Dial of Destiny is Indy's Greatest Hits

 WARNING: Out-of-context spoilers for Indiana Jones 1-3 and 5

So I saw Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny recently and greatly enjoyed it. Some might argue that this one jumped the shark somewhat; however, it could be argued just as equally that it did the opposite and reverse-jumped. 

What you just said makes precisely zero sense - Ed.

OK. I'll try to explain. See, the first 3 movies (I'm not going to talk about the 4th because literally, all I remember about it was what I've seen since in Disaster Movie) have some very iconic and memorable scenes in them.

From this point on:

Raiders = Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Temple = Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Crusade = Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Kingdom = Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Dial = Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indy = Indiana Jones

Probably the most famous scene in the entire franchise is the giant rock from Raiders. There was a direct reference to that in Dial, but it was removed. Writer/Director James Mangold explains why:

Your theory isn't holding up very well so far - Ed.

Good point, but I'm not done. Look at the overall scene:

This is the full opening ten minutes of the movie. The scene goes on for about 3 more minutes, which unfortunately I couldn't find, but I found the last 2 minutes (in the missing minute, Belloq (the guy in the hat at 0:07 in the video below) takes the idol from Indy).

SIDE NOTE: Notice how Alfred Molina gets billed at the top of the movie (0:40 in the first video), despite only being in this scene, dying at 9:01 and probably only having about 5 minutes of total screen time. Not being born until over a decade later, I'm not sure how popular Molina was at the time, possibly meaning his star power boosted his billing. I only know him from Spiderman 2, which came out 21 years later, so probably didn't have much influence:

The story behind this clip is quite funny; I suggest you Google it.

But how does this scene relate to Dial? Because despite containing one of the most iconic moments in cinema, this scene has precisely ZERO effect on the overall plot of the movie. The idol is mentioned ONCE in the next scene; Jock is never seen again in the entire franchise and although Belloq is a major villain in the rest of the movie, he never brings up the idol again either. DON'T fact-check this.

Want to further ruin Raiders? Watch this video.

Although a lot of the opening sequence focuses on the titular Antikythera Mechanism, the start of the sequence focuses on another religious artefact, the Lance of Longinus, the spear that allegedly pierced Jesus' side on the cross. This also has zero bearing on the plot of Dial.

Greatest Hit Number 2!

In the opening sequence, Indy pushes a Nazi off the train and we hear the classic Wilhelm scream, which is a sound effect which appears in all four other movies (as well as countless others, including every Pixar movie and every Star Wars movie)

Greatest Hit Number 3!

There's a horse chase through the streets of New York, referencing the multiple horse chases in the other movies. Look, they can't all be detailed.

Greatest Hit Number 4!

Despite only appearing in Raiders and Crusade, one character loved by fans was John  Rhys Davies' Sallah. He is introduced in Raiders with little to no context, but you can still tell that Indy has known Sallah for years before then. Therefore, it is only fitting that he appears in Dial with no warning, just turning up to rescue Indy out of the blue.

Greatest Hit Number 5!

In all the movies, Indy has always known the best way to travel:

So he does!

Greatest Hit Number 6!

In a flashback scene with Basil, Indy utters his famous catchphrase:

Fun fact: For years, I thought that Panama Hat (actual character name!) was referring to Indy's age when he said "So do you!" This always confused me because he was actually a lot older (IMDb: 21 years) than Indy. It wasn't until years later, that I realised: "Oh, it's because he works in a museum!"

Greatest Hit Number 7!

One of the best characters from the entire series, despite only appearing in Temple, is Short Round. Of course, Ke Huy Quan, who played him, is now 51, so he wouldn't be able to have the same impact as a ten-year-old character. Enter Ethann Isidore as Teddy, who is the same kind of streetwise kid, but this time he seems to already be a friend of Phoebe Waller Bridge's character Helena.