Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

[AxlsMainMan]

Less than a week away folks..

I can't wait

[Jessica]

It is officially shown in Cannes tonight 

[Jessica]

Ok, not a run of hysterics, but good aplause, not failure.

Journalists present tonight say it is good value for the money, a full circle has come to an end, but one said he was bored.

Basically.

Out in 3 days.

[mrbucketfoot]

If a 65 year old man with a whip is your thing, then the new Indiana Jones is for you 

I see your point, but I think that Indiana Jones reeks of classic Hollywood. Fun, exciting, and over-the-top fantasy. Even though I love darker, grittier movies with more mature themes, to me it seems like cinema has become far too polluted with cynicism and overwrought with cheesy remakes of original franchises and ripping ideas from comic books and video games. You may say, well Indiana Jones is cheesy. Well, in a way yes, but fact is Indiana Jones is sold as a fun over-the-top movie akin to the old TV serials like Flash Gordon, etc. A movie like Spider-Man 3 is sold as completely dark and sinister in tone but contains a bunch of jibberish. It's a penguin trying to be a bengal tiger.

P.S. Blade Runner = top 10 movies ever.

Which one though, eh? Directors cut? Original? Both...

I'm a fan of them all (and have seen them all) but I'm the biggest fan of the latest "Final Cut". Even though I like some sections from other versions that were omitted in the final cut, I like that "that's the movie". It's done, finished, no more changes.

[mrlee]

ive never actually seen any of them ,other than the third one when i was younger. so ive took to watching them.

i watched the first one last night, that was great, bit of comedy but it was done in the right places, good story, some great stunts and effects for the time it was made also.

ive watched half of temple of doom, finishing rest tommorow. So far i think its bollocks. Loads of comedy to the point its effecting certain scenes too much, and that little kid that follows him around is god damn annoying, i hate it when they do that, it feels like they are purposefully marketing it towards children.

The first one had a great setting, i liked the use of the nazi's in it also. And the ending with them, was great XD. Temple of doom is not doing much.

[ben9785]

There is a 'red carpet' premiere here in Sydney tonight May 21 (was excited because I thought some of the major cast would be coming but apparently its only Cate Blanchett) and they will screen the movie tonight, then it officially opens tomorrow for public release, and I've taken the day off work and me and my friend are having an Indy marathon before we head off in the afternoon to watch it.

(This is the kind of thing I'm hoping for when Chinese Democracy eventually comes out also)

[ben9785]

ive never actually seen any of them ,other than the third one when i was younger. so ive took to watching them.

i watched the first one last night, that was great, bit of comedy but it was done in the right places, good story, some great stunts and effects for the time it was made also.

ive watched half of temple of doom, finishing rest tommorow. So far i think its bollocks. Loads of comedy to the point its effecting certain scenes too much, and that little kid that follows him around is god damn annoying, i hate it when they do that, it feels like they are purposefully marketing it towards children.

The first one had a great setting, i liked the use of the nazi's in it also. And the ending with them, was great XD. Temple of doom is not doing much.

Glad you finally got to watch them all

"Temple of Doom" generally gets the least positive reviews of the three, but people usually like Shorty's (the little kid who follows him around) character and so do I. It just adds a great contrast with Indy, Willie and Shorty.

I think all the three films have different merits for me.

[AxlsMainMan]

The Temple of Doom has always been my favorite part of the trilogy.

Gotta' love the stone crusher scene, and the bridge scene

[Kujo]

Saw it last night. It was pretty good. I'd say 8 to 8.5 out of 10

There are some major things people could nitpick about but considering what the overall subject of the film winds up being about, the movie isn't exactly grounded in reality. Just sit back and enjoy.

I wont give any specifics so I dont ruin anything but I'm pretty sure the ending will throw some people. John Hurt stole the scenes he was in as"Ox". For those that like to wait for the surprises at the end of the credits, dont. There aren't any.

[andy1981]

going to see this tonight @ 8.45, really looking forward to it as I haven't been to the movies since spiderman 3 and that sucked big time.

Reports have been pretty positive so far

[ben9785]

Ok, I saw it last night..

Walked away with too many mixed feelings, negatives overshadowing the positives.

It was great seeing Harrison onscreen again, and still as strong, fit and dynamic as ever even at 65. I also enjoyed the little throwback references to the previous films. Overall the film is fun, and a nice nostalgic piece. I actually thought Shia's character was a nice contrast with Indiana, almost like a younger version of him, but he didn't really get to click with Indy because there were too many sidekicks taking attention.

Now, the negatives. I felt that the two other side kicks (the English guy and that "Ox" character) were unnecessary most of the time. I thought the storyline had potential, but it was not developed enough, the storyline felt too rushed. The previous three films had a plot, but there was also nice character development in between, if that makes sense. All the action scenes were great, but I thought there were just too many of them there for the sake of having them.

You may or may not have heard about the major 'discovery' in the film, as well as 'the ending'.. What I can say about this is that the aforementioned lack of character development ended up making these scenes rather abrupt and without climax. The ending wasn't as triumphant as the previous ones.. it didn't really feel like the film 'built' to anything.

But overall I'd probably give the film 6/10, just because of Harrison (and the references to the previous films).

[Sober_times]

Ok, I saw it last night..

Walked away with too many mixed feelings, negatives overshadowing the positives.

