Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[gokuDX7 2,871]

omg such a horrible movie. Why the hell was George Lucas allowed to touch this movie? Sure he's the boss but come on! There was so many special effect things added in it didn't feel like an Indiana Jones movie at all. Not to mention everything was conveniently done. For example theres a part where they're in a duck car (car that can drive on land and water) and they drive it over a cliff. In staid of hitting the water dramatically like we would come to expect from a Jones movie, they land on a long tree thats sticking out of the cliff and slowly get dropped into the water as if nothing happened. Don't even get me started with the atomic bomb part at the beginning of the movie.

This movie is by far the worst out of the franchise. They need to not make any more after this. If Lucas is allowed to make more I fear this franchise will suffer a horrible horrible death.

I recommend this movie to only young kids since it was clear they where the only ones enjoying it in the theater I was in.

[Myk JL 1,731]

So them trying to Copy the casting formula to Live Free Or Die Hard didn't work? I did however hear about how bad the effects were Wednesday on G4TV. Now I want to see it if it's worse than Dragon Wars or as Good as Speed Racer...

[gokuDX7 2,871]

So them trying to Copy the casting formula to Live Free Or Die Hard didn't work? I did however hear about how bad the effects were Wednesday on G4TV. Now I want to see it if it's worse than Dragon Wars or as Good as Speed Racer...

lol not as bad as Dragon Wars but it's definitely in your face obvious where Lucas got to go nuts with cgi on.

There's a scene where Dr. Jones accidentally runs into one of those nuke testing towns that the US government used to fill with life sized dolls and drop Nukes on to see how much damage it would do (like in the hills have eyes). Well lets just say it was done so over the top that everyone in the room was cracking up laughing at how unrealistic it was and of course the corny brush on crotch joke. Theres no doubt in my mind Lucas had full control over that scene. lol

This movie just didn't feel like a real Indiana Jones movie at all. None of the characters leaves a lasting impression on you either. At least not for me and my friends.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Wow. That sounds horrible. Was Lucas trying to make a new Indiana Jones movie, or was he trying one of those 'pass the torch' movies where he'll now make a new franchise of Indiana Jones spawn off movies with a new archaeologist?

[Myk JL 1,731]

Well it was better than I thought & my DH4 annalogy is way off. I was under the impression it was going to be an old dude keeping a nerd out of his daughter's pants.

Sadly to say or gladly... I forgot my broken glasses so I couldn't tell how bad the graphics were...

I didn't like the tarzan bit... or swarms of bugs that seem to come from The Mummy... And the bit with the tree did seem to be cartoony, but I think the 3 water falls made up for some of it.

The idea of involving aliens did seem out of place. But looking back at the 3 previous films. Two involving Christian Artifacts & 1 magic rocks I'd say it would have still ended up just as weird if Indy had met 'God'.

[Kite 3,263]

never really an indy fan,

im glad to know now that i wont be missing anything

[HKofsesshoumaru 673]

That's a bummer to hear about indy..though omg that dragon wars was the worst thing I have seen yet. Not to mention that we bought it brand new $25 special edition because It looked good on the preview. That was the last movie I was allowed to pick out..LOL

[gokuDX7 2,871]

That's a bummer to hear about indy..though omg that dragon wars was the worst thing I have seen yet. Not to mention that we bought it brand new $25 special edition because It looked good on the preview. That was the last movie I was allowed to pick out..LOL

lol I thought the same thing when I saw it on TV. I was like wow this looks amazing. Then I went on youtube to view some clips of it since the movie was already out in Korea and found out it really sucked bad lol.

[Mathias 426]

Dragon Wars was funny. I liked it when the main baddie kept getting run over by cars. X'D There were some cool special effects. I liked the Korean full dragon at the end. However, it was still a movie to rent and not buy.

I'm still hyped about the Indiana Jones movie. Understanding the history of the crystal skulls, I wasn't surprised about Goku's revelation. Despite his review, I'm probably going to come out of the franchise very satisfied. I'll post back tomorrow after I've watched it.

