Finally saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Plastic Skull

[TheBrew]

Am I not allowed to express my disappointment on a message board? So I use colourful hyperbole and rhetoric...does it really bother you that much?

When you question the mental acuity of people who didn't hate the film... it makes you sound like a troll. Attack the film, not posters.

 

[Immolatus]

The movie imho was the worst of the indy films, but it wasn't all that bad. I've seen much worse and I've seen much better. After all it's just a movie

 

[Kelso]

Indy IV was a fun movie. That was all it needed to be.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'll never understand the mentality of haters. For example I dislike American Idol, can't stand the show and have never watched any more of it than the commercials have shoved in my face, and I certainly can't "get into in a good American Idol bashing". For demonstration purposes, this right here is the first, last and most I've ever spoken of it; It's just that easy.
A normal thought process would lead a person to seek out that which he or she enjoys. To gravitate towards something that they don't raises the question as to whether or not they like anything at all; A display that seriously undermines the value of one's opinions.

All fine and good, but I went to see KotCS because I liked the other Indy movies, the trailers looked promising and I thought it'd be good. The result was an abomination. So, guess what, I'm going to voice my opinion on what a festering turd that senseless movie is.

Only reason I bought the DVD was so I could watch the Rifftrax.

You had me right up until you bought the DVD.

As to those who base their hate and disappointment for this film on a comparison to the love and enjoyment they feel towards the earlier ones, I concede that you have a valid gripe. But at least state that in your argument, don't come blasting into a thread tearing into it with abstract remarks and harsh insults at those who did enjoy it. That just isn't going to influence people in a positive way or do anything to validate your point.

As I said. I bought the DVD so I could do the Rifftrax on it.

 

[T'Baio]

Am I not allowed to express my disappointment on a message board? So I use colourful hyperbole and rhetoric...does it really bother you that much?

When you question the mental acuity of people who didn't hate the film... it makes you sound like a troll.

*Shrug* And? I'm being hyperbolic. I'm not trying to influence anyone or validate anything. My best friend likes the film, too, and I call him a fucking idiot for it all the time. Grow some skin, people.

 

[Maurice]

Of the four Indy films the only one I really like is the first one. Last Crusade is okay, but suffers from the same problems I have with all of them. I felt the first film managed to walk a fine line where the action was over-the-top but not utterly unbelievable except for a moment or two. This went out the window with Temple of Doom, and continued with the following installments (jumping out of planes on life rafts, airplanes having their wings cut off and sliding through tunnels, sword fights on the backs of moving vehicles for interminably long sequences). I enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford, and I was happy to see Karen allen again, albeit they didn't give her enough to do, but I found the Mac character a waste of time (I kept thinking of Daffy Duck when he's loading up on treasure: "It's mine! I'm rich! I'm wealthy!' I'm socially secure!"), and I found the main villain uninteresting.

I thought the first film was nimble and it felt real enough because most everything (with the exception of the Ark, a few matte paintings, and a few quick superimpositions) was done live, with real locations and real people, but the rest are overproduced and artificial.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Am I not allowed to express my disappointment on a message board? So I use colourful hyperbole and rhetoric...does it really bother you that much?

Why does it bother you that much that we question how you choose to express this disappointment????

Seriously. You are being very hypocritical here.

 

[davejames]

The movie imho was the worst of the indy films, but it wasn't all that bad. I've seen much worse and I've seen much better. After all it's just a movie

That's the problem. It's "just" a movie. The first three are freakin CLASSICS, and considered by most to be some of the best action movies ever made.

Personally I wanted Crystall Skull to be a lot more than just "watchable".

 

[davejames]

Of the four Indy films the only one I really like is the first one. Last Crusade is okay, but suffers from the same problems I have with all of them. I felt the first film managed to walk a fine line where the action was over-the-top but not utterly unbelievable except for a moment or two. This went out the window with Temple of Doom, and continued with the following installments (jumping out of planes on life rafts, airplanes having their wings cut off and sliding through tunnels, sword fights on the backs of moving vehicles for interminably long sequences). I enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford, and I was happy to see Karen allen again, albeit they didn't give her enough to do, but I found the Mac character a waste of time (I kept thinking of Daffy Duck when he's loading up on treasure: "It's mine! I'm rich! I'm wealthy!' I'm socially secure!"), and I found the main villain uninteresting.

I thought the first film was nimble and it felt real enough because most everything (with the exception of the Ark, a few matte paintings, and a few quick superimpositions) was done live, with real locations and real people, but the rest are overproduced and artificial.

