JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: CHEWIE on May 22, 2008, 04:12 AM
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Saw it... liked some aspects of it quite a bit, others not as much as I'd hoped. I won't go into details since I know I'd be mentioning several spoilers.
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First off, any chance a Mod could mark this thread with spoilers? I think we'd all like to have a discussion without having to warn people like I'm about to...
Ok, I just got back from the midnight showing... SPOILERS GALORE
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My thoughts will probably change on this once I see the movie a few more times, but my initial reaction:
bull****
Now I went in knowing that after the way the prequels came out Indiana Jones wouldn't be the same. So I basically went in with little expectations, and I was still shocked by what I saw, and not in a good way.
It... I really don't know how to describe it. Like the prequels, as an adventure/action movie it's pretty good. As an Indiana Jones flick? Horrible. The thing I enjoyed about the past movies is that the plots all revolve around stuff that COULD happen. I'm no religious expert but the thought of an archaeological exploration to find the Ark is something that really could happen in real life. Not only that, but the plots in the past films progressed naturally. Indy gets some motivation for one thing (find the Ark, get the stones, rescue his dad) and the rest progresses naturally. In Kingdom, it seems as if everyone and their mother already knows about the story of the Crystal Skull and so they're just kinda like "oh hey, let's go get that Skull! We have nothing better to do!"
And the aliens? Yeah, the rumors are true. I noticed the Roswell marking on the one crate when I first saw the teaser but thought it was either a nod to Roswell or one of Spielberg's earlier alien flicks. But no, this whole "plot" revolves around returning an alien skull to the body, reviving an ACTUAL ALIEN and having it fly back to "another dimension" (yeah, they weren't called aliens in the film, they're beings from another dimension as stated by John Hurt) IN A ******* UFO. Ugh. Just totally unrealistic and it totally turned the Indy movie into a sci-fi movie rather than an adventure one.
I really enjoyed the score, however. I've never been disappointed with a John Williams soundtrack and he continues his awesome work here. My one complaint is that it doesn't really feel like an Indy soundtrack. It made me feel like I was listening to a Star Wars soundtrack with the main Indy theme thrown in with a hint of the Marion romance theme from Raiders.
I felt the references to the original movies was a bit forced. I figured we'd get a cameo from the Ark when we saw the Government Warehouse in the previews but the way they showed it just felt forced. Yeah, the Russians just happen to crash into the crate holding the Ark of the Covenant, how convenient. Also, the pictures of Senior and Brody, while simply there to explain why the characters aren't in the movie, reminded me of that line from ROTS where Padme is like "hold me like you did on the lake that day on Naboo". It just felt a little too detailed and forced to me. Same thing with the opening credits, using the exact same font as the Raiders opening credits. It was like Lucas and Spielberg were going "LOL remember the originals, let's relive them here!"
The new characters pretty much stunk up the joint. Spalko was... odd, and didn't really feel like an Indy villain. She seemed like she'd be a better fit for a 007 movie. Dovechenko, or however you spell it, was like an odd mix of Dietrich, Vogel, and the German Mechanic. His death was cool, I will admit, but nowhere near as gruesome as Toht's was. I did like John Hurt playing the crazy old man and felt like he played his role well.
Mack. Yeah, I'm devoting a whole paragraph to him. He SUCKED. Every time he was on screen after his first turn on Indy I wanted him to die or something. Sadly he doesn't die until the very end, after about 20 billion swerves. Is he working for the Reds? Is he working with Indy? Who cares? Yes folks, they've finally created an Indy character more annoying than Willie Scott. I never thought it would be possible, yet we now have this Mack guy.
Mutt Williams. I'm really hoping they don't start a new series with him. It's not that he's a bad character or anything, they just establish him as sort of a rebel in the movie, with the Fonz image and all. He doesn't seem like the educated archaeologist kind of person (in fact one of his characteristics is that he quit school due to him being sick of the many rules) and would seem out of place in an adventure movie. Could you imagine Raiders with the Fonz instead of Indy? Neither can I, and that's what I fear a Mutt Williams trilogy would be like.
This is all I can remember for now, as I'm tired. I'll have more thoughts after more posts come in as I'm sure my memory will be jogged by specific comments but for now all I can say is that this doesn't feel like an Indiana Jones movie and more like a Scary Movie parody. Of course, I'll end up buying the DVD for a complete collection, but it'll definitely be the red headed stepchild of the Indy movies.
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END SPOILERS
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just got back form the 12:01 showing. the movie wasn't that good. it said that George wrote the script, maybe that's why it was too forced and unbelievable. they should of done a trilogy of that film it would probably be the only way it would flow right.the dammed thin was jumping all over the place...
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I went last night at midnight too...it was alright. I thought it was a little unbelievable. Its not that the other movies were not, this one just seemed over the top and really predictable. Nothing surprised me and i figured the whole movie out very early on and i avoided pretty much all of the spoilers. I am not a fan of Mutt and wouldnt follow the series with him as the lead.
I think the saddest part is that the part of the movie that got me most excited was in the warehouse when we get a glimpse of a old artifact from indy's past :D
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I went out to watch an early viewing of it last night at 8pm. It was a good movie. Not the best by my standards as Crusade was by far the best IMO however I still enjoyed this movie a lot as it was deffierent yet the same Indy style we all know and love.
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Really guys? Well I thought they did an excellent job. I went in prepared to be disappointed and ended up being very impressed. I think it's just as good an Indy movie as its three predeccessors.