[slippers 3,168]

I loved it. I'm planning to see it again next week or so.

After the movie, when I was about to leave, someone mentioned how the ending was a bit far-fetched, but, like hello, previous movies weren't? From swarming ghosts in the lost ark, melting people's eyes, and the living sacrifice with a ripped out heart, to walking across the invisible bridge? There were plenty of action, mystery, and humor to go around. Just kick back and enjoy the movie, people, if you haven't seen it yet. I thought everything looked realistic, and the scenery/backgrounds were beautiful.

Again, though, I have to complain about the casts. Cate Blanchette is now a female version of Jude Law, I swear. I'm sick of seeing her face again and again. She just didn't pull that evil villain for me. And I didn't like that greedy friend of Indie either. There could've been better casting than them.

Edited May 26, 2008 by slippers

[gokuDX7 2,871]

I'm still hyped about the Indiana Jones movie. Understanding the history of the crystal skulls, I wasn't surprised about Goku's revelation. Despite his review, I'm probably going to come out of the franchise very satisfied. I'll post back tomorrow after I've watched it.

I was fine with Aliens being in the movie. I had already known about the skull theory but I was not fine with how it ended. We learned nothing at all yet Jones says "it was all about knowledge". The ship taking off was extremely corny as well. I felt like they where trying to rip off the mummy's pyramid scene.

Jones was also forced to look directly at the skull because they needed him to "understand" what his friend was saying. However that seemed pointless to me since a) everyone could already understand what he was hinting at from the start and still could after Jones looked at the skull and Jones played no real roll in returning the skull to the alien body like the skull supposedly told him to do "it told me to bring it back". They could have just took the old man and did it themselves without Jones.

It just fell flat for a Jones movie. I probably would have liked it more despite all the CGI if the story was actually good like the last 3.

[Vincent 2,861]

i really liked it, but it really did seem like the movie was made a) as a fan service movie and to make more money. the one part that I thought was really stupid was shia swinging through the trees. wtf? I hate that kid.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I thought it was pretty good. The only thing wrong with the movie in my opinion was the first 20 minutes or so. They could have went from the warehouse section straight to him getting on the train. Then dedicated the rest of that time to searching for the temple. Overall I think it was well done, sure they could have stuck to the original stuff... but it wouldn't have been anything "new" and you'd have even more people complaining about how it was just another ark, doom or crusade with the same old unoriginal gags. For whatever reason, not everyone will be pleased, but sometimes being hardcore on originality (not being like the last ones) drives a series to be stale. I do hope this is the last one however.

Mutt > Short Round - Both didn't contribute much to the respective films but Shia was far less annoying.

My new ordering of the films according to my favorites:

Ark

Crusade

Skull

Doom

[gokuDX7 2,871]

I thought it was pretty good. The only thing wrong with the movie in my opinion was the first 20 minutes or so. They could have went from the warehouse section straight to him getting on the train. Then dedicated the rest of that time to searching for the temple. Overall I think it was well done, sure they could have stuck to the original stuff... but it wouldn't have been anything "new" and you'd have even more people complaining about how it was just another ark, doom or crusade with the same old unoriginal gags. For whatever reason, not everyone will be pleased, but sometimes being hardcore on originality (not being like the last ones) drives a series to be stale. I do hope this is the last one however.

Mutt > Short Round - Both didn't contribute much to the respective films but Shia was far less annoying.

My new ordering of the films according to my favorites:

Ark

Crusade

Skull

Doom

It didn't need to be done "the same old way". It just didn't need to be done THIS WAY, the horrible way lol.

1) Like you mentioned already, the beginning was bad. They should have cut out the bomb part.

2)They should have made the monkey scene different (ie. Mutt lands in the tree and a monkey makes a funny face and pees on him or just looks at him with a funny face for a few mins and swings away wile Mutt yells at the monkey for help).

