IMO, at least half the hate is Hype Backlash. I watched it, and while it wasn't up to the standards of, say, Raiders...it was at least as good as Temple of Doom. I caught more than a few moments where it was obvious everyone was trying too hard to duplicate the magic of the first three films, but in the end I mostly enjoyed myself.
Note: the aliens were something we can all blame George Lucas for. The rest of the original creative team (Steven Spielberg and Larry Kasdan) fought him tooth and nail on this point.
That said, I liked the concept of updating the world 20 years; it was certainly better than putting Harrison Ford in pancake makeup and asking us all to believe he hadn't aged a day since 1989. Subbing in "commies" for "Nazis" was a nice touch, and bringing back Marion Ravenwood (who I think all can agree was the best Indy love interest) wasn't a bad decision.
The script suffered, and the infamous "fridge scene"...well, we could have done without that. Again, I think everyone involved was trying too hard. But it wasn't the terrible movie a lot of people say it was.
edited 25th Nov '10 1:21:17 AM by drunkscriblerian
If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~Yes, I don't know why, of all the scene in Indiana Jones, this one gets some much flak.
That said, I do like this movie a lot less than the other ones, but I can't really give a good reason why. May it's because I am older now and it didn't had the same effect on me than the first threee, but I just didn't felt the same "Indy feeling" with this one.
I'd like to say another one of it's drawbacks, in my opinion, was the use of the supernatural. That is not to say that the other Indy movies don't have supernatural elements present in them, but usually It's played late in the game.
One of the first re-introducing things is "here's magical alien voodoo, isn't it nice?" which spoiled the rest of the story.
Not Quite Batman
Haters gonna hate. It's an excellent film, as good as its predecessors and better in some regards.
"Religion isn't the cause of wars, it's the excuse." —Mycroft NextI rather liked this film and remain confused at people who complain about there being aliens. Extremely confused. I liked the aliens and the crystal skulls (thought to be made by aliens). They don't really seem any less interesting or any more goofy than the ark or Holy Grail or those stones from Temple of Doom or their use of an evil cult dedicated to Kali.
If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan ChahThe biggest reason people are disappointed in this movie: Nostalgia Filter. I freely admit that because the original trilogy was a part of my childhood, this movie really had no chance of living up to the rose-colored memories of the originals, even Temple of Doom. There's just no way I can objectively rate it.
Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.
Not Quite Batman
![]()
![]()
![]()
You forgot the part where Crystal Skull is the very definition of fun and enjoyable.
Yeah, it's in the list of antonyms or perhaps they used it in a sentence: "Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was too overlaboured to be fun and enjoyable".
It felt like the script had beaten slowly beaten into shape over the years until they got to a point where it was acceptable so that they could say they were made Indiana Jones IV.
edited 26th Nov '10 12:47:36 PM by SomeSortOfTroper
Not Quite Batman
I didn't think so at all. Had myself one of those "rollicking good times" I keep hearing about.
"Religion isn't the cause of wars, it's the excuse." —Mycroft NextI thought it was way cheesier than the other ones, but I did have a good time. Rifftrax make it even better.
Say what you will, though, I liked the psychic russkies and the aliens. The 40's pulp might have been about Nazis and the Occult, but the 50's were all Sci-fi and Reds.
Psychic Commie Galadriel was the best character of the film. Seeing Shia La Beouf in physical pain wasn't half bad, either.
WOOF!After having thought about it awhile, my main beef was with the cinematography. it was waaaaay to reminiscent of the new Star Wars flicks, and I hated the camera work in those; George Lucas has gotten entirely too fond of the CGI-driven "Sweeping Dramatic Camera Pan" effect that shows whatever coolness his ILM team has cranked out this week. Lucas may have been a genius in his day, but that day has most certainly come and gone.
That, and the script was...well, sub-par. The one-liners were facepalm inducing rather than funny, and while the "psychic commies" touch was cool and the aliens were neat at the beginning the end just lost me.
and like I've said before, it just felt like they were trying too hard. The sense of carefree fun that permeated the first three movies just wasn't there. It was like they were entirely too aware of the big hype that would inevitably surround the movie and worked too damn hard to make it "OMG SO AWESOME!!!"
The franchise was better when the developers gave less of a shit.
If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~Oh yeah, way too much CGI. What's the point of having Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett really duelling with swords if you put it behind a green-screen CGI rainforest?
I actually really liked Crystal Skull, much more so on second viewing. It's probably because I didn't grow up with the films, and I'd just seen Raiders and Last Crusade again.
Mutt wasn't awful, really. He was more like River Jones from Crusade, who was something of an annoying prat, if a well-meaning one. By the end of the film he's on the road to recovery.
It's not over. Not yet.I wasn't crazy about the aliens, but Indiana Jones exists in a universe where All Myths Are True. At some point I expect Indy or Mutt to run across Chinese Communists searching for Thor's hammer Mjolnir.
It's not over. Not yet.HSW and Counterclock—srsly cool icons!
I liked the aliens, the psychicness, the Commies. There was Hype Backlash, but it felt like the writers tried too hard to overcorrect for Nostalgia Filter. Good to see someone else can put that better than I can. And Shia Le Beouf is no Sean Patrick Flanery. (Wow, had to imdb that.)
I grew up with the films and loved them to death when I was younger. They were a big part of my childhood and yet I wasn't disappointed by Crystal Skull save for some of the CGI. Loved the Star Wars prequels too. I'm just an oddity.
If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan ChahI was somewhat hoping for something a little bit more along the lines of the other films. What REALLY bugged me was the fact that the film centered around flying saucers and aliens ripped right out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and not on standard mythology and the supernatural
.
edited 2nd Dec '10 12:25:18 PM by OkamiFox
Being Genre-Savvy in a world of the unsavvy is like being stuck in a theater being forced to watch Twilight while listening to Justin BieberMaridee, I'm afraid that's not what I meant. What I was trying to get at was that I did not like the Genre-Shift, what was so enjoyable about the previous films was that the supernatural events were never explained on how they happened bit by bit, and It gave a real aura of mystery to the series. It's not like Indy would say to a fellow conrad "Well, that Ark of The Covenant we just encountered? It's an Disco Music Box from the far future sent to our time by our grandchildren that releases holograms that burn people because of nuclear radiation from bad wiring of the power-source".
I mean, ALIENS?! To add insult to injury they were the Little Grey Men type who fly in UFO's!

Please forgive the newbie if this has been done before. I'm one of those folks who hated the film—actually 'hated' is a strong word here. It just irritates me that it played like a fanfic writer wrote it. Indy and Marion get back together! Indy has an estranged son—a hot young mini-me who can carry on the adventures without Indy having to settle down! There's the warehouse where they keep the Ark, remember the Ark?! Snakes...didn't see that coming! A chase with cars and motorcycles—more cars, more motorcycles! Indy in the 50's—transporting a favorite hero into an entirely alien setting! Booby-trapped temple, with scarier booby traps! The whole family, together again!
I didn't expect something groundbreaking, but the whole thing seemed terribly predictable to me. I realize 'Fanservice' has a different meaning here but...what is the correct word for obvious pandering to a reader's/viewers most basic and obvious fantasies? My beef with Crystal Skull is that it had way too many of these, making it that strange beast—a reassuring adventure movie.