Indiana Jones 5 Still Happening With Shia Says Shia...

[Admiral_Young]

If I was doing Indy 5 it would be called "Indiana Jones and the Sword of Arthur" (referenced earlier in this thread as being an abandoned script for Indy 4) the title would be a bit misleading since this would be primarily a Mutt adventure with him on an expedition searching for Excalibur. Mutt teams up with a female historian who's expertise is Arthurian Legend, she's also his romantic interest in the film. The two of them though are tagged by Russian KGB agents who also have an interest in the sword and who want revenge for what the Jones family did to their agent in the last film. The second half of the film would feature Indy and Marion (if Karen Allen was up to doing another film) rescuing the two of them. The twist is that Indy discovers that Mutt was actually hired by a dummy Illuminati interest (yes a bit like Lara Croft I'll grant you that). Not really sure how to end it except that they actually find Arthur's sword and meet the Lady of the Lake. Mutt and his lady friend discover an ancient druid scroll written by Merlin that actually leads them to where the Sword is. This is roughly based on my own Indy/Excalibur story I wrote when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I just added in Mutt and Marion.

 

[Professor Zoom]

The interdenominational aliens were the least of the film's problems I agree....as I stated in my first post I would have not even bothered to show the aliens. It would be clear that the Chrystal Skull while having incredible electromagnetic properties and other weird strangeness was connected to them. I'd have Indy and company uncover it and Cate's Russian character attempt to unlock it's secrets only to trigger a fail safe booby trap that collapses the entire structure on top of them forcing them all to flee. Cate's character still is too enthralled with what they've found and remains behind and is killed while Indy and company escape...there is no transwarp ship or whatever. The whole thing just collapses and creates a sinkhole and they're left with the knowledge that we're not alone but can't really talk about it because they have no proof...until Indy pulls out the Crystal Skull from inside of his satchel and smiles "We still have this sweetheart..." "A museum piece only though Indy. No one will believe what we just saw." "No one has to sweetheart..." and he pulls Marion close to him and kisses her while Mutt makes a lame joke about his parents kissing in front of him. Then we cut to the wedding scene.

A booby trap ENDS it? No supernatural event? I think that would be a let down. And REALLY not in keeping with the Indiana Jones movies.

I'll stick with the aliens...

 

[JarodRussell]

The interdenominational aliens were the least of the film's problems I agree....as I stated in my first post I would have not even bothered to show the aliens. It would be clear that the Chrystal Skull while having incredible electromagnetic properties and other weird strangeness was connected to them. I'd have Indy and company uncover it and Cate's Russian character attempt to unlock it's secrets only to trigger a fail safe booby trap that collapses the entire structure on top of them forcing them all to flee. Cate's character still is too enthralled with what they've found and remains behind and is killed while Indy and company escape...there is no transwarp ship or whatever. The whole thing just collapses and creates a sinkhole and they're left with the knowledge that we're not alone but can't really talk about it because they have no proof...until Indy pulls out the Crystal Skull from inside of his satchel and smiles "We still have this sweetheart..." "A museum piece only though Indy. No one will believe what we just saw." "No one has to sweetheart..." and he pulls Marion close to him and kisses her while Mutt makes a lame joke about his parents kissing in front of him. Then we cut to the wedding scene.

A booby trap ENDS it? No supernatural event? I think that would be a let down. And REALLY not in keeping with the Indiana Jones movies.

I'll stick with the aliens...

If Indy 4 lacked something, then it was indeed booby traps. Every movie had them, except this one.

 

[Professor Zoom]

The interdenominational aliens were the least of the film's problems I agree....as I stated in my first post I would have not even bothered to show the aliens. It would be clear that the Chrystal Skull while having incredible electromagnetic properties and other weird strangeness was connected to them. I'd have Indy and company uncover it and Cate's Russian character attempt to unlock it's secrets only to trigger a fail safe booby trap that collapses the entire structure on top of them forcing them all to flee. Cate's character still is too enthralled with what they've found and remains behind and is killed while Indy and company escape...there is no transwarp ship or whatever. The whole thing just collapses and creates a sinkhole and they're left with the knowledge that we're not alone but can't really talk about it because they have no proof...until Indy pulls out the Crystal Skull from inside of his satchel and smiles "We still have this sweetheart..." "A museum piece only though Indy. No one will believe what we just saw." "No one has to sweetheart..." and he pulls Marion close to him and kisses her while Mutt makes a lame joke about his parents kissing in front of him. Then we cut to the wedding scene.

