The Indiana Jones franchise has never pretended to be grounded in anything resembling reality; after all, George Lucas got the idea for Raiders of the Lost Ark from watching the movie serials of the '30s, whereupon square-jawed heroes dressed in fedoras and leather jackets moved from one elaborate scenario to the next. Lucas gave the keys to the Indiana Jones franchise to his friend Steven Spielberg, who - along with collaborators Harrison Ford, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams - forged an icon. The Indiana Jones franchise has always relished its position as both gritty and fantastical - the great thing about the series is the way in which it switches between moments of sheer darkness, terror and horror, to moments built around slapstick and funny dialogue exchanges. Pretty much, Indiana Jones is what cinema is all about - though you do have to accept a whole lot of crazy things and suspend your disbelief to a fair degree in order to get the most out of what has to be one of the greatest movies franchises of all-time. Here we outline 12 particularly crazy things that audiences have to look past, should they want to enjoy Indiana Jones for what is, instead of pouring over all the little aspects that don't make a lot of sense, are culturally insensitive, or force you to swallow your pride each and every time you see them occurring. The Indiana Jones films, of course, are the kinds of pictures that you can revisit over and over again; by now, die-hard fans should have gotten past these weird and questionable inclusions. Take your cues from them.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