I think everyone agrees about Raiders being the best. But even though the first sequels got a little lighter in tone, they still had the same snappy dialogue and gritty action as before, and were just as well-executed.

The 4th one has none of that. The dialogue is completely generic (seriously, how many memorable lines can anyone remember?), the action is cartoony and fake, and the storytelling is sloppy as hell.

 

[Broccoli]

They overthought the concept of a fourth Indy movie, I gather. They didn't just want another stand alone installment, it had to tie into Marion or something. The artifact had to have pop culture recognizability. So much of it felt forced, including as much 1950's kitsch as possible. All that was missing was an appearance by Elvis himself. Maybe he gets the skull, and Mutt has to disguise himself as girl to retrieve it from the King's dressing room.

Well...they did have the Elvis song...

Am I not allowed to express my disappointment on a message board? So I use colourful hyperbole and rhetoric...does it really bother you that much?

You can say how much you didn't like the movie, but basing people who enjoyed it in a trollish way isn't cool.

The last Crusade was flawless.

Oh wait...you're being serious.

As to those who base their hate and disappointment for this film on a comparison to the love and enjoyment they feel towards the earlier ones, I concede that you have a valid gripe. But at least state that in your argument, don't come blasting into a thread tearing into it with abstract remarks and harsh insults at those who did enjoy it. That just isn't going to influence people in a positive way or do anything to validate your point.

QFT. It would be no different if people who liked the film called people who hated it blind, deaf, and dumb fools with brain damage. That's just not cool. As others have said, attack the film, not the people.

As I said. I bought the DVD so I could do the Rifftrax on it.

If you hated it, but wanted to see the RiffTrax, why didn't you just rent it?

 

[TheMurph]

I like it. As good as the first three? No, but enjoyable none the less. If you take it for what it was, a fifty/sixty year old Indiana dealing with a fantastical adventure and a kind of tribute to 50's b-movies, it is easy to watch.

 

[Trekker4747]

If you hated it, but wanted to see the RiffTrax, why didn't you just rent it?

A) I don't rent. It's just a... thing.
B) I'm a "completest" so I guess I "had" to have it.
C) What if I wanted to watch the RT again?

 

[ManOnTheWave]

I didn't think it was a horrible movie, but while watching it, I definitely felt like it was a dumbed down version of itself, which is more or less my criticism of everything else with Lucas' name on it in the last ten or so years.

 

[Orintho]

Great. Another Indy 4 bash thread.

I liked the film. It was fun. Some people will like it. Others will not.

I truly believe anyone who likes it is delusional or retarded.

Real mature. Honestly...get over yourself; it's a damn movie.

2. So how exactly were a band of Soviet KGB running around 1950s red-scare America on military installations with little to no resistence? Again, past Indy films always kept one leg in the real world. Also, I don't think gunpowder is magnetic.

3. Why does Area 51, which was holding the warehouse of priceless and dangerous items, have little to no military security?

If you bothered to pay attention, you would have heard the soldier at the beginning explain that most of the base personnel were evacuated because of the bomb test. This is why the Russians went when they did, because the base was going to virtually empty.

It's about as realistic as someone holding onto a submarine for the entire length of a journey from Egypt to a deserted island in the Aegean Sea. Or about as realistic as opening a raft in midair for three people and landing perfectly on a mountain side (and them falling off the mountain and landing safely in the river below). I'm sorry, since when did Indiana Jones films become realistic?

You mean he...GASP!...did something different?!!

While they did drop this aspect of the story when they got into the who Crystal Skull aspect, it was probably done to show the seriousness of the situation. The character did return by the end, suggesting that he got his job back.

There are LOTS of anachronisms in the Indy films. Indy's satchel for one.

I don't know what you mean exactly. He ditched the Russians at the beginning because, well, they were Russians. With the Crystal Skull chase, the Russians needed the notes that Mutt gave Indy to find the Skull. Mutt and Indy ran away from them so they wouldn't get the notes (and subsequently the skull). When Indy got the skull, both sides chased each other as the skull kept changing hands. Later, with Indy in full custody of the Skull, they ran away from the Russians because they wanted to get the skull back from Indy.

While I admit that was silly, the intention there was to give a nod to the Tarzan movies of the era. Much like the original films were representative of the serials of the 1930s, KotCS was representative of the films of the 1950s, such as B-Movies. Clearly, this didn't work for everyone.

Didn't they go back the way they came? In other words, they drove away from what was already cut down.

Eyes, nose, mouth of the mountain skull, if I am not mistaken.

Again, I point to the scene in TOD where three people leap out of a plane, open a raft and land safely on the river below (after hitting a mountain and sliding down and off it).

