer what we love about Indiana Jones and take us back through his greatest hits. We feel the emotion welling already. Additionally, we can’t wait to see Indy in a gruff dad role that is so popular right now. We can already tell he’s going to be (first a mess) but then great at it.

Cue the theme music. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny arrives in theaters on June 30th.

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To us, LEGO and Indiana Jones feels like a match made in heaven. Who could resist building booby traps out of LEGOs? Certainly not us. But it turns out LEGO hasn’t released a new Indiana Jones set in over ten years. A serious error that is happily about to be rectified. In what feels like a celebration of the new Indiana Jones movie, Dial of Destiny, LEGO is taking us old school with three new Raiders of the Lost Ark sets.

At center of the three, we have the “Escape from the Lost Tomb” LEGO set. This one drops your right into the heart of the action and lets you recreate an iconic moment from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Build and then dodge hissing cobras, toppling statues of gods, and creepy mummies. And, of course, you’ll get some fun new Minifigures to complete the picture. This 600-piece Indiana Jones LEGO set costs $40.

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Joining it are the “Temple of the Golden Idol” set, which celebrates the opening of the movie, and a “Fighter Plane Chase” set which puts vehicles at center. All three of these new Indiana Jones sets will release on April 1. (No foolin’!)

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We’re still months away from the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but Hasbro is dropping a huge collection of Indy action figures soon. There’s 3.75-inch retro versions of notable characters like Marion Ravenwood. She’s wearing the white frilly dress from Raiders of the Lost Ark of course, complete with a monkey sidekick. And there’s also a 2.5-inch series that includes Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character) and Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) from the upcoming sequel. There’s some great details in the accessories, including snakes, grails, and even a giant boulder. All of the action figures come out in spring 2023 with some available for pre-sale from Target or Walmart soon. 

Click To View Gallery

There’s also a fancier set of 6-inch action figures that look like they share a remarkably good resemblance with the corresponding actor. There’s two dapper Indys, pictured below. One is Professor Jones from The Last Crusade and comes with his father’s diary, torch, and a shield. There’s also Club Obi Wan Indy from The Temple of Doom. His many accessories include a diamond, antidote, sword, urn, and flaming shish kabob. Truly, no detail is too small! The Walter Donovan (a.k.a. the villain from The Last Crusade) action figure comes complete with a false grail (way too shiny!). And you can swap out his head for a super-old version after he drinks from that golden chalice.  

Like the rest of us, so far Hasbro seems to be willfully ignoring that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ever existed. Other than the Mutt action figure we’re all waiting for, let’s hope there’s Henry Jones Sr., Sallah, and Short Round action figures next time they release new characters. And maybe some Indys with shirts that rip in a revealing manner.

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.

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After a very long wait, we finally have two important things in hand. First, we finally know the title of Indiana Jones 5. What is that title you ask? Well, Indiana Jones 5 will actually be called Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Now that has an ominous ring to it. But if that weren’t enough to get us excited for Indy’s next adventure, we also have our first full look at Indiana Jones 5… we mean the Dial of Destiny‘s action. Check out the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny teaser trailer below.

Indiana Jones needs an adventure. It lives in his bones. He doesn’t want to just rest on his laurels, he misses the desert, he misses the sea, and he misses waking up every morning anticipating what the day will hold. It looks like Indiana Jones is kicking off Indiana Jones 5 as a professor. And that’s wonderful, but we know Indy can’t sit still for very long. Luckily, Mads Mikkelsen’s villain Voller is here to bring some trouble into his life.

The Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny trailer brings us what will surely be an action-packed adventure, all to the sounds of that ever-familiar theme song. If that doesn’t give you goosebumps, I don’t know what will.

We don’t yet have a full synopsis for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. But thanks to some previous information, we know the movie will take place in 1969 New York City. It sounds like it will heavily feature the space race and the specter of Nazism in America. Although, we will get to see glimpses of Indiana Jones’ past with the help of de-aging technology. While this teaser centers mostly on the emotional heart and epic adventure that Indiana Jones 5 will have for us, we feel certain we will see more soon.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny releases on June 30, 2023.

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When it comes to Epic Rap Battles of History, it sure feels like this latest installment is one that should have happened long ago. But better late than never, we say. After such wild battles between the likes of Ronald McDonald vs. the Burger King, and Freddy Krueger vs. Wolverine, ERB has finally unleashed Indiana Jones vs. Lara Croft for a fun battle. At long last, it’s that raider of lost arks against the tomb raider extraordinaire. Who will win? Well, you’ll have to decide for yourself after watching the full video below.

After taking all that in …we’re still not sure who wins? Lara Croft had more serious burns. Lara goes for the jugular and brings up Indy’s son Mutt, and that whole refrigerator business from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But of course, there would be no Tomb Raider franchise period if it weren’t for the popularity of Dr. Henry Jones Jr. Of course, neither of them would exist without the old serials from the 1930s that inspired George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. We are kind of shocked that Indy didn’t throw it in Lara’s face that he punches Nazis on a regular basis. If he had, we might have had to declare him the winner by default.

It’s hard to argue that Indy doesn’t have the superior filmography. Just Raiders of the Lost Ark alone is better than all the Tomb Raider movies put together. But Indy’s video game legacy has been nothing to write home about. And that’s being kind. So Lara Croft pretty much destroys Indiana Jones in that battle. Nathan Drake is probably happy to not be involved, although there is a little dig at Uncharted. Maybe down the line we can get Indy vs. Lara Croft vs. Nathan Drake? Although two against one hardly seems fair. Even for unscrupulous archeologist types. For more Epic Rap Battles of History, be sure to go to the ERB YouTube channel.

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Back in 1984, Indiana Jones faced the perils of the Temple of Doom with his loyal sidekick, Short Round. Sadly, Shorty, as Indy liked to call him, only appeared in that one film. And after making Goonies and a handful of other projects, Shorty actor Ke Huy Quan pretty much retired from acting. Then this year, he came back in the amazing film Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, nearly 30 years after his last project. He also appeared at D23 Expo and reunited with Harrison Ford in a photo that melted our hearts.

Ke Huy Quan recently signed on to Loki season two, hence the trip to D23 Expo. His old pal Harrison Ford was also at the even to promote Indiana Jones 5. So after 38 years, the two actors reunited backstage, taking a photo that broke the internet. Ke Huy Quan opened up about how that photo became a reality in an interview with Variety. Here’s what he had to say on the emotional reunion:

So I walk out and I see him about 15 feet away talking to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, they’re there to promote Indy 5. And as I walk close, my heart is pounding. I’m thinking, ‘Is he gonna recognize me? The last time he saw me, I was a little kid. As I get closer, he turns and points his finger at me, and he has that classic, famous, grumpy Harrison Ford look. I go, ‘Oh my gosh, he probably thinks I’m a fan and he’s gonna tell me to not come near him.’ But he looks and points at me and says, ‘Are you Short Round?’ Immediately, I was transported back to 1984, when I was a little kid, and I said, ‘Yes, Indy.’ And he said, ‘Come here,’ and gave me a big hug.

Yes, that is the sound of our collective hearts melting. When you can get a grin that big out of grumpy grandpa Harrison, you know you’re a quality human. The only sad thing about all this? We wish Indiana Jones 5 had an Indy and Short Round reunion scene of some kind. We’d like to think Shorty followed in his mentor’s footsteps. It’s not too late to make that happen, is it James Mangold? The movie doesn’t come out until next year. Well, if that doesn’t happen there, both actors are in the Marvel Universe now, right? We see a few possibilities here.

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We’ve seen some amazing fan-made marble runs lately. Some are made out of cardboard, and some of LEGO. But thanks to the folks at Laughing Squid, we’ve found one movie fans will especially love. We’ve learned that David Scott of Enbigen created an amazing animated musical LEGO marble run inspired by the intrepid adventures of Indiana Jones. They even set the motion of this marble run to a custom kalimba soundtrack by Blunto Marx. We’d say this video does Dr. Henry Jones Jr. proud.

