Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[IrishJedi]

I'm still waiting for the-- Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spielberg raped my childhood comments.

Oh, I think some people shot way beyond that already.

But, again, I also predict some will soften over time and even put the knives away. This movie is no RAIDERS at all, but it's no TPM, either.

 

[DarthNeil]

Oh, I think some people shot way beyond that already.

But, again, I also predict some will soften over time and even put the knives away. This movie is no RAIDERS at all, but it's no TPM, either.

Agree 100%... Of course Mac's "Jonesy" cries were starting to annoy me like a certain Gungan... Not to mention Indy's constant calls of "Oxy"...

 

[BadMoon]

Ok now that the dust has settled and I am calm I shall now write in fairness what I did like.

-The snake part
-The wedding at the end (although seen that one coming)
-The arc appearance
-I actually thought the fight in the diner was funny
-The hat at the end when Indy takes it from Mutt
-Even thought it was in the trailer I loved the swing into the truck "Damn, I thought that was closer"
-I also liked the way they did the cameo for his father. (I don't understand why he isn't still alive if he drank from the grail. Wasn't that instant immortality? That may be a negative so I will drop it.)
-The library scene when the student asks him questions
-Also liked Indy's backstory (Him being in the military and winning many medals)

Well there you have it. That is what I did like about the movie.

 

[EVILFACE]

To me it looked like they were trying to match the effects of the original movies in look. I guess that at least worked out well for them, IF it is what they were going for.

 

[Indiana Fett]

To me it looked like they were trying to match the effects of the original movies in look. I guess that at least worked out well for them, IF it is what they were going for.

My understanding is that is the case. Of course given the technology today, there had to be some CGI to really expand the immense size of everything, but over all, I liked that a lot of stuff still looked kinda crappy in places...on purpose for that 'look'.

 

[icruise]

-I also liked the way they did the cameo for his father. (I don't understand why he isn't still alive if he drank from the grail. Wasn't that instant immortality? That may be a negative so I will drop it.)

Again, they made it clear in Last Crusade that to be immortal you had to stay inside the grail temple.

 

[KrisSolo]

Again, they made it clear in Last Crusade that to be immortal you had to stay inside the grail temple.

I got that you had to keep drinking from the Grail to remain alive/immortal. Merely a sip might give you a few extra years and cure any health worries at that time, but beyond that you'd bite the big one like everyone else. The knight had lived so long cause he drank from the cup all day, every day. That's why the last shot of him was so poignant for me - now the Grail was gone he was doomed to die alone in that temple.

Just my .02 on TLC

And I still LOVED Crystal Skull. I too think that, given a little time/distance it'll grow on the haters... LIKE POISON IVY! MU-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

[BadMoon]

Again, they made it clear in Last Crusade that to be immortal you had to stay inside the grail temple.

Ahhh like the knight. Well that at least clears up that for me. Thanks!

 

[Jesseawilson]

Saw it last night and I have completely stayed away from this thread until now so I have had no idea what has been written before my post.

I was extremely disappointed in the movie. I absolutely see George Lucas all over this in the same way he was overtly all over TPM. The first 30 minutes were the worst part of the movie IMO. It felt like the acting was off, the dialog was sub par, and the "humor" felt extremely forced and very unnatural. Harrison's voice was all over the place in the beginning and you could tell some of the parts that were dubbed in. He was really far too old to do this, it felt wrong. 10 years ago was really about the last chance to have the potential to pull it off.

Lastly, COME ON....... ALIENS!!????!!!!???!!! WTF! The inclusion of aliens was a HUGE cop out on GL's part. It's like he didn't want to take the effort to make a really in depth story involving ancient artifacts and the history surrounding them so he just threw in some aliens and then worked backwards from there. No wonder they didn't want the end getting leaked, nobody would have gone to see it. How do you go from Sankara stone, the Arc of the Covenant, and the Holy Grail then to aliens. I mean seriously, come on. Even in the first one the furthest they went with it was some sort of ancient supernatural voodoo power that lay behind the stone and people followed along happily. The reaction in the theater last night was overwhelming, there was 1 or 2 people that gave a half hearted clap or two but the rest was just silence and utter shock at the disgrace that was just committed on the Indy franchise and Indy Fans everywhere by George Lucas.

If I had any respect for George Lucas after mildly redeeming himself with ROTS it is completely gone after last night.

Anyway, time to go read the thread now........

 

[nash]

Ok, I dont have the time to read this whole thread.

So can anyone tell me honestly....what was the big deal about returning the skull? The legend says you gain control over its powers....but at the end, what would that have been? The lady got her eyes burnt out and disintegrated.....so Indy should have just let them have it instead of going through the whole movie trying to rescue the damn thing....which imo tells me that the plot line is pointless as is the movie.

 

[BadMoon]

Ok, I dont have the time to read this whole thread.

So can anyone tell me honestly....what was the big deal about returning the skull? The legend says you gain control over its powers....but at the end, what would that have been? The lady got her eyes burnt out and disintegrated.....so Indy should have just let them have it instead of going through the whole movie trying to rescue the damn thing....which imo tells me that the plot line is pointless as is the movie.

I think I missed the boat on that too.

 

[OSCORP]

Saw it last night and I have completely stayed away from this thread until now so I have had no idea what has been written before my post.

