Indiana and the Dial of Destiny

Last updated on: July 4, 2023 at 5:09 pm by Ben Witherington

Indiana and the Dial of Destiny 2023-07-04T17:09:26-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

(Spoiler Alert: Don’t read this if you’ve not seen the movie yet)

Like various other long running movie series (like Star Wars or James Bond), it has taken a long long time to get to the final episode. Was it worth it? Well yes… and no. The movie begins near the end of WWII, and once again the bad guys in this movie are Nazis, a safe choice in this day and age since they are overwhelmingly, and pretty universally condemned for their anti-Semitism and racial mythology about an Aryan Jesus. We then jump to 1968 just after Americans walked on the moon. Indy is by now an old man, and not up for massive new ventures. But he was going to have them anyway. Too much of the first half of this long film (2 hours and 24 minutes) is chase scenes which call for you to suspend your disbelief so many times that you feel like you’re wearing multiple pairs of loose suspenders! They should have been dead numerous times over.

The story revolves around a device supposedly invented by Archimedes which supposedly could enable time travel. Half of it sank to the bottom of the ocean near Greece in Roman times, and the other half turned up on land and passed through many hands. But Mr. Nazi, who actually helped the allies win the war by changing sides, wants both halves so he can go back to 1939, and do the Fuhrering right. Little did Archimedes know that his calculations for time travel were a little off.

The last hour or so of the film was the best, as both the bad guys and the good guys end up on Sicily in 214 B.C. when the Romans and Greeks were fighting and Archimedes was trying to help the latter, of course. The movie is nicely resolved by a return to 1968, and some surprising reunions, but I’ll leave that for you to learn about by seeing the movie.

Honestly, with this series, clearly the earlier movies were the better ones, particularly the first one Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). It was nice however to see some old friends like Antonio Banderas reprising his role as Indy’s side kick. And there are some nice hommages to famous scenes from the previous movies in the series. For summer fun, this is worth the trip to the cinema, especially if you like the main character. Phoebe-Waller Bridges is fine as Indy’s God daughter as well. And no there is no nudity or bad language in the film, so apart from the violence, this is fun for all the older members of the family. Here’s an interesting recent brief interview of Harrison Ford about the films…

Next up, the next installment of Mission Impossible, only in this case, that series will not end this summer.

Uncategorized

Archimedes would say eureka?

Previous Post

July 4, 2023

James Taylor--- The 4th of July

Next Post

July 5, 2023 Clifton Black's Mark's Gospel-- The Dialogue Part Five

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz