The Indiana Jones franchise has carved a major mark on the action-adventure movie scene, setting a bar that hundreds, if not thousands, of films have tried to live up to for decades. Written by George Lucas during the early 1970s, Lucas was originally working with Phillip Kaufman on the Ark of the Covenant concept at the center of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Kaufman was called away to another project that put Indy on the back burner until 1977. While vacationing in Hawaii to escape the heat of Star Wars fame, Lucas ran into friend and colleague Steven Spielberg, and from these two great minds, an epic franchise was born.
Updated June 1, 2023, to reflect the addition of the Indiana Jones catalog to Disney+.
Spanning more than 40 years, whip-wielding archaeologist Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones Jr., (portrayed by Harrison Ford) has been an inspiration to budding archeology students, adventurers and moviegoers. Given the amount of material introduced to the franchise over the years, it's no small wonder. From the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles to the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny film set to release on June 30, 2023, the legacy of Indiana Jones will continue long after its star and creators are gone from this world. To those endeavoring into the franchise for the very first time, it's important to watch each installment in the right order, but where does one start?
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Indiana Jones Chronological Order
Diving into the adventures of Indiana Jones can be done in order of release, of course, but the release order chronology is slightly off. For example, despite Raiders of the Lost Ark being the first film in the franchise, The Temple of Doom is actually a prequel. Stepping back even further, the opening sequence of The Last Crusade introduces a young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix) in 1912. That introduction inspired a television spin-off series called The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles that explored the titular character's early love of adventure, fear of snakes and difficult relationship with his father.
One of the more recent films in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, takes place decades after the original trilogy, introducing Indy's own estranged son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), to the mix. It can only be assumed that the upcoming The Dial of Destiny is set after The Crystal Skull, but until the film is released, that's only speculation.
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The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
To really get started, it's important to dive in at the beginning. Airing on ABC from March 1992 through July 1993, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles featured an elderly Indy (George Hall) reliving his youth through being a WWI soldier and his time in college. With three separate actors portraying young Indy during separate points of his life, the central focus fell on his teen years, which were explored by Sean Patrick Flanery. Flanery's portrayal covered a 16-to-21-year-old Indiana Jones, and that version seemed to feature in most of the episodes.
The show spanned two seasons, totaling 28 episodes and four made-for-TV movies that aired on The Family Channel and focused on numerous historic icons and locations to help cement the realism of the character's life during this time period. Originally, George Lucas had written upwards of 70 episodes, chronicling Indy's life from 1905 until The Temple of Doom, which took place in 1935, but the series didn't actually see that much exploration. Numerous actors and writers, including Carrie Fisher, wrote episodes of the series. Despite being approached to reprise their roles as Indiana Jones, both River Phoenix and Harrison Ford declined, though Ford did appear in one Season 2 episode as the middle-aged version of the character.
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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Released in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is set in 1935 across the Asian continent. Hired to retrieve the remains of Nurhaci by Shanghai crime boss Lao Che, Indy narrowly escapes a double-cross and an attempt on his life when Che decides to take him out. On a plane with an orphan known as Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), the trio narrowly escape with their lives when Che's men parachute away and leave the plane without a pilot. Their journey down the Himalayas lands them in the Indian village of Mayapore, where Indy is asked to help retrieve a stolen artifact and the village's children.
After discovering an underground tunnel system beneath the palace, Indy, Willie and Short Round locate a group of Thugee cultists, who are not only in the middle of conducting a human sacrifice but in possession of Mayapore's missing children. In possession of three Sankara stones, they've been using the children to locate the other stones. Once they capture Indy and Willie, they send Short Round to the tunnels to search for the other stones as well. Short Round saves the day when he breaks the potion-induced trance forcing Indy to sacrifice Willie, and the three escape with their lives and the Sankara stones only to encounter Thugee priest Mola Ram on the precarious rope bridge. As the bridge falls, all four hang on for their lives until Indy invokes the name of Shiva, causing the power in the stones to ignite and burn a hole through his satchel. Ram reaches for the stone but loses grip and falls to his death, with Indy, Willie and Short Round returning to Mayapore heroes.
