Indy 4 DVD Comentary: Spielberg Blames Lucas

[Nowhere Man]

Practicaly, I watched the comentary and Spielberg repeatidly says he didn't want Aliens. He just keeps repeating this over and over in a joking,polite manner. It's almost like he new people were going to hate it. He keeps saying that Lucas pushed for Aliens. He was just directing the movie and giving the fans what they want as far as characterization and content, but not plot. I know Spielberg is not really blaming Lucas,but you can interpret it that way. Spielberg is just as guilty by not standing up to Lucas. I don't hate KOTCS , but I don't realy love it either. I just sort of except it for what it is and enjoy what I can. I definately seperate it from the trilogy. Has anyone else seen that comentary?

 

[Mojochi]

No, but it's not hard to see that much of the problems with the film came long before it got to the production phase. What suprises me is that Spielberg agreed to direct it. Throughout the ages, Indy movies have been difficult to get to the production phase, because the content was always a contention between them. Ironically, I use to think Temple of Doom was the weakest in the series, because of the same reason, weak content in the story, plot line & script

I don't think that anymore

Raiders is still the best & Last Crusade is still the best sequel to it, & if this last one was any indication, any others aren't going to change that

 

[Nowhere Man]

In the comentary Spielberg says repeatidly he didn't want to direct it, but I guess Harrison and Lucas talked him into it. I think he thought someone else would screw it up. The directionof the movie is great IMO, but George Lucas was just going to do the movie any way I think.

 

[scnj]

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who actually enjoyed it.

 

[DeafPoet]

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who actually enjoyed it.

It wasn't the second coming that I and just about everyone else was hoping for but on its own terms, I think it's a lot of fun.

Which is all an Indy movie should be, IMO.

 

[milo bloom]

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who actually enjoyed it.

It wasn't the second coming that I and just about everyone else was hoping for but on its own terms, I think it's a lot of fun.

Which is all an Indy movie should be, IMO.

Haven't watched it since the theater (drive-in actually...), but I seem to recall by simply "whelmed". Not overwhelmed or underwhelmed, it was just kinda there. I've been keeping an eye out for a deal on the Bluray, my rationalization being if it can't stand on it's own, it'll at least make a nice demo disc.

 

[Nowhere Man]

^ Last week was the first time I watched it since the theatres, and thats when I saw the comentary. I don't want to say I hate it because Harrison Ford fits the role flawless, but the movie should have been done 10 or 15 years ago or not at all. I think around 1998-200 would have been perfect for another trilogy. that way by 2008 it would be done with completely. Of course they should have stuck with Archaeology, not Aliens. I get the myth, but still it was a streatch.

 

[RandyS]

Can I assume we're talking about the Blue Ray disk here? I have the 2 disk DVD, and mine doesn't have a commentary track. I wish it did. It would be interesting to hear his thoughts. None of my Speilberg films do.

 

[Skywalker]

Well, I understand why Lucas wanted to make it about aliens. The timeline had shifted to the 1950s and he wanted to make Indy 4 an homage to the science fiction B-movies of the era, like the first three were homages to the adventure serials of the 1930s, but it just felt out of place, IMO.

There was one Indiana Jones thread from a couple years back, we were all discussing what the fourth movie could be about. I remember suggesting in that thread that since the first three movies had been about two Judeo-Christian artifacts and one Hindu artifact, the fourth could have done something dealing with Buddhism. Then I found out about the Cintamani stone and suggested that the plot could be about Indy racing across Tibet trying to stop both the Soviets and Communist China (who had invaded Tibet in the early '50s) from getting the stone and obtaining ultimate power, etc., etc. Since it would be set in Tibet, Shangri-La/Shamballa could have also played a part in the plot.

But then Naughty Dog ended up doing a very similar storyline in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for the PS3, so while my ideas didn't come to pass in Indiana Jones 4, at least I got to see it (sort of) happen elsewhere.

 

[RandyS]

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who actually enjoyed it.

You're not. Unless The Temple of Doom is somehow erased from existence, THAT film will always be the worst one.

