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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull « previous next »
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Author Topic: Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull  (Read 27405 times)
Patient7
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« Reply #30 on: May 23, 2008, 04:10:53 PM »

All ive seen is Temple of Doom. Well, MOST of it. I turned it off before it was done. it sucked.

I disagree, I love Short Round  BounceGiggle
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« Reply #31 on: May 23, 2008, 06:05:55 PM »

WARNING MEGA SPOILERS

Warning Major Spoilers.............

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008) - Went to see this film last night and it was great to see Harrison Ford back as Indiana Jones even if he did look worn out. It's a must see if you like Indiana Jones, but let me tell you that it wasn't a great film. Allot of unrealistic chases, cgi, Indies lack of pep, lack of effective humor, and poor use of a potentially great storyline. Steven Spielberg has Indiana Jones meet Aliens and UFO's. Great idea, but Steven Spielberg doesn't give us the awe of a CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) experience instead Indiana and his group find a crystal skull and return it only to find more crystal skeleton aliens who simply take off in their spacecraft once the skull is put back in place at the end of the film.

Something the film should get credit for is bringing back Karen Allen as Indiana's love from the first film. Both aged now and the film reveals that Indiana Jones is the father to the young punk who locates him for another archaeologist pursuit. The kid finds out that not only is Indiana Jones more than just a professor, but in fact his father. Here you see the influence of a Lucas theme (STAR WARS). In the end Indiana Jones gets married to Karen Allens character like we all felt he should have in the first film and Indiana Jones almost passes his famous hat (or torch) to the kid, but he picks it up at the last minute before leaving the church with kids mother and bride of Indiana Jones.

Speeding up an older Indy and slowing down the film to capture the mystery and awe of an alien encounter instead of a jungle temple exploration action film would have been more to my liking.

The film is on par with TEMPLE OF DOOM as far as the series goes, but less interesting than say NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS. It could have been an extremely great film with the ancient astronauts, city of gold legend, and a Matto Grasso location, but they failed to put it together as neatly as the NATIONAL TREASURE films.

(6 out of 10 Stars)  Thumbup Thumbdown A must see for fans of the series. No need to see it in the theater. It can wait till DVD release.

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« Last Edit: May 23, 2008, 06:44:26 PM by Conan » Logged

Menard
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« Reply #32 on: May 23, 2008, 06:25:04 PM »

Warning Major Spoilers.............

Well, that's my fault as I did not see that when I started reading.

Uh...gee...thanks.  Bluesad
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Scott
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« Reply #33 on: May 23, 2008, 06:37:09 PM »

Sorry about that Menard. I'll make it a non-moving warning.
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CheezeFlixz
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« Reply #34 on: May 23, 2008, 10:14:15 PM »

Yeah I think National Treasure will be the next big franchise. I actually enjoyed the second one more than the first and with "Page 47" you know they'll be a third.

I'm looking forward to seeing Indiana Jones again but I think I'll wait for the DVD unless I can catch a cheap matinée showing. They have them here for $2 on occasion. I figured it wouldn't live up to the first three completely.
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indianasmith
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« Reply #35 on: May 23, 2008, 11:58:03 PM »

The first Indiana Jones movie gave me my nickname - a few months after it came out, I was arrowhead hunting with a friend of mine and we had to cross a small creek on a footlog which broke - I threw myself forward, caught a dangling branch, swung to the opposite side of the creek, and scrambled up the bank . . . he said, "Dang, man, you're like a real-life Indiana Jones."
  With typical 17 year old braggadocio, I sniffed, "I am Indiana SMITH, and unlike that wimp Harrison Ford, I am NOT afraid of snakes!"

Thus the future internet legend was born. TeddyR
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The Burgomaster
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« Reply #36 on: May 25, 2008, 08:30:56 AM »

I saw this yesterday and was disappointed.  After the long hiatus since the previous INDIANA JONES flick, I had high hopes they would come up with a top-notch sequel.  Not so.  It's "same old, same old,"  "been there, done that," and generally uninspired from beginning to end.  The movie has a few good moments, and the attack by red ants is a fun sequence.  For most of the movie I kept waitng for something breathtaking to happen, but it never did.
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Jim H
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« Reply #37 on: May 25, 2008, 12:46:28 PM »

I had my expectations lowered a lot by early stuff I'd read.  The film has a lot of weak spots.  Shia is good in the film, but he isn't Indiana Jones.  Nor can he ever be him.  Some scenes completely lack any tension when they shouldn't.  The snake scene is too ludicrous.  The film feels rushed in its locales a little too much.  He'll be someplace for like 5 seconds, then we get another redline map.  The ending is weak.  The villain is middling. 

That said, there were a number of things I liked.  Harrison Ford is as good as ever.  I actually mostly liked Mutt.  Most action scenes are good. 

Overall, I enjoyed it.  It's a marginal 7/10 from me.  Weakest of the 4 as far as I'm concerned. 
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trekgeezer
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« Reply #38 on: May 25, 2008, 03:21:20 PM »

Went with my wife and son and saw it yesterday. We all liked very much and I understand why the movie turned out like it did.

They've been trying to get together on a script for years and finally had to settle, because let's face it, Ford hasn't got many action hero years left in him.

