Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull .Is it worth watching ?

I plan to rent it tonight but some critics think it's lame.

Should I rent it ?

nuke the fridge

how can you NOT like that?

The one with Sean Connery was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

Great movie but it was not as awesome as Raiders of the Lost Ark which is

#1 in my book.But Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was so over the top that

I must have seen it a brazillion times. :)

computer animated impossible escape scenarios you will love it. My 8 year old did:)

:(

I'm a big Indiana Jones fan but I'm not sure that I

want my illusions shattered.:(

There are one or two good moments but in retrospect are heavily outweighed by a lot of cynical nonsense. I'm a big fan too. I think if I could go back in time I would have told myself to avoid seeing it.

They shouldn't have made this one. I wish I hadn't bought it.

That's all. Just no. Trust us. Just don't.

I think it's better than no.'s two and three, and not as good as number one.

I enjoyed it-- thought it was good, old-fashioned fun with a few scenes of whoop-butt, a good gross-out scene, and even the kid didn't bother me as much as I thought he would.

It could possibly be edited down to a tolerable five minute short.

George Lucas must surround himself with a bunch of dim witted ass kissers.

How is it possible to spend all that time, money, and effort on something like this? Didn't once someone with any sense yell, "THIS STORY IS CRAP!!!"

A real Indianna Jones would have jumped right off the screen and beat the shit out of people until they got the story right.

It was worse than the second Indianna Jones if you can imagine that.

After the first time I saw it, I thought, :wtf: but it makes more sense the 2nd time.


There are some fun and humorous moments, some surprises and some funny turns by Kate Winslet and Shia LaBoeuf.

:evilgrin:

:blush:

Some undercover Soviets break into area 51 and its revealed they've kidnapped Indiana Jones and have him in their trunk. Area 51 turns out to be that big storage area at the end of Raiders. The soviets want Indy to identify the crate with some alien remains. Gag shot of the crate holding the Ark of the Covenant. Indy escapes in a poorly animated action sequence and flees from Area 51 on a test rocket. Find himself in a nuclear test area where he survives a hydrogen bomb by hiding in a refridgerator. He's captured by the CIA who debrief him, scrub off the fallout, and there's some poor exposition about how Indy was recruited for a mission to Rosewell, NM but was never told what for.

Cut to University of Chicago. Marcus is dead. Sean Connery is dead. Indy's got to go on a mission to find the crystal skull. Indy runs into "Mutt" a greaser who happens to be the son of Marian Ravenwood and is in fact Speed's long lost brother, I mean Indy's long lost son. Action sequence where Indy drives a motorcycle through a library to avoid Soviet spies, lecturing students in the process.

Cut to South America. Indy speaks Quecha because he spent some time with Pancho Villa, the troops of whom spoke Quecha for some damn reason. They mention the Nazca lines for some reason, then visit a tomb for more clues and are attacked by ninjas, who disappear just as fast with no further discussion.

Captured by the Soviets, reunited with Marian and some crazy professor who was one of Indy's old friends. Also, since they couldn't pay John Rhys-Davies enough to appear, they've got some "Hullo, Indy!" stock ethnic companion, who could be a double agent for the Soviets. It turns out to be a big surprise that the crystal skull is an alien artifact, despite having established that several times in the movie.

Another escape. A big cartoony machine is chopping its way through the undergrowth with soviet jeeps trailing behind it. The undergrowth disappears just in time to allow for a big CGI chase sequence which is not exciting at all. But it's got Mutt swinging through the jungle like Tarzan, Indy finging out that Mutt is really his son, also a big surprise apparently. And ends in a sequence of giant cartoon ants eating the bad guys.

Fall off a water falls. Good guys find temple which hold an ancient alien flying saucers. Because they have the crystal skull, the zombies who pop out of the masonry decide not to attack them. The zombies do decide to attack the soviets who are chasing the good guys. But since the Soviets have guns, they simply shoot the zombies dead. Yes, they shoot the zombies dead.

They find the flying saucer, the aliens come alive, they melt the bad guys a la Raiders. Indy has to unwilling sacrifice Expendable Ethnic Friend. Big CGI sequence where the spaceship takes off and Indy watches on in wonder as the greatest archaeological treasure imaginable is completely destroyed.

Wedding finale, Marian and Indy wed. Mutt get's Indy's hat in case Lucas and Spielberg want more money.

