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Topic:
Preview of Coming Attractions: "The Longshots"
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Darth Scourge
Registered:
Jun '00
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Date Posted:
5/22 11:48am
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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OK, here's my two cents worth on Indy 4.
Having seen the film twice now, I hope I can allay peoples' darkest fears by saying: it's alright. Heck, it's even pretty good.
And I'm a die-hard Indy fan. Raiders is one of my top 5 films of all time, and the Indy films, along with Star Wars, shaped my childhood.
And that childhood wasn't raped by this movie. It wasn't even groped, or leered at.
Crystal Skull is about as good as Last Crusade, which itself is the weakest of the original Indy trilogy.
The tone of the film is very akin to Last Crusade, as is the pacing. That same light-hearted, playful, almost "Indy lite" feel is very evident in Crystal Skull.
The whole film unfolds at a very leisurely pace. Long gone is the breakneck rollercoaster pace of Raiders or Temple of Doom, but to be honest, the movie doesn't suffer overmuch for it.
The jump in timeline from the original trilogy's 1930's era to Crystal Skull's 1950's isn't as jarring as some feared it might be.
The action set pieces are spot on, and again, they're more akin to those of Last Crusade than they are to Raiders or Temple.
Seeing an older Indy up there on the screen won't cause people too many problems, nor will seeing Mutt hijack a good chunk of the action.
Yes, Crystal Skull is in many respects a very different entity than the Indy movies we've seen before, but the Indy essence is still there for all to see.
Anyway, if Last Crusade is your favourite Indy film, you'll probably like Crystal Skull a lot.
If it isn't, simply set your expectations to realistic and enjoy the ride.
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Jango10
Registered:
Sep '02
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Date Posted:
5/22 11:53am
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I would have to disagree. I was disappointed by KOTCS, especially the finale. But as I told my friend last night after the midnight showing, "The fun is in the journey, not the destination." It has great action sequences, with a bit or two being a little over the top. Harrison Ford hasn't skipped a beat, he really is the same Indy from TLC. It is definitely the weakest Indy film, but being an Indy film it is good.
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
5/22 12:18pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I don't think there is anything at all Spielberg and Lucas could have done that would satisfy people. People have such absurd expectations that it's not humanly possible to satisfy them with a mere movie anymore. No matter what exists on that screen, it's just not enough. The magic and entertainment haven't disappeared from the movies, it's the audience that's killed it's own ability to enjoy anything. I like going to movies with kids. Their minds and hearts are still open for business.
The reviewer from the HOUSTON CHRONICLE said the movie was (I guess she was being cute and clever) was "old hat." Lady, that's EXACTLY what I want. When you're talking Indy, OLD HAT is just fine with me. 
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Peace.
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Soontir-Fel
Registered:
Dec '01
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Date Posted:
5/22 12:30pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I want to have furious angry sex with Soviet Cate Blanchette.
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Errent_Venture Wrote " Listen to Soontir-Fel for he is a man ruling over other men."
Ender_Sai wrote "In other news, I confer Modly praise on Soontir and Rogue_wookie for being superior men, worth of the title of Spartan. They, may keep their penises"
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Darth_Omega
Title: Forum Feud Winner
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/22 12:36pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
- Date Edited:
5/22 12:36pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Darth_Omega
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Darth Scourge posted:
Anyway, if Last Crusade is your favourite Indy film, you'll probably like Crystal Skull a lot.
solojones posted:
I love ToD. This film definitely feels along those lines, so people who don't like ToD probably won't like this film.
So does this film follow ToD or Crusade in feeling? 
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Hammurabi
Registered:
Jan '07
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Date Posted:
5/22 1:09pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I would say Crystal Skull is its own film. It resembles Temple of Doom in that it feels more disconnected from the other two films, but the father/son dynamic recalls Last Crusade. But there's also a number of film-making elements and techniques that we wouldn't have seen twenty years ago. All-in-all, it's hard to pigeonhole it as corresponding to any one particular previous Indiana Jones film.
