Special Edition Podcast
Show Notes
The long awaited fourth movie in the Indiana Jones series is out and Josh Flanagan, Ron Richards, and Gordon Strain gather to discuss the movie, their history with the series and what worked and what didn’t.
Running Time: 00:31:27
The summer of comic book movies* continues tonight at midnight with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!
I don’t think that I’ve ever been more conflicted about a movie in my life. I’ve been conflicted and apprehensive about a movie before but never to this degree. My childhood was about three things, mainly — Star Wars, Batman, and Indiana Jones. I used to wear my dad’s fedora around for weeks after seeing both Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade in the theaters.
People ask me if I am excited for this one and I usually answer with a very pained “yeeeeah.” I hoping that the best case scenario happens and this is a rollicking thrill ride. But if has to go south on us, I’m hoping for a movie akin to Lethal Weapon 4 — not great, not terrible, but ultimately forgettable. I’d like to avoid a prequels situation.
But I will tell you this. When that John Williams theme kicks in my heart is going to soar with childlike wonder. It’s an ironclad guarantee, folks.
Are you going to see it? Of course you are! So let’s talk about it!
You can look forward to a Special Edition on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull released this weekend in conjunction with the Pick of the Week Podcast.
If you haven’t seen the movie yet be forewarned — there be SPOILERS ahoy! So don’t scroll down any further if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.
*There were comic books!
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I am so with you on this one! I so badly want this to be a great film, but i’m also equally worried that it will not live up to my excitement and expectations. It’s kinda like seeing old cartoons that you loved as a child, heck, or even old comics…sometimes seeing them again (or reading them)….it’s just not the same and it’s never as good as you remember them….!
As far as ‘prequels’ go…I cannot recommend more the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles…to me, these are fantastic and really helped fill a void for all things Indy back then. The production is stellar and really fits in with the mythology. Volumes are available on DVD…and who knows, perhaps NetFlix (insert plug here) will carry them?
BTW The Dark Horse Indiana Jones Omnibus is not bad either…although personally i prefer bigger archival editions for my bookshelf….
I just got back from seeing a midnight screening of this with a few friends. I liked it quite a bit. I would probably put it as my least favorite, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. However, most of the people I went with did not really like it. They found too many flaws and picked it apart. I felt like I was living through a Newsarama message board. One of my best friends fell culprit of something we were complaining about just days before; He found fault in some of the corniness and silliness of the situations, while I had to remind him that these types of things have always been present in the Indiana Jones movies.
While it’s far from perfect, I think it’s a great Indiana Jones adventure and that’s it’s fault. I think that too many people are going into this expecting something great, something with a sense if finality to it all. This probably stems from the fact that it’s almost 20 years after The Last Crusade, in fact, if this flim had come out 4 or 5 years after the last, people would have liked it more.
That being said, I think it’s a fun movie, and plays up the fact that it takes place in the 50’s to great effect.
Oh, and Cate Blanchett is strangely hot as the psychic russisan commander.
I can sympathize 100% – I’ve always liked Iron Man (strangely enough, since I picked up Heroes Reborn while in early high school), and was intensely worried that the movie would suck – and really relieved when it didn’t. (Although the scene after the credits made me worried that it might go in the same direction as the first series of Batman movies).
Indiana Jones was a huge part of my childhood, but I don’t know that I’m that worried about it – I figure, George Lucas already destroyed a cherished part of my childhood with the Prequels and I survived, he can’t do that much worse with Indiana Jones.
I can’t think of a single Harrison Ford movie that is BAD, so I’m sold. I should admit, however, I haven’t seen Hollywood Homicide.
I’ve organised a trip for me and all my friends to go see this on the 28th, my birthday. I’m like Conor, I used to run around the house in my dad’s hat as a small kid pretending I was Indy. And I honestly never thought I’d get to see a 4th movie, so the chance to go see it for my birthday is amazing.
I so want this to be good, but part of me almost doesn’t care. I’m gonna do a Phantom Menace on this one; just get caught in the excitement and enjoy the event. I’ll worry about whether it’s good later. And did anyone actually care about structure, plotting, etc when they were a kid?