Indy fans will instantly notice the visual nods to both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom. From Raiders, we’ve got the golden idol and the giant boulder. From Temple of Doom, you’ve got the infamous mine car chase. We didn’t notice any Last Crusade references, but maybe someone out there can spot one. You can watch Indy defy death traps, set to the most adorable and soothing version of John Williams’ classic theme you’ve ever heard, above.

The animation is so realistic, we totally see how they could fool many into thinking it was a real thing. The shadows and textures are just so authentic-looking, we would not be surprised really if anyone bought into the idea that it was a real build. The biggest giveaway that this isn’t real is mostly the endless amount of wall space. Who has that much wall in one room in their house? Unless they filmed this in someone’s mansion, it would be hard to pull off in reality.

Recently, David Scott created an equally convincing version inspired by the classic Pixar film Up. And also on the Disney animation tip, he’s brought Aladdin to life as another virtual marble run, complete with a kalimba version of “Whole New World.” You can watch that one above. And even Super Mario World got some love too. You can check out all of David Scott’s amazing videos on his YouTube channel, Enbiggen.

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As cameras continue to roll on the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones saga, a piece of Indy’s past has just sold for a not-so-small sum. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the fedora Harrison Ford wore in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom just sold at auction for a whopping $300,000. And while that is quite a lot, it still falls short of the original fedora from Raiders of the Lost Ark. That one sold in 2015 for $500,000. The auction house’s estimates placed the Temple of Doom hat at going for $150,000—$250,000, but it managed to snag just a bit more.

The official auction description says the following of the famed fedora: “Created by Herbert Johnson Hat Company, who also did the hats for Raiders of the Lost Ark. The fedora was a slight update on the original film’s version. Costume designer Anthony Powell and assistant costume designer Joanna Johnston worked closely with Herbert Johnson on the update. It incorporated a more tapered crown than the prior film.”

Lucasfilm/Paramount Pictures

The winner of the Temple of Doom hat is still unknown. But whoever they are, we suggest they keep their Indy fedora in a glass case, Maybe behind some red velvet rope. As Indy famously said, some prized artifacts “belong in a museum.” Indy’s hat is easily a pop culture Holy Grail (pun fully intended) worthy of the honor. The auction house which sold the item was the Prop Store. They also had many Star Wars items up for auction at the same event. It’s a Lucasfilm fan’s dream come true.

Given the eternal popularity of the Indiana Jones franchise, it’s no wonder that the iconic fedora sold for more than estimated. We can’t help but wonder if whoever the anonymous owner is, if they also own other legendary Indy props. Maybe his whip and his jacket? Maybe they are all in their own crates in an endless warehouse with other similar crates. Just a thought.

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Lucasfilm’s sound design expert Ben Burtt, along with foley artist John Roesch, recently had a Raiders 40th anniversary reunion. It was all a cool little bit of promotion for the upcoming Indiana Jones 4K Blu-ray collection. Together, they demonstrated how the film’s sounds came to life. Although Burtt’s sounds for Star Wars get the lion’s share of attention, his Raiders work was also impeccable. You can watch the full video right here.

You’ll never see (and hear) Raiders in quite the same way again after watching this video. Who knew the slithering of the snakes in the Egyptian tomb actually originated with the macaroni and cheese made by Burtt’s wife? And that wasn’t the only edible object used to make sounds for Raiders. Celery sticks are behind the sounds of punches between Harrison Ford and that big, nasty Nazi guy. Remember Indy biting that dude’s arm? Yes, that’s celery too.

Lucasfilm / Paramount Pictures

Maybe the most iconic piece of the movie is the actual titular “Lost Ark” itself. And the sound of that ancient artifact opening was none other than the tank lid for Ben Burtt’s old toilet. What Burtt did was scrape the lid against a piece of concrete. Instant “opening for the first time in thousands of years” noise.

Although Burtt admits the toilet is long gone, he couldn’t get rid of the piece that helped to create such an iconic moment. Would you throw away a piece of the Ark of the Covenant? That seems like tempting fate. We can only hope that Burtt and Roesch have another reunion soon, on the set of Indiana Jones 5. It just wouldn’t be quite the same without them.

The Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection arrives in 4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray and Digital on June 8. Just in time for the 40th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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Warner Bros.

Wings (1927)

Director William A. Wellman spent months figuring out how to shoot realistic air-combat sequences featuring Thomas-Morse MB-3s. An airborne camera system was developed by 2d Lt. Clarence S. “Bill” Irvine. He also choreographed the dogfights and flew one of the planes. The resulting footage is still stunning nearly 100 years later. 

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Although most of his films were released before the creation of the Oscars, silent comedian Buster Keaton was known for his athleticism and jaw-dropping stunt work. I dare you to watch an entire house fall on Buster and tell me he didn’t deserve an Oscar for not flinching!

Stagecoach (1939)

Yakima Canutt’s work in Westerns is unparalleled. His drop from the titular vehicle is harrowing to watch. This iconic move inspired a similar moment in Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Canutt received an Honorary Oscar in 1967.

The Black Swan (1942)

Swashbuckling has mostly gone out of favor, but you can still see its reverberations in a Star War occasionally. We must shout out to Errol Flynn, but for me the ultimate swashbuckler is Tyrone Power. His fights in this and The Mark of Zorro remain unparalleled. 

Seven Samurai (1954)

There’s no fight choreography without Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films. Thrilling in their own right, their influence on the films that came after them is undeniable. Also, no one had the charisma even in the midst of a brawl like Toshiro Mifune.

Ben-Hur (1959)

While William Wyler won best director, the chariot sequence was actually co-directed by Andrew Marton and Yakima Canutt, with Sergio Leone assisting. An inspiration for the pod-racer sequence in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, this sequence took a year to plan, five weeks to shoot, and utilized 78 horses.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Although I love the many scenes with Peter O’Toole riding a camel, the attack on Aqaba sequence remains the film’s action standout. You can feel this scene’s influence on pretty much every battle sequence going forward through cinema history.

The French Connection (1971)

While the car chase in Bullitt is also nifty, its complete disregard for San Francisco geography disqualifies it for me. Thus, I present The French Connection, in which Popeye (Gene Hackman) commandeers a 1971 Pontiac LeMans to chase an elevated train. Filmed on location in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, this scene remains as nerve-racking to watch now as it ever was. 

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Bruce Lee’s final film before his untimely death at 32, Enter the Dragon uniquely combined elements of spy films with blaxploitation, and catapulted martial arts into the mainstream. To put it simply, to watch Lee fight is to watch a master at work.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

With a boulder, a whip, and a killer fedora, Steven Spielberg brought adventure films to a new generation and introduced audiences to the iconic Indiana Jones. While real-life archaeologists may gripe at the inaccurate portrayal of the profession (hi, dad), I don’t know anyone who isn’t entertained and impressed by Indy’s stunt-filled antics. 

Police Story (1985)

There is no one quite like Jackie Chan, a comedic performer who combines slapstick acrobatic fighting with innovative stunts. Police Story and its sequels best showcase the breadth of his talent. After over 200 movies and breaking many bones, Chan received an Honorary Oscar in 2016 for his contributions to cinema.

GoldenEye (1995)

In the pantheon of wild and crazy James Bond stunts, nothing stops my breath quite like when he bungee jumps from the Contra Dam in Switzerland. This wondrous feat, by stuntman Wayne Michaels, set a world record at the time.

The Matrix (1999)

The ’90s really belonged to Keanu Reeves. The man started the decade jumping of a plane with no parachute in Point Break. Then he boarded a bus going 50 miles an hour by jumping out of a Jaguar convertible in Speed. This supremacy concluded as he learned kung-fu via computer, warped time to dodge bullets, and saved Morpheus from a high-rise by leaping out of a helicopter. All hail. 