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Soontir-Fel
Registered:
Dec '01
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Date Posted:
5/22 1:46pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I think it's more thematically simular to TOD, as in the object isn't a major Christian religious artifact, and that the tone is different from Raiders and Crusade. Those two were based on the the old pulp adventures, TOD was based on pulp horrors, and this was based on pulp scifi
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Errent_Venture Wrote " Listen to Soontir-Fel for he is a man ruling over other men."
Ender_Sai wrote "In other news, I confer Modly praise on Soontir and Rogue_wookie for being superior men, worth of the title of Spartan. They, may keep their penises"
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Luke_Sparkewalker
Registered:
Oct '01
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Date Posted:
5/22 5:25pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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Agreed.
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
5/22 5:45pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I agree with me on this issue.
Seriously, T, I think it feels more in line with the nature of ToD because of its artefact not being Judeo-Christian and it not being set in a desert. Also, I think it fits more with ToD because of the overall jokey manner of it. I know a lot of people find LC very jokey, and in ways it is, but it also has a really dire situation at the end with Henry getting shot that sobers the film a lot. ToD is more straight up pulp to me, and I think that's what TCS is like, as well.
-sj loves kevin spacey
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Soontir-Fel
Registered:
Dec '01
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Date Posted:
5/22 6:19pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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The next one will be based on pulp orange juice
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Errent_Venture Wrote " Listen to Soontir-Fel for he is a man ruling over other men."
Ender_Sai wrote "In other news, I confer Modly praise on Soontir and Rogue_wookie for being superior men, worth of the title of Spartan. They, may keep their penises"
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
5/22 6:53pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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Soontir-Fel posted:
The next one will be based on pulp orange juice
and there will be the inevitable "Minute Maid Orange Juice" commercial tie-ins too. 
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The2ndQuest
Title: :
-Games
-LACWAC
-Lit Mod of Death
Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
5/22 9:08pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
- Date Edited:
5/22 9:12pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
The2ndQuest
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Just got back from it and..it wasn't bad. I enjoyed it, but it's definitely the weakest of the 4 films (though the weakest of the original trilogy, I always felt TOD was underrated). But most of what people have said here is true- most of the action sequences are pretty good (the jungle chase centerpiece is fantastic and classic Indy), the time spent with Indy not adventuring is more interesting than when he is exploring, and the finale is a bit of a let down.
The scifi element felt out of place to me- I'm used to aliens in my Star Wars and supernatural in my Indy; but I think I could adjust to it over subsequent viewings. But I think a lot of people are going to go into this film not expecting that element and may be put-off by it's inclusion since it hasn't been an advertised part of the film's premise (general audiences have been sold supernatural south american gods, not extra-dimensional alien overlords), so I would definitely expect the majority of mixed or engative reactions from audiences to center around that plot point. That said, it does lead to some cool moments, though I'm kinda perplexed why they bothered to make them extra-dimensional- seems like yet another layer of sci-fi that didn't need to be added on there.
I think they sorta rushed Indy into action- the side characters never get the chance to really grow as much depth as we've seen in the past three movies- more scenes like Indy and Mutt in the dinner, or Salah and Indy discussing the eye/staff of Ra, etc, would ahve helped the movie. Also, Karen Allen was great with what she had here, but she didn't really do/accomplish much beyond the jungle chase driving. Would have liked to have seen her contribute something more to the plot than just a tag-along (and drawing Indy in). John Hurt in particular (partially due to the state of his character) is harmed by this when tehre could ahve been some great, heartfelt scenes, between him and Indy or him and Mutt between action pieces, but there weren't. He just was sort of regulated to babbling semi-comic relief guy.
Cate's Russian is a great villianess, though- much better than Elsa (though the psychic thing was probably unnecessary and may throw audience soff like the aliens). Shia really shines, though. He's a great addition (but not a replacement for Indy yet!) to the series.