A booby trap ENDS it? No supernatural event? I think that would be a let down. And REALLY not in keeping with the Indiana Jones movies.

I'll stick with the aliens...

If Indy 4 lacked something, then it was indeed booby traps. Every movie had them, except this one.

It had the stairway down into the "temple." That was a booby trap. And where they found the skull.

I do agree there was something lacking about the movie (though I still had fun).... To me it was more tone and structure, not really the aliens or lack of booby traps.

 

[davejames]

You know what kills me with all the "Crystal Skull" detractors? It's that all of them probably saw the first movie, where at the end death angels flew out of a box full of dust and melted a bunch of Nazis' faces, but they think the interdimensional alien plot made no sense.

I shake my head in bewilderment.

That's because the "death angels" were actually dark and creepy, and were part of a MUCH stronger story that did a fantastic job making all of that dark supernatural stuff at the end seem plausible.

The aliens in Crystal Skull on the other hand felt like something out of a cheesy New Age bookstore, were not remotely scary or original, and the movie surrounding them was dumb and cartoonish as hell.

 

[JarodRussell]

A booby trap ENDS it? No supernatural event? I think that would be a let down. And REALLY not in keeping with the Indiana Jones movies.

I'll stick with the aliens...

If Indy 4 lacked something, then it was indeed booby traps. Every movie had them, except this one.

It had the stairway down into the "temple." That was a booby trap. And where they found the skull.

I do agree there was something lacking about the movie (though I still had fun).... To me it was more tone and structure, not really the aliens or lack of booby traps.

Hm... now that you mention it, the bottom of the pit did have spikes... but really, I never thought of it as a booby trap somehow.

It was lacking some edge. Violence was one issue (comes with the tone). I really expected a Russian soldier to get smashed in that jungle cutter, for example. Then the comic relief was too weird (also a tone issue). Mutt doing the Tarzan thing, or their car jumping onto the tree, which then snaps back to hit the Russian soldiers. Oh my... or when I read the soundtrack had track called "The Snake Pit" I remember I got really exited, and then we got that... snake... pit... thing...

The movie is fine. The third act sucks, actually. The way they find the skull, the key element of the whole story, was very anticlimactic. And after that it went sorta downhill. The jungle chase just lacked the proper punch, as said before. It was somehow too over the top, with Mutt vine swinging or sword fighting while standing on two cars at the same time (which looked obviously fake, too), and compared to the chase sequences of the other movies, it really lacked... something. Three waterfalls (again that over the top element that was just too much), and then not only a fully fleshed Alien, no, also the flying saucer, too. I don't remember Jesus himself showing up to heal Henry Jones' gunshot wound in Crusade, or Moses showing up to personally kick the Nazis' ass in Raiders, that's how over the top it felt to me.

 

[Admiral_Young]

By the way I wasn't inferring that the aliens or lack of booby traps were the main problems with the movie...in fact I stated in an earlier post that they weren't and the film had more problems than just that. The point of my post was to show what I would do if I was writing the script. I would have gotten rid of all the goofy Monkey jokes as well as the crotch joke which wasn't necessary imo.

 

[Kelthaz]

This topic reminds me of a video James Rolfe (aka. The Angry Video Nerd) posted earlier this year called "The Top 10 Sequels That Aren't As Bad As Everyone Says". The uncreative name aside, it's a very good video that gives a different outlook to a bunch of films that have been (unfairly?) bashed over the years. And yes, Indy IV makes an appearance.

Top 10 Sequels Thay Aren't As Bad As Everyone Says

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I feel James Rolf is spot on there. His comments at the end really bring up good points (criticism of the movie is fine, but criticism based on nitpicking misses the point).

