Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade REVIEW

The "Motion Picture Buff" would like to present his third installment in the reviews of the "Indiana Jones" franchise. In this film Dr. Henry Jones Sr. goes missing while on a pursuit for the Holy Grail. Indiana Jones or "Junior" must find his father and beat the Nazi's to the grail.

So are their negatives to this film? Unfortunately I am going to have to point out a few. First of all Alison Doody plays Dr. Elsa Schneider. I didn't find her character or performance the greatest. She bugged me and in a nutshell she didn't sell her performance very well. The other thing I really want to mention is that the plot is a bit predictable the whole way through. Something happens, but you know what the outcome will be.

Other than that this film is great! In my opinion this is the greatest "Indiana Jones" film out their. Harrison Ford returns as Indiana and again no one could have played this character better. He just has that great quality for Indiana Jones. Sean Connery comes in to play Indiana's father in this film, and he is amazing as Indiana's father. Sean and Harrison have amazing chemistry together, and it is hard to believe that he actually isn't his father in real life. I would not have been surprised otherwise. The rest of the cast does a great job at creating an enjoyable movie. Steven Spielberg returns as director for this film and lets say he does a decent job with this film, nothing spectacular but good. John Williams is at the helm of the score of the film again, and I loved his composition for this film. Defiantly deserved that Oscar nomination he got. Lets say it is a must-buy, I know I am going to. Is it weird to talk about the sound effects in a movie, but I just loved them in this movie. Like everything sounded perfect and just right. The cinematography too looks amazing. I have always enjoyed the cinematography in the "Indiana Jones" films though. They always have this look and feel to them that gives them that western look, but in reality its not a western. Oh one last thing to mention is I like the beginning of the movie and how they divulge into Indiana's past. I found that enjoyable, and I thought they did a good job with casting the right young Indiana Jones, River Phoenix, may he rest in peace.

So all-in-all a great addition to the "Indiana Jones" franchise, and in my opinion the most enjoyable one. Its got that action and classic feel to it that made you fall in love with the first one. For the ratings, I am going to give it a must-see rating along with a Blu-ray buy worthy. It most likely looks way better on Blu-ray! I will give it a popcorn flick rating, but it can pass as a good family night film. As for the rating out of five, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" deserves a 4.5/5 rating.

Well thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review. To view the reviews of the other "Indiana Jones" films click the name of them here: "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Temple of Doom." Thanks again and stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom REVIEW

Here comes the second installment in the reviews of the "Indiana Jones" series! "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is Indy's second adventure. In this film Indiana Jones arrives in India, here he is asked by a desperate town to return a mystical stone that was stolen from them. Of course Indiana agrees and so the adventure begins!

Well shall we begin with the positives from this tale? Well I loved the acting of course, I mean Harrison Ford is just outstanding. I really think there could be no better man to play Indiana Jones than him. He just fits the character extremely well. Now child stars that are extremely good are hard to come by, but Jonathan Ke Quan plays his character, Short Round, AMAZINGLY. He is funny, cute, and just a little snot sometimes. I don't think this kid was anybody else but Short Round. Jonathan and Harrison also had great chemistry. They could have been a father and son. Of course their are other actors in this film, but I could be here all day mentioning them. What I do want to say is that they all do a great job. The next thing I wanted to mention were the action sequences and the director who pulled it off! Steven Spielberg again is at the helm of Indiana Jones story, and the action parts are just fantastic. They are exciting and thrilling, and they keep you on the edge of your seat for sure. For the time they are sure some of the most creative too. The visual effects within this movie are again just groundbreaking for the time. The script is decent I suppose, not the best thing in the world but it has an interesting enough plot line. Last thing to mention is that John Williams is at the helm of the the score for the film again, and like always John Williams is just magnificent. If you're a fan of movie music like me, make sure you pick up this one.


Now in this "Indiana Jones" film there are quite a bit more negatives. The woman who plays Willie Scott in the film is just annoying or maybe just her character! I think it was both though Willie Scott is played by Kate Capshaw. Ugh, I hated her right from the beginning. Which I also want to comment on. What is with the foreign language opening number? To me I feel like it is just to much for a film like this. Then with the story line as a whole for the series (which means that the first one connecting to this) there are a couple gaps. What happened to Marion? What about his teaching at the college? So many gaps I thought.

So all-in-all a good adventure film that anyone should enjoy! The "Indiana Jones" series just got a decent addition, and it really has some great action parts within. I am going to give this a Blu-ray buy worthy rating because of the action parts, but you could just rent it because well . . . for the "Indiana Jones" series though this one isn't a must-see film at all. Your really not missing to much, plus it doesn't contribute to the real story of Indiana. I will give it a popcorn flick rating though. As for the rating out of five, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" will receive a 3.5/5 rating.