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Dovchenko was an awesome Indy villain, it was fun watching his gruesome death which I thought was definitely up there with Toht melting. Irina, well, she was kind of dramatic (esp. when squishing ants one at a time) but the characters still was good. I hated the Mack character and really wanted to see Indy at his throat...instead, Indy let him tag along after the jungle chase just so he could help lead the Russians to them. Dumb. Mutt really surprised me, I expected him to be annoying but he ended up being a pretty good character and I liked the way he interacted with Indy. The alien stuff, definitely out there a bit but once again I think they managed to pull it off with limited lameness. I did want to see Irina melt Toht-style when she was staring at the alien though.
Those are pretty much my thoughts, I loved it and ended up being pleasantly surprised. :)
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I enjoyed the movie but it wasn't fantastic. When the movie started, the theater was about half full. I don't know if I was expecting a large crowd (ie star wars-type) but they were all fairly quiet thru the movie for an audience that was mostly teenagers. (not a good sign)
When the movie started, I thought I was watching a remake of American Graffiti. I also knew we where in trouble when the first thing we see is a CG gopher! The pacing of the opening seemed kind of slow compared to the opening of the first three films. Sure they find the alien corpse but the Russians really didn't need it since they already had a couple of them from a crash in Russia. That kind of made the whole opening pointless. I did like how the alien finger was in a E.T. type position when the opened the cryo tube. I also enjoyed the rocket sled (very James Bond) but seeing Indy wonder around a mock 50's suburb was weird and having him survive a nuclear blast was just silly.
After that it became "help me find my mom" and "lets return the skull". The cemetery warriors were scary but should have kept chasing them instead of just disappearing all of a sudden. The walk thru the psycho ward reminded me of 3po and r2 being taken to see EV-9D9 in ROTJ. There were a couple of other scenes that seemed "lifted" right from other Lucas and Spielberg movies. The buzz cutter vehicle seemed to only be there to sell us a toy. It should have lasted longer then being blown up in the beginning of the jungle chase. They could had some great scenes of people fighting on it. The giant ants were cool and a great way to have the lead army guy die but why did the fight scene had to be like the mechanic fight scene in Raiders? Also, Mutt Williams is no Tarzan or Wicked Witch of the West. Fly! My monkeys! Fly!
The scene where they finally return the skull would make a great diorama. Anyone got an extra 72 stickers so I can get a 12 more crystal skeletons? Too bad the giant CG spinning effect messed the scene up. Why can't Lucas use more mechanical effects like they had to in Raiders? Why does everything have to be animated? The spaceship at the end should have looked more like the one at the end of Close Encounters with all the spikes and lights. That would have made a better parallel between the aliens in that movie and these since they were suppost to be the same ones.
As for the characters, Mack sucked. Why couldn't they just dig up Salla instead? Spalko was odd. She reminded me the Hood from Thunderbirds by the way she kept trying to use a Jedi mind trick on Indy. She was bad the entire time and never a love interest. Mutt Williams is not a replacement for Indy. He's way too Fonz like and doesn't have the education to know what he is looking for. The Gates character from National Treasure would make a far better Indy than Mutt could. Marion, however, was probably the best part of the movie. Her scenes showed that special spark that made her such a good character in Raiders. It was amazing how well she aged. Indy on the other hand started out the movie looking really old. It was like watching my dad play Indy. As the movie progressed though he felt more and more like the young Indy again. Maybe that was intentional. John Hurt's crazy old mad was also very good. I just kept thinking that this would have been better if the Hurt's character was Sean Connery's instead. That way we could have three generations of Jones looking for the skull.
All in all a fairly solid B. Not as good as Raiders or Crusade but a little bit better than Doom. The story was ok but I think any of the Indiana Jones video games would have made a better movie. It will be interesting to see how much this movie makes in its opening weekend. Is it going to be one of the top grossing movies of all time like the previous three movies? I kind of doubt it.
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Yep, I agree with Phruby... this is better than Doom, and not on par with Raiders or Crusade.
New characters -
Mack - horrible, probably an F
Dovenko - decent, wish they had explored him more, C
Irina - B, damn she was hot in this, and was the only Russian with personality
Oxley - B, I did like this character quite a bit
Mutt - fantastic, easily an A, and I could follow him as the "new" Indy I think
Returning characters -
Indy - I'd give Harrison an A on this... why? The guy is 65 years old! Who else could pull this off?
Marion - C, really just because I still want to picture her as the young lady from Raiders... that being said, she did really good in this, so I'd give her more of a B probably
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Probably a C+, right around the plot for Doom... I wish instead of the alien coming back to life that the temple was some sort of place where the native Indians were sacrificing one person a year to the alien skeletons, and Marion had been chosen as the latest victim... it would have given this more depth I think, and been more realistic.
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I was somewhat disappointed in the film and most of it had to do with the use of the CGI effects all over the place. One of the things that he Trilogy had going for it were location shoots, practical models and believable (in the fantasy world) traps, tombs and scenery.
I thought the jungle chase was way too long and overdone and one of my least favorite parts of the film. I didn't like Mac and also wish we'd gotten a Sallah cameo instead. Spalko was okay but nowhere near a Belloq or Elsa as a villain. I liked Oxley as well and thought Marion and Mutt were good characters. But, I would not follow Mutt into his own series of movies.
I thought the beginning wasn't bad but the Nevada Proving Grounds part was totally out of hand. I liked the nod to Marcus with the portrait on the wall outside Indy's classroom as well as the statue. The photo at Indy's was nice but not really needed. I did like the mention of his father, though. I'm glad that was in there.