Sure, I’ll critique it down the line, as I have done the previous Indy films when I got older. But for now I just want that fanfare and feeling like I’m 8 years old again. Couldn’t be more excited!
@Nate – Cate Blanchett is hot in everything!
Absolutely! I remember seeing the original Raiders of the Lost Ark like six times in the theatre when I was a kid. Back then, a movie that big would run at the theatre for months. It was special.I can’t wait to take my 10 yr old daughter to see the new film, and see it through her eyes.
I haven’t picked up this book yet for two reasons: 1) I’d be too tempted to look at it before seeing the movie, thus spoiling the experience, and 2) I’ve never really been overly impressed with comic book adaptations of movies. Too thin, no real substance. I did, however, love the The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, back in the 80’s, so maybe I’m being too harsh.
You know, when they started working on this I was sort of depressed by it. "Oh, that is so… unnecessary. No good can come of this." Yes, it’s Spielberg, but sometimes you get Jaws and sometimes you get The Lost World.
Then I saw the trailer. Since then, I have reacted to every negative comment about the movie as if I produced it personally. It’s like a switch was flipped in my head. Hopes are high.
75% positive rating from RottenTomatoes’ "cream of the crop," by the way. Ebert was over the moon… though, yes, he may be on some pretty strong medication at the moment and gave 3.5 stars to Space Jam.
Well, with this one I think you get the Lost World Spielberg (or Spielberg with Lucas tampering). Sub-par effects, messy script. Still fun though.
Its a good movie, just not a good Indy movie.
@Andrew, don’t ever see Hollywood Homicide, and you’re statemant can remain true. Though I hated What Lies Beneath…
I loved it my friends however did exactly what Nates friends did and picked it a part saying some things were too silly or cheesy and it felt like just a long dinsey land ride. I was like have you seen the other movies. That’s all I want from a Indy movie. Still i think it is better than Last Crusade. That’s all I’m saying.
It was fun, I guess. I feel that it was not as good as the other Indys. My major complaint is that this is Spielberg and Lucas and the cgi effects for much of the chase through the jungle were pretty crappy.
@Nate – You hated What Lies beneath? Really? Fair comment, dude, but I loved that film. Scared the living shit out of me, which either means I have bad taste in movies or I’m a big wuss. 😉
@Andrew – Are we forgetting Six Days Seven Nights? Man, that sucked. Other than that, Harrison rules. Especially after his appearance in ‘I’m F***ing Ben Affleck’!
It is not any more ridiculous than any of the other films. And it doesn’t even touch how bad Temple of Doom was.
Great movie, I enjoyed as much as I enjoy Raiders and Last Crusade.
The thing I have to wonder is what was the point of the cgi gophers or whatever in the begining?
I really don’t understand why people think Temple of Doom was bad. Just my opinion. If you thought it was bad, then fair play, not trying to change anyone’s mind. I’m just trying to understand why.
Peace to all 🙂
@Eyun- Temple of doom is actaully my favorite in the series. I think alot of people don’t like it becaue two possible reasons. 1) They don’t like the kid and the women is a bit whiney. To me they added to the film, i love short round. 2) Spielberg says its his least favorite. If you watch the DVD, he says the only think he takes away from "doom" was that he met his wife making that movie. So Spielberg doesn’t like it, and people are sheep so they don’t like it either.
I’m not trying to generalize and say if you dont’ like temple of doom you fall in those two catigories, but whenever I get into debate with people, they can never REALLY give me good reasons.
@Eyun, I may need to go back and watch what lies beneath. I was just really tired of "nice ghosts who need help" movies. What started with The Sixth Sense, then continued with Stir of Echos, I just wanted some bad ass mean ghosts. Problem is, I got what I wished for with The Haunting, and that really sucked…
i loved the movie. not my favorite jones movie but i loved it still. my only quarle is, in the past the only ‘special’ effects were the supernatual elements, everything eles was practical effects and real stunt work. this, at times, crossed over into ‘the mummy’ territory. but still, loved the movie. harrison has still got it.
This movie is so "heavily magnetized" that i will be going again. Let loose and it’s a lot of fun.
I give it a B. Third best after Last Crusade and Raiders. Overall, a fun film.
My biggest criticisms? Not enough wit. Too many falls.
Absolutely horrible. Hopefully some young kid watching it isn’t turned off the franchise all together before he gets the chance to watch the first 3.
INDIANA JONES AND THE GOLDEN BOX OFFICE
Thursday, May 22 2008
Every box-office analyst agrees: the Memorial Day holiday debut of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is going to be enormous. The only remaining question is whether it will be more enormous than Spider-Man 3, which opened In May 2007 with a record $151.6 million. The film is opening in 4,206 theaters domestically and in 61 other countries. The worldwide result could be as much as $400 million, a few analysts are predicting. But then again, the track record of box-office forecasters has been dreadful during the past few weeks.
I am sorry to say that the film is a huge disappointment. Just because cgi exists does it mean it has to be used?
They had the chance to use the muppets in the original films but they didn’t because it didn’t go with the story but now we have cgi comedy desert rats and monkeys. The ants are just awful. Iron man is still the best blockbuster so far this summer
I can’t say that I hated it, I can’t say that I loved it.
I can say that I hated Shia Lebouf. I can say that I hated the "happy" ending.
I can say that I still love the character of Indiana Jones.
This film was amazing. It’s not about what most people seem to think it is….but wow, amazing.
I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. I’m not sure it was really much good, as an Indy movie, but as a mashup of several decades worth of Steven Spielberg’s obsessions, it kind of rocked.
The stuff in 50s America was actually most interesting to me. During the first half hour, I was fantasizing about Spielberg making a live action ‘New Frontier’ movie.
Got to see it on Tuesday night for an advance screening. What a packed house! I’ll be honest, I loved it. It was so much fun. It may not be Nazi’s and Christian artifacts, but neither was Temple of Doom. I thought it was a nice transition and made sense.
Everyone is up in arms about the alien angle and the bits that were a little overly fantastic (Mutt in the jungle with the monkeys), but I believed it all. It worked. If you go back in watch the old ones, none of them were entirely realistic. You kind of have to suspend disbelief for these. And when you think about the character and his basis coming from the old pulp heroes and what not, dealing with aliens is not so crazy.
All in all, it’s a definite A!
@supervan Also, it’s Spielberg, and he’s updating the story’s sensibility into the 50s — in which a UFO story is totally appropriate. I do wish the ending had been tied in a little more to the Area 51 stuff and the feds, but that’s a relatively small nit to pick.
For all the haters out there that say this film is to "unrealistic" I have a few points to make:
1. Box that, when opened, unleashes the "wrath of god" that melt’s off people’s faces.
2. Magic Stones, (I’m Leaving that one alone)
3. 3 people jumping out of an airplane with only a rubber inflatable raft, that expands in the air (without turning over), lands on a mountain side and sleds down the surface, only to careen off of a cliff, where it falls thousands of feet (without turning over, again) landing in white water rapids and washing up unscathed on an indian shore.
4. Rail cars that can totally jump off one track and then land on another.
5. Cutting the ropes of a bridge and walking up what’s left like a ladder.
6. An invisible walkway.
7. An 800 year old knight that chills out in a cave waiting for people to check out his cups.
8. The fact that Indy would find the actual holy grail.
Just some examples. Just to note, I love these movies, and I find each one unrealistic and that’s what’s called escapsim and that’s why I love them.
Wow, it seems there are an equal amount of people on opposite sides.
I for one had fun, and thats what matters.
The movie was fun,and I think that like the other Indie adventures, it’ll get better with repeat viewings.
@ohcaroline. You are exactly right. Atomic Age Sci-fi Soucermen fit perfectly into the 50’s
I was suprised and delighted by that bold change in direction
Here’s a gripe. Why can’t ILM render vegetation? Some of that stuff looked like an oil painting.
