One of the reasons this movie is so beloved is that it eschewed what typical sequels did...

So you have a blockbuster first film, what's next. Bigger, more, faster, more accessible.

Not here.

First thing the studio would ask them to do is tone down the violence so a younger audience could appreciate it and, thus, increase revenue. No. Not here. We'll show people getting their hearts ripped out, steamrolled by a rock grinder, ripped apart by crocodiles, and even a stint where our hero turns bad and hits a child. We also see Shorty beat the shit out of that kid later. FFS at one point we see one of Mola Ram's men put a knife to Short Round's throat just seconds away from opening a kid's neck until Indy stops them on the pretense of wanting to do it himself.

We need a better, long lasting love interest. Nope. Not here. I love Willie. We all know at the end of the movie when they kiss that we're never going to see her again and that's perfectly fine. No one walked into The Last Crusade saying "Wait, where's Willie?" We all knew is was temporary for both of them.

How many locations did the first have? Peru, America, Nepal, Cairo, and whatever island they finally took the ark to. Sequels, of course, need to double down on everything from the first.

Nope. Not here. We get Shanghai and India. That's it. Because it was more about telling a story than sticking to what makes a sequel bigger but not always better.

I think Raiders is probably the better made film but ToD s the most rewatchable. I watch it anytime it's on. It's such a marvel of a film that could not and would not ever be made today and that is all our loss.