Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones

One of the true icons of the ’80s is, of course, Indiana Jones. People still argue over who is more iconic him or Hal Solo! There were three Indiana Jones movies released during the 1980s.

Created by George Lucas, Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1981 and was a huge hit. This was followed up in 1984 with a prequel called The Temple of Doom. Temple of Doom was not as critically or commercially successful as the Raiders. However, 1989 would see an actual sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Harrison Ford teamed up with Sean Connery in the epic, Last Crusade. The Last Crusade would be the biggest financial success of the original Indiana Jones trilogy.

The first movie was such a huge hit that Kenner who also made the figures for George Lucas’s Star Wars line snapped up the rights to make toys. Kenner was a bit late to the party and that first wave of figures was not released until 1982. The first series of figures was a little timid in comparison to how full on Kenner were with the Star Wars license a few years earlier.

Kenner released four figures as well as a very rare mail-away figure. These were done in the same 3 and ¾ inch scale as the Star Wars figures. They also released a couple of playsets along with 12 inch action figures. The following year Kenner would release more figures and playsets, but these had a very small production run and as a result, are quite sought after by collectors.

Indiana Jones would return in the early 90s, but it would not be to the big screen and it would not be just Harrison Ford playing him. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was a TV series that first aired in 1992 and would run for 28 episodes along with four TV movies. Sean Patrick Flanery is most well known for this show. However, Corey Carrier, George Hall, and even Harrison Ford also portrayed Indiana Jones at certain points of the show.

Indiana Jones would lay dormant for a very, very long time. The movies would be re-released on VHS, laserdisc, and DVD many times. They always sold well and there was always a fondness and a love for the character and the movies.

Then in 2008, nearly two decades after he last graced the big screen, Indiana Jones returned in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. People were very excited to see Harrison Ford back playing Indy, but he was also joined by Shia LaBeouf who is his son. The movie featured an all-star cast and was directed by Steven Spielberg.

It had all the makings of something great.

It pulled in close to 800 million dollars at the global box office and while some found it fun. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was ridiculed by many for some of the more “strange” things that happened in the moving. Nuking the fridge and swinging with monkeys are the two most notable things that people like to poke fun at.

Since 2016, Disney has been teasing that there is a new Indiana Jones movie in the works. The release date was originally supposed to be in 2019, but it has since been put back time and time again to the point where it is now listed as being released in 2021. Filming is scheduled to start at some point in 2019 so it does look like we will once again get to see Indiana Jones on the big screen.

With four movies that all made serious money, a fun TV series, lots of toys and a whole host of video games. Indiana Jones is a real pop culture phenomenon and he is a character that caught on so well that people still love him to this day.