How to watch the Indiana Jones movies in order

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Indiana Jones contemplates the idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark

With the newest entry in the Indiana Jones saga, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, around the corner, what better time than now to revisit the previous movies (and television series) in the franchise?

Harrison Ford returns for Indy’s latest adventure, this time along with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as they seek to stop Mads Mikkelsen’s Nazi scientist Jürgen Voller. John Rhys-Davies returns to reprise his role from the first and third movies, while Antonio Banderas, Boyd Holbrook, and Toby Jones fill out the rest of the cast.

Looking to watch the Indiana Jones movies and the prequel TV series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles? You can watch them all on Disney Plus, with the exception of Dial of Destiny — at least while it’s still in theaters.

Here’s two viewing orders for you to choose from:

Watching Indiana Jones movies in release order

Photo: CBS via Getty Images

This one’s straightforward — just the order in which they came out. The only real outlier here is the prequel TV show, but this way you get a sense of where the franchise was when that came out. The number in parentheses is the year the movie (or show) was released.

  1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  2. The Temple of Doom (1984)
  3. The Last Crusade (1989)
  4. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-96, including four TV movies)
  5. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
  6. The Dial of Destiny (2023)

Watching Indiana Jones movies in chronological order

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Henry Jones (Sean Connery) are tied to a chair

Image: Paramount Pictures

With this viewing order you get a mostly complete view of Indy’s life. Only two changes to the order here, but they’re key: The prequel TV series goes first, and Temple of Doom (which takes place a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark despite coming out three years after) bumps up a slot. You get bonus points if you can fit The Last Crusade’s 1912 intro into your Young Indiana Jones Chronicles rewatch.

The number in parentheses is the year the movie (or show) takes place.

  1. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1908-1920)
  2. The Temple of Doom (1935)
  3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1936)
  4. The Last Crusade (1938)
  5. The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (1957)
  6. The Dial of Destiny (1969)

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