For the past few year's I've been in the habit of blogging about Indiana Jones during the month of June. It started in 2021, which marked the fortieth anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In 2024 I had a lot of family stuff happening, and so did manage to post anything. This year I intend to make up for that. In fact, the combination of these two years makes for a starting theme, since the years 1984-85 brought a wave of treasure hunter movies that seemed like they wanted to ride the wave of Raiders' popularity.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
I wrote a “Watching Again” post about this movie back in 2023, during the lead-up to Dial of Destiny arriving in theaters (https://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2023/06/watching-again-indiana-jones-and-temple.html). Since then, however, I've read a number of articles calling out its racist character depictions and White Savior narrative.
Romancing the Stone (1984)
Whereas The Goonies definitely appeals to the kid in me, this one has grown on me as I've gotten older. Here are a few reasons why.
The chemistry between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, as Jack Colton and Joan Wilder, is great. As much as I like that of Harrison Ford and Karen Allen in Raiders, this takes it to a whole other level.
Danny DeVito makes a great foil for them, too. He is a villain, yes, but a likable one—especially when his character Ralph is contrasted with his on-screen brother, Ira.
The prize in this story, a huge emerald shaped like a heart, is not so interesting, in my opinion. That's not important, however, since what matters is the goals of the protagonists that matter. Jack wants to buy a boat and sail around the world; Joan is looking for real-life romance. In chasing after the stone, they find those things.
There are good action sequences, none of them too grandiose, but executed well.
The ending of this story just feels good.
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The Jewel of the Nile (1985)
This movie has not aged as well as its predecessor, and here's why.
This movie quickly undoes a lot of what the heroes accomplished in the first movie. Normally that would bother me, but they do it so quickly that the I don't have much time to think about it.
The plot involves a mishmash of Arab, Egyptian and Muslim elements, all taking place in “Africa” somewhere. This is another example of someone writing a story and wanting to use the feel of a culture without actually representing that culture accurately.
To its credit, the story tries to do something different, making a twist on the hunt for a valuable gem by having the Jewel be a person.
The jet scene is fun. It strikes me as something that the players in an RPG session would actually try to do.
The heroes' visit to the Nubians doubles down on cultural mishmash. We end up with a fight for Joan's hand, and end with a dance party. Again, it would be nice if they tried to represent the culture accurately.
I do like the finale. The notion of hiring a rock concert producer to stage manage Omar's political rally makes for a great backdrop, and there's plenty of opportunity for exciting action.
The Goonies (1985)
Here are my thoughts.
The opening sequence of this film provides a great chance to introduce each character, giving a little insight into their backgrounds and recent activities.
This whole thing is a chase that lasts about a day, moving through a mapped location that is filled with puzzler, traps, discoveries and other details. It would be interesting to try writing—and running—a scenario like this.
The subplot about losing their homes adds to the drama, much like the characters' goals did in Romancing the Stone. A pirate ship and treasure is cool in its own right, but the fact that they're fighting against rich developers makes it even sweeter.
These are fun villains, too. Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano and Anne Ramsey would each make for a memorable bad guy in their own right; together they are quite the ensemble.
This all sets up a slam-bang ending, with not one but two great moments: first, Rosalita finds what's in the marble bag; and second, One-Eyed Willy's pirate ship goes on one last cruise.
King Solomon's Mines (1985)
I might look at this movie in a later post. For now, however, I'm not willing to pay the money to rent or buy it.