And your point about Rhys-Davies is especially damning, since it's well known that he'll accept any script that he can get his hands on.

That sounds really bad.

There's also the terrible acting, the bad musical score, the stilted pacing, the villainess who is pretty much Natasha Fatale stolen from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, the overwrought sentimentality...

Now I'm sure that I won't watch it.Orrex said "I wish I'd read that before paying to see it".

Lol.Thanks again,this movie sounds pretty lame. :)

:applause:

It wasn't great or even good, but just good enough that I never quite felt the urge to walk out of the theater. That's about the extent of the "endorsement" I can give it.

A terrible film almost from start to finish. Certainly everything after the first five minutes is awful.

Don't see it unless you've lost a bet.

Don't let the histrionics of teh Lounge sway you. I'm a harsh, HARSH movie critic, but Indy IV didn't bother me in the least. (Of course, I was watching it with my 5 YO who ate it up with a spoon, so I may have been influenced by his enthusiasm--but who couldn't do with a little more childlike enthusiasm in their lives?)

Just take it with a grain of salt--consider it a fun little flick with some special effects, some quips, some references to the previous movies, and you'll be fine. If you're looking for Citizen Kane, better rent...well, Citizen Kane. You know? :D

"consider it a fun little flick with some special effects" OK,my expectations were

already pretty low so I'll take a peek.If it's too ridiculous then I'll simply

push the stop button and adios.

Citizen Kane.Would you believe that I never saw the movie from start

to finish ? I've read a lot about it,saw documentaries and also know all the

troubles Orson Welles had to overcome because of that slimy Rupert Murd...

err I mean William Randolph Hearst.I absolutely have to see that

great movie.Thanks for your opinion MorningGlow,I really appreciate it. :)

Lots of rip-snortin' action and funny lines, and, you know, plot? what plot? We don't need no stinkin' plot!

The big problem with Lucas critics is that they hold the original movie of a series (Star Wars "IV", Raiders, etc.) sacrosanct and nothing can measure up. They also forget that they were little kids when they saw the originals--you know, full of innocence and wide-eyed wonder, not to mention an open mind and ready suspension of disbelief (well, there was no disbelief to suspend). And then they go ballistic when a sequel falls short of their lofty expectations, irrespective of the context (the critic's present age as compared to their age when they saw the originals). That's why I get irked at the regularly scheduled, bimonthly Jar-Jar lynching that everybody feels the need to pig-pile on even though it's all been said before. Dude was comic relief, yet people expected Shakespeare. The hatred so far outweighs the importance of the character (so very minor) that it gets ridiculous.

Oops, I've gone off on one of my favorite subjects. Sorry. Lemme get this switch here...
:rant:

Okay, that's better.

Anyway, some folks think Citizen Kane is overrated. I liked it and respected Welles' craft, but it didn't alter my world in any way. However, Star Wars did. So there ya go. ;)

Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. I've seen it 4-5 times which is far less

than Episode IV and more than The Phantom Menace which I've seen...once.Episode II? 2 times.

Hey,did you see A New Hope in a theater when it came out ? I was 10 and it

completely blew my mind away. :)

HOW long have you been on DU, Mr. Jeffster? 13,661 posts and you still don't know teh Lounge rules about Star Wars?

1) A New Hope was dumb. (See #3.)
2) Empire is the ONLY SW movie worth ANYthing.
3) Lucas sucks.
4) The prequels are lower than wormshit. (See #3.)
5) Jar Jar Binks was an affront to God and all His creatures and gives everyone on Earth nightmares from which they wake up screaming--even if they haven't seen the SW prequels. Even if they haven't seen any of the SW movies. Even if they're still in vitro. (See #3.)
6) Revenge of the Sith was Lucas' personal "fuck you" to the planet, the worst movie ever made, is responsible for the boils on the butt of a baboon, made 3 million Americans go prematurely gray, set in motion the plans for World War III, and...oh yeah: Lucas sucks. (Oh--and Hayden Christiansen should have all his limbs broken for his bad acting. And that goes for whats-her-name too.)

Now get with the program! (I enjoyed Revenge of the Sith very much and don't see what all the fuss is about.)