Most of the little nods to the other Indy films and various other Lucas, Ford and Spielberg outings was cool and I didn't find any of them forced.
On the topic of the skulls and the aliens; I don't mind it. They are no less believable, to me, than the Ark or Grail.
I had to let the film sink in because my first thought when I got home last night was that I didn't know what to think. It definitely didn't blow me away but it didn't totally suck. I think the film could have been a little more focused and if they'd cut out the CGI-for-the-sake-of-CGI things would have been better. Needed more character development.
I may go see it again to give it another shake. I liked it better than Temple of Doom but not as much as Raiders or Crusade. I wrote a full review on my site (http://www.netenigma.com) but didn't bother to repost it all here.
E...
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Also, Mutt Williams is no Tarzan or Wicked Witch of the West. Fly! My monkeys! Fly!
I think that scene bothered me the most becuase it was just too unbelievable. No way he would be strong enough to swing like that. I turned to my buddy right away and he was thinking the same thing as me.
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Character letter grades, good idea Justin. :)
Indy- A+
Marion- A++ very very enjoyable character
Mutt- A
Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko- A definitely no Toht or Vogel but still a fun villain
Dovchenko- A fist fight with Indy was great (definitely similar to German Mechanic which was cool) and so was his death scene; would have liked to see more of him
Mack- D betrayal was unexpected but it went downhill from there; I found myself looking forward to his death
Oxley- B+ at first I found him annoying but his character really grew on me as the film went on
Overall- A I really loved this movie, it's tied with Last Cruscade as my favorite. I was really, really surprised at how great it ended up being. :)
My favorite part was definitely the hat blowing to Mutt's feet, Mutt bending over to pick it up, and Indy taking it from him. Mostly because of the unanimous gasp from the midnight crowd as Mutt slowly...grabbed...the hat...several people in the audience (probably myself included) cried out, 'NO!,' and I could really feel the relief as Indy snatched it from him. That was priceless. ;D
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I had a fun very fun time, but felt a little underhwelmed. I felt the same way when I saw Crusade, but, the thing is, Crusdae reallly grew on my, and I really like it these days. I had no problem with the alien stuff, in fact, that very long wide-shot of the temple crumbling and the ship taking off, and the water rushing in, was one of the best images Speilberg's put on screeen in ages.
I loved the ants too, and the fist-fight in the soda shop!
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I was absolutely disgusted. More pure crap from George Lucas with some help from his friend Steve. A few nostalgic parts here and there, but otherwise a pretty pointless movie from a plot standpoint. Mutt being his kid thing was too much for me, as well as him getting married. I walked out saying, I don't know the plot and there were aliens. Stupid.
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My opinion after I saw it (I like the character letter grades as well so I'm gonna narf that)...
-Mutt Williams... B+, actually. I could see the coolness of Mutt, and when he was ONLY with Indy, he was a much more interesting character. Reminded me of a smarmy Sallah, or Sapito, or Short Round... He fit with Indy and LeBouf could act the part well. His sword-fighting was insanely stupid and even more insanely crowbarred into the character. Lame to an extreme. I liked, and expected, Mutt as Indy's son, but I liked it because he did so well as his sidekick. Ironically I could see great new movie possibilities if Ford weren't getting on in years. I don't know that "Mutt Williams and the ________" idea will fly as stand-alone films. Kinda like the TNG crew taking over for Star Trek. Seems doomed to me, and that's from someone who dug the character for the most part.
-Marion... C at best. I see why she hasn't done much in the acting world since Raiders. She's wooden with delivery, and wore "mom jeans" (because I'm not a woman anymore, I'm a mom) styled adventuring pants. It's cool she's there for nostalgia, but her acting was lame and really she served NO purpose other than to intro Mutt as Jones' son.
-"Mac"... D. He truly made no sense whatsoever, and what's with his death? Were we to feel bad? Huh? Was there edited crap that made him even remotely important?
-Irena... C+. I thought Kate Blanchet really acted well for the character, but like Mutt, I found the whole "sword" thing crowbarred into the character for no real reason. Why did she wear a sword? Who swordfights in the 1960's? Indy's whip is a tool, not just a weapon, as established throughout the films, so Irena's sword was just dumb on a whole new level, and it clearly was just so her and Mutt could fight. That's silly and again I say "crowbarred". She was interesting, but really they didn't develope her much or make you care for, or dislike her especially, so she was just meh.
-Ox... B+. He didn't do much, but he was acted well, and played a part in the plot, so I found him a decent character.
-Indiana Jones... A+, without a doubt. Ford is Indiana JOnes and nobody ever will replace that I'm afraid. That means this series dies with Ford's retiring of it. I didn't mind Jones marrying Marion, as I think a lot of people felt that was the best heroine of the first 3 films (I agree), and Ford acted the part well but did the stuntwork just as good. For a guy a bit over 60, that rocks I think.
I liked his relationship with Mutt and feel it was underplayed. They really jived well, and it depresses me that the two characters (and actors) couldn't be put together earlier so more movies with the two of them could be made. I really think there's gold there, that will never be mined. That's a shame. Mutt was the ultimate Short Round sidekick for Ford's Jones I think, and I liked when the condescending attitude of Mutt got turned by Ford as he did his thing and made Mutt look like the kid he was. I thought the acting was at its best when it was really just the two of them.