They did. It was said that the Akator Temple was guarded by the "living dead." Presumably, this living dead was not literal, and the warriors were protecting it. I'd say the level of explaniation was on par with the previous films

Because he is the hero and good guy. That's what good guys do. It is the same reason that he tries to save Elsa in Last Crusade after she betrayed him (and was a Nazi to boot).

I'll grant that he accepted his death way to easy, but he wasn't lying down. He was being pulled towards that vortex while hanging onto Indy's whip/rope (? - don't remember exactly).

15. Okay, so we get inter-dimensional aliens who can miraculously whip up mountain boulders like so much cake mix and not injure anyone standing perilously close to the maelstrom? Riiiight.

Just like we can have ghosts pop up out of a box and kill everyone in close proximity -- unless, of course, you close your eyes (oh, and how did Indy know to do this, by the way?). Or how you can plunge your hand into someone's chest, rip out their heart, and they are still alive.

16. The FY Shia moment: The film goes to much trouble establishing the relationship between Indy and his new-found son. Then at the end there is a passing of the hat moment which is quickly ended as Indy snaps up his trademark headware. Did the movie lack the courage of its own convictions?

I think the film was harmlessly playing at the audience than anything else. There is only one Indiana Jones.

I appreciate your defense of the film, but surely you can see that Spielberg and Lucas simply did not care when they made this film. I can take dumb or unrealistic things in movies. But I expect a movie to follow the rules established by its own series. This one did not.

Consider the main prop - that plastic skull. Now, Spielberg is no hack. He has made phenomenal films and even on the lesser ones (Hook for example) - he could still take the time and care to get some good from the film. Not here. Surely at some point of the production Spielberg could have been bothered enough to tell his cast to 'ACT' like the damn prop really was crystal and quit tossing the thing around like a beach ball?

And you can't tell me that you found this film even remotely suspenseful. Nothing was hard for our heroes. If there's a waterfall in the way - drive over it. It there is a secret door to be opened, point the skull at it. Need to find a secret passage, grope in the first hole and find the mechanism immediately. I think this problem goes back to Lucas's script since it demonstrates his ham-fisted simplicity.

 

[Captain Craig]

When Uwe Boll starts to make Spielberg look like a hack, there is a serious problem in Hollywood. I now understand why South Park did that one episode about Indy getting raped. He was.

This gentelmen is hyperbole. All remaining material is now subject to being ignored on the baisis of flawed objectivity.

It was not even good on its own. Maybe some of you liked this film, fine. But let's consider some of the following problems:

Yeah $317m domestic shows it was liked...liked very well.
Problems: Broccoli already pointed out the error of addressing this "point" back on page 2.

If there is a plastic - crystal - skull to be found,

What? Were all the Metamucil jokes taken? Plastic skull is the best possible insult you could muster up.

I can always get into a good Crystal Skull Bashing thread.

The film was completely fucking embarrassing.

I truly believe anyone who likes it is delusional or retarded.

I fully and truly believe anyone who claims Indy 4 to be godawful and a departure from the series to be delusional, retarded or not able to actually grasp reality.

Its a fu*&ing movie where the surreal, abnormal, mystical, paranormal and bizzare have happened for 30 years. GET OVER YOURSELF.


As another stated I'll never understand this need to vent on something. I've seen American Idol, Survivor, CSI and countless other popular things yet I don't continually go into or create avenues to bash something for the sake of trying to "prove" how bad it is from top to bottom.

I can admit that Indy 4 has a flaw or two but its still quite enjoyable. Even on something I've criticized like Superman Returns I've been objective enough to admit what it got right.
Threads like this serve no purpose other than to allow the shallow among us to thump their chests within a minority of allied thinkers and then think to themselves "I knew I was right."

 

[T'Baio]

Did you read the rest of the thread?

 

[Tim]

I truly believe anyone who likes it is delusional or retarded.

Can you get me committed, too? I liked the movie (as a fun movie, not as serious cinema), so I must be loony, right?

Good ol' TrekBBS bashin'.

 

[Tulin]

And which one was depicted in the South Park ep?

It's a satirical cartoon. It's one definition of rape used as an analogy to comment on the other. But, most likely in South Parks case, they were probably trying to comment on several levels and pointing out the ridiculousness of the fan community's use of that term to describe what Lucas has done in recent years. They're hardly mocking the concept of sexual rape or anything else that should be deemed offensive by anyone.

STOP

MAKING

SENSE!!!!!!

 

[Forbin]

Oddly enough the thing that bothered me most was the damn digital countdown clock in the rocket sled room.

Second was the F-86s at the air base. By 1957 they were antiques, and the AF was flying F-102s.