The Indiana Jones franchise is by all accounts one of the most delectable collections of icon-worthy nuances in pop culture, from John Williams’ unforgettable score, to that hair-raising whip sound effect, via “snakes… why’d it have to be snakes?”; George Lucas’ second most prominent franchise has more than its fair share of claims to fame.
Given that it’s chiefly a big screen operation, nothing has clout in the Indiana Jones icon department quite like the scenes that are burned into our minds forever, whether it’s the Nazis getting their faces melted off by the Ark of the Covenant or our heroes trying to stomach a steaming-hot helping of monkey brains. Indeed, there aren’t many contenders in the weight class of Indiana Jones moments.
It wasn’t until the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny that the main man himself partook in what was, for him, a standout moment in all his years donning that unmistakable fedora. In an interview with Variety, Harrison Ford divulged a scene that stood out to him as his favorite, in which a flashback from Jones’ past in 1944 quickly cuts away to the year 1969, where a much older Indy appears to be recovering from a hangover.
“At first, it’s kind of black-and-white, because it’s 1944. And then all of a sudden, we end that part with an escape from a situation. And we find ourselves a hard cut to 1969. And we see the same man, manifestly the same man, wake up in a New York tenement apartment, and you know, he’s this lazy boy in his underwear with an empty glass in his hand. Because they’re playing god damn rock ‘n’ roll music.”
Ford identified the source of his fondness for the scene as its ability to capture the hero’s newfound vulnerability that he’s now contending with in his twilight years.
“It was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done in a movie. And I did it to express his vulnerability and his age.”
While in many ways fans will be treated to the same action hero we’ve known and loved for decades now, Dial of Destiny will certainly be the site of newfound shades within the titular archaeologist, but for fans who grew up with Indy’s escapades especially, encountering those will no doubt be beautiful in their own right.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will release to theaters on June 30.