I was, however, disappointed to see Ford NOT using his whip extensively. This was really a chance to see some fancy work, and I wonder if his age prohibited him doing a lot with the whip? It'd be physical for sure and I could see that being cut due to Ford's body just not being up to it. That's a shame.
I thought the humor involving him was outstanding though, and right in line with the IJ series for the most part. It leaned a little more towards the Last Crusade type humor over the Raiders humor, but I appreciated it and thought it was good.
For the film itself...
I'm with others I believe. I liked some parts, didn't like others. I found some things were "unbelievable". Namely Mutt/Irena's sword fight sticks in my craw, and Mutt swinging on vines was soooooo silly.
I felt all 3 car/vehicle chases were outstanding though, and I really felt that Indy is an ass-kicker still. The story was a little lame though, and a friend I saw it with said he felt it would've been better to just show aliens had been here rather than having an alien alive with the ship taking off... that was pretty dumb and pointless.
I really felt too, that the other adventures were just more tangible... You could relate on some weird level with what Jones was doing and what he was going after. You cared about the villagers who lost their stone in Temple of Doom, and how the Thuggee Cult was corrupt and evil. You could hate the Nazis much more easily than the Russians, and you could also again (in some weird way) "relate" to the artifacts Jones was after against the Nazis... If you were like me, you knew what the Holy Grail was, and you sorta knew what the Ark of the Covenant was... So you just sort of "related" to those items, those adventures, and those films much more.
And to the contrary, the Cyrstal Skull is fairly unknown to most I think, and the whole alien thing sort of took the mysticism of the Ark, the Grail, and the Sankara Stones away. Instead, it's just aliens... Nothing really mystical to it, just aliens suddenly existed and hung out.
Anyway, I generally liked the movie, but it's one that doesn't quite feel like it fits with the other 3 for some reason. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll ever enjoy it quite like the other 3, and I certainly won't enjoy it as much as Raiders or Last Crusade, which are my favorites.
And the music wasn't near as good as the other 3 either... Did Williams do it? Because it sure didn't have the "Umph" of the other movies.
Tell me the Desert chase music doesn't pump you up? Tell me when Indy goes to free the children in Temple that you're not pumped by the music to that. And you know the Raiders theme is one of the greatest pieces of music of all time... This film didn't have ANY of that except Indy's theme creeping out now and then.
So, yeah, I'm not terribly disappointed but I wasn't bowled over by this film, and it certainly isn't the best of them. It simply is a fun film to go see, enjoy, and not pick apart too much.
It's better than The Phantom Menace, and I think better than Attack of the Clones too, but I wouldn't say it's better than Revenge of the Sith. If I were to use a Star Wars scale to measure it. ;)
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I'm in the same boat as most of you that I liked the film but it didn't blow me away. The sword fighting and the vine swinging was a bit much and the Mac character switching sides left and right were bad enough but then to throw the whole aliens thing in there....it just didn't feel like the other three movies to me.
I did like how they showed Marcus and Henry Jones senior had passed on (although how could that happen since he drank from the Holy Grail?) and I really liked the nod to the Young Indiana Jones series when he talked about riding with Poncho Villa.
I just feel that this movie was missing something...the others had an air of mystery or something supernatural with the objects and this movie went out of its way to explain every detail. The whole crystal skull being part of the aliens' skeleton was kind of lame IMO, and it could've been left out.
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(although how could that happen since he drank from the Holy Grail?)
I used to wonder this myself and realized the answer is in the movie. The movies have a LOT of answers that are either mentioned almost in a mumble or glossed over real quick and you miss them. Not owning them on tape or DVD means I can't watch them constantly like Star Wars, to learn every detail and answer.
Anyway, the trick to the grail and ever-lasting life is that you can't leave... The grail knight, I'm guessing, drank from the cup to stay and protect the grail. The other knights (his brothers) I assume also drank from the cup and lived there for a while, but eventually left the place where the cup was kept and went back, leaving a trail for someone, someday, to find and follow to replace their brother who was chilling there.
The grail knight does say to Indy though, that the cup and its powers more or less have to stay there, and if you want to live forever you have to stay there, but the benefits saved his dad, then Elsa tried taking it past the seal the knight warned them about, and everything went to hell in a handbasket.
It seemed like the cup, if you drank from it, kind of gave you a youthful vigor though... Indy's dad seemed more spry afterwards and all. Maybe I'm reading too much into that sequence after they left the Grail's temple and all though. :-\
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Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It was light-years better than the SW prequels though.
The moment the series lost it's magic for me was in Last Crusade when the plane overtook Indy and Henry Sr. in the tunnel. After that, I could begrudgingly buy scenes like the refrigerator gag. The biggest problem the movie had was the writer Lucas settled on. I think that if they had made the Darabont version, we'd all be singing a more favorable tune.
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What was the Darabont version? Was that the one were they were going to have Kevin Costner be Indy's brother? I did notice they mentioned one of the previous script titles in the movie.
Someone metioned the music didn't have the umph that we kind of expect from other Indy movies. That was something that bothered me too expecially in the first half hour. I heard the Well of the Souls theme at the warehouse which didn't make alot of sense besides saying this is where the Ark is stored. It seems like that theme should have shown up when we actually saw the Ark.
Well, I downloaded the soundtrack last night and I'll have to listen to it. It is listed as John Williams.
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I really liked the nod to the Young Indiana Jones series when he talked about riding with Poncho Villa.
I thought that was kind of neat too. I've been catching up on these as they've been playing sporadically on the History Channel over the past few months, and recognized that as soon as that was mentioned as well. Kind of neat.