It's at least as good as Temple and there was nothing in it any more preposterous than the others.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2008, 01:31:17 PM by trekgeezer » Logged




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indianasmith
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« Reply #39 on: May 25, 2008, 04:03:06 PM »

My wife and I are going to see it with another couple tonight.  I'm pretty easy to please, movie-wise, so I think we'll have some fun.
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indianasmith
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« Reply #40 on: May 25, 2008, 10:09:57 PM »

I haven't had this much fun in a movie since the first NATIONAL TREASURE.  What a great popcorn-munching thrill ride!!!  Yes, some parts were predictable.  Yes, some of the scenes were unrealistic.  Yes, Harrison Ford is getting a little long in the tooth for these kind of roles.  To all of that I say:

SO WHAT????

The action is consistent, the villains despicable, the scrapes and twists non-stop, and the countless little homages to the older films in the series, to current events, to other great films - I was thoroughly entertained!

Everything from a glimpse of the Ark of the Covenant still resting in its crate to Ford's comment about a "nucular explosion" to the little tip of the hat to THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES (the cancellation of that series was one of the main reasons I abandoned network TV years ago) - I mean, wow!   


OK, in terms of the original trilogy - I would rate this movie better than TEMPLE OF DOOM and right on a par with THE LAST CRUSADE and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.  The Lucas/Spielberg magic was definitely working on me tonight!
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Jim H
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« Reply #41 on: May 26, 2008, 07:52:31 PM »

Quote
It's at least as good as Temple and there was nothing in it any more preposterous than the others.

The thing I still find the most preposterous in any of the films is the cliff fall on the inflatable raft in Temple.  Yeah, there's stuff equally unlikely in the new one (soldier ants being able to carry a person, for instance).  But nothing quite as silly, for me at least.
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Neville
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« Reply #42 on: May 27, 2008, 05:42:53 AM »

Saw it this weekend, and although it was an OK film I'd also rate around 6 -6'5 over 10. It's not only the expectations, it's easily the worse of all four.

Starting with the good stuff, Harrison Ford is still Indiana Jones, and if he has a higher ratio of college professor over adventurer, I couldn't care less. This said, the action scenes are far less relentless than in previous Indiana movies (more on that later), and the pace resembles more Raiders of the lost ark than the sequels. This is fitting, considering the aging Indy and all that. Also possitive are the incorporation of both Shia LeBouf (he makes a great 50s rebel, and one can see him carrying the torch in future sequels) and Cate Blanchett, easily among the best villains of the series.

And now, the many downsides. The script is messy, too many things going on in there, and pulling the film in different directions. This could be forgiven if the dialogue was good and Spielberg's direction as tight as in the previous films. But they aren't. Spielberg has changed over the years, and there's no turning back. He tries to do the cartoon-like action scenes, mostly succeeding despite the blatant CGI and the fact that they are far less violent than in the past. The film may be even less violent than Raiders, despite a higher body count. Now I wasn't exactly expecting something on the level of Temple on violence, but I couldn't but wince everytime a red shirt buys it and Spielberg quickly moves to other stuff.

But I could forgive this easily if he handled the rest of the movie with the same profesionality. Well, he doesn't. Without sinking to the levels of non-intelligence of a Roland Emmerich or a John Turtletaub, Spielberg's direction feels rather flat and uninspired. And when finally Marion Ravenwood joins the adventurers the whole thing just screams "Family Reunion TV Special". And there's still a lot of running time left. Yawn.

In the end KOTCS is not as bad as you may expect, but it's also a far cry from the other Indiana movies. It's sort of decent, and way better than the legions of imitators you've seen over the years, but in the end the magic is not back, and you end up wondering if they just shouldn't have let Indy ride into the sunset.

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Hammock Rider
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« Reply #43 on: May 27, 2008, 11:23:05 AM »

***********Couple of Possible Spoilers*********


I don't have much more to add except that the reunion of Indy and Marion should have been a magical moment, and while it was nice, I wouldn't call it magic. That's the problem with this movie, no magic.  Some very good ideas, but it seemed that everyone involved was very tired. Maybe they could have slowed it downa  little and taken a deeper look at heroism and family or something. Instead we got Shia swinging around with monkeys like it was a Disney cartoon and Indy surviving a nuclear blast by climbing into a lead lined refridgerator. Now if he told this story to the military, then why didn't the Army just issue refridgerators to all our soldiers and citizens in case of nuclear attack? A bunch of 300-400 dollars Fridgidaire's could have rendered the Red Menace null and void. I guess it was that darn military-industrial complex. Question
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Patient7
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« Reply #44 on: May 27, 2008, 12:57:15 PM »

Also possitive are the incorporation of both Shia LeBouf (he makes a great 50s rebel, and one can see him carrying the torch in future sequels)

There had better not be any more sequels, I don't car how great a movie is, at one point the amount of sequels is sad.  Three was good for Indy, four, no, it was a blatantly wide line in this case and they crossed it.  Don't get me wrong, I believe that this movie will actually be pretty good and I've heard good things, I just think that a movie shouldn't push it on the sequels no matter ho good they might be, unless it's good enough to be called a classic in fifty years.
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