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)

Zhang Ziyi is an invincible sword goddess. She dominates and decimates an entire teahouse full of idiots, fights Chow Yun-fat atop a bunch of trees, and faces off with certified badass in her own right Michelle Yeoh. 

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Speaking of badass women, it’s been 20 years since Angelia Jolie was Lara Croft: Tomb Raider! Another ass-kicking archaeologist, Jolie dons some truly aspirational short-shorts and combat boots, as she fights everything from random commandos to robots to the Illuminati. 

Death Proof (2007)

Zoë Bell, who had worked as Uma Thurman’s stunt double in the Kill Bill franchise, plays a version of herself in Tarantino’s ode to grindhouse cinema. Few sequences are as anxiety inducing as when Kurt Russell terrorizes Bell she hangs from the front of a 1970 Dodge Challenger. 

Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Tom Cruise’s absolutely bonkers stunts continue to impress both audiences and auteur filmmakers alike. I will never forget seeing this stunt in IMAX and frankly I’m still filled with anxiety from it. Cruise scaling the glass windows of the world’s tallest building—Burj Khalifa in Dubai—with just sticky gloves?! How? Why? Who cares! It’s bananas and I love it. 

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

You’re either pro-Doof Warrior or you’re wrong. Who doesn’t love a red leotard-clad man strapped to a giant truck playing a guitar that shoots fire? Blazing its way out of development hell, this entry into the Mad Max canon proved George Miller to be a unique talent. Using mostly practical effects and stunts, the action in this movie is the epitome of “goes so hard.” 

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

Developed by Derek Kolstad and directed by Keanu Reeves’ former stunt doubles Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, the John Wick franchise has revolutionized grounded stunt work and fight choreography. You see this in Leitch’s Atomic Blonde and even Gina Prince-Bythwood’s The Old Guard. Riffing on a similar scene in Enter the Dragon, Reeves fighting baddies in a neon-lit room of mirrors is a wonder to behold. 

Black Panther (2018)

Ryan Coogler’s best picture-nominated Black Panther features everything from a casino heist filled with multi-level action, hand-to-hand combat on top of a waterfall, and parkour onto a moving car. That sequence in particular involved shooting in two locations (Atlanta and Busan), multiple cars, and 214 iterations of the shot before Coogler was satisfied. And man was it worth it.

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Phoebe Waller-Bridge is quickly becoming a Lucasfilm staple. In 2018, the English comedian brought life to Solo: A Star Wars Story’s acerbic droid L3-37. Next, Waller-Bridge will graduate to a role beside the actual Harrison Ford in the developing fifth Indiana Jones movie. No details yet from Lucasfilm, where we first saw the news, about Waller-Bridge’s character in the film. But we expect some sharp wit and perhaps a good deal of getting Indy’s goat.

BBC Studios

Since winning acclaim as the star and writer of Fleabag, Waller-Bridge has found herself attached to numerous top-dollar franchises. Her turn in the Star Wars prequel was just the first step in an ongoing ascension; after that, she signed on to write the script for the forthcoming James Bond film No Time to Die. Now with a role in Indiana Jones 5, she’s essentially a blockbuster mainstay.

Still, Waller-Bridge hasn’t left her small screen roots behind. You can hear her voice talents in HBO’s continuing His Dark Materials series; plus, we’ll see her on-screen proper in a Mr. & Mrs. Smith TV show coming to Amazon. The latter casts Waller-Bridge opposite her Solo interspecies paramour Donald Glover.

Lucasfilm

In other exciting Indiana Jones news, the fifth entry in the franchise will reenlist the musical stylings of John Williams. Williams has famously served as composer for every Indy movie thus far. And almost every Star Wars movie, with the lone exception of Rogue One, for which Michael Giacchino created the score and Solo, which John Powell largely scored.

However, Indiana Jones 5 distinguishes itself in another fashion, as James Mangold takes the directing reins from Steven Spielberg. Per the news of Waller-Bridge’s casting, Mangold said, “I’m thrilled to be starting a new adventure, collaborating with a dream team of all-time great filmmakers… Steven [Spielberg], Harrison [Ford], Kathy [Kennedy], Frank [Marshall], and John [Williams] are all artistic heroes of mine. When you add Phoebe [Waller-Bridge], a dazzling actor, brilliant creative voice and the chemistry she will undoubtedly bring to our set, I can’t help but feel as lucky as Indiana Jones himself.”

Paramount Pictures

Production on Indiana Jones 5 is expected to begin later in 2021. The film should hit theaters on July 29, 2022.

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Paramount

The movies, which are 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision and HDR-10 with Dolby Atmos audio, have been remastered from 4k scans of the original negatives. Paramount states they had “extensive visual effects work done to ensure the most pristine and highest quality image.” They noted Indiana Jones film director Steven Spielberg approved all the picture work.

They boosted the audio too. Sound designer Ben Burtt supervised remixing all four movies at Skywalker Sound to create the Dolby Atmos soundtracks. They used original sound elements to stay true to each movie’s creative intent.

Paramount

In addition to the discs, the Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection includes a collectible booklet, original theatrical trailers, digital copies, and a Blu-ray with seven hours of previously released bonus content.

Bonus Content

On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark
– From Jungle to Desert
– From Adventure to Legend

Making the Films
– The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981 documentary)
– The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark
– The Making of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
– The Making of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
– The Making of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (HD)

Behind the Scenes
– The Stunts of Indiana Jones
– The Sound of Indiana Jones
– The Music of Indiana Jones
– The Light and Magic of Indiana Jones
– Raiders: The Melting Face!
– Indiana Jones and the Creepy Crawlies (with optional pop-ups)
– Travel with Indiana Jones: Locations (with optional pop-ups)
– Indy’s Women: The American Film Institute Tribute
– Indy’s Friends and Enemies
– Iconic Props (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) (HD)
– The Effects of Indy (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) (HD)
– Adventures in Post Production (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) (HD)

While we would have liked some new bonus content, we’ll settle for sharpened images and sound. We guess. The Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection arrives on June 8.

Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of The Jedi Mind, available now. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

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This week we learned that future Star Wars games will be published under the new Lucasfilm Games banner. But it didn’t take 12 parsecs for the company to branch out beyond the galaxy far, far away. Today it announced a partnership with Bethesda and MachineGames for another George Lucas creation, Indiana Jones. And it should appeal to movie fans and gamers alike. It will feature an entirely original story, executive produced by one of the game industry’s most beloved figures.

Bethdesda and Lucasfilm announced on Twitter (in news we first heard about at IGN) that they are teaming up with developer MachineGames, the company behind the Wolfenstein franchise since 2014. The Indiana Jones element is reason enough for this to be big news. But gamers will be excited to learn that Todd Howard, the gaming industry icon who led the development for both Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, has signed on as the game’s executive producer.

Paramount Pictures

Movie lovers will also find something here for them. The game won’t be a rehash of any of the four films, or even The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (though that would be awesome). It will feature an entirely new, wholly original story for gamers to make their way through. While details are scarce, the game will take place at “the height of the career of the famed adventurer.” Which means characters from the original three films could return.

We don’t know when the game will debut or even go into production. Or whether or not Harrison Ford will be involved. But there’s more to this announcement than meets the eye. A post at StarWars.com says the teaser video that was shared on Twitter “may hold some clues” about the story. So you know what that means.

Get out your books about symbols, artifacts, and ancient civilizations and go digging through them. (Only, stay home where its safer and you don’t have to fight Nazis while looking for them. Leave the rough stuff to Indy and the game.)

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We all have movie moments from our childhood that still terrify us and always will. And we both love and hate them. There’s just something special about early scares that stay with you. It’s a different experience than being frightened as an adult. But you didn’t have to be a young horror aficionado to encounter those scenes. They sometimes appeared in unexpected places, like an otherwise fun comedy or exciting action film. That’s part of what made them so horrible. We weren’t prepared! Hopefully you are now though, because this great video features some of the scariest moments from the big screen that messed us up as kids.

