Merged: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I was a little off put by some of the animals since they kinda broke the flow of things. I really hope Lucas just makes one movie to exhaust that tendency towards cutesiness in one whole movie so he can get back to more mature stuff like American Graffiti or THX-1138. I would rate Temple as a 7 rather than 8.5. I just didn't like the 2nd one and thought that was the weakest link in this series. I guess I can't hope they'll fix their shortcomings for a 5th movie.

 

I enjoyed this movie very much. I think the effect of the aforementioned scenes are being somewhat overstated.

 

I thought it was okay and found myself enjoying the scenes with Shia more then Ford and I didn't think the scene with the monkeys was that outrageous. They could have done much more with the story but felt it was worth the time and money.

Also after seeing the movie there isn't a doubt in my mind there will be an Indy 5.

Spoiler

With the wind blowing the hat to Shia in the final scene, them showing the Covenant in the first scene at the warehouse and Indy calling his son Junior like his father did to him makes me believe Indy 5 will be made with Shia as the lead with Ford playing a role similar to Connery in The Last Crusade and the Covenant being the main storyline.

 

what i was thinking

 

Lucas said that he had the idea for a series featuring Shia where the next one would be Harrison in a role similar to Connery.

I just got back from seeing this movie and thought it was alright. I had some big issues with it but Lucas has lost his touch so I was kind of expecting it. I didnt have high expectations so that kept me from being too disappointed. I'd probably give it a 6.5 or so.

 

He did make that one movie to try and exhaust his tendency to cutesiness. It was called "Star Wars, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace". Didn't work, apparently.

As for Temple of Doom, I used to rate it lower, but I watched it last weekend, just because I wasn't sure I was giving it a fair shake. And sure enough, it was better than I thought. The opening scene in Shanghai is, in my mind, absolutely brilliant on several levels. Hell, even the stuff with Short Round works, because Harrison Ford absolutely carries those scenes, like the scene at the campsite where both of them are cheating at cards and they start cussing at each other in Mandarin.

 

Spoiler

If you are referring to the ant ladder, just an fyi, I was watching the discovery channel and some species are apparently known for doing that.

 

I could be wrong, but I think that he was referring to the scene with the monkeys. At least, I was. I didn't have a problem with the ants, actually.

 

Yeah, I figured he meant more then one scene since he said animals........

 

Hated it. I was incredibly disappointed. All the movies in the series were far fetched but this one took it too far, IMO. The directing seemed off, I refuse to include this movie in my memoirs for Indiana Jones. This goes in the "Official Jar Jar Bin".

 

It just didn't feel like an Indiana Jones movie. It felt like a cross between The Mummy and National Treasure. If it would have had Brenden Fraiser or Nick Cage in it instead of Harrison Ford I probably would have hated it.

For some reason it was easy to suspend belief in the first 3, or at least 1 and 3. Maybe that is because some part of me wanted to believe it was real. In this movie I never wanted to believe.

 

Yea, I was referring to the monkey scene not the ants. I loved the ants scene even though I hate all creatures with more than 4 appendages..

I've seen that before in ecology class so I wasn't concerned about that.

Spoiler

The monkeys deciding to swing alongside Shia and attack Soviets was the one I was referring to.

 

I was really looking forward to this movie going into the weekend. But the reviews have got to me, and kinda going to wait to see it. Maybe in a couple weeks. Disappointing to hear about the low reviews.

 

Well I ended up seeing it today. I don't see this movie breaking any records. I would have to give it an average rating. You really don't go away saying I want to see that again.

 

He doesn't seem enough as an actor anymore to carry this kind of movie. It bothers me that Hollywood is holding on to the actors of the past so hard instead of trying new things. Its all about the guaranteed dollar compared to finding the next big thing.

 

They should have done another in the early 90s. Really its been 18 years since Last Crusade. Probably should have let it go after such a long time.

 

I think you guys are overthinking the movie way, way, waaaay too much. It was a fun ride, full of the type of over-the-top hijinks that populated the serials it was paying tribute too -- including Tarzan. And IU found the shift to extraterrestrial focus in keeping with the shifting of the content of action movies during the 50s. Oh, and Cate Blanchett? Grrrrrrrrr, baby.

 

Exactly what I feel.