Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[CAP Freak]

I'm seeing it tonight.

[Monstro]

(SPOILERS CONTAINED)

 

 

7 out of 10 - and this is from a true Indy-fan.

 

Not Raiders, but still a pretty good popcorn flick. We're not talking about Academy awards here - just an Indiana Jones movie.

 

You can def see Lucas' fingerprints all over this one, his stupid McGuffin is the reason it took 19 years to make this movie - it is a very crappy premise for Indy.

 

HF and Speilberg finally caved in and let big-baby Lucas throw in his alien as this was probably their last opportunity to make an Indy. Gawd, what a person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed-bag Lucas has become...

 

[Larryw7]

I saw it this afternoon, I enjoyed it very much.

 

 

SPOILERS

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A lot of people seem to be turned off by the fact that the quest in this film is not for a supernatural artifact, but one that involves extraterrestials. In interviews, Lucas and Spielberg said that, since the setting for the film is the fifties, the template this time around are fifties sci-fi flicks rather than serials. Since I love pulpy science fiction stories, I found this new twist to be a plus. It gave the film a bit of freshness it might have lacked otherwise. And there is a line that John Hurt says at the end that could be taken right out of a Ray Harryhausen flick.

 

I don't know how I'd rank it next to the other three films yet(need to see it again), but I did have a great time watching it.

[Mephisto]

Is it better than Temple of Doom?

[Guardian Comics]

Just got back from seeing it. I was not overly impressed.

 

Mildly entertaining.

Some scenes are way over the top.

It did not have the true "Indy" feel to it.

 

I've already seen it twice (once at midnight with my 11 year old who wanted to go really badly, and once again tonight with m,y wife and other two children) and I think your sentiments hit the nail on the head.

 

Jim

[TupennyConan]

My review: I saw it.

[catrick339]

Is it better than Temple of Doom?

 

Smashing your thumb with a hammer is better than Temple of Doom.

[Designer Toast]

Raiders is the king of all Indy movies. Temple of Doom was okay. Last Crusade sucked it. All IMHO of course. Will probably grab the new Indy flick next week.

[CAP Freak]

I saw it. It was good.

[Subliminal]

I'm a big Indy, Ford and Karen Allen fan but I don't have high expectations on this movie.

 

Ford is way to old to be doing this and Spielberg and Lucas are past their movie making prime too.

 

 

[The Troll King]

I saw the movie tonight with my wife at one of the worst theaters I've ever been in simply because I'm stuck in this small town in East Texas.

 

I won't give away too much but please keep in mind that if you read my review there will be a few spoilers and also understand that I am probably one of the biggest Indy fans out there having collected Indy stuff in the past and also having read about 8 of the Indiana Jones books that have been published (mostly in the early 90's). I even dressed as Indiana Jones for a company party one time that won me a trip to Hollywood where my wife and I stayed at the Ritz in Marina Del Ray and had a private VIP tour of Universal Studios along with all this other stuff we had.

 

First off, the movie is definitely made for someone exactly like me who enjoys the character outside the realm of the movies. There are MANY references to people and places that have only ever appeared in the novels and not the movies.

 

I can accept the time period used, and the fact that Indy is older but what I have a hard time accepting is that much like the Star Wars films there are far too many gun shots fired by the bad guys that never ONCE hit their mark.

 

I have a hard time believing that more than a dozen people firing off weapons will not hit a target even one time. This doesn't just happen once in the movie, but approximately 4-5 different times. Complete rain of gunfire and none of the "heroes" get even grazed. Definitely hard to swallow. Further not even mentioning the fact that the "natives" in the film of which there are several dozen never hit their mark with their spears and other types of projectiles, at least with nothing lethal.

 

There is also a scene with Shia in the jungle with some monkeys that is just way way over the top and is completely unbelievable. One thing that I've always liked about the movies and books is that just about everything portrayed always has a believability factor to it that never completely seems over done. Not the case with this movie.

 

The biggest dissappointment for me was that the movie was EXTREMELY predictable. I had the entire movie mapped out in my head after only about 10 minutes into the film and the only thing I had seen prior to the movie was one trailer. Granted, I've had a long time passion for screenwriting and this may have been part of the reason why I quickly worked the plot out from beginning to end as my wife was more surprised by certain things than I was.