The YouTube channel BranitFX and Lucamax Pictures has put together a fantastic montage (which we first came across at Digg) of nightmarish movie moments that left us emotionally scarred as children. Set to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” it runs through some of the most terrifying scenes, characters, deaths, and reveals from such classics like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The NeverEnding Story, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Coraline, and so many, many more.

Also making the cut are all three original Indiana Jones films. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade all feature horrifying moments of mutilation and death. For a series designed to be a throwback to the old action-adventure serials kids loved, those movies sure did their best to traumatize young viewers. No wonder they’re such classics.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Movies that weren’t afraid of scaring children were movies that treated their young viewers with respect. They knew kids could handle a lot, and so they gave them a lot. And for us, much as those scenes traumatized us, we also loved them.

Well, maybe not Large Marge. She still haunts us and always will.

Featured Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

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You can read the film’s synopsis, as well as the poster art, down below:

“Star Wars: Origins takes a unique look at where it all began. A thrilling action adventure film drawing inspiration from both Star Wars and Indiana Jones to tell an epic story based on Earth during WWII. Behind what is possibly the most expensive fan film ever made are award-winning team, and life-long Star Wars fans; writer/director Phil Hawkins filmed on location in the Sahara Desert, Morocco, Star Wars: Origins is a self-funded not-for-profit project and the culmination of three years work.”

Phil Hawkins

On his ambitious love letter to both of George Lucas’ sagas, Phil Hawkins said, “I’ve been lucky enough to make five feature films in the past—which were released by the likes of Sony Pictures and Netflix—but I could see a great divide from the low-budget films I was making to the scale and ambition of the films I’d like to make. Those films I grew up watching. Star Wars: Origins is hopefully a piece of work to help cross that divide and show the studios what I can do.”

Phil Hawkins

Star Wars: Origins comes chock full of delightful Easter eggs, and really feels like it’s a true part of both universes. Much like Star Wars vs. Star Trek, it’s the kind of mash-up we aren’t ever likely to see in any official capacity. But the joy this one will bring you will more than make up for it “only” being a fan film.

Featured Image: Phil Hawkins

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Over the last several years, British artist Rich McCor, also known as Paperboyo, has created memorable art with paper cutouts juxtaposed against real life locations to create something unique. But, given the current pandemic, McCor is stuck at home in quarantine just like the rest of us.

Nevertheless, he still has his passion for creating art. And thanks to the folks at Laughing Squid, we’ve learned that McCor is using this lockdown time to pay homage to his favorite movies, all using ordinary items he found around his home. You can check out but a few of them down below:

Indiana Jones is looking to fend off some Ark-stealing Nazis with this iPhone charger.

Speaking of World War II heroes, Captain America is going to make sure that toast pays for what it did to Bucky.

We all know that 007 can turn just about anything he finds into a weapon, so why not this bathroom spray?

If this Scarface-inspired image was a poster, it would have been framed hanging in the home of every celebrity home ever seen on MTV’s Cribs.

These Jurassic Park velociraptors are about to do to that bottle opener what they did to that hunter, Robert Muldoon, back in the first film. Just be sure to try and not knock over that glass of wine with your tail.

Captain Jack’s hair never looked better, quite frankly.

So this is an actual historical figure and not a scene from a movie, but it’s still fantastic. It looks as if McCor finally found a trap from which Harry Houdini can not escape from.

Hopefully, once quarantine is lifted for everyone, McCor can take his cutout art back into the world, and continue to create cool stuff, like this Clark Kent transforming into Superman in the streets of Berlin.

For more of McCor’s insanely cool creations, be sure to head on over to his Instagram and Facebook pages, and check out this YouTube video showcasing how McCor manages to create these amazing works of miniature art from our favorite movies.

Featured Image: YouTube / Elle Decor

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In 2009, arts dealer Forrest Fenn hid a real-life treasure chest full of gold and jewels somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. For over a decade, hundreds of thousands of regular folks parsed Fenn’s self-published poetry in search of the buried booty. Until earlier in June, anyway, when Fenn announced that hunters found his fabled fortune. Though more lawsuits than Lara Croft ever faced riddled the search, the sense of adventure it created was still palpable—and adventure is something Hollywood’s greatest treasure hunts have in overwhelming supply.

From the madcap to the swashbuckling, the Old West to the highways of California, heroes and heroines have risked life and limb in search of all manner of… well, okay, it’s really only either gold or supernatural relics. But that’s all right, because it’s never really been about the treasure; it’s all about the thrill of the hunt.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Warner Bros.

When word of a possible massive gold strike reaches Humphrey Bogart’s down-on-his-luck oil worker Fred Dobbs, he joins forces with a grizzled prospector. They hunt down the fortune in the treacherous Sierra Madre mountains. John Huston’s seminal study of greed, paranoia, and betrayal has inspired everyone from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to Sam Raimi and Mel Brooks.

Treasure Island (and Muppet Treasure Island)

RKO Radio Pictures

Disney’s first fully live-action movie, Treasure Island is, arguably, the quintessential adventure film for the studio. Based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, the movie follows young Jim Hawkins and the pirate Long John Silver. They embark on a twisty and remarkably violent search for buried treasure.

The 1950 film has influenced much of what we think we know about pirates. It’s been reinterpreted countless times since. The pinnacle of those cover versions, of course, being 1996’s Muppet Treasure Island. Tim Curry, Billy Connolly and literal boatloads of Muppets? That’s how you improve on a classic, folks.

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

United Artists

A who’s who of early 1960s Hollywood, Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World combines a treasure hunt with a road trip. Five teams of well-meaning motorists set out on a frantic and increasingly cutthroat race across California to retrieve a dead criminal’s buried fortune. Shenanigans and literally dozens of big-name cameos, including Buster Keaton and the Three Stooges ensue.

Titan A.E.

20th Century Fox

Titan A.E. is not remembered well. The movie was Fox Animation Studios’ second and final effort after Anastasia, and was overshadowed by the studio closing just days after it was released in June 2000. The film deserves better.

Years after Earth exploded, Cale Tucker discovers he’s in possession of a star-map to the mysterious spaceship Titan. Teaming up with pilot Akima and a trio of aliens to find the spaceship, the journey is, like any good treasure hunt, rife with treachery and greed and romance. But this time in space!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

United Artists

The third and final installment of Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is one of the greatest Spaghetti Westerns. During the tail-end of the Civil War, Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach’s eponymous trio team up to search fora stolen cache of Confederate gold. Things obviously don’t go as planned and the film ends in the famous, Ennio Morricone-scored stand-off, one of the tensest moments in movie history.

The Mummy

Universal Pictures

Though most other iterations of The Mummy stick solely to horror, 1999’s Brendan Fraser-led film is a lot more Indiana Jones than Dracula—right down to the rival treasure hunters and questionable archaeology. While initially about looting graves in search of a lost city of gold, the movie eventually evolves. It becomes about valuing librarians and reading books to stop the end of the world. If only it were that easy in real life.

National Treasure

Walt Disney Pictures

National Treasure finds Nicolas Cage’s Benjamin Gates stealing the Declaration of Independence in search of Revolutionary War-era riches, while the sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, has him kidnapping the president to prove his ancestor’s innocence in the murder of Abraham Lincoln. That’s before the reveal of the location of a city of solid gold.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Paramount Pictures

The early 2000s Tomb Raider movies star Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. Honestly, that’s all you really need to know. She carries both films through sheer force of will.

The first movie is full of puzzles, murder-statues and Illuminati mischief. The second installment, clumsily titled Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, is about finding the literal Pandora’s Box. Are they good movies? Critics resoundingly say no. Are the DVDs sitting on your shelf anyway? Of course they are.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Disney

Though later Pirates of the Caribbean films (and Johnny Depp’s IRL behavior) have seemingly gone out of their way to tarnish the franchise’s reputation, The Curse of the Black Pearl remains a rollicking adventure film. And though the hunted treasure is, technically, only a single piece of cursed Aztec gold, all the Treasure Island-y tropes of betrayal and goldlust and good-natured, historically inaccurate piracy are plundered with aplomb.

