Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[ffolkes]

indy 4 has a name now, which sounds just as corny as you might expect from george lucas.

nevertheless, i'm still pumped for this film (yes despite the fact that harrison's pushing pension, despite the fact that lucas is an idiot, etc) why? cos it has spielberg, ford and williams on board. and it's an indiana jones movie. that's a fucking good thing.

when i'll hear the ta-tada-daa tune in the cinema i will piss in my pants and cry whilst doing standing ovations and scream for joy. bring on 2008

[big screen satellite]

mmm... no news on what this is about yet... ??

i'm expecting He-man and Skellator in this one...

unless its featuring a quest to recover a missing Damian Hirst art peice...

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=4548

still at least its moving - titles usually mean a bit of progress has been made in development.... at least with Lucas....

[ffolkes]

mmm... no news on what this is about yet... ??

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6_1.htm

the "kingdom" apparently hints at the mayans... set pics from indy 4 confirm this.

[big screen satellite]

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6_1.htm

the "kingdom" apparently hints at the mayans... set pics from indy 4 confirm this.

thanks, surprised Mel Gibson's not directing this then ;)

[Camiel]

indy 4 has a name now, which sounds just as corny as you might expect from george lucas.

nevertheless, i'm still pumped for this film (yes despite the fact that harrison's pushing pension, despite the fact that lucas is an idiot, etc) why? cos it has spielberg, ford and williams on board. and it's an indiana jones movie. that's a fucking good thing.

when i'll hear the ta-tada-daa tune in the cinema i will piss in my pants and cry whilst doing standing ovations and scream for joy. bring on 2008

Indy movies are a hommage to those Saturday afternoon adventure movies. So the corniness of the title is appropriate IMO.

[ffolkes]

Indy movies are a hommage to those Saturday afternoon adventure movies. So the corniness of the title is appropriate IMO.

yeah i am totally aware of that, but imo there's corny and then there's phantom menace corny. that's just me.

other registered titles for indy 4 were

- Indiana Jones and the City of Gods
- Indiana Jones and the Destroyer of Worlds
- Indiana Jones and the Fourth Corner of the Earth
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Indiana Jones and the Lost City of Gold
- Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Covenant

i dunno, somehow kingdom of the crystal skull just doesn't sound as hot as city of gods would. but it's a minor complaint: i'm just happy to have indy back.

[viddy]

**potential spoilers below**


I've seen a ton of extras in brown German soldier outfits walking around the lot, which shouldn't be a big surprise for an Indiana Jones movie. Ford has been spotted in the weight room several times and I hear he's quite in shape.

[Renze]

Ugh, the annoying kid from Transformers the movie is in Indy 4? :(

[ffolkes]

**potential spoilers below**


I've seen a ton of extras in brown German soldier outfits walking around the lot, which shouldn't be a big surprise for an Indiana Jones movie.

*spoiler reply:*

i actually am surprised. i figured there wouldn't be nazis in indy 4, as the war had already ended. you sure they weren't russian uniforms? cos there's been a lot of talk about the film having a cold war setting, thus making the ruskies villains. and the fact that shia labeouf is playing a 50's greaser kind of supports this theory...

[GreenPea]

Ugh, the annoying kid from Transformers the movie is in Indy 4? :(

UGH!

[sloff]

The press I read about the movie places it in the 50's

[viddy]

*spoiler reply:*

i actually am surprised. i figured there wouldn't be nazis in indy 4, as the war had already ended. you sure they weren't russian uniforms? cos there's been a lot of talk about the film having a cold war setting, thus making the ruskies villains. and the fact that shia labeouf is playing a 50's greaser kind of supports this theory...

You could be right. It looked like it could be either one.

[ffolkes]

*possible BIG spoiler*


there was a rumour once that indy 4's plot might revolve around the mystery of 1950's Area 51 and the ufo incidents. well, now it seems that rumour is not completely dead: apparently the word is that the mythical mayan crystal skulls would evidently turn out to be alien lifeforms, thus revealing the mayan's pyramid as a bigass mothership of sorts. although imo this sounds pretty insane, it would kind of make sense as it would a) answer that riddle of "how did the mayans build those übercomplex structures" in a very pulp way, b) work with 1950's ufo thing, and c) serve as the supernatural offering for this latest indy film. facemelting aliens? yes please

[cured]

Jesus...I swear I will kill David Koepp if he tried to write an X-Files script for an Indiana Jones movie.

