It’s been 42 years since we were first introduced to the iconic character that Harrison Ford immortalised on the big screen, now after four adventures and Tv series the latest movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has now hit IMAX screens.
Back in 1981, I was blown away by Raiders of the Lost Ark it had it all, the action, adventure, love interest and an amazing soundtrack from the musical genius that is John Williams. Steven Spielberg brought us a movie that is still a firm favourite with fans old and young, for those f us that saw it on the big screen back in the 80s it was something that was very special and different.
1984 saw Indiana return in The Temple of Doom, a prequel to the first movie and one that has had mixed reviews over the years, this time Indiana wasn’t up against the Nazis and was asked for help by villages to recover a stolen mystical stone, but he gets more than he bargained for.
Harrison Ford reprised his role again in 1989 for The Last Crusade, here we not only got to meet his dad played by Sean Connery, but we also got to see a young Indiana Jones played by River Phoenix. The move saw Indiana up against the Nazis again in a race to find the Holy Grail.
It took 19 years before we saw Ford don the Fedora again, in between The Last Crusade and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Although between the two movies, there was the short live TV series Young Indiana Jones which should have had River Phoenix reprising the role but sadly he passed away.
The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull certainly got some flack for its Sci-Fi twists, but for me, I really enjoyed having Indiana Jones back on the big screen, not only that we also got to see Karen Allen return as Marion Ravenwood.
Now 15 years later, Harrison Ford returns as the legendary hero archaeologist in the highly anticipated fifth instalment of the iconic Indiana Jones series, specially formatted for the most immersive IMAX screens. Ford is joined by a stellar cast, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renee Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, and Mads Mikkelsen.
The Dial of Destiny starts with a little bit of back story as we go back to the end of the second world war with a de-aged Harrison Ford up against the Nazis again, this time he’s searching for the Holy Lance but he gets more than he bargained for when he goes up against Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) and find the Dial of Destiny that his friend Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) has discovered on the train.
The de-ageing of both Ford and Mikkelsen works very well and it does look good, thankfully. There are some moments on the train that the CGI does let us down a little, such as Indy running across the top of the train that looked a little off, also later in the movie some of the face replacement during a chase scene on a horse wasn’t brilliant, but if you aren’t looking for these things you won’t really notice them.
After the long opening chase sequence, we jump to 1969 with a very much older Indiana Jones plodding along with life and not really looking for adventure anymore, that’s until Shaw’s daughter (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) shows up and mentions the Dial of Destiny to Indiana, now the new adventure is about to begin.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is packed with the adventure that I enjoyed when I saw the first movie back in the 80s, yes Ford is now 42 years older than when he filmed that movie, but we still get that action and adventure with a twist of nostalgia from this new movie, it’s great to see cast returning to the story such as Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and Marion (Karen Allen), the movie also lets us find out what happened to Indiana’s son Mutt who we were introduced to in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so some closure there.
There is plenty in the movie to keep you entertained for its 2h 34m run time, so make sure you use the toilet before heading in to see the movie. It’s certainly not the best in the Indiana Jones franchise, but it is by no means the worst.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in IMAX
As many of you know that read my posts I am a big fan of the IMAX format and so I option to see the movie in the large format, the first thing to mention is there are no ratio changes through the Dial of Destiny and the movie stays in widescreen from start to finish, but the picture quality is as sharp as a pin and looks amazing on the large IMAX screen, the sound in Dial of Destiny is also something to enjoy. You can hear the slightest of sounds and be blasted back with huge explosive sounds and uses the full surround experience to put you in the middle of the movie.
For me, IMAX is certainly to go for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.