pippin06
Posts 463
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5/31/2008 10:36 AM
posted awhile ago
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
I also saw Indiana Jones! Who's seen it? What do you think?
I had fun, but it was also pretty contrived all around, a shadow of the original trilogy. I want to save my thoughts for any discussion - so tell us what you think if you've seen it!
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Risselada
Posts 1532
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6/3/2008 12:48 PM
posted awhile ago
Re:INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
As I was saying in another thread
The movie was a lot of fun, but of course just doesn't feel like it's in the same vein as the rest of the series mostly becuase CGI just does not feel right here. Everything was a bit more cartoony feeling. The stunts were just a little too ridiculously fake with all the CGI. Hard to believe Ford doing a lot of that. And the bugs looked so fake compared to all of the bugs and critters you know were totally real in all of the previous movies.
Spielberg and Lucas tredge up their same obsessions. Spielberg has to insert father/son drama into every one of his movies as much as possible. And both of them just can't get away from extraterrestrials. And their love of all things 50's isn't always enough to sustain itself.
I had a lot of fun, but like to nitpick too. I have a few particular moments in the movie I want to discuss, but will wait off to let this be more of a discussion rather than a monologue.
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pippin06
Posts 463
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6/16/2008 3:19 PM
posted awhile ago
Re:INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
 Risselada:
As I was saying in another thread
The movie was a lot of fun, but of course just doesn't feel like it's in the same vein as the rest of the series mostly becuase CGI just does not feel right here. Everything was a bit more cartoony feeling. The stunts were just a little too ridiculously fake with all the CGI. Hard to believe Ford doing a lot of that. And the bugs looked so fake compared to all of the bugs and critters you know were totally real in all of the previous movies.
Spielberg and Lucas tredge up their same obsessions. Spielberg has to insert father/son drama into every one of his movies as much as possible. And both of them just can't get away from extraterrestrials. And their love of all things 50's isn't always enough to sustain itself.
I had a lot of fun, but like to nitpick too. I have a few particular moments in the movie I want to discuss, but will wait off to let this be more of a discussion rather than a monologue.
Well, that's a like a double-edged sword isn't it? The CGI doesn't feel right, but Spielberg and Lucas are stuck in their own conventions, except that Spielberg hates CGI, while Lucas can't live without it, it's like his new crack. Personally, I was ok with the use of CGI for some of it, but we did get too much Close Encounters for my taste. And I have great respect for Spielberg (not as much for Lucas, since he's like a One-Note Sally); I didn't mind the father-son aspect even if it is a director trademark, since it fueled some of the funniest lines. Many directors have calling cards; he's clearly exploring his daddy issues, and that's ok, so long as it serves the story. I think it did this time.
But Ford did do much of his own stunts. I was more stuck on the James Bond-like preposterousness of some of the narrow escapes. I thought it was pushing the boundaries of my suspension of disbelief, particularly with multiple unscathed survivals of plunging over three waterfalls. In a jeep. I mean, really. And how about the refrigerator providing the perfect shelter from an A-bomb and its mushroom cloud? I'm sayin.
Minor point of order, but this is the first Indy set in the 50s. The nostalgia is typically for decades previous, but Indy/Harrison was just too old to play that off. I don't think they were relying only on the nostalgia to sustain. I think they were relying on the wry wit and sense of adventure that usually accompanies Indy flicks. The only trouble is that it reminded me of putting on a really old pair of pants that just doesn't fit right anymore or chewing a piece of old gum - the sense of adventure was there, but it was so contrived, so force-fed, so kind of stale. If it weren't for Harrison, I think this film would be a lot worse. He makes it fun.
Course, as I keep saying, it's no worse than Temple of Doom! Which I actually sort of liked. That is, apart from screechy Kate Capshaw and loud, cheesy kid.
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Risselada
Posts 1532
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6/17/2008 1:40 PM
posted awhile ago
Re:INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
pippin06: I thought it was pushing the boundaries of my suspension of disbelief, particularly with multiple unscathed survivals of plunging over three waterfalls. In a jeep. I mean, really. And how about the refrigerator providing the perfect shelter from an A-bomb and its mushroom cloud? I'm sayin.
And what about swashbuckling on top of fast moving cars in the jungle. It's unbelievable to think they could stand up for even two seconds, much less put on such an elaborate sword fight.
Also according to the IMDB trivia section for Back to the Future:
The device originally considered for use as the time travel machine was a refrigerator. Director Robert Zemeckis said in an interview that the idea was scrapped because he and 'Steven Spielberg (I)' did not want children to start climbing into refrigerators and getting trapped inside.
For some reason apparently now Spielberg not only thinks it's ok to show people going into a fridge, but also that if the fridge was to be shot out of a giant cannon into the desert with you inside, you'd be just fine.
I think one of the most absurd moments for me was right after the triple waterfall ride where I was in the state of mind that people were going to be attempting the most outrageous stunts and surviving. Then one of the characters points up to a cave way up in the side of a huge verticle cliff with water pouring out of the cave. Then I start to wonder, ooooh, how are they going to get up there? It seems pretty much impossible. What kinds of outrageous tactics will they employ. Then the movie cuts to them walking into the cave with no explanation of how they got up there.....
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indieabby88
Posts 286
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6/17/2008 2:51 PM
posted awhile ago
Re:INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
I enjoyed the movie, with a few reservations, up until the last twenty minutes or so (climax to end). I'm willing to put my disbelief on hold to watch people do ridiculous stunts and cheat death (hey, it worked in the last three Indy movies). But the whole aliens bit really didn't match my impressions of the previous movies at all. It was just kind of thrown in there. I'm pretty sure this is the same reaction most people have had to the movie, and it just seems so glaringly weird that I would wonder how it made it in the movie at all...except I remembered that this is a Spielberg-Lucas movie. The money issue seems to come up increasingly when it comes to these directors, especially their franchises. More and more it feels like these two directors (more so Lucas, but Spielberg's not innocent of this) are willing to put cash over quality. It doesn't matter how good a film is as long as it's flashy and scoops up the cash opening weekend. In the end, that's what messed up "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Right now I'm just praying they don't start a new series of movies with Shia LaBoeuf taking up Harrison Ford's mantle.
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pippin06
Posts 463
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6/23/2008 12:36 PM
posted awhile ago
Re:INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Risselada:
indieabby88: But the whole aliens bit really didn't match my impressions of the previous movies at all.
That's right! Give me the classic JudeoChristian artifacts!
The scifi aspect did kind of counter every other MacGuffin. Even the Temple of Doom was rooted in religion, albeit not Judeo-Christian, and really more of a cult.
Oh well. I still liked this film better than the Narnia sequel.
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