‘Indiana Jones’ unearths $126M in box office gold
LOS ANGELES – Indiana Jones unearthed box office gold at domestic theaters with a performance that puts the film on track to become the second biggest Memorial Day movie opening ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The fourth installment of the whip-cracking professor’s exploits, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," grossed an estimated $101 million from Friday to Sunday, plus $25 million from its opening Thursday, distributor Paramount Pictures said. The company expects it to earn another $25 million on Monday.
That would put it behind only "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End," which had a Friday-through-Monday total of $139.8 million, in the pantheon of Memorial Day weekend blockbusters.
Including Thursday’s receipts, "Indiana Jones" was expected to collect $151 million over five days, slightly behind "Pirates," which took in $153 million with a partial Thursday included.
"’Indiana Jones’ did incredibly well for a film that comes 19 years after the previous installment," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC.
I’m with Gordon 100% on this one.
If they had left out the cgi groundhogs and cgi monkeys, I would have liked this a ton more. There were some cool scenes for sure, but these little things annoyed me.
The thing is this, just being ok is not enough. This is Indiania freakin Jones and they’ve had 19 years to get it right. They fell flat on their faces all the way around and it’s disappointing. I felt like they all just phoned this one in and that hurts cause this is a big chunk of my childhood that they just continue to crap all over.
Crapped all over my childhood. Crapped all over my childhood. Crapped all over my childhood. I AM SICK OF PEOPLE SAYING THAT! Nothing craps over your childhood. I do not care how good or bad a movie is if you are going into it looking for some sort bullsh*t nostalgic revelatory childhood revival you are not going to find it. PERIOD! We are adults and we cannot help but look at things through adults eyes at times.
That being said I loved the film. It was silly, over the top, absurd, escapist nonsense. In other words an Indiana Jones movie. Let us get some perspective here folks. These are B-films writ large on the screen. End of story. All the first Indiana Jones wanted to be was a silly, rollicking good time and it was. Do not kid yourself. None of these have been particularly deep or believable. All three of the previous films required you to turn off your brain if you wanted to have a good time. In this post-modern era of filmmaking that can actually be a relief. It comes down to this fact that sometimes different films have to be judged by different standards. It is not fair for instance to compare Wayne’s World to Brokeback Mountain even though both are great films (IMHO). Similarly take these films for what they are meant to be. I saw this film with 10 other people, college film students all, ranging in age from 19 to 28 (I’m the 28 year old) and we all loved it. We had also done a marathon of the first three movies literally right before seeing this one. We all felt it was very true and in step with what had come before. Yes there were moments of weakness. No this is not quite as good as Crusade or Raiders. Yes it hell of a lot better than the abortion that is Temple. I had a good time and as long as you leave your baggage at the door I believe you will to.
I’ve never been so bummed about missing a show.
Of the iFanboys I was probably the most apprehensive about this movie going in (except for Josh, whose soul knows no more joy in life 🙂 ), so I was a bit worried when I sat down in the theater.
BUT I HAD SO MUCH FREAKING FUN! The movie was really good – not great, but really good! It was so much fun!
My biggest concern going in was that 65 year old Harrison Ford was going to be too old for the part, but it really wasn’t an issue. They played it for laughs when appropriate and it didn’t matter the rest of the time. He was really good and you can tell that Ford loves playing Indy. It was nice to see him get at least one last crowd pleasing hurrah on the big screen since he hasn’t had a hit action movie since AIR FORCE ONE.
I was also worried that there would be too many nods to the past but I ended up loving them all. I loved that Dr. Marcus Brody got his just rememberacs. I liked that Sean Connery popped up in some way (it’s really too bad he wouldn’t do the movie), I liked that the Ark of the Covenant showed up and I liked the subtle reference to STAR WARS, which must have been hard to get Ford to agree to.
The cast was entirely winning – Ford, obviously; Karen Allen was entirely adorable; Shia LaBeouf is brimming with charisma; John Hurt is always good; Cate Blanchett was appropriately scenery chewing; Ray Winstone was appropriately slimey.