Why not just do Atlantis like they had been planning since...what was it...the late 90s?

[Sean]

**potential spoilers below**


I've seen a ton of extras in brown German soldier outfits walking around the lot, which shouldn't be a big surprise for an Indiana Jones movie. Ford has been spotted in the weight room several times and I hear he's quite in shape. I wonder if he eats lunch at his son's restaurant here in Culver City every day.

[viddy]

I wonder if he eats lunch at his son's restaurant here in Culver City every day.

LOL



Ford's Filling Station
very funny...

[negative1]

there was a news report that thieves stole several laptops,
scripts, etc from spielbergs office..and offered them for sale..

however, the thieves were caught and everything was
returned..

thank goodness there were no leaks from it..

later
-1

[King of Snake]

KINDA POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD



vanity fair article here (http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/02/indianajones200802?printable=true&currentPage=all)


And then (spoiler warning) Lucas gets a little more (spoiler alert) specific: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will apparently nudge our hero away from his usual milieu of spooky archaeology and into the realm of (spoiler Code Red) science fiction. “What it is that made it perfect was the fact that the MacGuffin I wanted to use and the idea that Harrison would be 20 years older would fit,” Lucas says. “So that put it in the mid-50s, and the MacGuffin I was looking at was perfect for the mid-50s. I looked around and I said, ‘Well, maybe we shouldn’t do a 30s serial, because now we’re in the 50s. What is the same kind of cheesy-entertainment action movie, what was the secret B movie, of the 50s?’ So instead of doing a 30s Republic serial, we’re doing a B science-fiction movie from the 50s. The ones I’m talking about are, like, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, The Thing. So by putting it in that context, it gave me a way of approaching the whole thing.”

[Ally]

Ugh, the annoying kid from Transformers the movie is in Indy 4? :(

That's classic Spielberg that, annoying kids...

[grady]

That's classic Spielberg that, annoying kids...

And it seems to be a Spielbergian trait that had thankfully been absent from at least one or two of his films in recent years, Munich and Catch Me if You Can. But at least we can all look forward to the omnipresent father and son theme in his films showing up with the transformers kid.

[Jan]

That kid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IXCK1EyP4s

I haven't watched Transformers yet, but that looks hilarious...

[big screen satellite]

big spoilers (NOT) in the indy lego sets coming soon...

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/12/28/indiana-jones-and-the-crystal-skull-lego-spoilers/

I've just ordered the Raiders sets from Lego.com, but these new Skull sets are not available just yet though....

I WILLbe buying these :)

plus the PS3 Lego Indy game when it comes out (done by the same team who did the Lego Star Wars games - a trailer of the new Indy game can be found within the Complete Saga Lego Star Wars game, in the Cantina area)

enjoys

[ffolkes]

teaser trailer released today. a bootleg clip can be found here:

http://criticalmassreviews.blogspot.com/


part time!

[negative1]

cant wait to see this tonight..

man its been a long time..

yeah , there's negative reviews, so what?

it's indy!!!! (lets see if i say that after its over)..

later
-1

[grady]

Yeah, it's gonna be a long night and day tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it.

[negative1]

4hours 59 min for me...

ticket in hand...
waiting for midnight for movie to start!

[grady]

Well, that happened. After the midnight showing I came out of the cinema and just kind of shrugged my shoulders, talked with my two friends for a bit and went home to get 3.5 hours of so of sleep before work today.

Not that it wasn't terrible, it wasn't. But it was far from good. It makes me wonder what film people are seeing. It also makes me wonder about people's reaction to another highly anticipated film like Star Wars Episode 1and whether or not people were just going to say they liked the film regardless. They liked it because there were familiar flag posts throughout like a piece of theme music and set dressings.

One of the main things I attempted to do walking into this film was remove any expectations and just try and sit back and enjoy. For the most part this was a successful venture, however, the film was not that enjoyable.

[negative1]

grady , care to be more specific?

i enjoyed it a lot, and thought it brought back the classic elements
very well...i did not like 1sec of acting from shia, why was he even
in the movie..

now, taking that all in...i rate/grade the 1st movie as a solid A/5 stars,
the second as C-/2 stars, the third as a C+/3 stars, and this last
movie as B-/3 stars.

