by Wayne K. Wilkins

Created on: February 13, 2013

The “Indiana Jones” franchise is one of the most loved in the entire history of the film industry. With its roots stemming back to 1981 with “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, the series, originally a trilogy with “Temple Of Doom” following in 1984 and “The Last Crusade” in 1989, eventually saw a fourth film, “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” two decades later in 2008. The franchise is renowned for its amazing longevity and despite being old, it is still much loved and incredibly popular. Exactly what are the reasons for the continued popularity of the “Indiana Jones” franchise in 2013 after first being released over thirty years ago?

The Indiana Jones series will always be timeless. The fact that such names as director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter George Lucas have their name on the product, as well as the fact that Harrison Ford, a timeless actor, stars as the main protagonist in the films, is reason enough for their continued popularity as movie historians young and old who study the film industry will find it simply impossible to ignore such a legendary, stacked line-up of veteran success stories. Of course, the name value and star power alone isn’t the only reason for Indiana Jones’ continued success.

The movies themselves are filled with legendary action scenes and sequences, likeable characters and timeless quotes and one-liners that are still uttered to this day. The simplicity behind the character design  with “Indy” himself for example, a simple college professor by day and wielder of a whip and wearer of a hat by night, is not only an adventurer, but he is a true tale of super hero stories that have already been done a million times over.

Easy to relate to, Indiana Jones is at first the unlikely hero, but possessing great fighting skills and a powerful brain with thinking power that is always one step ahead of everyone else, the magic is in the writing, the character development and even the visual presentation and effects in the films which, despite being dated, still stands the test of time and looks incredible for what it was trying to prove at the time.

The franchise also boasts the usual “good versus evil” battle, but being set in the time of the Nazi’s evil reign and with Indy himself being a college professor, the film also has plenty of realistic, fictional educational value. A well-written storyline, awesome character development, a tale of good versus evil and of course, some timeless action scenes, all certainly contribute to the timeless popularity of the series after all these years.

The fourth film in the series which was released in 2008 wasn’t as well received as its predecessors, but it is still a great installment to the series and a fifth film, "Indiana Jones 5" is currently rumored for a future release, again starring Harrison Ford as the title character.

Indiana Jones as a film franchise isn’t limited solely to those that grew up in that era, nor are they limited to people who enjoy action films. The franchise has it all from incredible writing, masterful storytelling, likable characters, a distinct line between good and evil, amazing scenery and visuals and of course, the epic action scenes and memorable quotes. Effortlessly withstanding the test of time even in 2013, the Indiana Jones series will likely be much loved by the entire world a hundred or more years from now.

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