I was extremely disappointed in the movie. I absolutely see George Lucas all over this in the same way he was overtly all over TPM. The first 30 minutes were the worst part of the movie IMO. It felt like the acting was off, the dialog was sub par, and the "humor" felt extremely forced and very unnatural. Harrison's voice was all over the place in the beginning and you could tell some of the parts that were dubbed in. He was really far too old to do this, it felt wrong. 10 years ago was really about the last chance to have the potential to pull it off.

Lastly, COME ON....... ALIENS!!????!!!!???!!! WTF! The inclusion of aliens was a HUGE cop out on GL's part. It's like he didn't want to take the effort to make a really in depth story involving ancient artifacts and the history surrounding them so he just threw in some aliens and then worked backwards from there. No wonder they didn't want the end getting leaked, nobody would have gone to see it. How do you go from Sankara stone, the Arc of the Covenant, and the Holy Grail then to aliens. I mean seriously, come on. Even in the first one the furthest they went with it was some sort of ancient supernatural voodoo power that lay behind the stone and people followed along happily. The reaction in the theater last night was overwhelming, there was 1 or 2 people that gave a half hearted clap or two but the rest was just silence and utter shock at the disgrace that was just committed on the Indy franchise and Indy Fans everywhere by George Lucas.

If I had any respect for George Lucas after mildly redeeming himself with ROTS it is completely gone after last night.

Anyway, time to go read the thread now........

You blame lucas way too much. The aliens thing mostly falls upon Spielberg

 

[BadMoon]

You blame lucas way too much. The aliens thing mostly falls upon Spielberg

Yeah I don't know where I have seen that ending before.

 

[IrishJedi]

You blame lucas way too much. The aliens thing mostly falls upon Spielberg

WRONG. Spielberg and Ford actually fought against the alien/UFO element for years, but it was Lucas who persisted and won out.

 

[Michael Crawford]

Well, I felt compelled to go with a longer winded review of the film. It's under the Features section bottom right.

https://www.mwctoys.com

My favorite part, quoting myself: "When this film was announced, people were afraid that Harrison Ford was too old. They were wrong - it's George and Steven that are too old. They were once artists that broke new ground and blazed new trails, but it's been many years and many movies since either did that. Now they seem only capable of traveling back down well worn paths, exploiting tired clichés and revisiting all too familiar territory."

 

[Jesseawilson]

You blame lucas way too much. The aliens thing mostly falls upon Spielberg

I am afraid you are very far off in that assumption. The way it works is: the writers IE George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson write the story and then the director directs the actors and the making of the movie.


For his part I think Spielberg did what he could with the script and I don't particularly blame him for the movie.

 

[OSCORP]

Huh? I just got done reading a magazine article on IJ, and they were talking about Roswell and stuff and it mentions that Steven was the one really pushing for the sci-fi/aliens bit (i'll have to go back and re-read it)

 

[IrishJedi]

Huh? I just got done reading a magazine article on IJ, and they were talking about Roswell and stuff and it mentions that Steven was the one really pushing for the sci-fi/aliens bit (i'll have to go back and re-read it)

Yeah, you do that. Because you either misread it or the writer of that article doesnt know what the hell they're talking about.

This is one of the most documented aspects of the production.

 

[Gruff Old Bear]

I think that Lucas and Spielberg should be forced to turn in their DGA Cards and retire after making this film.

That reminded me of an interesting story. Lucas has no DGA card to turn in; he's not a DGA member anymore.

Lucas turned in his DGA card back when the DGA tried to force him to put the credits to Empire Strikes Back at the top so the director's credit would appear in the final position before the movie started (they had just won a guarantee of this positioning in their collective bargaining agreement). The DGA fined Irvin Kershner something like $35,000 for accepting the credit format Lucas wanted -- the identical format to Star Wars three years earlier. Lucas paid Kershner's fine, resigned from the DGA, and said that he would never shoot in America again. And he kept his word, at least regarding Star Wars; he used a British director for the third film and based production of both it and the prequels in England. I think the first Indy films were also based at Pinewood Studios. I don't know about the Young Indy television series; by the time it rolled around I wasn't paying attention.

Ironically enough, the DGA's specifications for the director's credit were later modified to either last card at the opening or first card at the end. But Lucas has never returned. I doubt very much that the DGA ever apologized. It's not their style.

I'm curious whether any shooting on Indy IV took place in the U.S. It could have; Speilberg is a DGA member and award-winner, the billing in KOCS meets current DGA requirements, and Lucas' position as producer isn't an issue for DGA. Anybody know? It would have been Lucas' first American-shot footage in 28 years.

Robert Rodriguez also quit the DGA over their refusal to allow him to share directing credit with Frank Miller on Sin City. At the time, Rodriguez indicated that he had no problem dropping out and rejoining as it suited him so that the DGA could have its sovereignty over creative rights and he could make his movie the way he wanted. And I think Quentin Tarantino has been in-and-out over the DGA's rigidity with regard to its negotiated creative protections.

I know you were speaking figuratively, but thought you might be interested to know.



God I'm old. I actually remember this stuff from back when it happened.

 

[OSCORP]

I'll take your word for it since your the board certified Indy Geek IJ.I myself can't comment much on the film yet as i have not seen it yet, i will be tonight. (i hope i like it as i have no problem with aliens like some here seem to have) But the reviews from you guys so far are not good, I hope i'm in the minority.