(taking A to be the best, and the stars to be out of 5)

no, it will never touch the first movie, but it was better than
the last two...

i enjoyed the stunts, the scenery, the whole storyline etc..
i have not watched/read a single spoiler before going into it,
and have only seen the first trailer once ...so i had no idea
besides the skulls, what it was going to be about..

later
-1

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

It was pretty good.

[holden]

The film's gotten pretty good reviews so far (see Metacritic aggregator), and Harrison Ford is in better than average shape for a 60-something, but with all the promotional tie-ins and the 19-yr wait between films, i can't help but envisage "Indiana Jones and the Adult Diapers of Doom in Search of the Cash Cow".


Nonetheless, i'll probably see it with the lady tomorrow:p

[grady]

grady , care to be more specific?


I can start getting into more specifics, I was hesitant too initially as no one else had replied to thread just yet but here we go. (Side note, I've been trying to use the color tags method stimpee describes in the sticky post in the forum and it's been non-responsive for me, so I just added a bunch of space)



















(I'm just going to start writing and putting this together very similar to an email I wrote to a friend in Boston today who really enjoyed the film. I went through in a cursory overview of the points in the film that didn't work for me.)


Story/plot/structure

For starters, my overall impression was that the film was just too cluttered for it's own good. This seems to be a contribution from a multitude of sources, but the primary one being the appeasement of the fanbase. The film just seem to have too much going on and was juggling too much for it's own good.

I'm referring specifically to the amount of secondary characters and story lines. It's been widely known that Lucas has worked with a plethora of talented writers over the years brainstorming and trying out potential ideas and scenarios for another film. This film just seemed like a hodgepodge of all the different ideas produced over the years selectively culled together into one large blob-like thing and haphazardly stitched together.

There was no definite through line for the story. It seemed very scattered from the involvement of the Russian element/red scare, to Mutt and Marion, to Ray Winstone and John Hurt, and then all the nods to previous films, and the mythical supernatural element present in the previous three films. This film had all of these elements but the balance and fine tuning of it seemed all off.

I could go into more detail if you would prefer, but I just think back to that conclusion of The Last Crusade and how wonderful that final shot is in it's simplicity but also it's effectiveness. There was none of that type of simplicity in this film. Everything is too over complicated and over explained.

Look/feel/design/CG/Other

Perhaps the first jarring element was the production design, cinematography and visual presentation. Prior to and during the film's production, Spielberg's go to DP for the past decade, janusz kaminski had been mentioned in the press as trying to replicate the visual look of the previous three films shot by Douglas Slocombe. I was always worried about Kaminski's approach to the film as with most film's he's shot for spielberg, they tend to be bathed in this white, over lit glow that becomes a bit repetitive.

Now with this new Indy film, it does have a certain look and visual feel that is reminiscent of the three prior films, but doesn't fit into the visual look. Part of this I feel was due to the over abundance of CG used throughout the film, both in large visual effects sequences, but also in small adjustments to the background of shots like matte paintings and set extensions.

It all has that soft, fuzzy feel that looks very flat.

What was with the monkey/tarzan sequence? honestly? How could you not roll your eyes at that nonsense? When the hell did the film enter the board game film Jumanji?!

Cast

Harrison Ford is great as Indy and it's nice to see him do something where it seems he's enjoying himself and the capable hands of a good director. I didn't mind that he's aged a bit. It worked and he could still trade blows with the baddies and jump into hairy situations with the greatest of ease.

Shia Lebeof seemed entirely unnecessary for the film.

I wish there was a more fleshed out role for Ray Winstone. He's always such a damn pleasure to watch.

Kate Blanchett seemed like she was having fun.

Directing/action/pacing

Maybe Spielberg's becoming lazy, but the action sequences in this film paled in comparison to a couple of his previous films. I'm thinking specifically of sequences like the electronic spiders in Minority Report going through the building, Aliens on the rampage in New Jersey in War of the Worlds, or Avner planting the bomb in the hotel room in Munich.

I'd heard about some great action sequences in this film and there were about two, and they occurred in the first 3 reels, the first one being reel one of the film at the Air Base and the second one being the motorcycle chase on the college campus.

The remainder of the action throughout the film felt really forced and tired and uninspired. I couldn't see past the fact that these were nothing more than sets built on stages throughout the greater Hollywood area last summer. I felt like The Mummy 4 and National Treasure 3 would soon be cannibalizing these sets for their productions.

None of the other film's in the series had this feeling.

