Tonight's marathon is full of action, adventure, emotion, and ultimately carries a sentimental message to it. In all of these films, the lead character whether a male or female has a desire to reconnect with their father and get back the time that was lost in being with them. Through these adventures and quests, our protagonists reunite with their fathers by the end of each picture whether alive or in spirit. It is a clever marathon with different styles of movies using the same formulas and themes. For tonight's exciting and sentimental lineup, we have on the following menu:
Jumanji 1995, Aladdin and the King Of Thieves, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2001, National Treasure 2004, and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade 1989
Everything that one needs and desires upon going to the movies is in this marathon. There is action, there is drama, there is romance, there is comedy, there is spectacle, strong and iconic characters that you ultimately care about, and most importantly, a good message about letting go of past grudges and appreciating your fathers for being your dad. The presence of the father figure grows stronger with each movie and the sentimentality of the story arc grows more emotional. The first film of the marathon is the 1995 blockbuster family classic titled Jumanji. Starring Robin Williams, the film centers around a young boy and girl coming across a board game which they end up finding in a attic and playing with it in an abandon house their stepmother bought up. Upon playing the game, they release a man whose been trapped inside the game for 26 years and rejuvenating the previous steps that were played with the older gentlemen and his female companion at the time. Now it is up to the four of them to continue where the game left off and finish it before the full magical powers of the game wreck havoc upon them and the town that surrounds them. Not only is Jumanji a great action and adventure film to start the night off with but it also introduces the theme of a father being lusted for in the story. The young version of Williams character left his father on bad terms after his dad makes him face a group of bullies who beat him senselessly and is forces him to go to a boys school he doesn't want to attend. One scene of the film has Williams character searching for his dad in present time only to find out that his father died recklessly searching for his son after disappearing into the game. It is through successfully completing the steps in the game that Williams character at an older age reunites with his father and makes the past right by telling him how much he cares. Jumanji is pure fun and further cements the notion that Robin Williams was one of the greatest and most versatile actors that ever graced the big screen.
The second movie of the evening makes the father dynamic more impactful with 2001's summer blockbuster based on the popular videogame. Lara Croft Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, and Daniel Craig pre James Bond focuses on a female Tomb Raider who collects ancient artifacts much in the same style as Indiana Jones, except in this scenario she is haunted by the sudden death of her father during one of his hunts for ancient artifacts. She uncovers a letter from a deceased father in which he reveals that he hid a secret key that a doomsday cult named the Illumaniti is searching for in order to control an alignment that can bring them enough power to control and destroy the world. Lara Croft is essentially the female Indiana Jones in the sense that she goes on the same quests to retrieve important artifacts that can bring supernatural power to her enemies and wrongfully use them to gain control of the world. Lara's father is played by Angelina Jolie's real life father named Jon Voight, therefore making the father and daughter dynamic more sentimental. In the first two movies of the lineup, it is the fathers that inspire the beginning of each characters journeys.
The third movie of the marathon is the third and final chapter in the iconic Disney trilogy titled Aladdin And The King Of Thieves. In this tale, Aladdin is about to marry Princess Jasmine but finds himself coming across the ultimate discovery when The King Of Thieves disrupt their wedding. Aladdins discovery is that the leader of the thieves is his long lost father whose searching for an oracle that will direct him towards greater treasure. The King Of Thieves is perhaps the most emotional of the three Aladdin films with this one being more about a son reconnecting with his father and trying to regain the time lost with him even though he's conflicted given his fathers intentions. The film was a big deal upon it's release on home video due to the return of Robin Williams as the voice of the Genie.
The fourth movie of the marathon is the 2004 Disney blockbuster titled National Treasure starring Nicholas Cage, Sean Bean, and Jon Voight in the title roles. In a adventure tale that's in a similar vein to that of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider, a historian played by Nicholas Cage is in a race against time to recover the long believed to be Templar Treasure before a team of mercenaries beat him to it after the leader betrayed him played by Sean Bean. While on his journey to finding the treasure, he reunites with his father who thinks unfavorably of his quest at first but slowly rebuilds their relationship as they join forces to uncover the location of the treasure. This is twice that Jon Voight plays the same father type of figure with the other being Tomb Raider, and the perfect father and son prelude to Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.
The fifth and final movie of the evening is the third and arguably finest entry in the popular Indiana Jones trilogy titled Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade starring Harrison Ford in the title role. Generally considered by many to be the real finish to the series if you don't acknowledge Indiana Jones 4, the film centers around Indiana Jones reuniting with his father played by Sean Connery after rescuing him from the Nazi's. Together they both pursue the Holy Grail with Indy following in the footsteps of his father while staying ahead of the Nazis on the search for the Grail. Hands down the most sentimental film of the five with the father and son dynamic reaching its peak and paying off with great scenes where Indiana and Sir Henry try to escape a fire together, their conversation at the table on the plane about Henry's lack of fatherhood during Indy's youth, Indy thought to be killed during the battle with the Nazis and Sir Henry admitting he didn't tell Indy how much he cared and their powerful embrace once he realizes he's alive. With Last Crusade, Spielberg brings the story home and gives fans answers to questions regarding Indiana's past such as where did he come from and what his parents were like. To this day Indiana Jones fans still debate over which film was the better of the two between Last Crusade and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. In my humble opinion, my heart always chooses Last Crusade.
So what are these movies trying to say when you put them all together and focus on the father and son/daughter aspect of them. The message that these movies say as a marathon is that whatever happened in the past is in the past between a father and his child. If there was a bad departing or a lack of parenting growing up, a reconciling and reconnecting is always possible if the other party is willing to step up to the challenge. Sometimes the greatest adventures can be moments where past wounds are healed if a parent tags along. Precious treasure and artifacts such as the Holy Grail should be in museum and away from hands of people such as the Nazis.
Our fathers and their children for this evening:
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