Some of the action stunts were just to chesse for me but it was good entertainment & some what funney. I'd get it a solid B
For me, I gave it a B-. My wife gave it a C, and my other friend (the one amped to go for months) is still trying to talk herself down from the ledge. *I expected worse. I thought I'd see something that would leave me ashamed for the franchise, but it was far better than that. Ford didn't embarrass himself with this at all. He lost a step (evident in line delivery), but that's not so bad. *No, this did not stay on an even footing with the original 3, not even close. It's not as bad a drop off as we had with Rocky 5 or the Star Wars prequels, but this was a very clear stumble backwards. *I personally thought Marian was AWFUL, and did soil her role. In Raiders she was a fantastic firecracker that was (IMO) the best person they had next to Jones in the movies, including Connery. She seemed washed up and devoid of the qualities that made her so good almost 30 years ago. *The cringe scenes, Tarzan in particular, were definitely a level past the silly and campy stuff in the originals. The waterfalls and fridge I'll forgive, because they weren't any more unbelievable than Temple's jump from a plane in an inflatable raft. Can't forgive Tarzan, though. The ants were pretty tough to swallow as well. *The villains were limp at best. Anyone fear a single Russian? At all? At any point? At no point did it seem they were in real danger. Heck, Jones was almost agreeable with them half the time. "No way I'll help you, comrade" "okay guys, let's come over here and figure out what to do next" *The ending (with the skull/russians) was terrible. *I can't say how little interest I have in seeing Shai star and Harrison be his sidekick in the next one. Which is the plan. *I wouldn't tell anyone to NOT see this, but I don't think it's going to hold up well over time. I know I'm not getting this on DVD to put next to the others. Evan
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. This was their plan going in. They envision Indy5 as Harrison taking Connery's role from Last Crusade. At least Lucas didn't bring in Hayden Christianson. Evan
My g/f didn't see any of the 1st 3 but she liked the 4th one a lot. She thought it was fun and entertaining. She liked the monkey tarzan swinging scene. She did think the action scenes were a bit far-fetched but it's a movie so she can live with that. She kept asking why is there a picture of sean connery on his desk? I had to explain a few things.
Since Raiders is a movie classic, it was impossible for expectations to be met. Best ever? Never. It was entertaining on the order of the Mummy. Actually, the Mummy may have been better, because I had no expectations. It followed the Indy formula, but some of the special effects were a bit silly. I did like the atomic blast scene, and thought the villians were pretty good though perhaps too cordial. Did you notice the villian from Raiders sitting behind Indy on the train? The one that burned his hand? My wife liked Ironman better. I liked them both.
I thought Iron man was a notch better. 8.5 I dunno if you're generous with scores but I'd give it a C+ B-. I don't like that shia kid and will probably skip watching the next one on the big screen. Though the quality of movies has been declining, it might be as good as other offerings.
The more I think about this movie the more I hate it. What a suck job. It's like I felt after watching Star Wars Ep 1 The Phaton Menace when it first came out. There was such a buildup for it that after I left I was in denial that it sucked. It took a few weeks for it to set in how bad it was.
yeah it was bad....but i cried when darth maul pulled out that double light saber with duel of fates in the back....(i stayed away from the previews. never saw the double light saber until then)
no offense, but what the hell do girls know? they think movies like the wedding planner are masterpieces.
It was fun. Some parts were hard to make excuses for i.e. most of the CG stuff in the jungle. I'm willing to believe that a spaceship could come out of a Mayan Temple. They just made it look so stupid. That whole scene once the room starts spinning just looks visually stupid. Oh it's a vortex! Other than that, most of the pace, look, feel, acting was just a notch below the orginals. It still had that, "we're making it up as we go along feel" that is a main quality of Indy and the first 3 movies. I was even fine with the storyline in South America. Once again, it was fun.
I didn't really have a problem with the alien storyline, just how it was implemented. And in this particular instance, I think what made the scene terrible for me, is not only that the design looked incredibly lame, but that it does remind me too much of The X Files Movie. Spoiler Also, I didn't really buy into Indy's explanation at the end when he was talking about how the real treasure wasn't gold but knowledge (knowledge that the aliens provided?). Why didn't they follow that theme throughout the whole movie then? Raiders, Doom and Crusade all had well defined (overlapping) themes. But in this one I didn't really feel anything. They seemed to rush through the crystal skulls' mythology; at least it felt that way to me. One of the comments I came across in an article is how, in Raiders especially, the object is almost given a soul of its own. The ark (and even the rocks and the cup) are given so much story that you feel they end up becoming a character in the film. I didn't feel that way with the skull. And it's not because of what the skull is; it's because I feel they didn't really flesh out the story surrounding it.