[negative1]

grady,

great response...i do actually agree with most of your points..
i don't really want to drag this out....but i will post some defense
of them....although being an apologist isn't exactly what i'm trying to do..

i don't think this film was that great either,
but compared to:
================================
sahara
national treasure
the mummy

this still stands head and shoulders above them..
which might not be saying much..

i take it you actually liked 'last crusade'...i felt it was
a huge letdown as the then finale, and was a very weak
climax for the trilogy.....it was so derivative of the first
film, that i had a hard time taking it seriously...especially
as you mention the overall simplicity of it..there was no
suspense, no motivation, and besides sean connery just
'being there' underutilized.....along with the pseudo
backstory to introduce the 'indiana jones' character..
did we really need to see him as a young man?

anyways, i digress, as i don't mean to dig too far back
into 'the last crusade'...

i'm sure many volumes have been written about the trilogy,
what each movie meant, their impact etc...and i don't mean
to revisit that here...

i'll post more clarifying points about indy 4 later on..

thanks for your detailed points....

later
-1

[Jan]

There seem to be parallels to Live Free or Die Hard:

- They said there would be minimal CGI, turned out to be a CGI fest (in a bad way)
- There was a young, but completely unnecessary and annoying charakter added, so that the film would appeal to young people
- It was hyped, but did disappoint

I haven't seen it yet, but the first two points seem to be true... :(

[mmm skyscraper]

It also makes me wonder about people's reaction to another highly anticipated film like Star Wars Episode 1and whether or not people were just going to say they liked the film regardless.

One of my friends in high school was huge Star Wars fan and went to the midnight showing of Episode I. He said it was like a bad dream.

Why is Shia LaBeouf always a sidekick in movies? His roles in I, Robot and Constantine were
annoying.

[gillenium]

Well, the first half of the movie is pretty good.

Then... well.... it becomes too goofy to watch. If George Lucas hadn't been involved, I guarantee it would have been better.

[IsiliRunite]

*SPOILER*


I felt the *SPOILER* extraterrestrial tie-ins were unpolished and pointless.

[negative1]

*SPOILER*


I felt the *SPOILER* extraterrestrial tie-ins were unpolished and pointless.

why were they at a military base then?

what was the point of getting the skeleton at the beginning?

where did the skulls come from then?

the whole plot falls apart if that isn't mentioned..

if you're saying the whole arc is pointless->movie=pointless..

it made perfect sense to me..

later
-1

[negative1]

Well, the first half of the movie is pretty good.

Then... well.... it becomes too goofy to watch. If George Lucas hadn't been involved, I guarantee it would have been better.

name something good that speilberg has done lately?
munich?
war of the worlds?
terminal?
catch me if you can?
minority report?

yeah, maybe if you go back a decade to 'saving private ryan'..

sorry speilberg hasn't done any better, and thats no guarantee...

who should have been involved?

later
-1

[negative1]

One of my friends in high school was huge Star Wars fan and went to the midnight showing of Episode I. He said it was like a bad dream.

Why is Shia LaBeouf always a sidekick in movies? His roles in I, Robot and Constantine were
annoying.

i hate shia labeof, but i would hardly call being in transformers
a sidekick.......

later
-1

[IsiliRunite]

why were they at a military base then?

what was the point of getting the skeleton at the beginning?

where did the skulls come from then?

the whole plot falls apart if that isn't mentioned..

if you're saying the whole arc is pointless->movie=pointless..

it made perfect sense to me..

later
-1

I just felt that aliens were added for the sake of adding aliens, as opposed to adding a social or philosophical commentary when a new perspective on life is added to movies.

What happened in the Ukrainian chick's brain when she was getting all that knowledge? were they just killing her or was she overflowing with knowledge? How did they lose their heads? How are they inter-dimensional?

[mmm skyscraper]

i hate shia labeof, but i would hardly call being in transformers
a sidekick.......

later
-1

I mainly just meant I, Robot and Constantine.

I thought he was ok in Transformers, but it really could have been anybody.

[grady]

name something good that speilberg has done lately?
munich?
war of the worlds?
terminal?
catch me if you can?
minority report?

yeah, maybe if you go back a decade to 'saving private ryan'..

sorry speilberg hasn't done any better, and thats no guarantee...

who should have been involved?

later
-1
I would say out of the films you listed off above, one that is the best out of the bunch and compared to Indiana Jones is Minority Report. Even going back a decade to Saving Private Ryan is pointles as that wasn't that good of a film either. It was just bookended by two stunning action sequences.

