Ode to Indy.

Lets talk action heros. In my humble opinion there are only a select handful of mortal men that can be classified as actual honest to goodness action heros. Superman doesn't count, he is super human, Spiderman doesn't count, he a mutant, as is Wolverine. With those great men out the the running, you only have a select few that actually qualify; 

1) Batman - Bruce Wayne, he isn't super human, he is just super rich. More power to him for using his wealth for good, instead of evil.

2) James Bond - super spy. No one does action better than James Bond. This guy has had a corner on the market of good looking super spy for years. And the new James Bond just at

tests to the lasting power of the white hot super spy. 

3) This third one is often over looked, but he is a action hero of biblical proportions: 

Indiana Jones!

 It has come to my attention that there is a new Indiana Jones' movie on the horizon, and we could not be happier! The first three Indy movies are only some of the greatest movies ever to be produced by George Lucas and Steven Speilberg, second to some other Lucas movie about a galaxy that is far far away. So in preparation for the new upcoming movie Andrew and I decided to dive into the recesses of our DVD bin and pull out the beloved classics.  

First off we have Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 

                                                             

Made in 1981, and set in 1936, Raiders tells the story of the hunky professor trekking the globe to foil the plot of the some very evil nazis to gain the Ark of the Covenant. A couple of things, first off Andrew and I would like to recognize the brilliance of using the nazis as the antagonist.  Anytime any movie needs a bad guy, look no further than nazi Germany. There is no end for plots containing nazis. Secondly, the nazi in the movie apparently had some secret underground submarine station in the Mediterranean, unbeknownst to the Allied forces. And thirdly, the Ark of the Covenant is currently in some secret warehouse, owned by the American government. I am thinking this warehouse could be a possible location for the next National Treasure. Maybe with a cameo of Dr. Jones, or at least his grandson. In this movie Indy, not only goes to the jungles of South America, but he also goes to Nepal, Egypt, and some uncharted nazi island. Some memorable scenes, going into the pit of snakes, many of which I noted are not indigenous to Egypt, blowing up the nazi war plane, and the best scene is at the end were they actually open the Ark, and see what's inside....but I won't ruin it for you. On to the second one:    

  

                                            Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

                                                                          

This movie includes; snake surprise, eyeball soup, cockroaches, chilled monkey brains, ancient village witch doctors, a maharaja, child slavery rings, chinese gangsters, Data from Goonies, the ripping out of live beating hearts, rope bridges over ravines with starving alligators at the bottom, and a some sort of magical glowing rock, oh and there are some elephants. One thing many people don't know about the second movie, its actually a prequel, set in 1935.  All I can save that I've pretty much seen this one a thousand times, and who can't help but act out the scene when he rips out the beating heart to sacrifice to Kali Ma? Classical. 

It's getting late so lets move on to the last installment (until now)

                                           Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

                                                                    

Before Dan Brown, before the Da Vinci Code, there was Indiana Jones. In the Last Crusade Indy pairs up with his dad, Sean Connery (aka James Bond) and once again goes to battle against the evil nazi empire, to prevent them from getting their hands on yet another sacred artifact. Indy travels to Venice, were he promptly meets the lovely but deadly, Dr. Elsa Schneider, who Andrew thinks is the most attractive of the Indy ladies. They then proceed to find the lost tomb of one of the last three knights templar, who were said to protect the holy grail. This is only after wading through a tomb flooded with petroleum and swarming with rats. With the protectors of the grail (similar to those protectors of the City of the Dead in the Mummy), hot on their trail.  Elsa soon reveals herself as a nazi worker, (which we should have figured out because she does have blonde hair and blue eyes), we meet up with Indy's father, Sean, and there is a ride on a zepplin.  In the end Indy must choose the right "grail" to take the water from the fountain of everlasting life, back to his father who lays dying from some sort of wound.  All in all an excellent adventure, one that should not be missed. 

Needless to say, we are very much looking forward to the new Indiana Jones movie, even though H. Ford is quite a few years older, but I think he will still prove to be one the greatest self made action heros, he doesn't need to rely on super strength, or a web of steel, he has something much more effective, a bullwhip, and a doctorate. I am sure Han Solo would agree.