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Raiders of the Lost Ark
The 1981 film, Raiders of the Lost Ark was the world's first introduction to Indiana Jones. Set in 1936, Army Intelligence briefs archeological professor Dr. Henry Jones on a Nazi dig in Egypt that leads him to deduce that they're searching for the Ark of the Covenant. The Army tasks him with retrieving it before the Nazis, and he sets out for Egypt, where he reunites with his former love interest and daughter to his old mentor, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). After discovering his mentor is dead, the bar the couple reunited in is attacked by Gestapo agent Arnold Toht, who tries to steal a medallion from Marion. He only burns its image into the palm of his hand before Indy and Marion retrieve it and escape.
After discovering that the Nazis are digging in the wrong location, Jones and his friend Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) take the translated medallion and the Staff or Ra to find the Ark. As they are bringing the chest from the site, the Nazis overpower them and take the chest for themselves. As he and Marion escape, they track the truck carrying the Ark, but the Nazis are certain he would never destroy such an important artifact, especially before discovering what was inside. As they open the chest, Indie tells Marion to look away, and the spirit fire released from the Ark kills the Nazis standing around watching in anticipation.
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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade launched into action in 1912. Young Indiana Jones and his Boy Scout troop discover a band of robbers taking Coronado's Crucifix. Believing the crucifix belongs in a museum, Indy steals it from them and heads home, only to find the sheriff there waiting for him with the robbers in tow. Forced to return the found item, the scene shifts to 1938, with Indy off the coast of Portugal retrieving the crucifix. Upon his arrival back in the United States, he receives word that his father, Henry (Sean Connery), disappeared while continuing his obsessive search for the Holy Grail.
Following the path detailed in Henry's diary, Indy sets out to find his father. Meeting with Henry's associate, Elsa Schneider, in Venice, she takes them to the library where Henry was last seen. In the catacombs beneath, they discover a shield with an inscription detailing the path to find the Grail. In classic Indy fashion, he and Elsa share a romantic liaison, but her true colors are revealed when they find his father being held captive by Nazis, and she confesses to being a Nazi collaborator. When Indy and Henry escape, they make their way to Hatay, where they follow the Nazi trail to the temple containing the Holy Grail. With Henry brutally injured, Indy must identify the correct Grail from multiple cups in order to save his father. As the temple begins to collapse, Indy, his father and their companions manage to escape with the Grail.
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Set in 1957, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull brought the iconic archaeologist back to the big screen in 2008. Kidnapped by Soviet agents, alongside his partner Mac, Indy is forced to infiltrate the top-secret Hangar 51 to search for an alien corpse. Nearly blown up by a nuclear explosion, Indy survives the attack by sealing himself inside a lead-lined refrigerator, where he stays until the FBI arrives to rescue and interrogate him. Returning to work, he's put on an indefinite leave of absence, during which a young man named Mutt Williams approaches with news of a crystal skull in Peru and his mother's kidnapping.
Heading to Peru, they discover carvings that lead to a crystal skull at the grave of Francisco de Orellana but are captured by Soviets and taken to a camp in the Amazon. Reunited with Mutt's mother, she just so happens to be none other than Indy's old love interest, Marion Ravenwood, which raises questions about Mutt's father. When they escape the camp, they manage to take the skull back from the Soviets and follow the trail of clues to Akator, the alleged remnants of a secret, underground alien city.
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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
2023's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny takes place in 1969 against the backdrop of the world's infinite Space Race. With the United States utilizing former Nazi scientists in an effort to beat the Soviet Union to the stars, Indy and his goddaughter Helena Shaw find themselves smack dab in the middle of one man's twisted effort to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, his standards are beyond questionable, and it's up to Indy and Helena to stop him before it's too late. Set to release in theaters in June 2023, Harrison Ford has commented that the fifth film in the franchise will be his last appearance as Indiana Jones on screen. Disney has also confirmed this fifth and final film will be the last.
Where to Stream Indiana Jones
The first four Indiana Jones movies can be streamed on Paramount+ with a subscription. As of May 31, 2023, those Indiana Jones films, as well as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, are also available on Disney+. Disney acquired the rights to future Indiana Jones films in a 2013 agreement with Paramount Pictures. The shared streaming of the franchise library is apparently an extension ov that deal.
All four films, as well as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, are also available for purchase on Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will be released in theaters on June 30, 2023.
