Indiana Jones IV

[Voltron]

Spoiler:

That. Was. Ridiculous. Way to jump the shark, George. At least make the alien Greedo, George.

[Andrew NDB]

My mini reviews:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (came out in 1984, set in 1935):
Good fun, no problem with it whatsoever. I totally understand people finding it the weakest of the three Indy movies so far, but the outright dislike of it still baffles me. I think it's fun to see a little bit more of a brash, "Honor and glory" Indy before he came a little bit more down to Earth in Raiders and Last Crusade. Viewing the films in proper chronological order of Temple => Raiders => Last Crusade actually gave me a better appreciation of Temple of Doom, and I suspect it would have gotten better appreciation at large had it actually been released first, serving as a bit of a slow-burn to the larger, significantly more epic installments.


Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc (came out in 1981, set in 1936):
I watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc (heh) after watching Temple of Doom... yeah, what the guys smoking talking about Temple of Doom is darker? I get that most of the cinematography is dark and dank for most of the movie back in Temple of Doom... but Raiders is about 10 times as dark and macabre as ToD.

Temple of Doom, aside from the Monkey Brain platter, all we see that's particularly "Oh!"ing is just the dude getting his heart pulled out.

In Raiders... let's see... we've got a guy getting run through an airplane propeller, a couple guys' faces melting off (bloodily and visibly), bullets to the head, men crushed under vehicles... did we see the same movies?

But yes, I get it. The problem with Temple of Doom is that it ends up being about ten times less epic than either Raiders or Last Crusade.

Raiders gets a decent edge over Temple of Doom for me, though not because of Billie or Short Round or anything like that.

At any rate, easily the best, no-nonsense, most epic Indy movie there is that's as gritty an Indiana Jones movie as we'll likely ever get.


Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (came out in 1989, set in 1938 ):
Always fun, always a treat. Though I'd watched it with her before, I quizzed my girlfriend and she seemed to like this one best of all 3, citing the humor and family aspect of it... but that's her thing.

It is certainly the most "fun" of the first three Indiana Jones movies. It retains the epic, globe-trottingness of Raiders while still delivering more or less what is expected of an Indiana Jones movie by this point. Connery is great stunt-casting, but moreover has fantastic chemistry with Junior... can't go wrong here.

Many steps below the grit of Raiders and Temple, though Last Crusade still checks in to give us the withering/dusting scenes when a couple of folks "Choose poorly."


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (came out in 2008, set in 1957):
Perfect. Well, near perfect, but exactly what I'd hoped and imagined with all the "It's been 20 years, it better be a ****ing masterpiece to end all masterpieces, a return of Indy that will make the Earth tremble and God cry!" set firmly aside.

Spielburg wasn't lying. The movie kind of makes no bones about it really, truly being one for the fans. The nuggets with, "Oh look, it's the Arc from the first movie," the nods to Indy's dad, the surprisingly large role for Marion, the happily ever after wedding at the end... it's a big gift-wrapped package for Indy fans, and you can tell Spielburg and company had a blast doing this.

My thoughts are a bit scattered on things, so bear with me...

* It's easily the least gritty of all four films, even considerably below Last Crusade. About as gritty as it gets is the "Giant Ants" (and for the record, when I read there'd be giant ants in the movie I was thinking... giant ants... like, doberman-size ants or larger still) devouring a couple of Russians... but we don't really see anything as the people are literally... covered in ants. Ah well, not a big deal.

* Delightful chemistry with Indy and Marion. Better than I expected, far better. It literally looks like they're not even acting at all, and maybe they're not.

* So pretty much everybody's expectations about Mutt being Indy's son turn out to be true. This was the kind of thing I was really holding out, going, "Damn it, you just KNOW everyone is expecting this kid to turn out to be Indy's son... I'm going to gamble that it's not, it's just some student that becomes entangled in things." But nope, it's his son, and what happened between Indy and Marion and the kid all pretty much play out exactly like anyone would expect (he left, she had a kid, she married someone else, blah blah). It's played well though, I had far less of a problem with it after seeing it.

* The aliens. Only... it doesn't really turn out that they're aliens at all, does it? "The space in between space," "interdimensional aliens"... what? This just smacks as Spielburg and Lucas trying to be a little bit different for the sake of different. Oh, for ****'s sake, just have the damned saucer fly off into space... no one is going to care that we've seen it in X-Files and Close Encounters. But I really liked the angle, I liked the way it way played up and still not gotten into at ridiculous levels. People complaining about the inclusion of aliens at all don't really understand Indiana Jones at all... the first three were sendups of the 1930s serials... and here we are in the 50s, and now we're up to the "saucermen from Mars!" serials.

* Henry Jones III and the Case of the Vine-Swinging Monkeys. Yeah. For a few moments there it felt like I was watching a parody movie or something... truly awful, and yet this is the only bad thing I can say about the movie at all. But it's really bad, and completely random.

* Shia made me nervous going in but calmed my worries fairly early on. He does OK here. Still, dude needs at least another 10 years under his belt before he's to serve as any kind of replacement Indy. Easy.



Liked Cate, like Ray, great casting all around. Good fun, and a pretty sensible addition to the Indiana Jones legacy.

