[Indi]

Indiana Jones: The Raiders of the Lost Ark vs. Fight Club

Rules:
No polls, just a review and your opinion on why you believe the film you've chosen should stay higher up in the list. 50 words or more, 40 is accepted if you have expressed your opinion in a satisfactory standard.

Have fun!

[AceRay]

I'm going for Indy with this one.

Its a classic tale, its fun roller coaster ride which takes you through heaps of great characters. Harrison Ford was great in this role. I also love how the film would just scare the sh*t out of a little kid and it treats it so casually.

[TheCacti]

Let's get the ball rolling with this one.

Having rewatched Raiders of the Lost Ark within the last six weeks or so, I'm now convinced I only hold it in such high regards because it was among the first of its kind of film from my childhood. It's just a story of some bad-ass explorer dude who manages to escape death time after time at the last second, oh and he gets the girl too. Don't get me wrong, it is indeed badass, but not necessarily unique.

Fight Club had a pretty deep impact on me, and rightly so. While it may be embarrassing to admit, I'm not sure I'd even been exposed to such a strong case of anti-consumerism until this film came along (I was merely a young teenager at the time), and I was completely blown away. In addition to its raw, gritty action sequences, the story telling felt refreshingly awkward and cumbersome, yet allowing the viewer to become more comfortable with it after multiple viewings. Above all, the film manages to be painfully sobering yet simultaneously hilarious. Bravo Fincher.

Interesting matchup, but for me it's really no contest. The former is but a piece of entertainment while the latter is profound piece of work. I vote Fight Club.

[DeeperRed]

I must not let nostalgia get the better of me this time. Raiders of the lost ark for the time was exciting, but as above says, it doesn't have anything unique now. It has some classics scenes but there not revolutionary in anyway. Take a film such as the French connection released 1971 however still feels fresh and unique today its just got elements that you cannot proceed in time whereas Indian Jones has all the big chase scenes but they all feel corny now and overdone, regardless that it was good for its time. Arks will always have a place in my heart however Fight Club is a work of art. Not to sound like an over enthusiastic film school grad but its a true classic. The acting is fantastic all around and it had Finchers awesome visual flair.

Fight Club

[Tycek]

I got to agree with TheCacti on this one.

The Raiders of The Lost Ark is great movie and ideal example of "new adventure" line of films. It has a memorable and likeable character, it has interesting story, nice woman, vilians, bunch of funny and memorable quotes and fantastic FX, but all of these things start to fade out when you start thinking about it. We already know who is good guy and who is going to win, we already know the ending even if we just started watching it. It's just character or "new adventure" and it couldn't be otherwise. It's not that Indiana Jones: TRoRLA is bad, because this movie is pure gold. It just isn't movie to think about. You just need to watch it, have fun, forget about your real life problems and move on.

Fight Club on the other hand will start smacking your brain with a hammer soon after the beginning. It will eat your brain, chew it and spit it out on the floor soaked with saliva. The story criticising consumer way of life, which is main life style of all well developed countries, the story arc with Tyler and Jack and the gritty atmosphere of the movie easily gives it high spot in every list regarding great movies. This movie had to be great. Fincher couldn't do it otherwise.

My vote goes to Fight Club.

[Indi]

This one was really tough. Like, really.

Well firstly Fight Club is a masterpiece in its own right, the plot is pretty rich and very, very unique. The time I saw this film I was always engaged throughout and I think the plot of this film is quite refreshing and flowing. It's where an insomniac has a shadow-concious personality as I like to call it named "Tyler Durdan" who is "The Narrator's" real name... apparently. It's hard to explain. You just have to watch it to make sense of it.

Regarding Indiana Jones, man that is so, so good. The nostalgia, the theme tune, the acting, the adventures. Damn, it's too good. I mean when Indy tried to get the idol in the begging of TRoTLA, the suspense when that booby trap was activated and the ball came chasing down after him had me on the edge of the seat. It was full of suspense and anticipation it really did almost leave me hanging off the seat.

I think I'm going to have to go with Indy on this one.

[JOSEPH X]

In the west, we live in a self-indulgent society where we are encouraged by our media to seek sensations in our every day lives "For the thrill of it". Movies like Indiana Jones satisfy this sehnsucht with fist fights on fast movig vehicles, or shooting the dude who's showing off with the curved swords...Curved. Swords. Yeah, f*cking cool.

This encouragement of sensation-seeking is what fuels our consumerist society. It works on a subconcious level and is all powerful, making it difficult to detect when it is working and difficult to respond to.

What I like about Fight Club is that it attempts to respond to this pervasive consumerism thru anarchist revolution. It has much to say about our society and it delivers it to us using puzzling character plot twists that make us ask, "What's going on here? Who is who." It's not too unlike the puzzlement we feel when we ask what's going on in society, and that's an achievement.

My vote goes to Fight Club.

On a side note. I can't get it out of my mind that my ex girlfriend went to see Fight Club without me. we were starting to break up at the time, because of my drinking, but I'll never forget her saying, "You should really watch it, it's a perfect movie for you." By the time I'd got round to watcing it, she'd gone.

[ShaneHunter]

This is bloody hard, i love both films a lot however i am gonna go with my heart with this one... Indy for me.

Fight Club is the more theme heavy and mature film of the both, with amazing performances as well as it being technically well done. The twist at the end is one for the ages and till this day it is remembered for Brad Pitt and Edward Norton's charismatic yet opposing performances.

Indiana Jones and The Lost Ark may not have that thematic edge nor maturity but still it was original for its time and combined all of the great elements of classic adventure films from the 40's and breathed new air into the genre. Till this day Indiana Jone and The Lost Ark is remembered and for good reason too.

[Indi]

Voting stopped.

Fight Club wins.