Now...back to the movie. I enjoyed it. Not as much as the originals (Raiders and Crusade in particular), but I had a fun time. I will admit that I'm not as hard on movies as many people are, I just go to be entertained more or less. Its also tough for me not to get excited about an Indy movie, because, well, its Indy. When we came out after the movie, I did say to my wife "it feels a little different than the other movies". The alien stuff was a little bit different, and I'm sure likely to draw a lot of criticisms as this movie stays in theaters, but after having some time to let it sit - I don't mind it. It got a little outlandish with the actual alien, the saucer taking off, and all of that - but when I think about it, I guess some of the stuff in the previous movies was outlandish as well. It was just different because of the time frame, and those "macguffins" were maybe a little more well known than the story of the Crystal Skulls. Heck, prior to this movie hooplah beginning a year or so ago, I didn't know anything about them at all really. Then the History Channel and Sci Fi had specials to fill in that info :).
As some of you have mentioned, the opening did seem a little slow going to me too. I guess there was plenty going on, but it just seemed like the movie picked up for me once Indy met Mutt on the train platform/soda shop. I actually thought that Mutt (Shia Labeouf) was a good character, and was pretty well acted. Like Jesse mentioned, I think there is some good chemistry there between he and Ford, and its too bad that we likely won't get more of that (unless they really get crackin on a sequel). He was probably my favorite "new addition" to the Indyverse, and I don't have any problem with him being Indy's son. I mean, why wouldn't he have a son? Heck, if you watch the Young Indy chronicles, I'm surprised there isn't more. According to that, Indy was quite the player in his younger days. Anyways, it fit fine for me, and I was fine with the marriage to Marion as well. I think she is fairly well regarded as the "best" of the Indy women, and it makes sense for them to end up together. I know some people will likely not enjoy that part of it as well though.
The one scene that stands out the most to me where I was like "goo", it was the Mutt swinging with the monkeys scene. That was a bit much. I'm not sure why that was in there, other than for a way for him to rejoin the fray. That I could have done without though. Otherwise, I thought the action scenes were pretty good. I guess the overall jungle chase might have gone on a little long, but it did have good parts. I also kind of liked the motorcycle chase earlier in the movie. Anyways, overall, a pretty good movie to me. Probably not quite up to the originals, but with that sort of nostalgia factor at work, its probably hard for it to top them. I'm willing to accept the alien stuff, as its been said since this took place in the 50's ('57), that was what the big thing was at the time: "aliens and other worlds". The Indy movies were always sort of meant to be like the matinee adventure serials, and not necessarily "super realistic", although grounded in realism. I think, for me, its easier to accept and look past stuff like the crystal skull/skeleton/alien stuff and things like Mutt swinging from vines and Indy surviving a nuclear blast in a fridge stand out more to me - I don't know why. As for the characters:
Indy: A+. Harrison Ford is still Indy, no matter what age. I thought he did great, and nothing seemed out of place. Sure, he was older, which is the running gag from everyone these days - but if I can be anywhere near that when I'm 65+, I'd be darn happy. I always enjoy watching Ford, and again he holds that nostalgia because between Han and Indy, I wanted to be him when I was a kid growing up. I think I was Indy for Halloween at least twice :P.
Mutt Williams (Henry Jones III): A. I thought he was a pretty good character, and had nice chemistry with Ford. Like Jesse mentioned, the scenes with just the two of them were really good. Also, I think Shia is a pretty good actor. I know there is sometimes the tendency to bash anyone "new" or "hot", but I think he might be a case of someone that really does have "it". As for carrying the franchise on, I don't know. It just isn't Indy without Ford, and Ford in the lead I think. Time will tell I guess, but I get the feeling that this is going somewhere (from comments we've seen over the past few months).
Marion: B. Not necessarily a whole lot to do/say, although she was in it a fair amount. It was just nice to see her back in the role. She has aged well too, and just seems to fit in the Indyverse so well.
Irina Spalko: B-. I thought this character was fine. I know some will talk about the Rocky and Bullwinkle-ish Russian accent, but I think that was how it was supposed to be. I saw a review of the movie saying that "its almost supposed to be a little funny", as that was what they were going for a bit. I can deal with that. It didn't really stand out to me too much. Her character was fine, but didn't really seem as "evil" as the Nazis or Thuggees (as was mentioned)
Dovchenko/Russians: B-. They were fine as well. Dovchenko was a good foil for Indy, and it was a nice fight between them. He didn't really have a whole heck of a lot of lines it seemed, but I thought he served the movie fine. Again, the Russians didn't seem as "bad" as the Germans did.
Mac: D. I'll agree with others, I didn't like this character much. I didn't really feel bad at all when he bit it. My wife said to me as we were walking out "I'm glad he got killed off". He wasn't likeable at all, and I'd had sooner seen Sallah back as Indy's partner-in-crime.
Ox: A. He didn't have much to do outside being crazy, but I thought Hurt was very good in the role. I liked the character overall
Overall, I thought the movie was decent - and definitely entertaining. Like I said, not quite on par with the originals, but still enjoyable. I do have a feeling that it will see a "Phantom Menace" like backlash (although not quite as extreme), while making a boatload of money. It just seems that - and I'm not directing this at anyone, because I'm the same way - we're a much pickier and more critical lot of movie-goers than we used to be. The internet has something to do with that, and to be honest, I think the prequel experience does too. There doesn't seem as many people that can just go to a movie and enjoy it, its much more dissected and analyzed now. I still watch movies like I did when I was a kid, to have "fun". Not that I can't see flaws, because I do, but it would be sad to see the Indy "name" get dragged down like Star Wars sort of did in the past 10 years. Its funny with any movie involving an iconic figure/franchise, its like that. Heck, as universally praised as a movie like Batman Begins was (I loved it), you can still see a fair amount of people online criticizing it from time to time. Just the way it is these days I guess.