Yeah, my biggest problems with this movie: the unnecessary use of CGI. For example, why does the warehouse at the beginning have to have so much CGI? It totally throws me off when I see things computerized when they don't need to be. I thought the son was pretty forced. I felt like the movie featured him more than it should have. I wanted to see more Indiana Jones, not this kid that I don't care about. I didn't really care about the stupid Crystal Skull. What's the point? I'm still not really sure why Indy went on this adventure. Spoiler Lets say they had made it to the room with the aliens, placed the skull back where it belongs, and the Russians never show up. What was the point of the adventure? To restore the old guy's sanity? My biggest thing: I felt empty after the movie was over. What did they really accomplish? I felt like I watched these guys go on this pointless adventure.
This movie sucked harder than Jenna Jameson in her prime and not in a good way. HORRIBLE! Just Horrendous.
My face almost melted while I was watching this. Seriously it was the worst movie of the year and the only thing I can relate it to properly is Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Mystery at Scooby-Doo Bay. This movie was so bad it tarnished the legacies of the originals, particularly #1 because Marian was my favorite of the Indy girls. At least Star Wars was so disjointed from the originals that it was easy for me to separate the new ones from the old in my head. They did share a common "good guys don't die when bad guys shoot them" theme, but I was able to live with that since it's been happening for so long. Its just the other stuff like the sword-fight on top of two jeeps going parallel through the jungle that make you want to scream out NO in the middle of the theatre like I did during Mission Impossible 3 when Tom Cruise, while strapped to a chair, pulled a pen out of his traitor boss' shirt pocket (not even a good pen mind you, it was a freaking BIC), used it to PICK HIS LOCK, then subsequently stabbed his boss in the eye with it.
In case you haven't heard, the Darabont script for Indy IV (the original script before it started changing hands) has been leaked. And it was originally titled Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods (better I think). I just finished reading it and....wow! Night and day. Now it is very similar to the final version. And you can go here to check it out... http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37049 Now while most of the basic story elements and action scenes are the same, they seemed to be handled much better here and are much more palatable. I like that Marion is given a LOT more to do and is the Marion from Raiders. Not only that, but all the characters are given more to do, are more intriguing. There are some sequences, some dialog that doesn't work but could easily be nixed or changed. And probably the only thing left out of this script that I would've missed from the movie is the motorcycle chase...but again, that could've been worked in somehow. And I can't say enough how much more weight the crystal skull has been given in this draft...it begins to feel like it's own character in the film (like the arc in Raiders). And I love how everyone is chasing after it too. The end Spoiler yeah you still have the aliens and the spaceship...but I like how the character's see a vision of their utmost desire and then meet their death sans Indy...I especially liked Escalante's fate And I can't believe they cut out the biplane action scene! Shoot I don't think Crystal Skull exists for me anymore...not after reading this.
Spoiler then Shia's character would've been the one getting the "infinite" knowledge beamed into his eyes and his character would hopefully die and whither away. Then Indiana Jones will be back to just grampa Harrison Ford again. We all win.
I read it today as well and it was definitely better, but still had the crazy Nuking the Fridge moment and other Lucas touches. I thought the giant snake was unnecessary, the plane sequence made Indy same like a freaking Jedi, but it would have been way more fun than the grave sequence in the movie with the unexplained peruvian ninjas. It's obvious Darabont was a fan, the allusions to the previous movies and the "adventure still has a name" lines for instance. I think the best thing about this script is how Marion Ravenwood was so well written and exactly like the way she was in Raiders. Plus she was really important to the story and not just shoe horned in. BTW, wouldn't it have been hard in red scare era america for Yuri to just be in the States? I would think the FBI would have been on his ass 24/7.
I don't know if you meant the oldest Indy IV script or the oldest Crystal Skull story script, but I've got The Monkey King script by Chris Columbus (dir. Home Alone 1&2 and Harry Potter 1&2) and the Saucer Men From Mars by Jeb Stuart, both from 1995. I haven't finished reading them though.