Well thanks for tuning in and reading this review, I am really hoping you enjoyed it! To see the review of the first "Indiana Jones" film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" CLICK HERE. Sorry for the delay in a review . . . been a BUSY weekend. I do want to say though I am three reviews away until I post my 100th post. I just wanted to remind you that I am going to do a special movie to me for the 100th post. So make sure you stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

Raiders of the Lost Ark REVIEW

Here comes the first installment in the reviews of the "Indiana Jones" series. The "Motion Picture Buff" would like to present a review for "Raiders of the Lost Ark." In this film an archaeologist and adventurer named Indiana Jones is hired by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant. The only problem is that he is also fighting against the Nazi's.

Well negatives . . . negatives. Anyone who has seen this movie would now that it is really hard to find a negative in the first installment of this series. I know I can't, so here I am going to talk about the positives. Well the acting from everyone in this film is just magnificent. Harrison Ford does a great job as Indiana Jones and everything. He was literally born to play this role. Now I know I say that about a lot of people but literally, nobody could have fit the hat and whip better. Karen Allen is also in this movie and I loved her. The chemistry between her and Harrison is just great. Paul Freeman, Denholm Elliot, John Rys-Davies, and others are also in this film. A great cast came together to make a great film. Steven Spielberg directed this film and let me just say he does a great job with this film. As they say this is one of his best films. He just has a way of keeping you engaged in the film that makes it so enjoyable. He also creates some elements to the film that are great. John Williams is at the helm of the composition for this film and he has created a masterpiece of a score with this film. Of all the soundtracks I have told you to get make sure this is on the top five list. I love John Williams, he is for sure my favorite composer still to this day. Now this film came out in 1981 and for its time period it definitely had some pretty good graphics. The cinematography I also loved in this film, the film just had that action/adventure look and feel to it. The other thing I wanted to mention was the costumes, I thought for the time period of the movie that they did a pretty darn good job with recreating the clothing for the characters. This also leads me to the sets, I thought that they definitely recreated the late 1940's for us. Now the last thing to mention though is the screenplay. George Lucas and Philip Kaufman created the story of Indiana Jones, but the writer of the screenplay was Lawrence Kasdan and I thought it was great. What makes a great script is great dialogue and a plot that makes logical sense and this film did it well.

If I think back on it now the only thing I could mention negatively about this film, is that at some points I felt like the movie's plot seemed a bit rushed and a little unnatural.

So all-in-all a GREAT action adventure film that is fun for the whole family. It has an amazing cast and just a great story with it too. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is going to get a must-see rating of course, along with a popcorn flick rating. I will also award it the rating of Blu-ray buy worthy and a good family flick for one night. As for the rating out of five, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" is going to get a worthy 4.5/5 rating.

Well thanks for reading and I really do hope that you enjoyed this review. One thing to mention is that make sure you like "Motion Picture Buff Reviews" on Facebook HERE. Thanks again and stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" Poster

Well since I haven't done a review in a couple of days, I thought I would do some talk about a movie poster that has a lot of hype over (and just came out one day ago) the upcoming film directed by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln."

I first heard about this film a couple of months ago, and I am still waiting for a trailer to this film. It is surprising that this film does not yet have one as the movie comes out on November 16th, 2012. Apparently though there has been a lot of hype around this film. There has also been a lot of Oscar buzz around this film, which makes sense as Steven Spielberg (director of Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, and others) is at the helm of this movie and it is about the 16th president of the United States. Oh and by the way . . . this is the first official poster for the film, "Lincoln."

President Abraham Lincoln has always fascinated me, so personally I am already excited for this film. When I found out that Steven Spielberg is at the helm, I got even more excited! What do you think about "Lincoln?" Do you think it will be good? Would you see it? Leave a comment below . . .

So stay tuned . . . for more.

The Motion Picture Buff

NEWS FLASH: Famous Producer Richard D. Zanuck Dies at 77

I am sad to report that famous producer, Richard D. Zanuck, has passed away at the age of 77. He helped create critically acclaimed movies like, "Big Fish" and "Jaws." The cause of his death is reported to be a heart attack.

He helped now famous director, Steven Spielberg, come to the fame he has today. I would like to say thanks to Mr. Richard D. Zanuck for helping bring great movies to the big screen for us to enjoy. Richard D. Zanuck has produced many films which include: "Big Fish, Yes Man, Road to Perdition, Jaws, Dark Shadows (2012), Driving Miss Daisy, and many more films.

I just want to say rest in peace Richard D. Zanuck. Again thank you for your wondrous contribution the the motion picture world. I will be looking forward to watching some of your films soon.

The Motion Picture Buff