The Goonies

Warner Bros.

The Goonies takes the idea of a treasure hunt and places it firmly in the 1980s. A ragtag group of misfits finds an ancient treasure map in an attic and sets out to claim One-Eyed Willy’s pirate fortune as their own. Throw in some mobsters, a lot more swearing than you’d normally expect from a children’s movie and the ticking clock of an evil country club being evil, and you’ve got yourself a nostalgia-fest. It’s still very much a part of the pop culture landscape.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Lucasfilm

Take the best parts of classic Hollywood serials and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, couple them with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg at their peak, and Harrison Ford with more swagger than should be legally allowable, and you’ve got yourself Indiana Jones. It’s the character (and franchise) that would shape almost every action/adventure movie afterwards.

Except for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We’re … really not sure what happened there. Let’s hope Indy’s future is brighter than that.

Featured Image: Buena Vista Pictures

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There are Funko Pop! figures for just about every kind of notable character, real or fictional. Superheroes, television and movie characters, Star Wars legends, and even real life heroes on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 have all be recreated in mini vinyl figure form. It’s not a stretch, then, that one creative fan chose a magnificent maestro as the subject of a Pop! homage: legendary conductor and composer John Williams.

Ben Palmer, an artistic director and conductor himself, felt that there was a hole in his life without an adorable little John Williams to call his own. So he made one, and we love it.

From his silver-rimmed glasses with actual lenses in them to the Star Wars sheet music tucked under his arm, every detail on his Pop! is a delight.

Disney/Lucasfilm and Ben Palmer

If there’s a movie theme you can hum, chances are Williams wrote it. The iconic Star Wars march, the foreboding Jaws theme, Superman’s heroic and uplifting melody, and even the earworm that accompanies every Olympic Games are all penned by Williams. Palmer even posed the maestro with characters that accompany some of his most beloved and notable works, Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park and Quint from Jaws.

Williams’ scores from the first six Star Wars films were recently remastered for a brand new release. Here’s a quick reminder of his undeniable brilliance.

Palmer couldn’t have picked a better superstar for a homage, and we can’t help but hope that Funko takes a note from him and creates an official Pop! figure. We’d be first in line. You can ollow Ben Palmer on Instagram or Facebook to see more photos of his Pop-tastic creation.

Featured Image: Disney/Lucasfilm and Ben Palmer

Kelly Knox is a freelance writer in Seattle, WA who writes for Star Wars, DC Comics, and more. Follow her on Twitter.

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LucasFilm

River Phoenix’s role as the teenage version of Indy felt like a nod to us. We had spent our childhoods with Henry Jones Jr.; now, here was his own younger self leading us into his next adventure. And what an adventure it was. In addition to Phoenix, we met Indy’s father, played by James Bond himself Sean Connery. And there were familiar faces! Sallah and Brody were back! The Nazis were the villains again! 

I often go back and forth on what I consider the best Indiana Jones movie. My preference fluctuates between Crusade and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Usually depending on whichever I’ve most recently watched. But when it comes to being the third movie in an iconic trilogy, I maintain you almost can’t do better than Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 

(Personal note: I will begrudgingly admit that there is a fourth Indiana Jones movie. Given the nearly two full decades between them, I will still always consider Crusade the end of an era. Raiders, Doom, and Crusade are the Original Trilogy of Indy and anything else that comes along is extra. I don’t make the rules. Wait, I do, and them’s the rules.) 

The trilogy format perhaps could take a bit of a break. We’ve seen with the success of the MCU that franchises can work well in a looser, more interconnected structure, albeit with a lot of planning. And with the, let’s say… mixed? response to The Rise of Skywalker, it’s also fair to say that the very concept of trilogies often leads filmmakers and studios into feeling like the last film has to pull off some epic moves to cap it all off. This can sometimes work, especially in the case of a trilogy like the Lord of the Rings, which like its source material is really just one long work split into three. 

LucasFilm

What works so well about The Last Crusade is that it doesn’t try to be anything of the sort. The Nazis aren’t digging through that government warehouse from the end of Raiders looking for the Ark of the Covenant. Belloq hasn’t returned from the dead in some mystical revenge plot. Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. takes yet another leave from his job as a college professor and must travel the world to recover a dangerous artifact so the Nazis don’t get it. The one major addition is the introduction of a double chase, with Indy on the trail of his father while also trying to avoid the Nazis across Europe.

Rather than raise the stakes of the plot itself, the movie instead raises the stakes on the adventure. Instead of simply facing Nazis in North Africa, Indy spends time in Berlin, meeting them at the seat of their power. The car chase sequence in Raiders becomes boat and airplane action scenes in Crusade. The simple task of swapping a bag of sand for an idol turns into an entire Dungeons and Dragons puzzle dungeon towards the climax of the film. 

The movie ups the stakes emotionally as well. Once they jettison the love story after Elsa’s jackbooted heel turn, the relationship taking center stage is between Indy and his father. The two gruff slightly estranged men have to work together, they have to mend fences with each other. And Henry Sr. even ends up being basically the damsel in distress, with Indy driven to recover the Holy Grail specifically to save his father’s life. 

Lucasfilm

And it’s funny! One of the most memorable moments of Raiders of the Lost Ark is when Indy chooses to shoot the swordsman instead of fighting him with his whip. This famously impromptu joke wasn’t in the script but it’s a perfect example of the kind of humor that works so well in an Indy film. Moments like Henry Sr. shooting the tail off of their own plane while they dogfight the Nazis. Moments like Indy breaking through the floor of the library while the librarian stamps books. Crusade expertly weaves these types of bits throughout the movie without feeling like a farce or parody. 

The genius of Crusade as a trilogy capper is in that it isn’t really made to be one at all. Yes, the Nazis are back. Yes, the plot follows a similar structure to Ark. And yes, there’s a very real indication that God exists and gets really, really pissed, and melty, when you cross Him. Crusade plays homage to Raiders. It dances with the audience’s familiarity with it. It even subverts expectations via the reveal of Elsa as a villain instead of a love interest. While all of this happens, the film still stands on its own two feet. It is not the epic culmination of Indy’s story. It’s just another fun adventure. And that’s what Indy deserves. It’s what we can hope his future holds.

Cover Image: LucasFilm

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We were huge fans of Jacob Phillips and Chris Condon’s That Texas Blood. The stunning, bleak, and beautiful comic had initially planned to launch this month. It was, however, delayed. Although the COVID-19 crisis has delayed that incredible book Phillips and Condon have been busy. Whilst most of us have struggled to dress ourselves in the morning, these two have created a whole new comic. And it’s stunning.

Jacob Phillips and Chris Condon

Condon gave us a great tease for the series. “In 1941, Private Investigator Ezra Cain unravels a deadly conspiracy to tear apart the heart of America – his city!” He told us that rather than being a straight crime comic the series, Brutal Dark sits somewhere between The Maltese Falcon and Indiana Jones. It’s a noir-adventure that is not only a brilliant distraction from the current crisis. But is also another astonishing showcase of the pair’s talents. Condon crafts a tight, atmospheric, script. And Phillips once again stuns with his broad breadth of talent.

Jacob Phillips and Chris Condon

If you’re a fan of noir comics like Criminal, Fatale, 100 Bullets, and Sin City then you’ll likely fall in love with Brutal Dark. Dark, beautiful, and immersive; we read the issue and it’s great. Ezra is a great reinvention of the classic P.I. archetype. We’re excited to see where the series goes, especially as Ezra has the potential to stand alongside other great gumshoes.

One of the best things to come out of the madness of 2020 is the creativeness it’s inspired. Sharing art is a powerful thing. And Brutal Dark is a great representation of that. Two creators who made something special, had their plans scuppered by a global pandemic… so they just made something new. Inspirational stuff.