I also liked his comment on Spiderman 3 (which I thought was an OK, but cheesy moments at points and was definitely bitter about Venom. But there were some undeniably cool scenes in that movie - especially with Blacksuit Spiderman and Sandman).

 

[Captain Craig]

"Some people seem to follow whatever opinion seems most popular. Think for yourself" -- James Rolf

So, true. Not just about movies either.

Excellent link. I'm emailing it several friends.

 

[Gaith]

I'm always amused when people cite the raft-plane escape from Doom as evidence that Skull isn't filled with crap moments. Uh, yeah... I hate the raft-plane sequence, too!

 

[Nardpuncher]

I'm always amused when people cite the raft-plane escape from Doom as evidence that Skull isn't filled with crap moments. Uh, yeah... I hate the raft-plane sequence, too!

Yeah, I mentioned that too on page 2 or whatnot.
Even if you don't like it, it's just not as far-fetched as the fridge. I think they jumped about 30 or 40 feet , they landed on snow and I'm going to believe that there was some wind resisitance on that raft. But yeah, it still wasn't a great idea for an action scene so a negative (raft scene) will not support another negative(fridge) or as they say, two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[Gaith]

Yeah, I mentioned that too on page 2 or whatnot.
Even if you don't like it, it's just not as far-fetched as the fridge.

Sorry, but it is. Maybe not the initial fall itself, but the whole descent, where trees and rocks whip by on both sides, is every bit as impossible. They not only don't collide with anything, aren't severely injured/torn up by the ground beneath the raft's floor, but the raft remains in good enough condition to float once it (again, totally inconceivably) reaches water... No, it won't wash, I'm afraid.

In Raiders, even the wildest action sequences seemed tantalizingly plausible. But each and every Indy sequel (Doom's raft and mine carts, Crusade's jumping from the deserts of Utah to forested land in the course of an afternoon, Skull's... well... you know) pissed all over that standard in some form. I actually think that, magic aside, the stunts in the first Mummy are more plausible than those of the Indy sequels - yet another reason, imho, why The Mummy is the best post-Raiders Indy-style retro adventure movie.

 

[JacksonArcher]

In Raiders, even the wildest action sequences seemed tantalizingly plausible. But each and every Indy sequel (Doom's raft and mine carts, Crusade's jumping from the deserts of Utah to forested land in the course of an afternoon, Skull's... well... you know) pissed all over that standard in some form. I actually think that, magic aside, the stunts in the first Mummy are more plausible than those of the Indy sequels - yet another reason, imho, why The Mummy is the best post-Raiders Indy-style retro adventure movie.

Well said.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The main problem with the raft sequence is that it stays upright. They all should have landed on their heads.

 

[Mr Light]

But... but... the weight of their bodies weighed down the center of the raft!

 

[Nardpuncher]

I just watched the scene from Temple of Doom and my memory was way off...they seemed to fall more than 100 feet just to the mountain, then they fell of a cliff that seemed like another 200 feet!

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

In Raiders, even the wildest action sequences seemed tantalizingly plausible.

I have to admit that "plausible" doesn't top my list of "adjectives most likely to make popcorn movies more exciting".

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The reason people bring up the raft is that people say "Crystal Skull was bad because [insert nit-picky details] were unrealistic". Other people can respond with "Well, [insert something from older movie] was as well." If you thought the raft scene was stupid, did you hate the movie because of it? People have basically said they hate Crystal Skull because of the fridge scene. If they had problems overall with the movies pacing, structure, or story, I wouldn't mind. It's the complaints about the little things that annoy me.

The movie is about the whole picture, not the little parts. For me Indy 5 was a fun, mindless movie in a similar style to the ones that came before it. It wasn't as exciting in that regard, but it made up for it by adding nostalgia (which I thought it handled quite well). Sure, there were dumb moments, but, as an overall picture, I thought it did its job just fine.

 

[Captain Craig]

The movie is about the whole picture, not the little parts. For me Indy 5 was a fun, mindless movie in a similar style to the ones that came before it.

Wait, you've traveled forward through time and seen Indy 5? Glad to know its another good installment!