Of course, I prefer The Last Crusade over Raiders, and I appea to be in the minority there.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

Spielberg doesn't do commentary tracks. The OP is a liar.

 

[startrekrcks]

I liked Indy 4 but the plot sucked

 

[Broccoli]

^ Last week was the first time I watched it since the theatres, and thats when I saw the comentary. I don't want to say I hate it because Harrison Ford fits the role flawless, but the movie should have been done 10 or 15 years ago or not at all. I think around 1998-200 would have been perfect for another trilogy. that way by 2008 it would be done with completely. Of course they should have stuck with Archaeology, not Aliens. I get the myth, but still it was a streatch.

The movie had about the same amount of archaeology as the previous ones. The end result was what was somewhat different. However, I don't see really see Aliens being too far away as the crazy shit that Indy encountered in the previous ones, such as ghosts, mystical stones, and immortal knights.

Can I assume we're talking about the Blue Ray disk here? I have the 2 disk DVD, and mine doesn't have a commentary track. I wish it did. It would be interesting to hear his thoughts. None of my Speilberg films do.

Spielberg doesn't do commentary tracks. The OP is a liar.

While the use of the word "Commentary" is misplaced here, the OP is actually referring to the special feature on the first disc titled "The Return of a Legend." In that feature, Spielberg dicusses how he initally wasn't keen on using aliens, but eventually got into it.

 

[Timby]

Of course, I prefer The Last Crusade over Raiders, and I appea to be in the minority there.

The Last Crusade is a ton of fun. The cast is almost perfect, special effects are top-notch, the tone is spot-on and the action is very well-executed.

My biggest problem with it, though, is that in terms of content it's essentially the exact same movie as Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the addition of Sean Connery. It does a far better job of telling the same story twice than, say, Ghostbusters II (which, coincidentally enough, came out in the same summer), but it's still the second verse, same as the first. It's still above Temple of Doom, but I don't love it. I merely enjoy it.

 

[OmahaStar]

Spielberg doesn't do commentary tracks. The OP is a liar.

I'm still trying to figure out how someone SAW a commentary. Unless it was a text commentary, but this doesn't appear to be the case.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Practicaly, I watched the comentary and Spielberg repeatidly says he didn't want Aliens. He just keeps repeating this over and over in a joking,polite manner. It's almost like he new people were going to hate it. He keeps saying that Lucas pushed for Aliens. He was just directing the movie and giving the fans what they want as far as characterization and content, but not plot. I know Spielberg is not really blaming Lucas,but you can interpret it that way. Spielberg is just as guilty by not standing up to Lucas.

It's not really a secret that neither Spielberg nor Ford were happy with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It's not that Spielberg and Ford "caved" to Lucas; the agreement the three men had put Lucas on point on the fourth film, Lucas wanted aliens, and they had to find a happy medium that they could all accept. Spielberg didn't want the aliens at all, Lucas wanted lots of aliens, and Ford found the compromise point with just a single alien. For good or ill, it's a compromise film, and a fifth film would be just as much a compromise film, but as Spielberg would hold the creative reins for it, I suspect that a fifth film would be easier to gett off the ground than Crystal Skull was.

 

[Broccoli]

Spielberg doesn't do commentary tracks. The OP is a liar.

I'm still trying to figure out how someone SAW a commentary. Unless it was a text commentary, but this doesn't appear to be the case.

Read my post above.

 

[God Magnus]

Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who actually enjoyed it.

You're not, but I can sympathize. I've seen many friends express nothing but utter hatred for the film but I don't get it. It wasn't anywhere NEAR as spectacular as the "Raiders", sure, but I still had fun with the film and it felt good to see Ford back in Indy's shoes. ::Shrug::

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

The more I think about the series, the more I realize that Raiders of the Lost Ark should've been the only movie.

I'll defend Temple of Doom, but it was conceptually weak.

Last Crusade was self parody.

Crystal Skull was a t.v. show reunion special.

 

[Aragorn]

I didn't mind the alien angle. The execution on the other hand was pretty horrible.