Indiana Jones is the quintessential action hero. Played brilliantly by the great Harrison Ford, Jones is an archeologist whose globe-trotting exploits find him searching for some of the greatest artifacts known to mankind. In addition to being an archeologist, Indiana Jones is one tough guy and a war veteran, making him a formidable hero.
While Jones has plenty of action on his quests, he gets heavily beaten up along the way, which is what makes him such a relatable character to viewers. With the upcoming untitled fifth Indiana Jones film hitting cinemas next year, fans can only hope the action is akin to the classic action sequences the franchise has enjoyed over the years.
15 The Fight In Marion's Bar
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first film in the Indiana Jones series and is often regarded as a classic action movie. After Indiana Jones is tasked with finding the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis, he tracks down an old lover, Marion Ravenwood, who's father was an expert on the Ark. She has the headpiece to the Staff of Ra: a critical tool to finding the Ark's location.
Jones discovers the Nazis are right on his tail, showing up just after he does to demand the headpiece. The fight burns down Marion's bar, leading to her decision to join Indy on his quest. The fight scene first introduced viewers to Indy's imperfect fighting, which he makes up for in knowledge and doing anything he can to win.
14 A Sword Fight Cut Short
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Chasing down the main antagonist's, Rene Belloq's, men, who are trying to capture Marion, Indy comes across an elite swordsman. He shows off his impressive moves to the shock and awe of the crowd. He challenges Indy to fight, but Indy simply responds by shooting him dead.
The fight was meant to be extravagant, but Harrison Ford came down with dysentery on set and was very ill. Instead, director Steven Spielberg decided to rework the scene to perfection, as Indy's reaction fits perfectly with his character, as he's not an intricate fighter.
13 The Nazi Mechanic
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
After escaping the Well of Souls, Indy and Marion try to obtain an airplane to stop the Nazis from getting away with the Ark of the Covenant. As Indy goes to help Marion, he comes across a physically imposing mechanic played by wrestler Pat Roach, and a fight ensues. What follows is a brilliant fight where Indy gives everything he can against his opponent. While he gets a few punches in, he's miserably outmatched. However, Jones is smarter than his foe, which leads to a memorable death where the mechanic is chopped up by the plane's propeller after forgetting where it was.
12 The Desert Truck Chase
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Indy goes after the Nazis convoy after they get away with the Ark of the Covenant. Approaching on horseback, Indy jumps onto the truck and takes out some Nazi soldiers. Taking control of the truck, he runs several other Nazi vehicles off the road and gets into an intense back and forth with the driver, getting shot in the arm in the process. Despite emerging victorious, viewers really feel for Indy being massively beaten up along the way. The scene is memorable for the impressive stunt where Indy climbs under the truck as it's moving, eventually being dragged along by his trusty whip.
11 Fight At Club Obi-Wan
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom opens with Indy at Club Obi-Wan meeting with crime boss Lao Che to give him the remains of Nurhaci. The deal goes south and turns into a standoff, with Indy poisoned and with Lao Che in hot pursuit through the streets of Shanghai. The film took an interesting approach, introducing Willie Scott with a musical number that led to her meeting Jones. Their odd pairing set the stage for how their relationship would evolve throughout the film. The sequence also introduces lovable sidekick Short Round and shows how he learned from Indy to improvise in tight situations.
10 Indy Saves The Children
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indy and Short Round are tasked with returning enslaved children from a local village in India back home. Just after Indy comes out of a brainwashed state at the hands of the evil Mola Ram, he confronts the Thuggee cult and frees the children. Indy and Short Round take down the guards before Indy deals with the overseer. Not only was it satisfying for audiences to see Indy win, but it was also great to see him free the village children from slavery with the help of Short Round and Willie Scott. Viewers could tell by the look on Indy's face that he was determined to free the children at any cost.
9 Indy Vs. The Thuggee Overseer
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
After setting the children free and taking down some of the guards, Indy runs into trouble with a hulking overseer of the Thuggee. Per usual fashion, Jones puts up a good fight but certainly takes a lot of hits in the process. But his determination never wavers, and he is able to trap the overseer in the rock crusher, who then meets a grisly end. The overseer is played by Pat Roach, who previously played a Nazi henchman that Jones fought in Raiders of the Lost Ark. This rather violent sequence certainly reinforced the idea of introducing a PG-13 rating for films, something that Temple of Doom was partly responsible for.