3) They could have also removed the stupid CGI tree on the cliff and made it so the duck went right off the cliff into the water knocking off a few Russians with it or snapped through the tree like it would have done in real life.

4) They could have also remove all the random CGI gofers/baggers/moles at the start of the movie. What are we watching a beer commercial?

5) Made it so the skull that Dr. Jones looked at, actually said or did something useful and we got to see it (ie. a flash back..etc).

6) Remove the CGI spinning saucer death trap at the end and replace it with something thats actually dramatic.

7) End the journey with a real ending and not with the whole group just sitting on the top of a mountain with Jones saying "It was all about knowledge" wile watching the space ship fly off and the rest of the tomb imploding wile water is filling it.

8) Add in some nail biting, edge of your seat traps and thrills. There was absolutely no part in this movie that was nail biting or thrilling. Doom had the walls that would slowly crush you to death, the weird native guy that would rip your heart out, and the crazy mine cart chase scene and at the time that was amazingly on the edge of your seat stuff. Ark had the weird saws and invisible walk way not to mention the story was put together perfect or maybe that was Crusade....I mean come on. Add something in that's gonna leave us with a "holy shit, the may not actually make it out of this scene without a scratch" expression on my face. The whole movie, Jones was like fucken Chuck Norris on crack. He's supposed to be what, 60 years old in the movie?

[Myk JL 1,731]

4) They could have also remove all the random CGI gofers/baggers/moles at the start of the movie. What are we watching a beer commercial?

I had a dumb ass thought after the ending of how funny it would be If the alien had been replaced by The Dramatic Stare Gopher causing that Russian to explode!... Too South Park...

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

It didn't need to be done "the same old way". It just didn't need to be done THIS WAY, the horrible way lol.

1) Like you mentioned already, the beginning was bad. They should have cut out the bomb part.

2)They should have made the monkey scene different (ie. Mutt lands in the tree and a monkey makes a funny face and pees on him or just looks at him with a funny face for a few mins and swings away wile Mutt yells at the monkey for help).

3) They could have also removed the stupid CGI tree on the cliff and made it so the duck went right off the cliff into the water knocking off a few Russians with it or snapped through the tree like it would have done in real life.

4) They could have also remove all the random CGI gofers/baggers/moles at the start of the movie. What are we watching a beer commercial?

5) Made it so the skull that Dr. Jones looked at, actually said or did something useful and we got to see it (ie. a flash back..etc).

6) Remove the CGI spinning saucer death trap at the end and replace it with something thats actually dramatic.

7) End the journey with a real ending and not with the whole group just sitting on the top of a mountain with Jones saying "It was all about knowledge" wile watching the space ship fly off and the rest of the tomb imploding wile water is filling it.

8) Add in some nail biting, edge of your seat traps and thrills. There was absolutely no part in this movie that was nail biting or thrilling. Doom had the walls that would slowly crush you to death, the weird native guy that would rip your heart out, and the crazy mine cart chase scene and at the time that was amazingly on the edge of your seat stuff. Ark had the weird saws and invisible walk way not to mention the story was put together perfect or maybe that was Crusade....I mean come on. Add something in that's gonna leave us with a "holy shit, the may not actually make it out of this scene without a scratch" expression on my face. The whole movie, Jones was like fucken Chuck Norris on crack. He's supposed to be what, 60 years old in the movie?

*shrugs* Well, thats why its George Lucas' story and not yours. Its kind of pointless to say "this is how he should have written it". People will like it or hate it, but its not worth getting bent out of shape over.

You have to wonder what the original script was though. The whole thing was scrapped years ago.

[Mathias 426]

I really enjoyed the movie! Like Goku said, there were a few scenes that could have been better handled, but that's true of any movie and critic.

Every new Indy movie has progressively stepped farther from the serious tone to the comedic. I think Crusade hit it best. Skull did a great job after that, followed by Ark and Doom. No one ever felt like they were in true danger in Crusade and the complete opposite in Doom.

