Originally Posted By sun-n-fun I actually like the "Indy's older" thing for the first couple of times, but it did get old. I also didn't get the alien thing. That seemed out of place. Theycould have made the skull belong to something (or someone) else. And they looked an awful lot like ET. Obviously they are priming the world for Indy's son to make more movies.
Originally Posted By christiemarsh88 I thought the alien thing was perfect. Originally, the series was based on the serial adventures of the 30s--car chases, gun fights, and Nazis. Well, now we're in the 50s. What one element was found in any popular story in the 50s? Aliens and outer space. Well, that's what they gave us. I thought they did a wonderful job adapting the tone of the movie and the content--it made it okay that the movie was released so much later than the others.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>What one element was found in any popular story in the 50s? Aliens and outer space. Well, that's what they gave us.<< I agree. I also liked that indy used the term "saucer men" -- a very 50's phrase that fit perfectly.
Originally Posted By DAR It's actually inspired me to rent some B-Grade 50's sci/fi films. Plus I really liked in the film when they referred to him as Colonel Jones. I like the idea that Indy continued the fight against the Nazi's.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Plus I really liked in the film when they referred to him as Colonel Jones. I like the idea that Indy continued the fight against the Nazi's.<< Yep!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <Plus I really liked in the film when they referred to him as Colonel Jones.> Loved that! Great moment! Unfortunately, I found the script to very uneven. Wonderful references like 'Colonel Jones' -- and then, the forced interaction between Indy and Marion Ravenwood -- including her entrance, which is essentially a recreation of two of her moments from the first movie. Very weird. In fact, from the time Marion enters the scene, to the running into the quicksand, to the bickering in the back of the truck, the Indy Marion relationship just seemed so awkward and forced. Indy just finds out that he has a 20-year old son, and he's sitting in the back of a truck with Marion [who he's also not seen in 19 years] and the big topic on his mind is 'You have to go to college.' I wanted to see more between Indy and Marion. It doesn't have to be overly dialogue driven, but what happened to them for the past 20 years?? Remember that great scene in 'Raiders' -- where Marion gets tossed into the Well of the Souls wearing the white dress. As Indy is keeping the snakes from killing them, he's asking about the dress Marion's wearing. He's about to get bitten by snakes, and he's jealous. Great stuff! Marion has a child with Indy, and doesn't tell him for 19 years? But, then something comes up that is so important that she sends her son to go find him. And when he finally arrives, she saunters out of a tent, grins, strikes a pose and makes some sarcastic comment??? And then they decide it's all good and get married at the end of the movie. Shakey script. And they're all having so much fun, that they don't really notice how stupid some of those scenes are.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA By the way, I have some Indiana Jones trading cards that they were giving away at the movie theater. AND! An Indiana Jones light-up breakfast spoon that I got free inside Frosted Mini Wheats. Let me tell you how fun my breakfasts have been over the past few weeks.
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle Another thing I thought was funny - you see your ex-lover who you haven't seen for 19 years. She has an 18/19 year old son. It doesn't even CROSS YOUR MIND that he could be yours?
Originally Posted By DAR In Raiders we're introduced to Marion in a drinking contest which everyone knows that she won. Maybe she lost one of those and had to shack up with a sherpa.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF Thought it was just OK. All I could think of during the movie was "I've seen all this before." And Shia LeBoeuf annoys me to no end. Sort of like Will Smith.
Originally Posted By christiemarsh88 Yeah, I'll admit there were a few inconsistencies and even minor plot holes. But you can't tell me the first three had no flaws--they just have the power of nostalgia behind them. I mean, seriously...can anybody believe that Marion would have been so loving to Indy after he left her with the Nazis? And the whole Ark thing--the Bible never speaks of it "leveling mountains and laying waste to entire regions", so why would Hitler want it in the first place? While we're at it, did anybody else have trouble believing that they would let Willie Scott sleep in the room containing the secret passage to their temple of doom? And wasn't the scene where Indy dressed up as a Scottish lord to get into the castle just plain silly? It's Indiana Jones--I don't go expecting to see a movie that is believable or consistent, I go for wild, fun, and even cheesy entertainment.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Unfortunately, I found the script to very uneven. Wonderful references like 'Colonel Jones' -- and then, the forced interaction between Indy and Marion Ravenwood -- including her entrance, which is essentially a recreation of two of her moments from the first movie. Very weird.<< Couldn't agree more - this was my only real issue with the film. Some of the gags worked great - loved the opening with the Paramount "mountain" - and others fell terribly flat. But overall, I still liked the movie a lot. I'm going to see it again this weekend since I couldn't go with my wife last time.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice ^^ I noticed and pointed out the cool Paramount mountain to Mr. Alice in the theater... Good stuff!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA ^^^That's something Spielberg has done with all the 'Indiana Jones' movies. Paramount logo transitions to live action mountain, hill or some such thing and the movie begins. Look for it.
Originally Posted By ecdc Jim started a thread on the soundtrack, and the more I listen to it, the more I think John Williams really nailed this one. He almost always does, but this was great. The crystal skull theme music that weaves in and out could not be more perfect. It has an other-worldly sense to it, without being too kooky.