Probably the most controversial thing in the movie was the alien aspect. At first I was a little put-off – I kept thinking that Indy would find a rational scientific explanation for everything – but then I thought about it and it’s no more outlandish than having Indy deal with aliens than an immortal Knight, the Holy Grail, magic stones, and the Ark of the Covenant. Also, having aliens factor into the story perfectly fit into the 50s sci-fi vibe of the story. The original movies were tributes the 1930s and 1940s adventure serials so it makes perfect sense to have this movie, set in the 1950s, to be a tribute to the sci-fi movies of the 1950s. Thematically, it was perfect.
I really liked the backstory that they filled in for Indy in the time between movies. I *love* the idea of Indiana Jones, OSS superspy. Someone good needs to write those novels.
I thought the ending was great. Indy and Marion have always been perfect for each other and it was nice to see them finally get together, even if it was 20 years later than it should have been. And the Shia/fedora thing was cute and a nice nod to the possible future. But not yet, junior.
As I wrote way at the top, I was hoping for a best case scenerio something like LETHAL WEAPON 4 – something unoffensive and undamaging to the franchise. This movie blew that expectation out of the water. It may not be as great as the original three, but it is worhty to be placed alongside them. I can’t wait to see it again. I had tons of fun at the theater. More fun, actually, than I had when I saw IRON MAN. A good reason for that is that I had a *great* crowd. They were totally into it. They cheered in the beginning, cheered for the first appearances of Indy, Marion, the photos of Marcus and Henry Jones Sr., the Ark, and everytime Indy, or one of the other good guys survived some harrowing scenario. And they went absolutely bananas when the final credits rolled. The people loved it.
INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL was such a rollicking good time. It’s what action-adventure movies *should* be. And it reminded me of how all other like-minded movies pale in comparison to the Indiana Jones franchise.
Hmm… maybe I’ll go again today.
Having listened to the podcast, it’s funny. . . I guess I’m a couple years older than you guys, so "Raiders" was the Indy movie I grew up with, and Ron’s reaction to seeing ‘Crystal Skull’ was a lot like my reaction when I first saw ‘Last Crusade’ — it was too jokey, it tracked "Raiders" too closely, the climax was too predictable, etc. Looking back on it now, it seems like another classic. Kind of like how a lot of ‘Star Wars’ fans disliked ‘Jedi’ until the prequels came along and now the ‘Original Trilogy’ is Holy Writ in comparison. It’s all a matter of perspective, I think. I mean, I can definitely see why people wouldn’t like ‘Crystal Skull,’ but my reaction was closer to Gordon’s and Conor’s. Plus, it got me to go out and buy the ‘Raiders’ DVD immediately, and I’ve been watching it all weekend and loving it all over again.
Also, per Gordon’s suggestion, you guys clearly need to do a ‘Sex and the City’ podcast. I’m trying to figure out who’s a Charlotte and who’s a Miranda, right now —
@Conor What was the Star Wars reference you mentioned? i think i misssed it
Ron, both Temple of Doom and Gremlins were PG, but as I recall the fact that they were both so horrific and PG and came out one right after another made them the chief catalysts for the formation of the PG-13 rating. As I remember it, the first PG-13 was Red Dawn.
As for my Indy history: I saw Raiders on HBO the Thanksgiving after it came out. I saw Temple of Doom on VHS the Halloween after it came out. Last Crusade, I saw opening night in the theater. I did have the Raiders Indy action figure, but I bought it on $.99 clearance at K-B so obviously it could not have been in great demand.
I was not excited to see this one; I actively wished they wouldn’t make it when I heard about it. That having been said, I’ve spent a couple of days with it and I think I’d give it a B, maybe a B-.
So, the criticism as I understand it: "The fourth part of this 27-year-old movie series was full of stuff I’ve seen before. Why did they have to just copy all the previous movies instead of doing anything different? And what’s with the flying saucer? Why didn’t they do something Biblical like they did in all the previous movies?"