:rofl:

Now. Having said all that, yeppers, I was 11 when A New Hope came out. I saw it 11 times at the theater (gotta love the olden days, pre-VCR, eh?), bought the novelization, memorized the script...It. Was. My. Life. (Yeah, I was a geek.) It also sparked my interest in writing AND magic, both of which have served me well ever since. :hi:

This is so hilarious! :rofl:


Now,after ROFLing for several minutes:

"saw it 11 times at the theater" Wow!

Back then I saw it twice and had to wait a couple

of years before seeing it again on TV.

And then...VCRs ! Saw it so many times

that I stopped counting.I watched it last

fall on my PC and the magic is still there. :)

I am having a ball brainwashing--er, I mean introducing my 5 YO to all the cool stuff like Star Wars and Indy. Rewatching all these movies through a kid's eyes is even more fun. And catching him playing Jedi and making "szwooom" noises with an invisible lightsaber: priceless.

Since we've worked our way through all six Star Wars movies and all four Indy movies, we've moved on to Back to the Future and Ghostbusters. He loved those as well.

Robert Zemeckis is truly a great director.Did your 5 YO ever saw

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ?



That movie is fantastic.I saw it maybe

15-20 times.I'm still waiting for a

sequel.Gee,21 years have past since it

was released and I remember reading articles

saying that a sequel was on the way.

They sure are taking their time.:)

An '80s aficionado who hasn't seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit? That's just...unforgivable! Funny the stuff that falls through the cracks sometimes, huh? Can I make up for it by being a huge fan of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth? :D

I love those movies ! Of those two my favorite one is Labyrinth.I still have it on a VHS

tape somewhere.You NEVER saw Roger Rabbit? That movie is totally insane ! :rofl:

:hi:

Open with standard Star Wars exposition sequence. Details of republic tax code, senatorial procedures, etc. Oh, and the Chancellor, who the Jedi still haven't figured out is the Emperor yet, despite Yoda winking at the camera at end of Phantom Menace, has been kidnapped.

Pan down to big show of somebody playing a video game. I mean a CGI space ship battle. Obi Wan and Hayden Christensen are flying around in their blue screen fighters, pretending to be excited and worried about the space battles, engaging in dialogue that's even inferior to the usual space battle radio chatter. "Ouch!" and "I've got a bad feeling about this!" and "Do a barrel roll!"

Cut to big spaceship interior, which our heroes just crashed into. CGI action sequence where the heroes fight robots, complete with more bad dialogue like "I've got a bad feeling about this! (again, but this time by a robot)."

Jedis find and fight Count Dracula. Obi Wan conveniently gets knocked out. The emperor tricks Anakin into killing Count Dracula, despite having just fought him. Obi Wan conveniently regains consciousness and heroes and the Emperor attempt to escape the space ship before the explosions. Captured by evil General Melancholy and have chat ("You're shorter than I expected" and "Jedi scum), while the ship continues to fall apart. Fight ensues. Grevious escapes. Hayden Christensen lands the blowing up ship.

Cut to Coruscant. Time filler dialogue. Anakin reunites with Padme after five months apart. Padme announces she's (how many months was it?) pregnant.

Bad dialogue about how much they love each other.

Hayden Christensen has a bad dream and acts a general dick. Hayden Christensen goes to visit the Emperor, who Obi Wan is suddenly suspicious of, despite is concussion. The Emperor asks Christensen to spy for him, Christensen still doesn't put two and two together. Acts like a dick some more. The Emperor talks more about how cool the Sith are, Christensen still doesn't get it. After school special protagonists would have gotten it by now.

Cut to Kashyyyk. A bunch of wookies are fighting somebody for some reason. Gag shot of Chewebacca.

Cut back to Coruscant. Lifetime movie special dialogue between Obi Wan and Padme over her baby and Christensen.

More Christensen/Padme dialogue. Padme promises not to die during childbirth. Christensen fails to promise to not fall into lava.

Obi Wan flys to South America to fight Commodore Ambidextrous. Rides around on a lizard. Kills Officer Adjective. Subwitty rejoinder.

Cut to Coruscant. Emperor kills some Jedis. Samuel Jackson about to kill Emperor and hesitates just long enough for Hayden Christensen to kill Sam Jackson.

Sequence where all of the Jedis are murdered and unlike the finale of Godfather, this time it's completely uninteresting.

Anakin kills a bunch of children. Most telegraphed school murder since Columbine, yet is somehow completely out of character.

