Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[Andy 60]

Soooo... Has anybody else seen this yet?

I saw it earlier today and yeah I can see why

people thought the aliens were abit far-fetched

, but to be fair to the film... Which of the Indy movies HASN'T required a suspension of belief... They others have the power of god in them and (no offence) but I find that just as unbelievable.

Overall I thought it was a worthy addition to the Indy series. Cheesiness set to maximum, but that's what we've come to know and expect, right?

Oh, and I loved the little nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark. hehe!

Edited June 3, 2008 by Andy

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

i cracked up when i saw that box.

[Andy 60]

I wonder if they are actually going to do the final Indy film?

Apparently the original contract Lucas, Spielberg, and Ford signed with Paramount Pictures in the '70s was for 5 films. Hmm...

[Winters 0]

Soooo... Has anybody else seen this yet?

I saw it earlier today and yeah I can see why

people thought the aliens were abit far-fetched

, but to be fair to the film... Which of the Indy movies HASN'T required a suspension of belief... They others have the power of god in them and (no offence) but I find that just as unbelievable.

Overall I thought it was a worthy addition to the Indy series. Cheesiness set to maximum, but that's what we've come to know and expect, right?

Oh, and I loved the little nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark. hehe!

FINALLY someone who agrees with me... you do have to to suspend belief!

But let's face it... Indiana Jones is unstoppable... even more so than a cute little bunny rabbit... forcryingoutloud, can a cute little bunny rabbit survive a whoknowshowmany megaton blast that's well less than a kilometre or two...? And in a frige!? ONLY the great Indiana Jones can, and that's why I wear a Fedora everywhere I go... to ensure I survive nuclear explosions!

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

*snickers at the filter*

i think i have some of those bunnies in my backyard.

[Andy 60]

Yeah, bunny rabbits are pretty unstoppable. Never let one get in my way since I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. lol

[Winters 0]

What happened to the CN? That's filtered...? For bloody crying out loud...

[Ayingel 24]

the only issue that elyse and i had with the movie was that we could predict everything that was going to happen. for instance...

they arrived at the warehouse and elyse said "hmm...i think the ark is in there." low and behold....

also... me saying "i bet its an alien!"

mustn't forget... "he's gonna be his kid!" ouch...saw that one coming...

and... "oooh! i'll bet when she puts the skull on she'll burst into flames!"

but yeah...totally think there's going to be another movie with shia for sure.

[Andy 60]

What happened to the CN? That's filtered...? For bloody crying out loud...

Long story. :p

[Chickenman 9]

God that movie sucked.

[Andy 60]

You just said an Indiana Jones film sucked.

Be gone with you! :p

[Chickenman 9]

No I didn't. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn't an Indiana Jones movie. Not even close.

[Andy 60]

I thought it was pretty in-keeping with the rest of the Indy films, actually. *shrug*

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

it just wasn't as good as the other Indy films. typical.

[Ayingel 24]

that's what director's get for adding on to movies that really don't need to be added on to, way after their prime...

[Chickenman 9]

Where should I start?

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The problem begins with the title. Lucas was quoted as saying that he found the Crystal Skulls to be just as powerful as the Ark of the Covenant. Proving that George Lucas has lost his ewoking mind. They're skulls carved out of quartz that seem so perfectly cut, they MUST be supernatural. It's the only explanation. Never mind the fact that they've all been proven to be fakes. The maddening thing is, there was going to be an episode of Young Indy that was going to center on the Crystal Skulls, but the series ended before they could get to it. If they had been able to film that episode we wouldn't have had to deal with this s***ty movie.

Prairie dogs.

HAR-LARIOUS!!!!1!! You really needed to show them three (I think) times. They got funnier with each one. Nevermind the CGI made them look like ewoking cartoons. Caddyshack did better with a ewoking puppet.

Area 51.

No.

Aliens.

I know that every Indiana Jones adventure is about him finding some object of mystical power. Fine. I can deal with that. Aliens is just too much. Indiana Jones is not a science fiction series, and should never be. Plus, God/Shiva (and many more if you read the comics and books and games) never actually manifested themselves in their movies, which kept said movies fairly realistic until the very end. No chance at this one.

Nuking the fridge.

Indiana Jones survives a nuclear explosion by hiding in a lead refrigerator. At ground zero. That's not crafty thinking on Indiana Jones' part. That's a ewoking cartoon. That's a safe landing on Daffy Duck and then him climbing out from the inside. Not only does he survive the initial explosion, but he survives whipping through the air for miles in a block of lead, rudely crashing to the ground. He doesn't break a bone in his body doing so? More importantly, the fridge door doesn't open during this flight? He simply rolls out and stands up. What the ewok? You'll notice he also flew past an army truck in the process. Which means an army truck outran a nuclear bomb??????

McCarthyism

Why did they include this as a theme in the movie? We know the fifties sucked. Shut up. Indiana Jones movies aren't about politics. You notice he never critiqued Mein Kampf during Raiders? No. The Nazis were just a faceless enemy for the audience to root against. They should have done the same thing with the Russians.

Mutt Williams.

