Indy 5 Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny All Aboard the Hype Train to June 2023!

The problem with Indy 4 was not its story. Lucas came up with an interesting idea, but then David Koepp turned it into a terrible script (this is the same guy who wrote the equally awful scripts for The Lost World and War of the Worlds). And then Spielberg himself directed the film like it was a big joke, and brought in one of the worst possible cinematographers for an Indy film, Janusz Kaminski.

 

A lot of Kaminski's work in KotCS really does it for me, to be honest. This shot from the finale feels iconic in that traditional Indiana Jones fashion (and is dripping with George Lucas pulp in all the best ways).

 

This pulp 50s. The style of filming from B-films of the time.

 

To bring up another point about Kingdom of the Crystal Skull's cinematography, while on that topic, one other thing I find interesting about the film's look is that in certain shots it really seems to exhibit a sort of vintage technicolor style that plays up qualities of studio B-pictures shot on (relatively) contained sets during that transitional period away from black and white. It doesn't look exactly like the 30s set films, it is softer and doesn't have that same grit, but that is very much by design.




Also, there's a lot I can say about the "reveal" shot but I think it is more effective to just leave it here to speak for itself:



I just can't bring myself to hate Crystal Skull the way so many others do. It taps into a well of pulp and a bygone age of Hollywood that I just love, and puts a damn big smile on my face along the way.

 

I haven't been on the boards in ages and it's nice to see some love for KotCS right off the bat.

 

When KOTCS first came out, I admit I hated it. While I still feel it's sub-par compared to the other films, I do appreciate some elements of it now. And compared to most of the cinematic garbage produced these days, it's practically Citizen Kane.

 

See, that's the weird thing. The cinematography does feel distinct from the earlier three films, but apparently that wasn't the intent at all. Whenever Spielberg was asked about this, he emphasized that he tried to make it look just like the other movies:

Lucas, on the other hand, very much wanted to give the movie a 1950s Technicolor look, but says he was overruled:

So I'm honestly not quite sure what's going on with the cinematography in Crystal Skull. I don't dislike it, though.

e:

I didn't hate the scripts for either of those movies. Koepp also wrote the original Jurassic Park and the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man. I don't get the hate for him at all, he seems like a good enough screenwriter. I thought Crystal Skull's plotting was fine, and it had a lot of that same kind of humor we've come to expect from the series.

 

Huh, I wasn't aware of that point of contention in the look of KotCS. I'm only left imagining now that tracks of those differing ideologies from Lucas and Spielberg must have become entangled in some fashion that is more apparent to the audience than to either filmmaker seeing only the parts that went against the grain of their "side" in the debate.

Movies are pretty wonderful.

 

I have a hard time seeing how they could have become entangled. Spielberg's the one who worked with the cinematographer (who in turn closely supervised the color timing process). This is something Lucas, as he says, had no control over--by choice, obviously, since he technically owned the property, but he deferred to Spielberg on certain things that he considered solely within the purview of the director.

Crystal Skull doesn't really look like a 1950s Hitchcock movie to me. I think it really was just an attempt to capture the style of the old movies that didn't quite translate because of changes in film technology. I think the end result would have been more interesting if Spielberg had gone with Lucas's idea.

e: But I guess I can see Spielberg's point. I mean, it's not as if the older Indy movies were done in black and white like most of their source material.

e2: And here's what Janusz Kaminski said:

If anything I'd say what makes Crystal Skull really stand out is how much warmer the images feel compared to the other movies, so I think Kaminski just went a bit too far in that regard (if the goal was to make it look like the others).

 

Oh there's no doubt that he's written some good scripts, but his tendency is to write really messy scripts.

 

How, then, can you explain the "visuals monents" as if they were filmed by Lucas himself? For example, the opening scene clearly resembles the American Graffiti style. In previous films, Lucas personally shot several scenes and frames. Perhaps this film was no exception.

The creators could not help but look back at the cinematography of the time to convey the feeling of the 50s style (B-films about the invasion of aliens and the Soviet threat).

 

Lucas wanted this screenplay from him. Kepp wrote the script that suited George.
If Kepp wrote this script on his own ideas, it would be different. The main thing here is George and his vision.

 

IDK, the making of the movie seemed to be a big tug of war between Lucas and Spielberg. And since Koepp is Spielberg's guy, it looks more like he convinced Lucas to go with that script.

 

I don't think it requires George Lucas's specific directorial intervention to account for why Steven Spielberg would shoot a scene that was probably conceived to evoke American Graffiti in a way that reminds you of American Graffiti. I mean, yes, these movies are Lucas/Spielberg collaborations. Lucas definitely had some input about the opening scene of the movie.

But there's no logical way Lucas could have intervened to overrule Spielberg and his cinematographer, who by their own account were going for something completely different. It doesn't make any sense. Especially since the movie doesn't actually look much like a 50's Technicolor film.

 

As far as I know, Lucas has never shot any scenes in any of the Indy films himself, and only shot one (or maybe a few?) instert shot in Raiders (the poison in the dates).

 

This is from back in February but I'm only just seeing it now and thought the exchange was cute. I would love if Struzan came back to do a poster here; his work was sorely missed in the recent wave of Star Wars films (it is no surprise that the convention- exclusive teaser poster he did for TFA is the best Star Wars poster of the Disney era).

 

In Temple of Doom, he was an add. cinematographer. And in the rest, he could also play a role, tk. it was within his mandate. The final shot of the TLC looks like something from THX 1138 / A New Hope. The action scenes look like something he personally directed. I am not saying that it was so in reality. But Lucas' vibes are felt in Indy's action scenes.

For More American Graffiti, it seems to work. Formally, it was only an EP, but was actively involved in the production and filmed certain moments himself.

In many films, where he was an EP, and not a "official" director, his vibrs were still there in the manner of shooting / editing. Due to various uncredited contributions as a second unit director, editor, additional operator, editor screenplay ets. All of this fit into his credit as "Executive Producer".

 

I'm not sure what happened with the cinematography either. I like the look of KotCS but it doesn't really match the look and feel of the original trilogy. The film has a glossier softer look as if a bloom filter was applied to the entire film. The original films especially RotLA have a grittier, dirtier look. I think one of the factors in the difference looks of the film is that KotCS was color graded digitally instead of photochemically like the original films.

 

They've rehired the boulder as a returning villain for Indy 5? Sweet.

 

Sounds like it to me.

 

Mads Mikkelsen is a great addition!

 

He is. I liked him in Rogue One.

 

Can't believe this is finally coming together.