[dubman]

just like to butt in and say i havent yet seen this festoon of crockery that just says "one more go around for old moneys sake. classic coke and all that", but i'd just like to point out that live free or die hard was actually really fckn great

thx

[viddy]

Even going back a decade to Saving Private Ryan is pointles as that wasn't that good of a film either. It was just bookended by two stunning action sequences.

I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, for the sake of keeping things civil.

[negative1]

I would say out of the films you listed off above, one that is the best out of the bunch and compared to Indiana Jones is Minority Report.

minority report was a joke,
plot holes so big you drive a truck through them,
dated special effects..

a pre-crazy tom cruise, who had started to slip mightily
(he redeemed hiimself only for the movie 'collateral ' 2004,
i still can't believe he did such a great job, maybe because
he played against type)

try again, speilberg has lost touch with the public for
quite some time now...much like lucas has..

duel (theatrical cut)/ sugarland express / jaws / close encounters of the third kind

all cemented his place in history in my eyes...(please forget '1941')..

later
-1

[negative1]

just like to butt in and say i havent yet seen this festoon of crockery that just says "one more go around for old moneys sake. classic coke and all that", but i'd just like to point out that live free or die hard was actually really fckn great

thx

not really, no it wasnt, unless you are referring to the unrated
dvd with blood/swearing etc....then it turned from a mindless
neutered film, into just an average mindless film..

later
-1

[potatobroth]

I liked Indy 4. Had a slight unpolished feel but that's okay. I thought Shia played his role quite well.

[joethelion]

I thought the movie was "ok"

but there were a few things that just really really really confused me

1) Ok, so ... how in the Hell did the Soviets take over Area51?!?!??! let alone, even get into the country? How couldn't the rest of the government, or even the rest of the people at area51 know that all the people at the front gate were shot, and there's a troop of 'new guys' that suddenly showed up, pointing guns at Indiana Jones?

2) Even if they took over area51 completely... there's no way that the facility would still have been doing regular atomic bomb tests

3) is it just me - or were there parts of the film that "really looked like they were on a sound stage" ... like, I mean - I know that films aren't always shot on location... but at the same time - they at least try and hide the fact that the background is merely painted on a screen!

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I enjoyed the throwback to Old-School(?) film making feel about it.

I think it was intentional.

[bryantm3]

I thought the movie was "ok"

but there were a few things that just really really really confused me

1) Ok, so ... how in the Hell did the Soviets take over Area51?!?!??! let alone, even get into the country? How couldn't the rest of the government, or even the rest of the people at area51 know that all the people at the front gate were shot, and there's a troop of 'new guys' that suddenly showed up, pointing guns at Indiana Jones?

2) Even if they took over area51 completely... there's no way that the facility would still have been doing regular atomic bomb tests

3) is it just me - or were there parts of the film that "really looked like they were on a sound stage" ... like, I mean - I know that films aren't always shot on location... but at the same time - they at least try and hide the fact that the background is merely painted on a screen!


indiana jones isn't meant to be serious or completely convincing; it's supposed to be fun. the whole plot doesn't even make any sense, but that's the same for all of them. they're unbelievable, but they're still great films.

the only thing i didn't like that much was the wedding scene at the end.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

indiana jones isn't meant to be serious or completely convincing; it's supposed to be fun. the whole plot doesn't even make any sense, but that's the same for all of them. they're unbelievable, but they're still great films.

the only thing i didn't like that much was the wedding scene at the end.


Not to mock marriage or anything, but it did a have a bit of a Public Services Announcement angle to it.

The father/son bit too, but I find it quite necessary.

[Rog]

Hmmm, i'm perturbed about going to see this now, i had to stop watching transformers because i just couldn't stand the actor who i now see is in this film:( - he completely ruined it for me.

[potatobroth]

well I too disliked Shia in Transformers, but wasn't at all bothered by him in Crystal Skulls.

[Deckard]

I didn't mind Shia in Transformers, though his "N-n-n-n-no, no no no no, oh n-n-n-no!" started to grate after the first 30 minutes. Hoping he doesn't repeat that in Skull....

[grady]

I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, for the sake of keeping things civil.
Would things cease to be civil if you did hear it? I don't really get why it's still so revered. It's opening sequence is what makes the film. Then it's downhill.

