The Indiana Jones film series is famous for tons of action sequences and its adventure themes. The protagonist of the series, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), travels around the world searching for ancient artifacts in order to sell them to museums. He often goes up against rivals in his quests to obtain said artifacts; and since the movies are mostly set in the 1930s, one common opponent is the Nazis. Three of the five films follow the main plot line, with two spin-off movies. In the main plot, Indiana and his rivals often go after religious artifacts that prove to have divine powers.
First of all, it’s important to clarify which films follow what plot line. The first installment of the series, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), set in 1936, introduces the main story and characters. Indiana goes up against a Nazi archaeology team to discover the lost Ark of the Covenant, an artifact rumored to contain the original Ten Commandments.
The second film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), is more of a prequel side plot, set in 1935 and featuring new sidekick characters. Indiana leads them on a quest to recover kidnapped children and magical religious stones from an evil Hindu blood cult to return them to an Indian village. Temple of Doom flopped compared to Raiders, so the third film followed the same formula as the first and returned to the main plot.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) was set in 1938 and again features Indiana racing Nazi sympathizers to find a lost Christian artifact. It returns the beloved sidekicks from Raiders and also introduces Indiana’s father, Henry Jones, as they aim to complete his life’s work and find the Holy Grail. In Christian doctrine, the Holy Grail is the cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, which grants eternal life.
The fourth film is another adventure that doesn’t follow the main plot and brings a different supporting cast. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) is set in 1957, and follows Indiana and Co. racing the Soviets to obtain a magic alien skull from deep in the Peruvian jungle. They are kidnapped by the Soviets, but the skull turns out to be telepathic and they have to follow its quest to return it to its temple, then Indiana and his group can escape. The fifth and final movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), is a subplot as well, serving as a sequel to Crystal Skull, but provides an important background set in 1945, where Indiana stops a Nazi archaeologist from acquiring a piece of a powerful ancient relic. However, the archaeologist moves to the United States under Operation Paperclip and is determined to find the relic, Archimedes’ Antikythera, which enables time travel. Thus, in 1969, Indiana goes on one final quest to stop him.
One of the more overlooked aspects of the Indiana Jones films is how the characters treat or react to all of these otherworldly phenomena they encounter. It is most prominently seen in Indiana Jones himself, but it can be seen in other characters too, such as Indiana’s father, Henry Jones, or Indiana’s wife, Marion. One example is how, after the events of Raiders, the characters just go on with their lives. You could characterize this as a reaction of shock, since from thereafter whenever the Ark is mentioned, Indiana visibly shudders. But this paints a picture of contrast compared to the characters in Biblical tales, who tend to treat events like this as visions from God
This theme is further explored in Last Crusade. Henry Jones’ life’s work has been to discover the Holy Grail, and it has damaged his relationship with Indiana. However, when Henry goes missing, Indiana is eager to join the quest. The ensuing adventure blends a scripture-like tale that nearly every Christian culture has a version of with a race for archaeological discovery. Indiana discovers the tomb of a lost knight named Richard and encounters the mysterious Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, whose goal is to protect the location of the Grail at all costs.
Later in the film, Indiana finds his father, and they travel to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, the location of the Grail. At the temple, their Nazi competitors force Indiana to go through the four tests to obtain the Grail. They involve him kneeling to God, remembering God’s name and word, and taking a leap of faith. The final challenge involves finding which cup out of many is the true Holy Grail that Jesus drank from. Along the way, he encounters Richard’s 800-year-old brother, guardian of the Grail. Indiana finds the correct cup and brings it to heal his father. Then, the Nazi archaeologist disobeys the knight’s instructions to not bring it outside the temple, and a series of events occur where the Grail is lost, and Henry sees the knight. After this, Henry tells his son that even though he did not recover the Grail, he is happy because going on the quest and seeing the knight granted him illumination about the world.
20 years later in Dial of Destiny, Indiana reveals a unique worldview, saying, “I don’t believe in magic. But a few times in my life, I’ve seen things. Things I can’t explain. And I’ve come to believe it’s not so much what you believe. It’s how hard you believe it.” In essence, Indiana is saying he believes in science, and outside of that, the universe is what it is, and that you can make your own meaning out of it depending on how strong your belief is. It’s a unique take. The whole way that Indiana’s character contemplates his experiences throughout the movies is one of the traits that catapults the series up as one of the greatest action movie series, or even film series in general, that has been made.