More action sequences involving monsters and robots. For some reason.

Jimmy Smits plots something.

More love love dialogue between Padme and Christensen. Christensen smacks her around a little.

Obi Wan fights Christensen. Yoda fights emperor. Yoda runs away for some reason. Christensen falls in lava to be replaced by David Prouse.

Padme dies during childbirth for apparently magical reasons. Magic also apparently fixes the plot hole where Leia later remembers her mother in RotJ.

All else aside, the three biggest problems with RoTS were Hayden Christenen, George Lucas, and the fact that George has no sense of how to convey the passage of time on-screen.

No one went into it expecting to see Citizen Kane, because that would have been an unreasonable expectation. No one even expected another Raiders of the Lost Ark, because that would likewise have been an unreasonable standard.

However, I suspect that a lot of viewers, including me, went into it expecting to see a film at least on par with Temple of Doom or Last Crusade, and we were mightily disappointed.

Instead of humor, we got cheap campiness. Instead of intrigue, we got CGI. Instead of Sahla, we got Shia LaBeef. Instead of plot, we got even more crappy CGI.

But even forgiving all of that, the absolute worst part about Crystal Skull was that they revealed the location of The Ark from the first film! And it was in Area 51, the most trite and cliche "secret" location in all of fiction!

It would have been better to have the secret warehouse located under Yankee Stadium, or within Mount Rushmore, or under a cornfield somewhere in Iowa. Instead, we got another tired cliche in a movie that was a long string of cliches.

the main female star (ha!- no spoiler!) I always thought was a babe!

Everybody who ever worked on it should be rounded up onto a rocket and shot into the Sun.

I'm willing to suspend disbelief and enjoy a goofy movie, but the plot was just insultingly dumb. None of the action sequences made sense, none of the plot twists were surprising, and none of the acting could save the rest of it.

Also, the effects were not all that well done. They didn't look bad, but they didn't look *real* either, because they all seemed to be operating in the realm of cartoon physics and nothing quite moved right.

:rofl:

Classic response. Wish I had thought of it.

Oh noes !1!!! You're an evil Pirate ! I'm contacting the MPAA right

now to snitch on you !1!! Me ? I did the honorable thing:

I paid royalties (Yeah,right) to download it on my Hard Drive

from a respectable site (Lol.The Pirate Bay) which is authorized by

the MPAA to spread happy happy joy joy.

LeftyMom,I'm very disappointed (ROFL) by your irresponsible acts.

:P

Really. ;)

OK then,I believe you and we live in a wonderful utopia !

(Oh crap! I'm so gullible!)

And this movie was gawd awful horrendous. Don't watch it! It's 2 hours of your life that you'll never get back!!! The acting is awful, the plot makes absolutely no sense, there are too many characters (most of which bring nothing to the story), and those are the good points. This is 2nd only to Noah Wylie's "The Librarian" on my Worst Movie Ever Made list.

Rent Attack Girls' Swim Team vs the Undead instead.

If you have very fond memories of the original Indiana Jones movies, I would probably tell you skip this and let your memories remain intact. If you ever saw the South Park episode where Lucas was arrested for raping Indiana Jones...well I won't argue with their artistic interpretation is all.

If you thought the originals were OK popcorn movies and like to turn your brain off for an adventure flick, this works for you. Although really, even if this is you, you will still end up scratching your head at some points with what they want you to accept.

I liked the one with Sean Connery better though.

I was totally bummed by the whole thing, and I completly love the Indy series.

But, if you've watched the other three, you might as well see this. Just don't expect much and you should be fine.

He was 65 or so when he made the movie, and still delivering punches like a 30 year old

:applause:

However, in the movie, the focus was more on Shia Le Bouf and less on Ford. If I'm going to see an Indy film, I want Ford. He's the draw and the reason we go. He wasn't the normal swashbuckling Indy. His character seemed more concern about throwing his back out than swaggering and grinning his way to victory in the end. It wasn't a stellar follow up to the previous three films.

I'll watch something else instead.Thanks everybody for

your helpful advices and suggestions. :)

If you are a die-hard IJ fan DON'T.

I truly love the original movies and don't want them to

be slimed by a big budget B movie.

About your sig pic: Dachshunds.