[grady]

minority report was a joke,
plot holes so big you drive a truck through them,
dated special effects..

a pre-crazy tom cruise, who had started to slip mightily
(he redeemed hiimself only for the movie 'collateral ' 2004,
i still can't believe he did such a great job, maybe because
he played against type)

try again, speilberg has lost touch with the public for
quite some time now...much like lucas has..

duel (theatrical cut)/ sugarland express / jaws / close encounters of the third kind

all cemented his place in history in my eyes...(please forget '1941')..

later
-1

I don't know if I would be that harsh on Minority Report, gapping plot holes and all. But I saw it once, at an exhibitor screening a month or so before it was released almost six years ago now. I'd imagine if I revisited it, I may not enjoy it nearly as much.

I actually didn't care for Cruise too much in that and feel that since his 'serious' turn in Magnolia, the last decent thing he had done was the character of Vincent in Collateral.

Both Spielberg and Lucas have lost their touch, more Lucas than Spielberg, but Spielberg does offer this little glimmers of the filmmaker he once was in the films previously mentioned. Even something revered like Saving Private Ryan has that amazing opening sequence that is a pleasure to be immersed in visually and aurally.

I'm in agreement with you neg.

[grady]

not really, no it wasnt, unless you are referring to the unrated
dvd with blood/swearing etc....then it turned from a mindless
neutered film, into just an average mindless film..

later
-1
Gotta agree there again. Upon seeing the unrated DVD of Live Free or Die Hard I was astounded they didn't release that film.

[negative1]

Not to mock marriage or anything, but it did a have a bit of a Public Services Announcement angle to it.

The father/son bit too, but I find it quite necessary.

it's called closure..

than God too..

now, i'm in the anti-marriage camp,
but considering the timeframe, etc, etc..morals,etc, etc..

it made perfect sense,
and i actually kinda felt relieved for the characters..

unlike in james bond, where his wife to be gets
gunned down/blown up/etc..

later
-1

[negative1]

Gotta agree there again. Upon seeing the unrated DVD of Live Free or Die Hard I was astounded they didn't release that film.

political correctness gone awry..

i'm sure the studio execs weighed
every percentage point +, for pg-13,

and subtracted the dvd revenues for r/unrated...


f&#$rick#Y*(*($&*(#&en studio executives...*(#**#&$*

later
-1

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

it's called closure..

than God too..

now, i'm in the anti-marriage camp,
but considering the timeframe, etc, etc..morals,etc, etc..

it made perfect sense,
and i actually kinda felt relieved for the characters..

unlike in james bond, where his wife to be gets
gunned down/blown up/etc..

later
-1



You're weird. j/k



Bond's "someone with benefits" was also a traitor.

[Rog]

[quote=jOHN rODRIGUEZ;96923]You're weird. j/k
ROFL!:D:D

[cured]

I saw this movie and have very little to say, other than I hope Spielberg ends his marriage with David Koepp ASAP.

Didn't like the premise of the story or the direction it went in. Basically all i liked was Indy punching people with those arcade style, fleshy sound effects.

Shia is not Tarzan.

There. I've said my piece.

[gillenium]

Spoilers

I heard that when Lucas pitched the project, he actually wanted to do Indiana Jones in Space (I'm not kidding). But when Spielberg got hold of it, most of the extra-terrestrial stuff was written out.... but not all.

Which is why I can safely say that, even when his ideas are improved upon and edited to kingdom come, Lucas can still extend his tentacles and make a movie bad.

And it's not so much that Spielberg is a bad director, it's just that he has a handful of tricks and he's used them all.. in everything. Remember the alien probe eye in the house in War of the Worlds? Now think back to the velociraptor scene in Jurassic Park.

The EXACT same scene. That's why his stuff is becoming so tiresome.

[negative1]

And it's not so much that Spielberg is a bad director, it's just that he has a handful of tricks and he's used them all.. in everything. Remember the alien probe eye in the house in War of the Worlds? Now think back to the velociraptor scene in Jurassic Park.

The EXACT same scene. That's why his stuff is becoming so tiresome.

IT actually is because he's become a bad director..

'jurassic park' is a horrible reference....that movie was one of
the all time worst adapations of a book (especially michael crichton)
thas was ever made...no credit given for making this trainwreck
of a movie..

every cliche in a monster/horror film was used.....you're looking too
recently at his movies...you have to go further back...
i hope you didn't think that jurassic park was original..

later
-1

[viddy]

I can't believe what I am reading in this thread. First we're bashing Saving Private Ryan, then we're bashing Jurassic Park???