Oh, forgot to mention this earlier, but I kind of liked hearing Ford utter "I've got a bad feeling about this" in the movie as well. Who's ready to see a 66 year old Han Solo again? (kidding) I remember reading that article a year or two back where Lucas was trying to talk Ford into reprising his Solo role, and Ford essentially said "no way".
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I just got back - 2 of the 3 other people I went with thought it wasn't very good, but I enjoyed it a lot. It had a few parts I could have done without and that screamed LUCAS (the monkeys, swinging on the vines, the prairie dogs) but overall I really had a good time. The idea of the alien/interdimensional being / science fiction stuff took a little getting used to though.
My friend who went with us kept telling me that I got 'Episode I'd' - as in, I liked it now but will realize a few months from now that it sucked.
Whatever.
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What was the Darabont version? Was that the one were they were going to have Kevin Costner be Indy's brother? I did notice they mentioned one of the previous script titles in the movie.
Haven't heard that one.
All pervious drafts have been kept under tight wraps. We do know that John Hurt's character was supposed to be Abner Ravenwood though and that Ford and Speilberg both loved Darabont's take.
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I really, really enjoyed it, and I'm sure this is blasphemous, and I know I may be changing my tune at some point...but it was my favorite Indy movie. I liked it so much that it may be one of my favorite movies ever. Sure it wasn't perfect, and the Tarzan part was silly, but I loved the alien stuff. I don't know why it's any harder to get taken away into that mythology than it is the Judeo-Christian mythology from RotLA and LC.
Not a perfect film, I know, but I thought it was a pretty great one.
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I agree. Not a perfect film but fun. As I think most of us, I plan on seeing it again this summer.
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I litteraly bluttered out NO!!!!! in the theatre when Mutt almost put Indy's hat on at the end of the movie. I really can't see that kid carrying the torch on his own or with the old man as his sidekick.
I did enjoy the flick though and I've remained mostly spoiler free so the alien/UFO thing was actually kinda cool.
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Anne & I just got back. In short...
I hated it. I want my 2 hours back.
The End.
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So why did the Russians need to break into Area 51 for an alien if they had already dissected a few of them?
Why were there only two or three natives guarding the skull? Why did they stop chasing the Jones boys?
We should be used to Indiana having greedy friends, but can anyone explain why Indiana allowed him to tag along after the revelation that he was working for the Russians?
Why is the Russian lady carrying a sword? Why does she have a box of swords?
How to Marion get brought into the film, again? What relation did she have with anyone that made her relevant? I know this was answered, but I stepped out of the theater for a second and I think I missed it.
I'm bothered that alien skeletons come back to life to form a single, living alien.
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I'm bothered that alien skeletons come back to life to form a single, living alien.
'cause aliens don't really do that, right?
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So why did the Russians need to break into Area 51 for an alien if they had already dissected a few of them?
I need to see this again and I can't answer this question right now.
Why were there only two or three natives guarding the skull? Why did they stop chasing the Jones boys?
I thought there were only two which, the guardians probably figured, would be enough. Didn't Indy knock one out with a shovel? And he killed one with the Warrior's own blowgun dart.
We should be used to Indiana having greedy friends, but can anyone explain why Indiana allowed him to tag along after the revelation that he was working for the Russians?
Because he told Indy he was a double agent and was actually working for the CIA. Which was untrue, he lied about that, he was working for the Russians all the time.
Why is the Russian lady carrying a sword? Why does she have a box of swords?
I don't have an answer for this.
How to Marion get brought into the film, again? What relation did she have with anyone that made her relevant? I know this was answered, but I stepped out of the theater for a second and I think I missed it.
She was looking for Oxley who was missing in South America.
I'm bothered that alien skeletons come back to life to form a single, living alien.
'cause aliens don't really do that, right?
I don't think I need to expand on that.
E...
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I don't know why it's any harder to get taken away into that mythology than it is the Judeo-Christian mythology from RotLA and LC.
Well, because it's OUR history. The aliens thing needs to stay in Star Wars, ET, and Close Encounters. This plot should have involved something else in human history (myth or not), like the Spear of Destiny or the Fountain of Youth or something.
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So why did the Russians need to break into Area 51 for an alien if they had already dissected a few of them?
I need to see this again and I can't answer this question right now.
Right before they made Indy "look" at the Skull, I believe Spalko mentioned that the previous aliens/samples they examined did NOT have crystal skeletons and that's why they wanted the Roswell one - to check it for a crystal skull/skeleteon.
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Actually, the crystal skull myth is part of human history. The whole movie was based on actual South American mythology, not made up from scratch. But the conclusion with the 13 skulls in a UFO was a pretty broad extrapolation.
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Just came back from this, it about met my expectations. Although it was pretty good, it probably was my least favorite of the four films. More thoughts below...
What I Liked
Indy: It was great to see the man in the hat back in action. I'm so glad they didn't fill the film with "Hey, I'm old" jokes, which made him much more believable. Still has those rock solid fists. ;)
Mutt: I actually though Shia did a pretty good job. I agree with JJ, his scenes with Indy were the best, the back and forth banter between them was great.
