Things The Indiana Jones Movies Get Right About History

It's probably safe to say that the Indiana Jones franchise takes a few liberties when it comes to historical accuracy. Funnily enough, however, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas actually based a surprising amount of their movies around real history. Here are some of the things the Indy movies get right.

Even die-hard fans of the Indiana Jones films will admit that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn't all that great.

Set in the 1950s, the film follows an aging Indiana Jones as he battles Soviet agents who are trying to lay claim to an ancient crystal skull. But with past movies featuring historically and spiritually meaningful objects like the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, centering this one around a crystal skull seemed a bit of a hokey choice.

But Crystal skulls are actually a real historical phenomenon — though scientists and historians are dubious about their provenance. Nonetheless, some examples of crystal skulls are believed to be thousands of years old, and certain historians believe that some of the crystal skulls found in museums around the world date back to the Aztec Empire, at the very least. Some admittedly less-than-reputable figures theorize that they could even have connections with the lost continent of Atlantis.

Mostly, though, it's believed that crystal skulls were made in the 19th century and sold to gullible tourists. But hey, at least Kingdom of the Crystal Skull got one thing down: the prop skull used in the film is so accurate, the producers were sued by the director of the Institute of Archaeology of Belize - because it is an exact copy of a skull that was stolen from Belize years before.

Watch the video for more Things The Indiana Jones Movies Get Right About History!

#IndianaJones #History

Crystal skulls | 0:00
Nazi archaeology | 1:39
The real Indy | 2:40
Tomb raiders | 4:06
Thuggees | 5:13
The Tanis excavation | 6:30
The Red Scare | 7:47
The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword | 8:59
Flying wing | 10:07
The Chachapyans | 11:09

Read Full Article: https://www.grunge.com/250832/things-the-indiana-jones-movies-get-right-about-history/