I still nearly throw up every time I watch the monkey brain scene in Doom. Though the thrills are high with some comedy, the whole drug and child slavery issue made me uncomfortable. Ark and Doom were also notorious for slow scenes compared to Crusade and Skull. My attention never drifted with the last two movies.

The monkey scene could have been removed with Jr. falling and taking over a passing jeep. After mentioning the big vs. small scorpion note, I expected an accompanying small scorpion scene. The FBI doesn't trust Indy bit didn't fly well and expect to see other FBI scenes in the deleted scenes or as scrap on the floor.

I was iffy about the elongated skulls since I don't remember that in the Sci-Fi special or any other research I performed. Their really could be a tribe that does that, so I don't know. I liked the Atlantean theory of the skulls best. Nothing came of the skulls will save the Earth theory either. The knowledge aspect was discussed by the murals on the wall describing the aliens teaching them how to irrigate, farm, build, etc.

The natives were threatening, but never reached the hype like they did in the other movies. Mackie's demise and the alien ship were too much like Mummy 2. Indy did feel like more of an escort for Orsie than leader.

I loved the quicksand scene. "Just call it a rope!" has me laughing still. I liked the tree/cliff scene and considering the size of the tree I believe its plausible enough to let it pass since the tension needed loosened after the bug incident. I liked the memorial to Indy's father and Marcus and the fact that Marcus "helped" them out of trouble.

I liked the reference to the Stalin's psychic research, though I wish they would have developed it better. I liked the references to the time frame including the Greasers vs. Jocks, Atom bomb and the fridge, and the area 51 with the Ark poking it's head out as a tease.

I could go on about the fun parts, but my wife's kicking me to finish this.

[Kelene 268]

The movie was entertaining. It was creepy at parts (the large ants) and hilarious at other times (the snake rope). I agree with the Mutt swinging on vines thing was a bit too much (after all it took Tarzan years to learn how to swing on vines like that).

I like all the Indiana Jones movies. This one seemed to have more ancient history in it, the Mayan language, temples, and their 'gods'. I was not bored at all.

One of my favorite parts was Mutt starting the fight between the greasers and the jocks. The jock's girlfriend was to one to punch Mutt, it was great. The chases was entertaining and funny at the same time, always wondering what Lucas has planed.

Overall I was rather happy with it. The aliens were a bit far- fetched, but I will definitely buy the movie when it comes out.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I was iffy about the elongated skulls since I don't remember that in the Sci-Fi special or any other research I performed. Their really could be a tribe that does that, so I don't know. I liked the Atlantean theory of the skulls best. Nothing came of the skulls will save the Earth theory either. The knowledge aspect was discussed by the murals on the wall describing the aliens teaching them how to irrigate, farm, build, etc.

Yes more than one tribe around the world practiced that art. There is a tribe in Africa that ties a flat board to the child's head to make their forehead slant.

I haven't investigated the South American tribes worship, but it is known to be similar to Egyptian and Sumerian. The Sumerian's have many text and artistic architecture that depict a similar story seen in the movie. Beings coming down to earth that they worshiped as deities and such.

[Pchan 5,162]

God this's a huge topic with so much in it *ignores till he watches the movie* I'll post my thoughts either tomorrow or the day after ^ ^. Goku~kun, you can't do much with the movie that's already made ... there're so many movies - horror/ action/ comedy/ etc. where we always wonder if this'd happened that way it would've been waaay cooler, etc. ... it's natural. Think of the potential AvP has, and look at the movies they've made, collectively.

[the56ker 100]

meh movie wasent that bad it was a little fast paced though for an indiana jones movie honstly though its not much differnt from the older movies sooooo....

[Pchan 5,162]

I watched it last night, and it was commercialism at it's best. You can't expect a Indy movie to be realistic since it's all fantasy adventure kinda stuff.

Cons - Indy's betraying pal + Mary = wasted characters in the movie, and the storyline prolly.

Pros - Harrison + Shia + Cate, car fight.

I think my favorite character would be Cate's and she pulled it off really well, imo.