God-awful character. First of all, Lewis ewoking Stevens from Even Stevens is not an action hero. I love Shia Labeouf, I do. But he really should focus on his considerable comedy talents than on trying to be this action hero he seems to be aiming for. I'm a fifties biker that acts nothing like the sort! <Fonzie>Aaay!</Fonzie> This is supposed to be the star of the new Indiana Jones movies? Especially the name. "Indiana Jones" sounds like adventure. "Mutt Jones" sounds like what you'd call a puddle of vomit after giving it a cute little hat.

Oxley

Useless character.

Marion Ravenwood

They destroyed Marion?! She was by far the best of Indy's love interests. But in this one she's not...well, herself. Gone is the badass-ness. She shows up to tell Indy that Mutt is his son, then just bickers with him for awhile. She actually is pretty badass during the chase through the jungle, but that's gone in a few moments. Then she pretty much disappears for the rest of the ewoking movie only to show up at the end, getting married to Indy.

The Jungle Chase

Garish (Garish!) use of CGI. The plants looked fake as hell. Mutt's duel had the chance to be really awesome, but his perfect balance on a jeep that was supposed to be racing through a jungle made it sucky as hell. Where the hell was Indiana Jones during most of this?

George of the Jungle

Here's the thing. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are two of the most gifted cinematic storytellers of our time. WHAT THE ewok MADE THEM POSSIBLY THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA??? You could maybe sweep it aside if it had just been Mutt swinging on the vines, but he's joined by a fleet of monkeys??? I thought it couldn't get worse until he actually did the Tarzan howl. Then the monkeys attack the Russians and knock their jeep off a cliff. As they are wont to do in the wild, of course.

Three Water Falls

There was a time when Speilberg would have made Indy falling down ONE waterfall an incredible dramatic cliffhanger. He would have made it an incredible scene. Instead, they have to drop down three, pausing only long enough to get back into the vehicle and do it again. Three waterfalls? Survive one waterfall, and we'll talk. Back to back to back, and look they survived, let's move on.

Aliens Part 2

So the alien comes back to life when you give it it's sketletal head. Great. And they're not aliens? They came from another dimension. Wow. Profound. That makes them completely un-sucky. My mistake. Russian dies because she's too greedy, everyone escapes, blah blah blah. Wait...what's that spinning. What's that-. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SPINNNG! No, no no! Don't tell me this is what I think it is? Oh god, it is. The temple is opening up...and here comes a flying saucer, I knew it! What the ewok?! Come on! Wait! These are aliens from another dimension. Why are they flying into space? Don't do that! Stop! Damn it!

Mutt Williams is Going to Be the New Indiana Jones

Not that the character proved he's worth it, but Lucas needs to be executed and Spielberg needs a swift warning kick to the balls before this travesty can happen.

Indy's Old

The point of Indy's age should have been that he still kicked ass anyway. Throughout the movie they kept referencing it over and over, poking fun about it, pretty much apologizing for it. Indy should have been much more badass than he actually ended up being because they just reduced him to nothing with too many old jokes. Not that they shouldn't have made jokes. The humor in Indy movies is a wonderful part. But splitting his pants while trying to make an escape was just demeaning.

Stunts

Spielberg promised he was going to try to keep the stunts on par with the previous movies. Spielberg lied. There was nothing thrilling because it was all done with CGI. The entire jungle scene I was thinking back to Last Crusade, where Indy jams a broken flagpole into a motorcycle spoke, which sends bike and rider flying through the air. It's a simple stunt, not even the best in the movie, but it's pure. You still get that pump of adrenaline when the bodies fly. There was almost nothing like that in Crystal Skull. It was all wires and CGI. It looked fake and really let me down as a fan who's loved these movies.

Now the Good

Motorcycle Chase

The motorcycle chase at the beginning was top notch. Most importantly, there were a few glimmers of an Indiana Jones movie sprinkled in there. Little touches, little jokes here and there. Indy getting pulled into a car and then climbing back out was brilliantly done and gave me some hope. It worked well.

The Natives

The Natives at the first tomb they investigated were done REALLY well. They had a slightly terrifying quality to them. Indy killing one with the reverse blowgun trick was done really well. The Natives were actually done better in this one than in Raiders.

The Army Ants

CGI should only be used when it is impossible to get the results otherwise. This is a case of that and the CGI was done really well, so I quite enjoyed this scene.

Marion Ravenwood

While I feel the rest of her character was destroyed, the bickering relationship between her and Indy was well preserved.

[Chickenman 9]

Someon found the original script!

[Winters 0]

Ok... I've accepted that George Lucas is trying to destroy EVERYTHING that people love that he made... but two things.

Nuking the Frige - Shows how great Indy is... he survives a nuclear bomb for crying out loud... he's obviously that awesome...

McCartyism - I'm a strong hater of Communism, and let's face it, everyone that wasn't communist hated communism, but it wasn't McCartyism, it was just basic hatred of communism. He faught in WWII so he has reason to hate the commie umm... evil people... But then, considering I'm a commie hating History major, I always loved the references to "I Like Ike" because even I like Ike.

