So I watched it again, for the first time in I don’t know how long, and I felt like I was viewing it for the first time. Boy was I wrong about this one! It’s got all the bare-knuckle brawlin’, the high adventure, and the escapism of Raiders, and this one’s got elephants too! Yeah, Indy’s got a kid sidekick, but as it turns out, he’s not nearly as annoying as I thought he was. In fact, he was rather funny, and in all honesty, it’s an element that’s actually pretty accurate. Lots of old-timey pulp heroes from the ‘30s and ‘40s had minority stereotypes as sidekicks. Why should Indiana Jones be any different?

Kate Capshaw’s performance, on the other hand, cannot be so easily excused. She was sleeping with the director, and it shows. That woman is an absolute atrocity, and every scene she’s in can be counted among the worst in film history. Blech!

As for the rest of the film: two thumbs up. It’s a crazy, over-the-top, roller coaster ride of a movie that starts off with a bang and doesn’t let up until the very end. But you already knew that, right? Because unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two decades, you’ve already seen this movie. But if you’re like me, and you’ve been giving it a bad rap: give it another chance. Sure, it’s still shiny and Hollywood, but it’s just plain fun. I had a hard time keeping a big silly grin off of my face as I watched this movie.

It looks a lot nicer too. Every time they re-release these films, they clean them up a bit, which is appreciated. As for the special features, they’re pretty cool, but not as in-depth as the stuff that was on the box set that was released a few years ago. There’s a new introduction from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, a little vignette about the various insects used in the film, and a little “on location” documentary. The mine cart chase scene storyboards, photo gallery and Lego Indiana Jones demo are only going to interest a select few though.