When Gordon asked, "So, you’re telling me that a knight that’s been alive for 700 years in a room full of cups is not ridiculous?" I had to pull my car over so I could stand up and applaud. Pithy.
You want a funny fiction writing exercise? Take any ancient booby trap from any Indy movie and imagine the primitive guys setting it up. "Okay, so… Timzecotl and his guys have activated the spring mechanisms on the motion-sensitive poisoned arrows, and the contractor assured him that the poison never wears off the arrows no matter how wet they get. Joehotep and I finished the trap door and the slowly closing-in wall. Now, we just need to figure out how to get the giant, perfectly round boulder up there…. wait, how are we getting out afterwards?" Every one of these goddamn movies is ridiculous. You don’t have to be this way. You could have joy in your lives.
Personally, I loved every minute of the movie that took place on American soil and began quibbling the longer we were south of the border. Vines, inspirational monkeys, 800-foot waterfalls and the 800-year-old men who survive them: these are things I could do without. I would also have liked to see the scene in any Indy movie where, having blown up every vehicle along the way, they accomplish their mission and must now get home from the jungle somehow.
Even so, I enjoyed the dynamic between the two males leads, and how it changed once the nature of their relationship was revealed. It felt grounded to me in a sea of digi-ants and fortuitous fencing training.
Josh, re: Communism… "we weren’t necessarily much better than them during the Cold War from a morality standpoint"?? I don’t know how many historians listen to this podcast, but you might want to save yourself some time and set up some e-mail filters now for the words "gulag," "pogrom," and "Stalin."
@mikegraham6 – "I have a bad feeling about this."
@jimski Conor already giving me a thrashing about it.
And I have much joy in my heart.
Just for the record, my point was that naziism was objectively evil, where communisim isn’t necessarily so. It might not work, but it isn’t inherently evil.
Now, I never want to talk about this again.
I can dig it. Soviet philosophy sort of devolved into killing people, while Nazi philosophy consisted fundamentally of killing people. How dare any of us speak off the cuff?
As for the movie, I love these discussions while at the same time realizing all we’re talking about in the end is an emotional reaction to an experience. If someone sees a movie and it provokes anger or disappointment, I can defend it as eloquently as I like but I’m never going to say the thing that un-disappoints someone.
Hey Ron, I hope this brings some perspective to the situation–I’ve seen all the INdy movies opening weekend..going back to Raiders. When I walked out of Last Crusade, I had the SAME feeling you described after seeing this one…right down to the "oh they ruined my childhood favorite..etc etc" not that Last Crusade was bad, but it wasn’t what I expected and I thought it had lost the edge that made the earlier movies interesting and devolved into Start Trek IV jokiness. Given that, I went into this one with NO expectation, and loved it.
I loved this movie. It had something to do with my low expectations, but mostly to do with this: Nobody does action set-pieces like Spielberg. They’re these fluid mini-narratives that are always thrilling, fun, and funny. You always know what’s going on and what the characters are trying to do. Action scenes, especially these days, often seem like a bunch of stuff flying around really close to the camera with a lot of quick editing. Like Transformers.
It’s like the difference between a comic book fight-scene that’s just a bunch of random poses and a fight that’s been thought out blow-by-blow (like Kirby or there was this one Robin issue a while back that Josh talked about, where he was fighting the 12 guys called the Jury, maybe?).
Listening to Ron and Josh, I was pretty much nodding my head along with everything they said, both what was good about the movie and what was bad. Then again, I wasn’t expecting it to be very good so it pretty much met my expectations. It was entertaining, yes, but as soon as Mutt and Cate Blanchett starting fencing across the two cars it just became too over the top for me (not to mention how obvious the CGI was in the entire sequence). I felt like I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean 2 again. Yes, all three movies require some suspension of belief (esp. Temple of Doom), but not to the extent that this one does, IMO. Enjoyed the motorcycle chase, the cast was great (esp. Cate Blanchett!), and I actually enjoyed the alien concept, but overall it just wasn’t a very good movie to me.