Like This Texas Blood, Brutal Dark is written by Condon and drawn, lettered, and colored by Jacob Phillips. You can read the first issue of Brutal DarD via the pair’s patreon account.

Header Image: Jacob Phillips 

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Most of what the public has heard so far about the developing fifth Indiana Jones movie hasn’t exactly instilled confidence, as the project has faced delay after delay. But as it turns out, the production’s most recent shake-up has given way to a bit of news. News that shouldn’t necessarily encourage temple-grade doom. While, according to Variety, Steven Spielberg is reported to be eschewing the director’s chair for the first time in the film’s pushing-40-year history, the reins may just fall in the hands of another promising filmmaker: James Mangold.

UPDATE 05/26/20: IGN has confirmed that James Mangold will direct the fifth Indiana Jones movie.

PREVIOUS: Per Variety, Mangold is presently in talks to helm Henry Jones Jr.’s next foray into the high-stakes game of museum curation. (A line of work that typically involves Nazi-slaying and footraces with house-sized boulders, just to warn you in case you’re considering it as a major.) Still, Spielberg won’t exactly be operation in absentia; he is expected to remain active as a producer of the yet untitled adventure film, positioned with returning star Harrison Ford.

Lucasfilm

Mangold’s most recent picture, Ford v Ferrari (which just took home Oscars for Editing and Sound Editing), may not exactly scream, “Give this guy an Indiana Jones movie!”. However, we can look to the rest of the director’s résumé to answer why he might be such a person of interest for the project. In 2013, Mangold breathed new life into a suffering X-Men franchise with the artful The Wolverine. He finally found the humor and humanity in the immortal hero. Four years later he upped the ante with something of a direct follow-up, Logan. That film delivered something both creatively alien from and entirely compatible with the X-Men movies to date.

Frankly, the cinematic realm of Indiana Jones could use some sprucing up of its own. Spielberg and Ford’s long-awaited reunion with the character in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull didn’t exactly reignite favor for the powers that be behind the Indy machine. But likewise, it didn’t sour our tastes for more Indy going forward. Thus, some new ingredients are in order. We’re hoping Mangold—if he gets the job—can do for Henry just a bit of what he did for Wolverine and Charles Xavier.

20th Century Studios

That said, a Mangold-led Indiana Jones doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) go as grim and gritty as his Wolverine films did; though Indy has seen his darker moments, and Harrison Ford can glower with the best of ’em, our favorite archaeology professor is a man of good spirit. And to register esteem for Mangold’s ability to handle lighter material with the same flare that embossed The Wolverine and Logan, might I direct you to his earlier work: the fanciful spy venture Knight and Day (with all the lighthearted action you’d want in an Indy flick) or the fantastical romance Kate and Leopold (which shows that Mangold can handle period pieces with panache).

While there’s likely still a long way to go before Indiana Jones 5 takes a form worthy of our genuine confidence, we can at least say of this latest report: not bad!

Featured Image: Lucasfilm

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We love LEGO Ideas because it makes anything possible. It’s open format that makes it possible for anyone to submit an original LEGO design. The only limits are peoples’ imaginations. (Well, that and a few copyright laws. But still! Not bad!) With some creativity and ingenuity anyone can put together a set that might one day end up on store shelves. Before that can happen though enough fans have to vote for the concepts. We’re not worried about that being a problem for a couple of new submissions though. They celebrate two of the most beloved movie characters of the ’80s. You can now support LEGO sets for both the Indiana Jones franchise and E.T. the Extraterrestial.

LEGO Ideas/BenBuildsLego

The first is a microscale Indiana Jones Trilogy design from BenBuildsLego. It’s constructed in a LEGO Architecture Skyline series style, which looks like a tableau. The set pays tribute to each of the first three films by including a memorable location from all of them:

• – The Temple of Doom‘s The Temple of Doom (Sankara Stones)
• – Raiders of the Lost Ark‘s The Well of Souls (The Ark of the Covenant
• – The Last Crusade‘s Temple of the Sun (The Holy Grail)

The 650-piece set stands 9.4-inches long, 3.2-inches wide, and 3.7-inches tall. It also comes with three minifigures of Indiana Jones, Marion Ravenwood, and Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Sr. The backside features “additional references to the films with a microscale mine car chase and the interior of the Grail Temple.”

As of this writing it has already received over 7,300 votes of the 10,000 it needs to be formally considered by LEGO. With over 757 days left for that to happen it’s not a question of “if” bur rather of “when” that will happen.

LEGO Ideas/BenBuildsLego

We’re also throwing our support behind a different ’80s movie-inspired set, E.T. – Phone Home. It was submitted by LegoJalex, and comes with the beloved alien’s communicator and satellite he built to contact his home planet.

LEGO/LegoJalex

This set would be a must-have for any fan of the film, even if it was just a static display. However, this is so much cooler than that. Thanks to a wheel in his back E.T.’s next actually extends. At his tallest he stands 27.5 centimeters (that’s over 10.5 inches). You can also movie his head, arms, hands, fingers, and feet. The best part though is a button lights up his chest, which might actually make your own heart glow.

You can see LEGO E.T. in action here.

Unlike the Indiana Jones Trilogy set, this E.T. design still has a ways to go to reach 10,000 backers for official consideration. Not to worry though, it’s still very early in the set’s voting process, and as of now it’s already at 799 backers with three months to reach it’s next goal of 1,000.

Just like E.T., it’s going to get there eventually. And ultimately it should end up in the same place as the Indiana Jones set. We’re not talking about store shelves. These belong in a museum.

Featured Image LEGO Ideas/BenBuildsLego/LegoJalex

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Raiders of the Lost Ark continues to be one of the greatest action blockbusters of all time, nearly forty years after it was released. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Harrison Ford raised the bar for action epics with the first Indiana Jones movie. Its opening scene remains arguably one of the best in movie history.

Raiders has had multiple home video releases, so fans thought they’d seen every shred of behind-the-scenes footage from the film. But they haven’t. Via Screen Crush, Joe Hughes released about 45 minutes of previously unseen footage on YouTube. No Indy fan will want to miss this glimpse behind the camera. Most of the scenes in this video come from the film’s iconic opening sequence, where pilot Jock Lindsey rescues Indy from a mob of angry natives in South America.

Hughes discovered the footage in his grandpa’s collection of VHS tapes. The video sat there for decades, so it hasn’t been seen by anyone, really. Hughes says the Raiders of the Lost Ark production team rented Jock Lindsey’s plane from Hughes’ grandpa’s neighbor. The family went along with the plane to Hawaii during filming and captured a look at the making of the now iconic scene.

As you probably noticed, the footage is silent. It’s interesting as is, but Hughes hopes his grandfather will provide a commentary track to it soon to add context and details.

This footage reminds fans that Raiders of the Lost Ark did not have a huge budget, even for the time. They followed a by-the-seat-of-your-pants style of filmmaking. So much so that the production wrecked the plane during filming, and then had to repair it. But considering the Indiana Jones movie’s place in the overall canon of film, we think it was all worth it.

Images: Paramount Pictures 

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It’s hard to find someone who didn’t grow up with LEGOs; those little plastic bricks will be forever imprinted into our feet. While the sound of rummaging through a giant bin of LEGO pieces is a visceral reminder of our childhood years, loading up one of the many video games from the franchise isn’t something we’ll soon forget, either. The first LEGO game came out in 1995, and there have been nearly 70 in total since then. From the original games to the many licensed installments, LEGO always gave us lighthearted, creative games that stretched our imaginations. Perfect for co-op or even to play by yourself, it feels like there was always something for everyone. Here is a comprehensive list of our favorite LEGO games in the series.

LEGO Racers (1999)

Released in the golden age of racing games, LEGO Racers is, you guessed it, LEGO’s take on a kart-racer. It’s a tried and true formula that we know and love, but with that unique flair only LEGO could provide. And of course, it’s super nostalgic for those of us who played it back in the day.