Originally Posted By JeffG I was really pleased that they even used the early-80s version of the Paramount logo at the beginning of the movie in order to retain consistency with the previous films when it came to the opening fade-in. -Jeff
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs I saw Indy Jones and the Goblet of Fire last night with my friends...a few things for now before I come back later: -Loved the nods to the past films: the oldschool Paramount logo, 3 tributes to Brody, the pic of 007, the Ark "peeking" from its broken crate. The line "I got a bad feeling about this"...which I think was also used in the Star Wars films -Interesting: In the even-numbered films, Indy is helped by a kid/young adult, and both Sallah and Brody are absent. And films 3 and 4 both have female Villains. -I was really hoping for Sallah to make some sort of cameo...maybe he's still guiding people through the Temple...not Doom, but the *other* Temple. -Aliens...oy...I can't believe they went with it...it seemed odd after the first three films, but after reading everyone's reviews, I guess it does fit in with the 1950s nuclear testing and Communists. -I liked the ants. They made me cringe. And I thought that they made up for the Tarzan sequence. -The snake sequence was lame...I know it was done for laughs, but it was tacked on. -I was happy to see Marion, but there was no dramatic lead-up to it. -Mac: pick a friggin' side...lol -The Russians must have a lot of ammo to machine-gun all those Mayans at the end. -A friend of mine noticed a continuity error where Mutt and Jeff, er, Indy are in the diner. When Mutt hits the table, the mustard falls down; it cuts to Indy, where the mustard is now up; it then cuts back down to Mutt where mustard is back down again. -I was wondering if Pat Roach was going to return as the Final Big Henchman That Indy Fights; but he passed in 2004. Pat Roach was in the previous 3 films; in Raiders, he was the large hulking guy whose face runs afoul of the plane's propeller at the end. I think in Temple, he gets crushed in the gears. -I give props to Harrison Ford for looking good. -Apparently if any of you have kids, it would be wise to get them on the Disney Channel. -For some reason, I thought that the producers had dropped the whole Indy/Mutt father/son thing, but apparently I was wrong. -Wouldn't it have been something if Marion and Indy had a twin girl...played by Christy Carlson Romano? -Wouldn't it have been even more interesting if Indy found the Ark in the beginning and opened it in front of everyone, and then just left?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I saw it the other night, and overall I enjoyed it, but it definately could have been a lot better. I was able to go along with everything right up until the point when they put the skull back on the body. At that point it switched from campy kitchy fun to just plain silly for the sake of it. The spaceship coming out of the ground was just too far out there for me, and it really made the whole film a lot weaker, IMO. Up until then (with the exception of the Tarzan bit), it really worked for me, even if the acting and script weren't perfect. Overall, I was a little disappointed with the direction that they took on the whole backstory. The explination of the Conquistador visiting the temple sounds a lot like the Indy ride in Tokyo (Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull...fancy that!), but that is based off of old relics than aliens. The TDS story is probably more believable than the DL one, but they are similar in overall approach. It did seem like there were a couple nods to the ride (part of the cave looked just like the opening scene, where the changing doors are in DL), and the distant backstory sounded pretty similar as well. The difference was that TDS stayed away from aliens and brought it more to religious/spiritual beliefs. Given that both were based on crystal skulls in the Amazon area, I think TDS had a much better treatment to the idea. I definately liked it overall, but it could have been a lot stronger. It seemed to be a strange mix of National Treasure and the Pirates movies (cheesy fights, bad jokes, and hat references), so I guess they were trying to ride that wave of popularity while they could. I don't think I'll be buying it on DVD any time soon, but I don't own the other ones either, so I'm not entierly their target market for that. (For what it's worth, the "I have a very bad feeling about this" line was definatley used in the earlier Indy movies, along with a couple times in The Goonies, which was also done by Speilberg. I'm not sure about Star Wars though)
Originally Posted By brotherdave I finally saw the movie today. It's not Raiders, which is obviously the best of the series, but I did enjoy it - A LOT! Mostly good pacing, a few hokey unbelievable details like the monkeys, ants, and flying saucer finale, but, easy to overcome and fit in with the movie. I liked the references to the other movies mentioned in earlier posts. If you look carefully, there were pictures of Sallah and Willie Scott in one bookcase in the house, if I recall correctly. I'm glad that they honored Marcus Brody (numerous times) as well as his father. It's interesting to note that Indy implied that they were dead, but never actually said it. I'm guessing that Marcus is definitely deceased in the stories, especially since actor Denholm Elliott died in the early 90s. However, I know it is a stretch, but Indy only says "First Marcus, then Dad..." In the world of Indy, his dad could just be 'missing' again if they really wanted Sean Connery to come back for a future episode. I also love the fact that the storylines of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles are also included in this. Indy mentions 'riding with Poncho Villa', which is what he did in the first episode of that great TV series. I'm truly sorry that that show never made it big. It was also a lot of fun. As for the alien reference, I truly loved that concept. I loved the "Chariots of the Gods" type 'documentaries' from the 1970s (Remember the old "In Search of.." TV show???? Great fun 'mythological mystery' stuff!!!) And the 1950s was definitely the age of the 'flying saucer'. Great concept!!! One thing I did miss was the opening non-related adventure that Indy was always seeming to be finishing up as the story would open (like James Bond). Raiders = Indy in South American temple searching for golden idle. Temple of Doom = The botched Muhachi transaction at Club Obi Wan. Last Crusade = Boy scout Indy finds lost Cortez cross, has his own adventure, then segues into adult Indy getting it back. Overall, I found it a fun film, and I'm hoping for at least one more chapter. I just wish that they would have made more between Last Crusade and this. Order of Indy films that I prefer: 1) Raiders of the Lost Ark 2) IJ and the Last Crusade 3) IJ and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 4) IJ and the Temple of Doom Personally, I loved all 4 films as well as the TV series. Here's hoping for further adventures of Indiana Jones!!!