[Andy 60]

Area 51.

No.

Why not? It was in Raiders. lol

[Chickenman 9]

Area 51.

No.

Why not? It was in Raiders. lol

It wasn't in Raiders as Area 51. In Raiders it was just some top secret government warehouse where it would be locked away forever, not brought back to lend an inferior sequel movie some much needed (and much undeserved) credibility.

Ok... I've accepted that George Lucas is trying to destroy EVERYTHING that people love that he made... but two things.

Nuking the Frige - Shows how great Indy is... he survives a nuclear bomb for crying out loud... he's obviously that awesome...

McCartyism - I'm a strong hater of Communism, and let's face it, everyone that wasn't communist hated communism, but it wasn't McCartyism, it was just basic hatred of communism. He faught in WWII so he has reason to hate the commie umm... evil people... But then, considering I'm a commie hating History major, I always loved the references to "I Like Ike" because even I like Ike.

Nuking the Fridge doesn't show how great Indy is. It's ridiculous, insults the intelligence of the viewer, and is just a huge cop out. Even more, every time Indy gets in trouble in this movie, you don't exactly feel that sense of danger you feel in every other Indy stunt in ever. Indy just survived a nuclear explosion and the subsequent impact that flying through the air at hundreds of miles per hour would cause. There's no way that these natives are going to kill him, there's no way that this quicksand is going to kill him, there's no way this jungle chase is going to kill him, there's no way

"In this scene, Indiana Jones demolishes the entire Communist Army using only his penis" What? There's no way! He could demolish maybe 1 or 2 brigades, but the entire army? That's ridiculous. It shows how great he is, sure, but it doesn't make for a credible action scene.

The best thing about Indy, to me, is that he gets effed up every movie. He doesn't get away clean. At the end of EVERY movie, he's covered in dirt, bleeding, exhausted, whatever. He was human. I liked the fact that he wasn't superhuman, and they pissed that all away with this crapfest.

And McCarthyism was definitely a theme. 100%. I feel you have the definition of McCarthyism a little skewered here. McCarthyism isn't the hatred of communists. The meaning of the term has grown much more general since then.

"Since the time of McCarthy, the word "McCarthyism" has entered American speech as a general term for a variety of distasteful practices: aggressively questioning a person's patriotism, making poorly supported accusations, using accusations of disloyalty to pressure a person to adhere to conformist politics or to discredit an opponent, subverting civil rights in the name of national security and the use of demagoguery are all often referred to as McCarthyism."

~Wikipedia

McCarthyism is absolutely a theme in this movie. When Indiana loses his job because of suspected ties to communism, that right there is McCarthyism. It continues today for people against the war being branded as traitors of their own country. That's what Lucas was trying to get across.

And as for the commie hating thing? Seriously, grow up. It's an economic system. Communists aren't inherently bad people. It's a system. People who believe in that system aren't evil people. They're following a way of economy that they believe works better for the betterment of everyone. Did we fight communists? Hell yes we did. But we fought militant communists who were fighting militant capitalists. The Soviet Union tried it, and the people who were in charge corrupted it. It's happened to all communist governments. Capitalist governments have been corrupted too. Anything is corruptible. To be perfectly honest, in a perfect world, communism is a great way or doing things. In theory, everyone would be treated equally, everyone who did their fair share would be rewarded. But communist governments are corrupt to easily, and THAT'S where the evil comes from. Don't hate communists, hate the dictators that manipulate the system. Capitalism is really the lesser of two evils. Capitalism works better, but it's a disgusting form, where the people at the top make piles of money off of the sweat and labor of the legions at the bottom, who continually get screwed at the top. If you look at it from a certain perspective, pure communism is the more democratic of the two. Capitalism is much more of a dictatorship. If you ask me, you gotta find a middle ground.

So seriously, stop bashing communism.

A) It's pretty much dead anyway, as China's too dependent on capitalism now to ever go back.

B) It's bigoted towards anyone who may have lived under communism or thinks it happens to be an okay idea.

C) It's annoying.

[Andy 60]

Area 51.

No.

Why not? It was in Raiders. lol

It wasn't in Raiders as Area 51. In Raiders it was just some top secret government warehouse where it would be locked away forever, not brought back to lend an inferior sequel movie some much needed (and much undeserved) credibility.

I think it was implied that it was (or at least a parody of) Area 51, I thought that the first time I saw it. lol

[Chickenman 9]

Not really. It's a common plot device. Raiders just ended up becoming the most famous example.

And, actually it's not even Area 51 in the movie. Just where they keep all the stuff from the investigation.

[Chickenman 9]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg. ewok George Lucas. ewok Steven Spielberg.

GOD DAMN IT!!!! :mad:

[Bad furday 57]

Chicken....can I assume that you have smashed your keyboard in great rage?

Also...they need to search for Atlantis...or something like that

And...keep Micheal Bay as far away from the project as possible :p

[Drake 53]

They will ruin it just fine without Michael Bay. Actually, he would probably make it better...

I am most disappointed. Crystal Skull...I saw it because it was Indy and I felt I had to give it a chance. This one will receive no such formality.