Morte on 23/5/2008 at 20:19
I thought it was pretty shit, possibly even below Temple of Doom. It was nice to see Karen Allen back; she and Ford definitely tapped into a bit of the old chemistry, and the rest of the characters are at the very least servicable. But the script's rubbish, the action lacks suspense and has some pretty dubious choreagraphy. I didn't care for the alien mcguffin, but the way it features in the climax is the real problem. Also, someone needs to blow up ILM's renderfarm and force them to only do practical effects because fuck off with your cgi already.
Other than that it's alright, I suppose.
a flower in hell on 23/5/2008 at 20:39
Quote Posted by raph
I'd add that the case of
Star Wars was a bad example imo anyway, Lucas fucked everything up not because he made new movies, but because he destroyed continuity by retconning and rewriting so much of the established canon that what's left was barely recognizable, and he tried to cover it up with loads of CGI.
Star Wars is the Michael Jackson of movies.
The worst part of this whole thing is Lucas did this
after claiming that the Expanded Universe was, in fact, canon.
Then he goes back and fucks it all up, and then "retcons" his statement about EU being canon. =|
Not to mention Natalie Portman hasn't been good in a movie since
Leon and Hayden Christiansen just fucking fails at life.
Ben Gunn on 23/5/2008 at 21:06
Quote Posted by a flower in hell
.. and Hayden Christiansen just fucking fails at life.
What life? I thought he was cgi.
thefonz on 24/5/2008 at 00:22
Spoilers ahead.
I'll just say what i liked and disliked about it. That should give a good idea of where i'm coming from.
Note that I rate the previous movies as follows to give an idea of my perspective:
1. Raiders
2. Last Crusade
3. Temple of Doom
Here we go....
LIKED[SPOILER]
* Marian and Indy back together
* The music - love the theme!
* The "action" sequences
* Little homages to previous films such as the cracked crate with the ark
* Janitor from Scrubs is in it!
* John Hurt fucking rules
* Shia La BUFF wasnt so bad
* Harrison Ford in the role he was born to play (screw Han Solo)
* The killer ant scene
* Nice Special FX
* The Crystal Skull itself was kinda cool as were the alien's bodies
[/SPOILER]
DISLIKED
[SPOILER]
* Stupid fucking ass crap alien story
* Indy's superspy/hero backstory - he's an f'ing archaeologist!
* Rubbish script
* How Indy didnt really "figure" anything out like he does in the previous films
* A distinct lack of any archeology
* Stupid fucking ass crap alien story
* The beginning sucked
* The ending marriage was a nice touch but contrived
* The quicksand scene has no place in an Indy movie
* Plot holes!
* Scenes werent really linked together
* WTF was up with the nuclear explosion??
* "MAC" WAS NOT NEEDED
* Stupid names used
* Cate Blank Check was crap as a "bad guy"
* Way way way way too much sci-fi
* Too closely linked to Star Wars - i almost expected to see a lightsaber in the background at one point
* End scene with teh saucer taking off was shite
* Was clearly just made for the money.
[/SPOILER]
Thats all I got at the moment. Suffice to say it has its moments of nostalgia, but overall they could have called it anything - the name Indiana Jones is going to mean that it does well at the box office anyway. But in my opinion its just a standard hollywood action movie, and a bad one at that.
Definately the worst of teh "trilogy" and my list above of their order remains unchanged.
I score it 4/10.
Starrfall on 24/5/2008 at 00:59
Oh right I was forgetting that I go to Indiana Jones movies for the archeology.
Quicksand is exactly the sort of thing that belongs in Indiana Jones movies, especially done like that. Are you being serious?
Yell Piranha on 24/5/2008 at 07:55
I saw the film last night and enjoyed myself immensly, but dont feel I would have done so if there hadnt been a good atmosphere in the theatre.
Reflecting on it my biggest complaint is that it didnt take itself seriously enough. Now I know it is Indiana Jones so was expecting (and indeed hoping for) some comedy action (Indy shooting swordsman in Raiders for example), however I feel it went too far in places. Whether this is because George Lucas got too much of his grubby mitts on it or not I dont know.
Also I agree with those here that think the McGuffin is pretty terrible.
All in all I'd say go see it on the big screen with a bunch of mates expecting it to be a bit silly so you can just kick back and enjoy the ride.
thefonz on 24/5/2008 at 08:58
I guess my biggest problem is that Indiana doesnt feel like the "hero" or heck even the main protagonist of the movie.
I just didnt care about the story, or the characters and kept waiting fo it to start properly....until it was over.
It's nice as a nostalgia trip but in terms of adding to the previous story's and suitably ending the H.Ford part of it - Last Crusade is a better "ending".
And I hold that the quicksand scene was well done, but was thoroughly silly and childish.
icemann on 24/5/2008 at 10:36
The forest scenes were totally lame. Bout the only parts I totally hated in the movie.
Angel Dust on 24/5/2008 at 13:26
Oh dear, what a mess sums. Overall it had enough going for it that I can give it a pass mark of 5/10 but easily the worst of the series. The Temple of Doom for all its faults, I'm looking at you Capshaw and Short-round, had exceptional set-pieces and one hell of an opening.
Anyway back to TKOTCK (man that looks like some kind of Lovecraft monster)
What I liked:
It was great seeing Indy/Ford back in action and the age thing didn't matter at all. Mutt was a good addition, Shia LaBeouf keeps surprising me, and his rapport with Indy was the films highlight. One thing though what the hell was up with the Brando/Wild One reference in his first shot? Karen Allen, who is one spunky 50 year old, was great and the chemistry between her and Indy was something the other sequels where missing. The first half of the film was pretty good particularly the motorbike chase, loved the brawl that triggers it, and the scene where Indy and Mutt explore those ruins at night. Once again the rapport between Indy and Mutt really worked well and it would have been nice to see more of it which leads me too the first negative...
Too many characters. Ray Winstone's and John Hurt's, two actors I love, were both completely unnecessary. Winstone's double/triple crossing meant absolutely nothing since we never got to know him and Hurt's character would have been better replaced by some notebook/tablet/cryptic codex etc which would have left more room for the Indy/Mutt/Marion dynamic which would have made the film much much better. The big action set-piece started well but degenerated into CGI silliness. The part were Mutt is swinging through the trees with monkeys, (Jesus, could the CGI have been any worse?), was a WTF? moment of the highest order and the using the tree to drop into the river was steching it too far. Now I now some will most likely point out some othe Indy scenes that do this, the raft as a parachute from TOD springs to mind, but I feel with CGI allowing shot freedom not possible in the old films you really see how ridiculous and cartoony it actually is. And why so much bloom? I though that was only a video game curse? The dialog was quite awful in some parts. The line about the mayan meaning of treasure that Indy spouts near the end makes me wonder if Lucas had more input into the script that just the story. It certainly sounds like the kind of retarded dialog he has been writing lately.
In defence of the alien element I didn't have too much problem with it. The whole Mayan/Alien thing is a theory that I have heard before and I personally think it's about as believable, maybe more so although that might offend some people, than any of the Judeo-Christian stuff from previous films. Although I do think they went to far in showing the actual alien and flying saucer.
Basically I think my thoughts for the film can be summed up in that I don't think I will ever see it again.
Starrfall on 24/5/2008 at 14:52
Monkey scene was probably partly a Tarzan nod. There are like a BILLION references/homages to other movies and 50's nostaliga in there.
And if you didn't secretly like it and wouldn't do the same in a heartbeat if you had the chance then you probably also don't like fun.