 

This is another big change from the movies and books. The previous movies (and books) usually started with Indy dealing with some object and/or bad guy that basically had nothing to do with the rest of the story. Here again, not the case with this movie.

 

Aside from the things listed above it was still ok over all. I kept my expectation really low going into this film and for that I wasn't disappointed.

 

There are several bad edits in the first 40 minutes of the movie which usually speaks of overall bad film making but I doubt most people would even notice them.

 

On a scale of 4 I give this movie and a half

 

Also, keep in mind that honest to God real ancient crystal skulls do exist and it is believed the Mitchell-Hedges skull found in 1924 in a Mayan temple took 300 years of human labor to produce.

 

Edit: Also, for those of you that know about the Star Wars references or "clues" in the other Indy films, there is one in this one as well towards the end of the movie.

 

 

[The Troll King]

I'm a big Indy, Ford and Karen Allen fan but I don't have high expectations on this movie.

 

Ford is way to old to be doing this and Spielberg and Lucas are past their movie making prime too.

 

 

I will say that it was ok seeing Karen Allen in the movie and as far as Ford being too old... his age was pretty much a non-issue except during the last scene of the movie where he did indeed look very old.

[carcrawfordfan]

Also, keep in mind that honest to God real ancient crystal skulls do exist and it is believed the Mitchell-Hedges skull found in 1924 in a Mayan temple took 300 years of human labor to produce.

 

I saw a story about these on Discovery or Sci-Fi the other day. It was interesting, but many scientists still claim it is all mumbo jumbo.

 

Edit: Also, for those of you that know about the Star Wars references or "clues" in the other Indy films, there is one in this one as well towards the end of the movie.

 

 

Was it the "I've got a bad feeling about this" ?

[SuperBird]

I loved ROTLA, and was kind of about the 2 sequels. I had zero expectations of the Crystal Skull, and in the end I liked it, flaws and all. Parts are silly (so are parts of the last 2 sequels) and Harrison looks old as dirt, but it's a fun summer flick. Did not ruin the franchise the way the star wars prequels did.

[sterlingcomics]

Was it the "I've got a bad feeling about this" ?

 

Either that, or he dropped his whip 30 times.

[Catman-migration]

I can accept the time period used, and the fact that Indy is older but what I have a hard time accepting is that much like the Star Wars films there are far too many gun shots fired by the bad guys that never ONCE hit their mark.

 

Must be using unemployed stormtroopers in this movie.

[Silvers24]

Saw it yesterday, Enjoyed it.

(Below has already been spoiled before me. But yes, this is a spoiler..)

 

 

 

 

However I hated how the skull was actually an alien, and that was what they where after.

Then again, speilburg has made tons of alien type movies.

But to throw it in a indie movie.

 

Otherwise loved it, and will of course get it when released on BD (Hopefully with the first three on it by then too)

[Artboy99]

I can accept the time period used, and the fact that Indy is older but what I have a hard time accepting is that much like the Star Wars films there are far too many gun shots fired by the bad guys that never ONCE hit their mark.

 

Must be using unemployed stormtroopers in this movie.

 

Anyone else recall Obiwan talking with Luke when they find the Jawa transport all blown up. Obiwan speaking of the blaster marks says: "Only imperial stormtroopers are so precise"

Then for the rest of the movie, these same stormtroopers can't hit the broad side of a barn.

 

I always found that somewhat amusing.

[TheShadowKnows]

My Gf and son liked it a lot.Unusual for her.Most of the movies we go to it mid grade for him.

As far I as I go I liked the film for the characters but the -script was a bit iffy.The action parts were good but the aliens part was a bit much.

Seems to be laying the ground work for more movies with Shia(sp)

as Indy.My rating of the movie was a 7.Entertaining but not great.

Dennis

[sterlingcomics]

"Only imperial stormtroopers are so precise"

 

You know, I failed to see the obvious irony in that quote until you pointed it out-Thanks! Maybe they were able to hit it because the transport was about the side of a barn.