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I can't believe what I am reading in this thread. First we're bashing Saving Private Ryan, then we're bashing Jurassic Park???

Aside from Saving Private Ryan, it is a given Spielberg films are family oriented.

[King of Snake]

Haha Jurassic Parc is still one of my favourite movies ever, but I guess part of that is also cause I was at exactly the right age when it came out and wa a bit of dinosaur nutter at that time too :)

Saw Indiana Jones yesterday and while I thought it was entertaining enough and Harrison Ford was still fun to watch, I never really felt I cared much for anything that was happening. The story and many of the action scenes just felt too contrived to suck me in. Marion's comeback was fun though and one of the only time when I felt there was actual chemistry between two characters.
I thought Shia was allright in this, apart from that terrible Tarzan sequence. I mean wtf?! It must have been George Lucas' idea :rolleyes: (as well as the stupid CG gophers in the beginning of the movie).

[negative1]

I can't believe what I am reading in this thread. First we're bashing Saving Private Ryan, then we're bashing Jurassic Park???

just to be clear, its pretty much only me..and to give credit,
the effects were amazing for the time..

i heard about the movie, but didn't see it right away, and
being a big michael crichton fan, got the book, read it, and
thought it was brilliant..

after the hoopla died down for the movie, it was about to
disappear from the movie theaters, i went to the last
showing near me, went to the theater near midnight,
so i was the only person in theater that was watching
it (so even if there would have been cheering/clapping/
etc to bias the showing, it wouldn't effect)...

at first i was very impressed with the movie, but then
as it got dumber and dumber, and the plot got watered
down beyond belief, i just pretty much gave up on it..

someone should do a fanedit (if they haven't), and take
scenes from this+parts of jurassic part 3, and THEN it might actually
be a decent film...but not in this current form..

later
-1

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

There was a Jurassic Park part III ????

[IsiliRunite]

I enjoyed the fact that in Jurassic Park 1 the T-Rex managed to throw the Jeep over a cliff that did not exist a few shots previous.

[dubman]

damn, well that scratches jurassic park from the list of things i thought no one could hate. i'd give you an infraction for that if we could joke about that sort of stuff but we can't. abuse of whatever.

seriously i think it's perfect. chrichton is an arrogant gasbag, the movie was actually fun.

[grady]

I can't believe what I am reading in this thread. First we're bashing Saving Private Ryan, then we're bashing Jurassic Park???
Not all of us are bashing Jurassic Park. That said, the two sequels are ready to be gutted next in this conversation.

[viddy]

Not all of us are bashing Jurassic Park. That said, the two sequels are ready to be gutted next in this conversation.

The sequels suck, I can agree on that.:)

[King of Snake]

I do remember kind of enjoying 3, at least more so than 2

[TheBang]

There was a Jurassic Park part III ????

Get ready for IV.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Get ready for IV.


Oh s. I'll rent the third one today I guess.

[Strangelet]

spoiler....


*SPOILER*


I felt the *SPOILER* extraterrestrial tie-ins were unpolished and pointless.

agreed. I thought the ending blew. just an excuse to have a cgi orgy. would have liked to know why the russian chick had to die, other than the fact that it follows the template of "evil nemesis of indiana jones lets their greed ensnare them in the power of the arbitrarily chosen artifact"

Its not even that bad of a formula if it makes any sense. Yaweh whacks shell fish eaters. He's going to sit around and let some nazis play around with the freaking arc of the covenant?

And the third one. You can't be thinking right if you expect to yoke the power of the receiving vessel of jesus's sin cleansing blood for evil intentions. That's like a total contradiction and the earth should twist itself into a knot.

So what's up with evil multi-dimensional alien guy? just doesn't like russians? Even ones that return his creepy h.r. giger cranium back to him so he can fly away?

[grady]

So, Frank Darabont's script for his crack at Indiana Jones has appeared online. Paramount was quick to squash the initial provider of the script, but as these things go, once they're out, they're out, bouncing between rapid share type sites and torrents.

link (http://rapidshare.com/files/121835235/Indiana_Jones_and_the_City_of_the_Gods.pdf.html)

I haven't had a chance to read it or even skim it yet, but it sounds like there are quite a few similarities between the Crystal Skulls and the City of Gods. Primarily set pieces that seem to have been carried over by Lucas and his story credit from writer to writer. But Mutt is lacking from Darabont's draft and Marion plays a more prominent role.