8 The Rope Bridge Fight
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
Indy, Willie, and Short Round are escaping the Thuggee cult and get separated. They come across a bridge where Willie and Short Round are caught by Mola Ram right after crossing it. Indy gets cornered in the middle of the bridge and threatens to throw the Sankara Stones over the edge. He motions to Short Round his plan and the three of them attach themselves to the bridge. Indy tells Mola Ram: "prepare to meet Kali...in hell!" He then cuts the bridge down, sending many of the Thuggee into the water below. Indy is able to defeat Mola Ram, who gets eaten by crocodiles, and climbs back up with the stones. Dr. Jones once again proves that sometimes you have to improvise, no matter how crazy it is to win.
7 Indiana Jones' Origins Are Revealed
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade begins decades earlier in 1912, when a young Indiana Jones and his friend come across some grave robbers. Indy steals the artifact they were taking: the Cross of Coronado, and takes off to give it to the authorities. The grave robbers chase after him on foot, then on horseback, and finally by train. Even though Indy is forced to give the artifact over in the end, he impresses the leader, who gifts Jones his signature fedora.
What's so impressive about the scene is how Indy keeps eluding the grave robbers in creative ways, and they still cannot catch him even though he's just a kid. The scene had a pivotal moment that showed why Indy is afraid of snakes, and other moments showed how he'd become the legendary Indiana Jones.
6 The Boat Chase In Venice
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
As Indy goes to Venice in search of his missing father, he meets Elsa Schneider, his father’s associate. After finding a clue to the Grail’s whereabouts, the pair are chased by the Order of the Cruciform Sword through Venice. The chase culminates in a memorable boat chase which finds Indy and Elsa barely escaping death by boat crushing. The thrilling scene showed that the search for the Holy Grail was just beginning and Jones had plenty of more obstacles to finding it.
5 Castle Escape By Motorcycle
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Indy learns that his father, Henry Jones Sr., was kidnapped by the Nazis, so he heads to a castle in Austria to free him. After rescuing his father and being betrayed by his new colleague, Elsa Schneider, the Nazis receive orders to eliminate Jones. Indy and Henry escape the castle and grab a motorcycle on the way out. The chase involved Indy's signature improvisation in fights – something he seemed proud of – but his father wasn't amused. Regardless, they were able to escape and head to Berlin to retrieve Henry's Grail diary. This chase introduced viewers to how Indy and his father were vastly different in their approaches to making decisions, despite having some similarities.
4 Outrunning The Nazis By Plane, Car And Birds
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
After Indy and Henry get the Grail diary back, they arrange transportation to get out of Germany. While in the air, they find out that the zeppelin is turning around back to Germany. The pair devise an escape using a small airplane. However, the Nazis meet them in the air and chase them down. The best part about the sequence is showing how Indy and his father are different, yet the same. It is clear that the younger Jones learned how to approach situations from his father, evident by the elder Jones taking down the last Nazi plane with his umbrella and a flock of seagulls.
3 Tank Battle In The Desert
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
After the Nazis successfully figure out the Holy Grail's location, they approach the Canyon of the Crescent Moon with an entire convoy of soldiers and a tank. Indy's father and friend, Marcus Brody, are captured and put in the tank, and Jones approaches on horseback to rescue them. Between Indy, Henry, Marcus and Sallah, they each contribute to the fight to slow the Nazis down and stop them from getting the Holy Grail. The fight ends in a memorable fashion, where the tank falls off a cliff and explodes with a supposed Indy on it. Fortunately, he jumped off at the last minute – to the relief of his father and friends. Henry Sr. put it best to Indy in the middle of the scene: "you call this archeology?"
2 Warehouse Escape
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens with Jones and his friend Mac being brought to Hanger 51 in the middle of the Nevada desert. Soviet agents, led by the ruthless Irina Spalko order Jones to find something related to the Roswell incident back in 1947. After leading her to it, Jones attempts a daring escape. The opening scene reminded viewers of the thrilling action that comes with Indiana Jones after a 19-year wait between films. It also contains a special Easter egg for fans, revealing that this is the exact same hanger where the Ark of the Covenant is being stored, the final shot of Raiders of the Lost Ark nearly 27 years earlier.
1 You've Got To Get Out Of The Library!
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
While Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull didn't garner the praise of its predecessors, it still had a memorable action sequences. After Indy is asked by Mutt Williams to help him find his mother and Harold Oxley (a friend of Jones'), they're intercepted by Soviet agents. Indy and Mutt escape on Mutt's motorcycle, but not before crashing into the university's library. A student asks Indy a question about archeology, and Jones responds: "If you want to be a good archeologist, you've got to get out of the library!"
The humorous quote calls back to the previous film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where Jones told students in his classroom that, "70 percent of archeology is done in the library." This particular sequence also plants the seeds that Mutt is actually quite similar to Indy. It's later revealed that he's Jones' son with none other than Marion Ravenwood.