I do not only agree with everything Ron and Josh said on the podcast but there was something that almost made me leave the theater.
So, When Indiana and Mutt are researching for the location of the skull, Indiana says: I´m going to try to decypher it using my Mayan Language knowledge. Then he discovers that the skull is on Peru, the land of the Incas. Mayans are from Mexico. O.K, no problem, maybe there´s something more going on.
When They arrive to the Airport of Nazca Perú they are received by Mariachi music. Rancheras as they are called. That Guitar sound is from Mariachis from Mexico (like the Antonio Bandera´s movies), Peruvian Music is more wind based.
Pancho Villa was a Mexican Revolutionary, Quecha is Peruvian Language. So, they explained it somewhere on th television series… Did they explain the Mexican music at Nazca airport…
Incan Tribes did not worship gods through sacrifice. All those skeleton masks are from Aztec rituals. How can you decypher Aztek Glyphs with Mayan language.
That circular rock where Indiana climbs and make move from his weight is the Aztec Calendar.
The snakes on the walls. Mayan and Aztek. Oh but again…that´s on mexico, not Perú.
I really think Lucas and Spielberg should have spent a little more time at Wikipedia or spent less money on Kung fu Monkeys and pay some Tourist guide to tell them the difference between Mexico and Perú, the setting of their movie.
For me it´s just Drink to forget… Hated that movie…Still Appreciate Harrison Ford on the role , though.
This movie is truly ten years too late. I want to resist the "Harrison Ford is too old reference." Yet, within the opening sequence it proves to be true. When young action stars dodge bullets, you there’s a little benefit of the doubt. When an old action star does, it’s impossible not to. This applies for all of the hurdles Indy survives without a scratch or a drop of water on him.
Indy doesn’t really fight people as much as he falls into them causing them to fall.
Nostalgia? Yep, for a young Indy.
This film is a complete mess. There’s an obligatory 1950’s diner sequence that is more parody. Infact, the film appears to be a gigantic Indy parody with enough nods and winks to the audience to suggest morse code that reads, "This is ridiculous! Did you see the gophers and monkeys? Why are you still here?"
The biggest problem was a lack of dramatic tension. You never believed Indy was in danger, and you didn’t even know what goal he was trying to achieve. The stakes were higher in the others, preventing Nazis from world domination and saving children. The script is too wishy washy.
AVOID THIS!
I completely agree with Conor on this one. While it isn’t my favorite Indy movie, it was just what it was supposed to be. I think a lot of people miss the homage to 50’s sci-fi or at least don’t understand that’s what it is. I admit the alien thing threw me for a bit but I loved all of the talk about the Mitchell-Hedges skull and the connections to real history. I also totally loved the suggestion at the end that Shia would be the new Indy when the hat blows over to him and then Harrison swoops in and grabs it. I thought that was great. In fact I wouldn’t mind seeing another movie or two with the pair of them together. Lastly, I loved the references to the Young Indy Chronicles. That really connected the two projects in a way that was a bit lacking before. Awesome!
It was good not great. If I hadn’t grown up with indy I wouldn’t like this. I don’t like National Treasure or Sahara. The alien stuff left me with a bad taste but I thought it was good. I would be apprehensive if they made another one starring Shia…. Mutt Williams and the Temple of Doom.
IF this was an album it would be Indiana Jones The Greatest Hits: remix. It felt to me like all of the classic scenes from the original three were randomly shoe-horned together. Gotta have the a) Indy’s afraid of snakes scene (check) b) big fight on a moving truck (check) c) drop down a waterfall (check) d) swordfight (check) e) gross out bug scene (check) and the plot was just kind of an excuse to throw them all together. Surprisingly I enjoyed the flying saucer ending more than anything else because it was the only thing I hadn’t already seen in an Indy movie. I dug the sci fi stuff. All told I’d give it a 6 or 7 out of 10 mostly just for nostalgia. I’d go Raiders, Temple, Crystal Skull then Crusade. I really hated Crusade.