10 Movie Franchises That Wasted Their Perfect Ending

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade concluded Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg's iconic action-adventure trilogy with a potent bang, as Indy (Ford), his father Henry (Sean Connery), Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) quite literally ride off into the sunset.

Closing things out with that gorgeous final shot, set to the series' triumphant John Williams theme no less, was the perfect way to see the franchise out, but of course, a series as successful as Indiana Jones simply couldn't stay down.

And so, in 2008 Steven Spielberg returned for a fourth film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which received a wildly polarising response from fans, while critics largely acknowledged that it failed to match the standard set by its three forebears.

Though Harrison Ford was clearly still game to play Indy and it certainly wasn't the unmitigated trainwreck some would have you believe, it ultimately felt like a lukewarm addendum to a near-perfect trilogy and one that only sometimes captured their charming essence.

And that's not all - a fifth film is currently in post-production and due for release next summer, with James Mangold (Logan) taking over the directorial reins from Spielberg.

It's difficult to be optimistic, but hopefully this allegedly final, absolutely final, installment will at least end the series in a dignified way.