Dovchenko: Great replacement for Pat Roach, kind of a cross between Vogel and the German Mechanic, and his death scene was easily the best of the movie. Covered in ants, ants crawl into mouth, then ants drag him into anthill? Nice.
Chase Sequences: For the most part, very well done, with the Marshall college chase being a standout. Despite the overuse of CGI and Mutt's ridiculous swinging from the vines, I thought the jungle chase was very cool. I would've liked to see more of the Jungle Cutter though.
The "Alien" Factor: If you look at the film as partly a homage to 50's sci-fi films, I think the alien stuff is a lot more tolerable. The way they tied it in with the City Of Gold was neat.
What I Didn't Like
Marion: Seemed kind of shoehorned in, and really, didn't do a whole lot. Her banter with Indy was priceless, and the Soviet getting annoyed was great.
Irina: I actually thought this was a great performance by Cate Blanchett, but the whole "psychic" aspect of her character was really stupid, as we never got to see it in action, other than hooking Indy up to the time machine from Napoleon Dynamite.
Nuclear Bomb: Can someone tell me how a 58 year old man can survive a nuclear explosion by climbing inside a refrigerator, getting thrown into the air, crashing, and climbing out, relatively unscathed?
Overall, I'd give it a solid 8/10. Good chase sequences, cool new characters, and a decent story. I'll probably see it again in the theater, just cause it's Indy.
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I'm bothered that alien skeletons come back to life to form a single, living alien.
'cause aliens don't really do that, right?
That's kind of a jackassed response.
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So why did the Russians need to break into Area 51 for an alien if they had already dissected a few of them?
I need to see this again and I can't answer this question right now.
Right before they made Indy "look" at the Skull, I believe Spalko mentioned that the previous aliens/samples they examined did NOT have crystal skeletons and that's why they wanted the Roswell one - to check it for a crystal skull/skeleteon.
I thought she pulled back the alien's flesh to reveal a crystal ribcage or forearm or something?
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The Russians were studying the other aliens. And yeah, she removed the skin off the one and showed off a similar crystal skull. They were trying to unlock their psychic abilities or something.
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Saw Indy last night with my family and enjoyed it. The only thing that I didn't like was the Vine swinging of Mutt and the tree rebounding on the Russians when Indy and gang drove off the cliff onto the tree. One of the best parts was with the "rope" and the sand.
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Dovchenko: Great replacement for Pat Roach, kind of a cross between Vogel and the German Mechanic, and his death scene was easily the best of the movie. Covered in ants, ants crawl into mouth, then ants drag him into anthill? Nice. I'll be spending the next five years telling people that doesn't happen and none of them will believe me because they've seen it. ::)
Nope, not nice. Not realistic to the point of being silly. Farsical in point of fact. No ants do that, anywhere. Yeah, ants are aggressive and can sting to the point of killing someone but beyond that, nope. Sorry, professional problem with Hollywood doing stupid things.
I enjoyed the movie, but Rob's buddy commenting about being Ep I'd is probably somewhat problematic. Some stuff was a bit too fantastical, but not really much more so than the mine scene in ToD. I did think the overly-CGI aspects of the jungle chase scene were too far fetched though - a duel on the back of moving vehicles? Yeah....no.
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The Nuke was pretty, though.
8)
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they could have MADE a great movie around the "ARK" being stolen or someting. Kind of a bridge between Raiders and a new trilogoly with mutt as the lead. I thought in the preiview it shows Indy hiding from the spirts in the ark? Did they cut that out? Why couldnt the Russians been after the Ark it would have been such a great story...or that Indy if trying to return the ARK to its orginal burrial site and the Russians steal it and he has to find it..or they blackmail him into finding another religious artifact or something..but Aliens???? I just hope wo ever put that Ark back into crate dosent get to nosy and lift the lid off... ;D I did think the "snake" part was the best part of the movie..I also thought what made the orginal Raiders great and even the crusade..was all the different places around the world they had to go to find the treasure...more mystery...no more aliens..and if you do make aliens can we some that we have not seen in other moview..enough with the big heads and skinny bodies..ENOUGH! FYI did anyone see that we are going to get a Jurrassic Park 4? LOL!!!! Ok with all that said I would give the movie a B...wasnt that bad but could have been much better..for god sake it only took them 19 years to make a new movie..
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I finally got to see it and...I liked it. I think I liked it a lot (was I supposed to hate it :-[ )
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I don't hate the movie... just the first and last 20 minutes. Some things that really stick out would be the tarzan scene (I thought it was funny in Return of the Jedi, when I was about four, but not in Revenge of the Sith, and definitely not in Indiana Jones), the caddyshack scene that repeated over and over and over, and I still don't like the aliens.
National Treasure meets X-Files. Meh.
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I freakin' loved the nuke blast and the iron-lined fridge, though. I don't care how ridiculous that was.
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Wow, I guess I am in the minority. i enjoyed the film a lot, but I liked the prequels too. Sure the plot was over the top, but it was fun getting to the end.
The only scene where I groaned was with the freakin' monkeys in the trees. Too much like the ewoks for me.