It was great seeing Harrison onscreen again, and still as strong, fit and dynamic as ever even at 65. I also enjoyed the little throwback references to the previous films. Overall the film is fun, and a nice nostalgic piece. I actually thought Shia's character was a nice contrast with Indiana, almost like a younger version of him, but he didn't really get to click with Indy because there were too many sidekicks taking attention.

Now, the negatives. I felt that the two other side kicks (the English guy and that "Ox" character) were unnecessary most of the time. I thought the storyline had potential, but it was not developed enough, the storyline felt too rushed. The previous three films had a plot, but there was also nice character development in between, if that makes sense. All the action scenes were great, but I thought there were just too many of them there for the sake of having them.

You may or may not have heard about the major 'discovery' in the film, as well as 'the ending'.. What I can say about this is that the aforementioned lack of character development ended up making these scenes rather abrupt and without climax. The ending wasn't as triumphant as the previous ones.. it didn't really feel like the film 'built' to anything.

But overall I'd probably give the film 6/10, just because of Harrison (and the references to the previous films).

I caught a midnight showing and liked it alot however regarding the ending...

Spoiler warning, dont read anymore if you haven't seen it.






I thought it fit with the context of the film. They used the myth that crystal skulls came from some type of "alien" and through out the film they refer to roswell, area 51 and several other "alien" refrences. The ending fit exactly how the story went and I feel without the flying saucer at the end it would not have fit with the story they built the film upon. In the end though they said these "aliens" came from a different dimension which people seem to be forgetting based on what i've read. They didnt come from outer space they were interdimensional creatures. I liked how they used everything we know about aliens from all the stories over the years and than concluded the film without them being aliens from space at all.

People seem to regard religious artifacts such as the ark or the holy grail as a more believable than the crystal skulls from this film and i entirely disagree with that argugment. Though I do agree that using religion is an easy way to "ground" a story because most believe in it but i believe its just as believable as interdimensial creatures made purely of some type of magnetic crystal.

I do feel the ending was somewhat anti-climactic. Not the saucer scene, i thought it fit very well, but when the russians show up again and they just put the skull on and leave...with all the action in the film, which i loved, the end needed some type of difficulty with that last task of putting the skull on. I don't see after going through all the trouble to get the skull, the russian just lets em put it on and thats it. It just seemed very weird that she chased them through the jungle and fought very hard for the skull to just do what they were gonna do. That is what felt anti-climactic to me. But i still loved the film.

This post is prolly too long and really not needed, its just ive been home sick today and have been bored and reading all day about people dissing the movie and the ending and finally decided to comment about it here.    

[Kujo]

 I don't see after going through all the trouble to get the skull, the russian just lets em put it on and thats it. It just seemed very weird that she chased them through the jungle and fought very hard for the skull to just do what they were gonna do. That is what felt anti-climactic to me. But i still loved the film.

She wanted to be the one to return the skull because the legend went that who ever returned it would gain all knowledge, ................ or something to that effect.

You made good points though. They were very accurate with the actual legend of the crystal skulls, Lucas and Spielberg didnt just pull that out of their ass.

[jazjme]

Saw it tonight, I enjoyed it and felt it definitely fits into the context and a good solid Indiana Jones film for the franchise..

[bazgnr]

I enjoyed it, but  was - as expected - underwhelmed.  Parts were laugh-out-loud funny, and reminded me why I like the character (and the franchise) so much, but for the most part, it all seemed like it simply didn't "fit" with the look and style of the other films.  It's just my opinion, but by the time the chase scene with the ridiculously-fake looking digitized vine swinging hit, it was clear that this wasn't the Indiana Jones that I remembered (and nor should it be, I know).  If I wanted to see absurd, over-the-top green screen effects, I'd watch Spider-Man 3 or any of the Stars Wars prequels instead.  Set again the backdrop of the 1950's, it just seemed ridiculous and very out of place.  It was far from awful overall, but I can't say I have a desire to see it again.

[GeraldFord]

Thought it was going to suck but---loved it! As good as the first three (and I liked TOD the best). Great summer pop-corn film.

[AxlsMainMan]

Saw it at the drive in last night.

While it was fairly entertaining, I found it didn't have the same magic of the original trilogy.

[Vicious Wishes]

I saw it yesterday, and like most everyone else, I thought it was good but not the best. Some scenes were too long, some characters were unnecessary, and Indy seemed to be following more than leading, sometimes.
Having said all that, I still enjoyed it alot. There were some really funny moments as well as some great action. Shia was better than I expected him to be, too.
Overall I'd give it a 6-7 out of 10.

[Izzy]

People will accept anything these days, thats why music is so poor and why we have Gordon Brown and George Bush as world leaders

The first three Indiana Jones films are the definitions of classics, funny, family friendly with a sense of adventure few films can rival

Crystal Skull was an excercise in absurdity - from dated effects, non existent story telling and increasingly outrageous set pieces you could have instantly worked out George Lucas had been involved

What was at stake in that film? Other than a unique ability over CGI ants - what did the Crystal Skull even do? Why not just let Comrade Russian have it?

[Perfect Criminal]

Very poor movie, especially when compared against the original 3.  Mutt swinging like Tarzan in the jungle?  Are you serios Steve and George? 

A few good scenes, but mostly absurd.  They could have done an alien movie with Indiana Jones that could of been good.  Indy was good, Mutt was good, Marion was weak and the writing was weak.