LEGO Island (1997)

Speaking of nostalgia, we can’t forget about the gem that is LEGO Island. Only the second LEGO game ever, this action-adventure title was a staple for PC gamers. While there were no overt objectives to the game, we spent hours jet ski racing, delivering pizza, and building vehicles.

LEGO Star Wars Series (2005)

Ah yes, LEGO Star Wars. The LEGO game that launched (or should we say built?) a thousand ships. This was the first licensed game to kick off the LEGO craze in gaming, and for that, we are thankful. Solving puzzles and collecting Studs with our favorite characters as mini-figs was a mind blowing experience.

LEGO Harry Potter Series (2010)

As avid gamers and fans of the wizarding world, we have to say, LEGO Harry Potter really delivers. We play through the story of all 7 books, explore Hogwarts, and cast spells to solve puzzles. It’s not exactly like being there, but it is a great way to immerse yourself further into the world of Harry Potter.

LEGO Batman Series (2008)

The Batman franchise has some of the best superhero video games, and its LEGO version (although much more whimsical) is no exception. Play as the Caped Crusader, or any of the other awesome characters from the Batverse, and save Gotham yet again by solving puzzles and fighting enemies.

LEGO Dimensions (2015)

Over the years, the LEGO games have delved into what seems like all of our favorite franchises but what’s great about LEGO Dimensions is that it brings them all together in a wild mashup. I mean come on, where else are you gonna find Doctor Who, Portal, Ghostbusters, the Wizard of Oz, Back to the Future, and Adventure Time all in one game?

LEGO Indiana Jones Series (2008)

Possibly one of the more overlooked games in the LEGO franchise, the Indiana Jones games is way underrated. It’s got all of the mechanics you love from the other games, but also has all of the charm you’d expect from Indie. Not to mention the snakes are more adorable than they are terrifying, which is a plus.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (2013)

One of the most magical cinematic moments of the last decade had the be when we first saw all of the Avengers together on the big screen for the first time. But the fact that we can play as every single one of them? And all within the bright and colorful world of LEGO? Sign us up.

LEGO DC Super-Villains (2018)

Everyone knows that the DC villains are iconic, so it’s a no-brainer that DC would get them their own spin-off. With all of the hours we spent in LEGO Batman, it’s a nice change of pace to be on the villains’ side for once.

Image Sources: Mindscape, Traveller’s Tales, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

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Karen Allen is nothing less than an icon. Her no nonsense performance as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark gave us one of the best badass strong female leads of the ’80s. Uncompromising and completely able to look after herself, Allen was a brilliant foil for Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, so fans were understandably excited when she returned for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. During a chat about the 30th anniversary of another ’80s classic, Scrooged, we asked Allen about whether or not she’d want to return to the iconic role in the upcoming fifth Indiana Jones sequel, and she was happy to share her excitement about the possibility.We would obviously love to see Allen back in the saddle, and the feeling is mutual for the star. “I would love to return, and I think that there’s a plan to shoot a fifth and possibly final one–at least in the incarnation of it being done by Steven and Harrison–and I’m very hopeful that I’ll be part of it. That will reveal itself in probably a year, when they have a script and are moving towards production. For now though, it’s still a mystery! I haven’t been told if Marion’s coming back. You know, I imagine that the film will start and he’ll be standing at my grave, or I’ll be coming back. You never know,” Allen chuckled.We have our fingers crossed that we’ll get to see Marion Ravenwood grace our screens once again, but for now you can catch Karen Allen in another classic role by picking up the Scrooged 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray (or Digital HD release) right now!

Images: Lucasfilm, Disney

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Karen Allen is nothing less than an icon. Her no nonsense performance as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark gave us one of the best badass strong female leads of the ’80s. Uncompromising and completely able to look after herself, Allen was a brilliant foil for Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, so fans were understandably excited when she returned for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. During a chat about the 30th anniversary of another ’80s classic, Scrooged, we asked Allen about whether or not she’d want to return to the iconic role in the upcoming fifth Indiana Jones sequel, and she was happy to share her excitement about the possibility.We would obviously love to see Allen back in the saddle, and the feeling is mutual for the star. “I would love to return, and I think that there’s a plan to shoot a fifth and possibly final one–at least in the incarnation of it being done by Steven and Harrison–and I’m very hopeful that I’ll be part of it. That will reveal itself in probably a year, when they have a script and are moving towards production. For now though, it’s still a mystery! I haven’t been told if Marion’s coming back. You know, I imagine that the film will start and he’ll be standing at my grave, or I’ll be coming back. You never know,” Allen chuckled.We have our fingers crossed that we’ll get to see Marion Ravenwood grace our screens once again, but for now you can catch Karen Allen in another classic role by picking up the Scrooged 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray (or Digital HD release) right now!

Images: Lucasfilm, Disney

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There are few big screen deaths more satisfying than that of Nazi Major Arnold Toht. The evil Gestapo officer’s face melting off of his skull at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark remains one of the most memorable, gruesome moments in movie history. We would not normally wish Toht’s fate on any other person or thing, let alone a talented artist’s sculpture, but this active Indiana Jones homage to the awesome, destructive power of the Ark of the Covenant is less a a work of art and more of a performance piece. And it was made possible with crayons.Artist Steven Richter, who has blown us away with his time lapse videos of his Voldemort and Thanos busts, is back with yet another infamous movie villain recreation. Only instead of trying to capture Toht’s likeness either before or after the meltdown, Richter mixed his sculpting clay with red crayons so he could then recreate Toht’s actual demise. With some heat applied his Toht bust becomes a red, runny mess.

There’s a small part of us that feels bad all of that work went into creating this amazing sculpture just for it to be completely destroyed after the fact, because it probably belonged in a museum. Fortunately that’s easily overcome by how incredible the end result is. If we didn’t see any of the work that went into this sculpture we’d just assume it was the original VFX for Raiders of the Lost Ark.And knowing it was done with crayons makes watching Toht’s face melt even more satisfying.What other famous film scene would you love to see recreated this way? In our comments below give us another movie meltdown he should sculpt next.

Featured Image: Steven Richter

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Legend says the Hindu god Shiva gave five powerful stones, each with a diamond inside that would glow when they were brought together, to Sankara.

They make for an amazing sight, but to see them means possibly risking having your heart ripped from your chest. Fortunately a newly-discovered type of glowing rock has been unearthed in Michigan, and they look just like the ones Indiana Jones was after in The Temple of Doom.

According to CBS News, gem and mineral aficionado Erik Rintamaki was hunting for rocks on a Lake Superior beach in Michigan when came across a rock that had light coming from its cracks. It was an incredible find, but when when he returned to look for more he couldn’t locate any others until he came back with a black light. Since then he has found so many he sells them online and brings others out to look for them.

Finding a glowing rock would be incredible enough on its own (though also a little scary because you can’t rule out the chances it contains an ancient evil spirit), but when he tried to look up information about them none existed. That led him to seek out help from experts, and after months of research from Michigan State and the University of Saskatewan he was told he had found an all new rock. He named his discovery “Yooperlites” after the nickname for people who live in Michigan’s upper peninsula, but heir scientific name is “syenite clasts containing fluorescent sodalite,” which obviously doesn’t have the marketability of Yooperlites.

What scientists will never be able to tell us because though don’t understand certain mystical powers though is whether or not Yooperlites will help us go forth and battle evil. But it’s okay even if they don’t, because they’re still very cool to look at, and we don’t have to risk falling into a pit of crocodiles to see them.

What else do these glowing rocks remind you of besides Sankara Stones? Dig into our comments below with your best comparison.

Featured Image: Paramount Pictures

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It’s the temple of DOOM for Felicia Day, Jessica Marzipan, Amy Okuda, and Robin Thorsen! They’re trapped inside a temple and have to work together to escape!

We’ve locked celebrities in a room together and thrown a bunch of puzzles and riddles at them to see if they can free themselves in under a half hour. Janet Varney hosts as we bring the escape room phenomenon to the screen.