Overall tone I'd say is a mix between TOD and TLC- it has some of the more over-the-top elements and humor from TOD (the fridge nuke save, the triple water fall falls, etc) but it has a very similar structure to TLC part way through- subsitute the Peru ruins for the library catacombs, the jungle chase for the tank chase, the temple puzzles with "pentient/jahovah/leap" & ending with a disintegrating temple once the objective is complete, erasing it from history.
I think the film is lacking some of the depth and heart that the previous 3 films had (wish the characters had a few more scenes). But it still delivers, in a stop-and-go fashion, an Indy film in spurts, just not in ways people might be expecting, so there are gonna be a good number of people leaving dissapointed, unfortunately. It tried too hard to keep a pace that harmed it.
In a way, it;s not unexpected- I went in not expecting this movie to be just like the others, because all the previous films were so different from one another- Raiders was a more serious adventure film in the style of the 30's/40's serials, Temple was more a recreation of a 30's/40's serial, and Crusade was a semi-buddy comedy. Kingdom ends up being a 50's b-movie.
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somethingfamiliar
Registered:
Aug '03
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Date Posted:
5/22 10:43pm
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I can see the aliens fitting in pretty well. I remember all those In Search Of shows with Leonard Nimoy narrating where they show the Nazca lines and little gold figures and shaman masks, all that ancient astronaut Erich Von Daniken stuff. I remember some kid talking about crystal skulls in the cafeteria in like 1987. So to me it's not a far-fetched thing to have in there.
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Mar17swgirl
Registered:
Dec '00
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Date Posted:
5/23 1:17am
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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I went to see the film yesterday and I quite liked it. Shia LaBoeuf (sp?) was great and there was some nice father-son chemistry between him and Ford. I didn't mind the aliens plot, but two things literally made me laugh out loud in the theatre:
1. Indy throwing a fistful of gunpowder (and later the bullets!!!) into air, which would then fly "magnetically attracted" towards the metal chest was simply ridiculous. Now I know better than to expect most Hollywood action films to obey the laws of physics, but this was too absurd. No way the magnetic attraction would be this strong that it would override the gravity.
2. Indy crawling out of the fridge after surviving a nuclear explosion (sic!) with no apparent harm (sic!), standing up and enjoying the view of the nice mushroom-shaped cloud.  Major "facepalm" moment.
But all in all, it was an enjoyable light entertaining film.  I thought Cate Blanchett was very good as the rapier-wielding Russian, and although her accent slipped occasionally, it was pretty decent overall. Her obsession with all things psychic was a bit overdone, though.
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Ani_Lover
Registered:
Dec '05
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Date Posted:
5/23 9:31am
Subject:
RE: Preview of Coming Attractions: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)"
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JohnWesleyDowney posted:
I don't think there is anything at all Spielberg and Lucas could have done that would satisfy people. People have such absurd expectations that it's not humanly possible to satisfy them with a mere movie anymore. No matter what exists on that screen, it's just not enough. The magic and entertainment haven't disappeared from the movies, it's the audience that's killed it's own ability to enjoy anything. I like going to movies with kids. Their minds and hearts are still open for business.
The reviewer from the HOUSTON CHRONICLE said the movie was (I guess she was being cute and clever) was "old hat." Lady, that's EXACTLY what I want. When you're talking Indy, OLD HAT is just fine with me.
 Well said! I went with my kids yesterday and it was a *wonderful* experience. Them being there made it that much better. My daughter, who usually doesn't like these kind of movies, absolutely loved it from beginning to end. She said it was better than anything she's seen in the theatres for a long time - including SW. EEK!
My son positively loved it as well. He had been looking forward to it for weeks and was not disappointed in the least. He still has trouble choosing his favorite Indy film, and he really loved the fact that Marion was in this one. Just seeing Indy up on the big screen again was enough for me. Harrison, you still got it babe. (and Shia, you held your own with Harrison and did a wonderful job!)
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