I "discovered" that breed recently so can you

tell me a little bit about them ? Of course I

googled but I prefer to have a real person's opinion

instead of cold and boring definitions from

databases. :)

They're the cutest, most obnoxious little dogs. They are a stinker to house-train, too.
They are hilarious to be around, they make me laugh every day. They love to burrow under the blankets or a pile of fresh laundry.
They MUST be properly socialized around people, children, other dogs and cats--the younger the better. Mine still chase the kitties occasionally but chasing is all they do.

They are great if you have an apartment or don't go out often, but love to be outside with you. Mine pretty much follow me everywhere. They do NOT like being left alone.
They are cunning little devils. They are as stubborn as hell, while begging for forgiveness with your adorable little faces.

Health issues: most involve their long backs and short legs. They need to be kept fit and from becoming overweight. Don't let them jump down or run downstairs (it compresses their spine). We're all on one floor so it's not a problem. Some have food allergies but we've not had that problem. Our vet thinks this is the sturdiest breed you can get for little dogs (he loves them and he's a big dog person).

And remember, dachshunds are like potato chips...you can never have just one!

They seem to be so adorable. :)



Too bad that I can't have a pet in this building.:(

But they are super cute ! :bounce:

Thanks a lot for filling me in.

I miss my little Meggie.She died 2 years ago.

She was a Poodle but without the fancy "haircut".



This one looks a lot like her when she was a puppy.

I love your kids. I have 3 myself. And yes, they are the best kids ever, and very stubborn.

Sad really.

I saw it at the movie theater and it was okay and watchable, just not good.

They previewed it at Cannes and it got a strong reception, but American audiences in general aren't smart enough, IMHO, to understand subtlety. There are lots of moments of irony and deliberate farce, and moments of homage that I think audiences missed. The opening scene is a minor nod to American Graffiti, for instance, and there are moments where something so ridiculous happens that you can tell the director is teasing the audience. That's typical Indiana Jones, though.

I can't imagine how people can hate it. Then again, I'm always stunned by the hatred here in the Lounge on any given day. People hate celebrities, they hate singers, they hate cats, they hate people trying to mow their lawns... You can hate anything if you try hard enough. But it's a good movie, and unless you just think it's cool to hate it, you'll like it.

Well now I'm all confused.

Very convincing negative and positive reviews.:crazy:

I guess the only way to be sure is to watch it and that's

what I'll do.I will post after the movie ends or if

its so disappointing that I have to call it quits.

Thanks dude for sharing your point of view.

Oh,BTW I think that you are one of the funniest

DUer and also a very nice and smart person.:)

B-)

I like your posts, too! :thumbsup:

:fistbump:

Totally agree. Well said, Joby.

I was expecting a hamhanded mess, judging from all the reviews I heard/read ahead of time. And it there were only a few things that seemed hamhanded, like Indy tumbling relatively unharmed out of a flying refridgerator that should have turned him to jelly, ect.

Part of it, I think, is that a lot of people just missed the subtlety. But I think another large part of it is the fact that people were wearing nostalgia goggles. They forgot that the previous movies didn't take themselves too seriously either. There were plenty of goofy moments in the previous ones, not to mention times when Indy DIDN'T do things perfectly and ended up fumbling around trying to get back on top of the situation. So to have him do the same in this movie was perfectly normal. He's not a perfect Superman character... he's just a guy who's smart enough to figure things out and tough enough to keep going when most people would quit.

Especially when there's a lot of anticipation for a movie--for some reason, a lot of fans get really, REALLY angry when they find out that they were not, in fact, consulted on the production, and all their story ideas, jokes, plot twists, characterizations, lighting, setting, etc. etc. etc. ended up not being in the film.
:rofl:

They took the formula and set it in a different time. That's going to change a lot. Russians as the enemies instead of nazis, the government is much more suspicious rather than open. Indy himself is a bit older. Ect.

The only parts that I thought didn't work for me were (*Spoiler alterts, of course*) A) the fridge part. and B) the vine swinging part. Actually, a good portion of the jungle part. The almost steampunkish 'chop down everything and make a road' vehicle was just plain silly too. At least in previous movies, if they needed to shoot a scene involving a convoy going through rough terrain they just got a few tanks to make it seem realistic.

Even with as many godawful remakes and sequels, you never know...

I liked it, but don't take it too seriously. At all.

If you're looking for an Academy Award winning movie, this ain't it!!! But it's fun to watch.