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I really don't see what the problem with the whole Alien Mythos is though, the time period is a perfect setting and the whole Aliens were the Gods of Ancient Egypt and South America very much is a relevent supernatural subject. I agree the Tarzan scene stunk but I didn't have a problem with the prairie dogs or the ants. I thought the Atom Bomb sequence was great (the door on the fridge said it was lead lined which is why he survived the blast). The revelation that the ark (which was a great cameo BTW) was in Area 51 was great. The plot was not too convoluted and you have to take many leaps of faith in these movies (SW too), the Russians make a wonderful enemy and I really can't wait to see who they roll out for Indy 5. Marion and Indy arguing was great, the riddles were great (reminded me a lot of Last Crusade in that respect), I loved the end machine/room/interdimensional dealio and the 13 crystal aliens.
RE: Mutt...I could see one more Indy/Mutt adventure but I think after that I would be OK with a Mutt Jones movie (especially since he'll obviously go to school and be trained as an archeologist.
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I agree with pretty much everything Scott said. I saw it with my wife, brother and brother-in-law Sunday morning. The wife and I enjoyed it immensely and the other two liked it, but didn't love it - mainly due to the whole aliens things. They felt it was just too unbelieveable. I wanted to say it was just about as unbelieveable as angels coming out of a box and melting people, a cult that rips the hearts out of people and yet they still live and drinking water out of a cup to gain immortality. Both my brother and B-i-L are religious people so I can see how they think the Ark and Holy Grail are believable and aliens aren't. That's their beliefs and I can certainly respect them, even if I don't necessarily agree with them.
I'd probably rank it third behind Raiders and Crusade and before Doom, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. I just wanted to be entertained for a couple of hours and Crystal Skull did just that, so I'm happy.
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I'd probably rank it third behind Raiders and Crusade and before Doom, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. I just wanted to be entertained for a couple of hours and Crystal Skull did just that, so I'm happy.
Mikey and Scott's posts were a lot more concise than my earlier one, but I pretty much agree with all that they said. Sure, the alien plot was "different" from what we were used to, but I can accept it with fitting in with the 50's sci-fi serials (and that it was a topic of that timeframe). Like Mikey said, it entertained me for a couple of hours, so I'm happy as well. I wouldn't mind seeing it again actually, and I'm already looking forward to the DVD. I wonder if we'll get an Indy 5 (or beyond) now, it sounds like it did pretty well at the box office this weekend (domestic and worldwide).
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I didn't have a problem with the prairie dogs or the ants.
I don't like you anymore.
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I finally got to see it and...I liked it. I think I liked it a lot (was I supposed to hate it :-[ )
The more I reflect on this movie, the more I like it too. I need to see it a few more times in the theatres.
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According to boxoffice mojo, Indiana Jones has the largest openning weekend grosses for this year. It did $151,081,00 domesticly and $146,388,656 foreign. Somebody out there must like this movie.
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I didn't have a problem with the prairie dogs or the ants.
I don't like you anymore.
I lived in Guyana, South America for ten months, and I was regularly chased home by ants exactly like that. One time they caught my roommate, overcame him, crawled into his mouth and began eating his entire body, and then dragged the remains into a big anthill. It sucked, because that month I had to pay rent all by myself.
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I didn't have a problem with the prairie dogs or the ants.
I don't like you anymore.
I lived in Guyana, South America for ten months, and I was regularly chased home by ants exactly like that. One time they caught my roommate, overcame him, crawled into his mouth and began eating his entire body, and then dragged the remains into a big anthill. It sucked, because that month I had to pay rent all by myself.
One time I saw ghosts jump out of a box and melt everyone.
Another time, some guy ripped another guy's heart from his chest, but the guy was still alive.
And there was that one time that a guy drank from a cup, then he dried up and became a skeleton in just a few seconds.
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Whatever. You're making that stuff up. ::)
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According to boxoffice mojo, Indiana Jones has the largest openning weekend grosses for this year. It did $151,081,00 domesticly and $146,388,656 foreign. Somebody out there must like this movie.
Actually, that's the total it made in its first 5 days. For the actual "weekend" (Friday/Saturday/Sunday), it made $100,137,835 ... narrowly outgrossing Iron Man's opening weekend by roughly $1.5 million. If you count Memorial Day, it made $126,917,373 for the four-day weekend.
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Wow, you guys have lived in some crazy places and seen some crazy stuff.
My personal story, I saw a guy once fly out of the front of a truck, catch himself on the grill guard, slide under the truck by hanging onto the frame and then get drug behind it for a mile at high speed before pulling himself onto the back and then getting back into the cab and kicking the drivers ass. Oh yeah, he also whipped about 10 guys asses before he did that. You guys are so full of it. ;)
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Well, I really did live in Guyana for ten months, and there were really big ants.
The rest might be...a slight exaggeration.
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I knew a dude like that. He got in a bar fight, kicked all sorts of ass, even throwing a meat skewer into this other dude's chest, then the dude jumped out a window, and went through three awnings into a friggin' car. Not only that, but this dude was so crazy he did all this stuff with poison in him, AND, he let some little kid drive his car!
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This is getting old real quick...
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Well, I really did live in Guyana for ten months, and there were really big ants.
The rest might be...a slight exaggeration.
Didn't MacGyver fight killer ants?
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A moose once bit my sister.
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Jim Ward keeps a trained army of killer ants as pets.
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Jim Ward keeps an trained army of killer ants as pets.
NOOOO!!!! :o
Jim Ward misses all of the attention. :-\
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Jim Ward. I hate that guy.
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In honor of Indy 4's 10th anniversary today, I may have to give this a rewatch to see if I still hate it as much as I did back then.
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I will celebrate the anniversary by still denying this film's existence.