‘Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull’ (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, 2008) is the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series and the highest grossing of the franchise to date, with almost 800 million dollars at the box office worldwide despite mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. Quentin Tarantino has shared his controversial ranking of the saga, placing the skull on ‘The Last Crusade’.
It’s like ‘Stop, or my mother shoots!’
Tarantino explained why he prefers ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ to ‘The Last Crusade’ during an episode of the ReelBlend podcast.
“I like ‘The Crystal Skull’ better than the Sean Connery one. I don’t like the Sean Connery one. I don’t like that one at all. It’s so boring. It’s boring! And it’s not an interesting character. The joke is told alone. It’s like Stop! Or My mother shoots.”
‘The Crystal Skull’ is widely considered the worst of the franchise, in part due to the inclusion of aliens, which makes Tarantino’s opinion something of a surprise. But the ranking of him do not end. He also revealed that ‘The Temple of Doom’ is not only his favorite movie in the series, but also is his favorite film in director Steven Spielberg’s career.
“At the end of the day, I think my favorite Spielberg-directed movie, again, with ‘Jaws’ carved into its own Mount Rushmore, is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. A movie so fucking badass it created a new level in the MPAA [Motion Picture Association of America]”.
‘The Temple of Doom’ was the worst critically rated film in the series before ‘The Crystal Skull’ was released. Released in 1984, it was the second in the series and the lowest grossing, with $333 million. As Tarantino points out, the film made history as the first to receive a PG-13 rating, creating a new category in the MPAA rating system. Now over 40 years old, the Indiana Jones franchise is gearing up for a fifth installment. Harrison Ford returns to theaters on June 30, 2023.