I'd rate the movies:

1) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc
2) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

But I really find it hard to rate them. Yes all four share the same kind of motif, and yes the four all share a similar vibe... but something about each of them makes each one so unique, so in and of itself. Like, with Temple of Doom, I truly love it, it's an awesome movie... and yet I feel compelled to mark it lower than the rest, not because it's any less of a movie or experience than the others, but rather because it's less of an epic, less of an overall "Big" story. It's not a failing, it's just incidental of the story.

But ah, hell, that's enough about this. I need to watch the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles sometime.

[Raph's Girl]

Originally Posted by Jester

Spoiler:

That reminds me, what's with movies that have 13 beings that need to be reunited so a portal to another realm can be opened....*coff* TMNT *coff*

Spoiler:

Uh... You apperantly don't know the legend. According to legend there's 13 Skulls and at least 8 have been discovered in the last 500 years. Indy even mentioned seeing 3 of the real ones. According to legend the 13 Skulls have to be found before December 2012 or we'll be doomed or some weird stuff.

One of the legends of the Skulls is that they were built by Atlantians. There's many stories surrounding them. But ALL of them say there's 13.

You need to check out this website. http://www.crystal-skull.com This is the website of the skull known as Synergy. The other known ones are E.T. ,The Mitchell-Hodgkins Skull (aka The Skull of Doom), British museum skull, Max the Texas Skull, Paris skull, Mayan Skull, and Amythyst Skull. Indy mentions the Mitchell-Hodgkins, British, and Paris skulls to Mutt.

Read about the history of Synergy. It's really fascinating all the cultures that have the skull in their legends...and that they all seem to mention the "People of the Sky"

Here's another site that has info on the Skulls:
http://skepdic.com/crystalskull.html

[That Matt Guy]

had to come here and say i liked it.

Spoiler:

the ufo stuff fits in good with the 50's cold war era setting. anyone crying that its not grounded in reality or realistic either has no imagination or forgot everything ridiculous from the other movies.

funny people saying this isnt good are the same people that enjoyed that transformers **** fest from last year.

dont reply because i wont read it

[Raph's Girl]

Just a heads up folks. The Crystal Skull in this movie is apperantly not the first time Indy deals with one (or 2 or 3 or). I decided to look up the Indy novels as there are many I hadn't read yet. I noticed that Barnes & Nobel has had 4 in particular on sale for the last couple weeks.

Now I know why...these 4 novels involve Indiana Jones, Nazi's, followers of Mousilini, and a Crystal Skull (the Crystal Skull of Cozan to be exact)! They're set in the years 1933 - 1935.

In order they are:
Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone
Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs
Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth
Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx

You can find info on all the novels (note 8 of them are written by a German man and have never been translated into english. These are not considered canon by George Lucas...however the others are canon... No wonder Indy wasn't thrilled about learning about another Skull. )

http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Novels

[tOkKa]

-->> ..Was lookin around for this..


hope you guys like it ..

Large size @ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2093/...e3554a03_o.jpg


>v<

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by That Matt Guy

dont reply because i wont read it

Spoken like a true coward.

I hated Transformers and found this movie not even close to the classic trilogy.

I liked a lot of it, it definatly has a place in the structure, it's not offensively bad, but some of it dipped into obvious self-parody and handshakes that just annoyed me immensly. The actors all did their best with the material, and it's the only time you have a heart for the classic style whenever they eat up the scenery. With the effects of the classic trilogy, something with effort, the story would have a better grounding, and not be excedingly schizophrensic moving from "Lively Action/Adventure Serial" to "Rocky and Bullwinkle"

I dont want to be reminded of great success, I want to see the heart to aspire for success on it's own merits, I want a story where technology and characters deepen and explore things we havent considered. Just because structurally, it's been years since the last one, doesnt mean you have to SAY it to the audience.

Speilberg and Lucas were always advocates of the kind of complaicent special effects we have now. To them, they wont stop until they can film a whole movie on their desktop with nude actors being rendered with clothes. No franchise is safe from their perfectionist aspirations. The only problem is, they wont turn their heads and say "oh this effect is a little mild isnt it?", theyll say "This effect is much less milder than it was two minutes ago, that's progress, keep it in the movie, we'll get less milder next time"

And the ending was so "Buzz Lightyear" you have to take a pregnancy test to check whenever or not you're giving birth to homosexual tendencies in large doses.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

And the ending was so "Buzz Lightyear" you have to take a pregnancy test to check whenever or not you're giving birth to homosexual tendencies in large doses.

Wait....what the heck does that even mean?

[Voltron]

I'm with Jester. . .I'm completely lost by that one, Zarius.

[Ra]

Buzz Lightyear impregnates everyone in the audience once the credits start rolling?

[Voltron]

To the genitalia, AND BEYOND!

[Mr. Snackpants]

How packed were your theaters? We got there 10-15 minutes early and there were only very front row seats left. I've never had a problem like this before. Apparently all the shows were selling out early in advance...even some for tonight.