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Action, romance, faces melting off: the Indiana Jones movies have it all. Deep down, everyone who watched Indy wanted to be him, a part-time professor, full-time archaeologist-adventurer, and master with a whip.

If you grew up watching Indiana Jones and dreamed of being an “obtainer of rare antiquities” yourself one day, these four board games are here to (sort of) make those dreams come true. Sure, you’ll be flinging dice instead of a whip, but you’ll be recovering rare artifacts and punching baddies just like Dr. Jones.

Artifacts Inc.

If “It belongs in a museum!” is one of your favorite Indy lines, you’ll love this dice placement game designed by Ryan Laukat. The big difference, however, is that you’re not a daring professor flying solo, but part of a treasure-hunting company that unearths and sells rare artifacts to museums for profit. The goal of the game is to be the company that earns the most fame in the form of reputation points.

Roll the dice to determine which of your company’s asset cards can be played as an action. You can hunt for treasure, sell that treasure, take side jobs, dive for relics on the bottom of the ocean, or buy more company assets. Treasure diving and asset cards give you reputation points; when a player reaches 20 points, it triggers the end of the game and final points tally.

2-4 Players, Ages 10+

Fortune and Glory

It’s the 1930s, the heyday of Dr. Jones, and you’re a swashbuckler on the hunt for adventurer—and ancient artifacts. In this action-packed adventure board game, you’ll be swinging fists, flying through the air in planes and zeppelins, searching for relics of the occult, exploring, and more. The game itself comes packed with miniatures, dice, and a colorful cast of characters straight out of pulp adventures.

Each player takes control of a character with specific attributes and abilities, and rolls the dice to determine successful actions like exploring ruins or punching Nazis. Fortune and Glory can be played cooperatively or competitively, or both, as you can see in the unconventional version of the game played by Wil Wheaton and friends on TableTop.

1-8 Players, Ages 12+

Relic Runners

Relic Runners is a colorful tabletop game with temple tiles placed across the board. (You’ll probably never play the same board setup twice.) You’re an explorer tasked with entering those dark temples and ancient ruins on a quest for treasure, and the journey is just as important as the destination. Place pathways, use toolboxes, spend rations, and make the best use of your explorer’s progression chart to successfully reach the temple depths and find relics.

Victory Points are earned by exploring, progressing through the explorer’s chart, and finding artifacts. The player with the most Victory Points tallied at the end of the game wins.

2-5 Players, Ages 10+

Skulldug!

Like the other games in this list, Skulldug! puts you in the shoes of an explorer racing against your fellow hunters to find treasure. You and the other explorers are venturing deep within a cave, and not only must you look for priceless artifacts, you have to escape once you’ve found them. Unfortunately, each relic is cursed, so you’ll have to decide what’s worth taking and what should be left behind.

On each turn, you have three action points to spend. As players use an action to move into unexplored areas of the cave, they turn over a new Passage card and place it on the table. In the new area, an explorer might find traps, monsters, and the cursed treasure. A roll of the dice determines the adventurer’s fate. Will you make it out of the cave alive?

1-6 Players, Ages 13+

What other games make you feel like Dr. Jones? Tell us in the comments.

Featured image: Days of Wonder

Other images: Red Raven Games, Flying Frog Productions, Days of Wonder, Ruddy Games 

The post Channel Your Inner Indiana Jones With These Archaeology Adventures appeared first on Nerdist.

Massive explosions. Hails of gunfire. Unnecessary but awesome car chases. Incredibly cheesy yet badass one-liners. These are but a few of the hallmarks of a great action movie. Making a good action movie can be challenging in its own right, but even more difficult is recapturing that magic mayhem in a sequel. In honor of John Wick: Chapter 2 (one of the best action movie sequels in recent memory) hitting theaters this weekend, I decided to take a walk down a gunshot-riddled, adrenaline-fueled, white-knuckle memory lane and round up some of the greatest action movie sequels ever made.

Assembling this list wasn’t easy, and I’ve almost certainly omitted some real gems, but I stand by each and every one of these movies. Their unique blend of jaw-dropping action set pieces, bone-crunching fight scenes, and the childish glee they instill in viewers make them worthy of accolade, or at the very least a rewatch. Maybe you can even make it a double feature with John Wick: Chapter 2 this weekend. The world is your assault rifle-wielding oyster.Which of these films is your favorite? What would you add to this list? Get to the chopper and let us know in the comments below.

Image: Disney/Marvel

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Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter and ask him about all things anime (@Osteoferocious).

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In addition to games, snacks, and perhaps an adult beverage or two; music is a crucial but oft-neglected ingredient for making game night all it can be. The right tuneage can takes tabletop and turns it into a lived experience. It adds mood, ambience, and suspends disbelief like it slapped a teacher.

Here are our top five suggestions, along with gaming experiences they pair well with.

Lord of the Rings Soundtracks, Howard Shore

Top Track: “Forth Eorlingas”

Play With: Descent, Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, 13th Age, Dungeon Drawl Classics, or any fantasy themed game

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I heard music in my mind every time I played D&D. When I first heard the Lord of the Rings trilogy soundtrack, I realized that was the music from my mind made real. Shore’s music became instantly iconic, and can be played with any and every fantasy themed game in existence. D&D is the obvious pairing, and like steak and red wine, it’s both classic and deeply satisfying.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Soundtrack, John Williams

Top Track: “Raiders March”
Play With: Incan Gold, Risk, Tikal, The Adventurers

John Williams is likely the world’s greatest living film composer. After accounting for inflation, three out of the ten top grossing films of all time sport music composed by him, and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Soundtrack is one of his greatest accomplishments. It gets the blood pumping with vim and vigor. Whether you are crashing a plane or just crashing through underbrush, this album accentuates games of adventure, where players must damn the torpedoes and launch into derring-do.

The Dark Knight Soundtrack, Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard

Top Track: “I’m Not a Hero”
Play With: X-Wing, PowerGrid, Night’s Black Agents, Sentinels of the Multiverse, a really dark game of Apples to Apples

Really, this album is like black pepper. It adds flavor, and pairs well with almost anything. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s work on this album is evocative, thrumming, and driving, and is so modern it seems timeless. If approached without knowing it was a superhero movie soundtrack, a listener would be hard pressed to know if it’s from a sci-fi film, historical epic, or Wall Street drama. It can add drama to games of resource management, and even light kid games like Machi Koro. 

Come Away From the Light, The Scarring Party

Top Track: “No More Room”

Play With: Letters from Whitechapel, Dead of Winter, Call of Cthulhu, Trail of Cthulhu

You haven’t heard of them, I know, but the Scarring Party makes beer hall music for the end times. They feature a tuba and tin can microphone built by lead singer Daniel Bullock. They sound like what Al Jolson might have written after watching Night of the Living Dead. Their old time sound but Clockwork Orange sensibilities give horror games a comedic edge, and reminds games with Steampunk or Victorian veneers not to take themselves so seriously. Check out “No More Room” here for a bloody mouthful of The Scarring Party.

Syrinscape

Top Track: “Alien Cantina”
Play With: Pathfinder, Star Wars: Armada, Android: Netrunner, Warhammer 40,000, and Numenera (My GM literally made me blow Coke out my nose using it in Numenera.)

Syrinscape is an audio suite for tabletop gaming. It provides music, sound effects, and other weirdness to make you table into soundscapes as diverse as derelict spaceships or mouldering dungeons. To get a look at the breadth of the product consider these titles: “Alien Cantina,” “Abandoned Asylum,” and “Mountain Pass.” They even have a specific suite for board gaming, and write musical pieces to go with Pathfinder Adventure Paths.

What do you game to? Any classic hits we missed? Let us know below!

Feature image courtesy the Scarring Party.

Other images courtesy Polygram, Syrinscape, the Scarring Party, Warner Brothers Records, and Reprise Records.

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