Some thoughts:

Spoiler:

I'm a big Indy fan and I wanted this to be so badass, but I kept my expectations low and I ended up leaving satisfied.
I liked Shia, he was good.
....but the monkey scene was indeed pretty stupid
I like the Alien idea but I felt it just went way, way too far, I know it's an Indy movie, but like someone said before the other movies were much more believable. It shouldn't of went as far as the Alien coming to life(?) and flying away in a giant spaceship.

[cowabunga14]

Saw this last night and I thought it was -- for the most part -- enjoyable. I don't think the sci-fi element -- if it's alright to call it that -- took too much away from the movie. My only problems with the movie were the action was sometimes too far-fectched and the story was slighty weak. 7/10 for me.

[Warhorse]

Just got back from seeing it. I loved it, and thought Cate Blanchet was brilliant as the villain. Every role I see her in, the more I like her as an actress. She's slowly becoming my favorite actress now.

This is my second favorite Indy movie behind Temple of Doom. It was a wonderful rollercoaster, and I love it how this adventure series for the family could just keep going and going like the energizer bunny.

Spoiler:

I always been a fan and a believer in extraterrestials, and thought it was about time Indy had something to do with the phenomenom, so I wasn't dissappointed or crying about that. And I loved all of the funny scenes in this movie. The only thing I was expecting, when they were showing the Amazon river on the map, I was suspecting that the movie would feature a giant anaconda, although the regular rat snake was just as fun.

So, here, I give this movie an enthusiastic two thumbs up, and I am also a fan of the Transformers movie that came out. And Indy IV was the best movie I have seen in the theater in a long time. Last movie I gave thumbs up that I liked was 3:10 to Yuma. Everything else just sucked or I'll wait for the dvd.

[Raph's Girl]

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index...d=54790&type=0

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull unearthed an estimated $126 million since its opening at 12:01 a.m. May 22, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

That includes an estimated $101 million from Friday to Sunday, which followed a first-day Thursday gross of $25 million. Paramount also projected a $25 million haul for Monday, which would give the first Indy sequel in 19 years a five-day total of $151 million.

That would compare with $151.1 million tally posted by last year's Spider-Man 3, a best-ever weekend opening.

Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith recorded the highest-grossing first five days of any picture before or since: $172.8 million after debuting on a Thursday before a non-holiday weekend in May 2005.

Meanwhile, Disney was projecting a Friday-Sunday gross of $23 million for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. That represented a 58 percent drop from the opening weekend to finish in second place through Monday for a 10-day total of $91.1 million.

Iron Man placed third for the weekend with an estimated three-day haul of $20.1 million and an estimated $25.6 million through Monday. The holiday-bolstered gross is expected to raise the hit movie's total to $257.8 million, making it by far 2008's best-grossing movie to date.

[Revan]

I was just thinking. They did a really good job keeping the alien plot quiet. In all the trailers I saw, not for a second did I guess they would be chasing down an alien skull. Nor did I predict the damn ship would take off at the end. Kudos to the marketing team

[Toonami Tom]

I feel the same way. Before seeing the movie, I pretty much had no idea there would be aliens involved.

[odupianist]

Saw it last night. I don't mind the alien factor BUT they went too far with it. As you said Neutrino, I didn't expect an alien crystal skull. I was kind of disappointed with them taking the crystall skull thing and making it an alien skull not a human skull or whatever you want to take it as.

Shia did alright. I hated him in Transformers. He was good in Constantine. The monkey thing was crap though. Other than the aliens and the monkeys, it was pretty believeable. My buddy says it's not a true Indy film bc the other films deal with religion moreso than this one did.

As for the fridge thing, I don't see that part as too ridiculous. Jester, did you know, one of the first ideas for Back to the Future, had a fridge on a nuclear site as the time machine. Then Zemeckis decided he didn't need kids climbing in fridges lol.

[Jester]

Really now. I'm glad they went with the Delorian. That car rocks.

[Tinuvielsdreams]

I had tried really hard not to hear anything about this movie before I saw it but I couldn't avoid some of the negative reviews it had been getting. I went in very open and hopefully and honestly I enjoyed it minus a few things...

Just on the note of Indy it's amazing the older he gets the more awesome and unbeatable he gets

Spoiler:

The way he sneaked up on that graveyard guy and blew the poison dark back into the guy's mouth, Indy is like stealth and ninja like

Spoiler:

The fridge things was hilarious and completely unreasonable at the same time. I did like that the tag was clearly shown reading lead lined as he climbed into it.

The Mutt character that Shia played actually wasn't too bad

Spoiler:

Except for the vine swing which was a huge WTF and the fight where is straddled between the two jeeps taking crotch shots I could have done without those...it got a little silly. Love the American Graffiti feel at the beginning and the greaser jock fight in the soda parlor

The Dialogue between Indy and Marion was great, I think they did a good job handling their relationship and the mood between them.

and then the end well....

Spoiler:

I am just surprised ET didn't make a cameo I think using Aliens was okay and eventually yeah I bet Indy would encounter them but the Aliens face right before he basically exploded Cate Blanchette was hilarious and all my friends kept yelling Alien Stinkface the rest of the night. Wait I'm sorry Inter-dimensional traveler Stink face...