An underrated film: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[Vincent Vega]

Hear me out here. I don't think Indy 4 was a bad film, personally. I think it's underrated. It's not GREAT, but then, none of the sequels to Raiders of the Lost Ark measure up to the original. People act like it's the worst film ever produced in cinema history...But I really don't see why it's so bad. It's mindless fun entertainment, on the same level as Temple of Doom. I'll never understand the pure hatred that so many seem to feel for that film...I mean, if they think that a movie being over the top makes it HORRIBLE, have they ever seen Moonraker? I mean, I think James Bond in Space qualifies as more offensive than anything in Indy 4. The films were never meant to be masterpieces, they were just meant to be high budget B-Movies, inspired by the craptastic serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Since Indy 4 had to be set in the 50s, they went with the '50s equivalent of the 30s sequels: 50s Sci Fi B Movies. And I think it was inventive: Traditional adventure meets 50s Sci Fi. It's a good ride, a fun film. And IMO, it gets way more hate than it deserves.

[Graeme]

Agreed... But there's a shitstorm coming this thread's way. I was pleased during the last Indy thread to see that a lot of people came out with Temple of Doom as their favourite of the four as well, considering it usually gets sidelined for the first and third ones.

[Dazey]

Disagree. The first two sequels were totally on par with the original but the 4th was poor.

[Randy Lahey]

It's a piece of shit movie.

[Desperado]

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/

[Vincent Vega]

Agreed... But there's a shitstorm coming this thread's way. I was pleased during the last Indy thread to see that a lot of people came out with Temple of Doom as their favourite of the four as well, considering it usually gets sidelined for the first and third ones.

If the internet and internet culture existed in any real way in 1984, Temple of Doom would've been shit on too. Every insult that's hurled at Indy 4 can just as easily be hurled at Temple. Over the top, impossible stunts? Check. Indy surviving something not physically possible? Check. Gimmicky sidekick? See Short Round. Non-Christian artifact? Check. Odd elements? Check--Voodoo in Temple of Doom. Annoying/dumb leading lady? Willie Scott!

And Last Crusade would've been torn apart if it came out today for being too funny and campy. I mean, come on, that film is basically a buddy comedy film. The characters who reappear from Raiders of the Lost Ark--Sallah and Brody--are turned into parodies of themselves. Slapstick comedy and ironic humor abounds.

It's a piece of shit movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtfjaQWjb0g&feature=related

As for RedLetterMedia, the guy is basically a professional George Lucas basher. The guy's never done anything on par with even the worst of what Lucas has been associated with. He's built himself a career on Lucas hatred. Good on him but call me when he actually does something other than nitpick.

[ThomasMeadow]

How many times has this thread been made?

It honestly wasn't a bad movie. It wasn't on par with the orthers but what did people think it was gonna be?

Harrison ford was old as fuck and it should have been made 15 to 10 years prior. Infact it was gonna be made in 93 or 94 but everyone said no to it. The early 90's version screen play is still on the Internet . I read it years before the movie came out and I'm pretty sure it still had the fridge part in it. But in the screen play it was area 51 guards chasing him into the fake town , not Russians .

Crystel skull was just another example that Hollywood is lazy and did the part 4 20 years later stick. And fuck the Crystel skull alien shit anyway, it's retarded and only a hand ful of people even seem to know about it anyway.

[Desperado]

As for RedLetterMedia, the guy is basically a professional George Lucas basher. The guy's never done anything on par with even the worst of what Lucas has been associated with. He's built himself a career on Lucas hatred. Good on him but call me when he actually does something other than nitpick.

well he doesn't hate Lucas. There's a difference between hating someone and thinking they make stupid movies.

So you mean just because I haven't made an album I can't complain about a band I don't like? And just because someone hasn't made a movie he can't complain about Spiderman 3?

well I could call you right now then because even if his reviews contains nitpicking it doesn't mean that everything is about nitpicking. If a story or plot is just completely bad and stupid and somebody points it out it isn't just nitpicking.

[bacardimayne]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Audiences have moved on since Last Crusade. They could enjoy the first three films because they are "realistic" in a sense they are more supernatural causes but 4 deals with aliens from another dimension. If released in the 80's it would have been a hit.

I always figured 50's= sci fi B movies.

[Black Sabbath]

Underrated? No.

Decent? Yes.

[Dazey]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

Oh piss off you moose fucker! The first three were amazing movies!

[saber_]

They're not aliens, they're inter-dimensional beings. (inside joke if you've seen some pertinent interviews)

Edited September 26, 2012 by brainsaber

[bacardimayne]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

Oh piss off you moose fucker! The first three were amazing movies!

First one was great, second one was decent and the third one was good. People act like the trilogy is right up there with Star Wars and Back to the Future when it just isn't.

[Graeme]

Audiences have moved on since Last Crusade. They could enjoy the first three films because they are "realistic" in a sense they are more supernatural causes but 4 deals with aliens from another dimension. If released in the 80's it would have been a hit.

I always figured 50's= sci fi B movies.

The funny thing is, of all the stuff portrayed in those films, extraterrastrials probably have the highest probablilty of existing.

[Dazey]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

Oh piss off you moose fucker! The first three were amazing movies!

First one was great, second one was decent and the third one was good. People act like the trilogy is right up there with Star Wars and Back to the Future when it just isn't.

It really is though. Empire shits on all but other than that.......... Jedi <<<<<<<<<< all Indiana Jones barring the fourth.

[bacardimayne]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

Oh piss off you moose fucker! The first three were amazing movies!

First one was great, second one was decent and the third one was good. People act like the trilogy is right up there with Star Wars and Back to the Future when it just isn't.

It really is though. Empire shits on all but other than that.......... Jedi <<<<<<<<<< all Indiana Jones barring the fourth.

Bullshit. You could make an argument for all of the Indiana Jones being better than Back to the Future 3, but the Luke/Vader/Palpatine scenes alone make Jedi better than Temple of Doom.

Edited September 26, 2012 by bacardimayne

[Powerage5]

Underrated? No.

Decent? Yes.

This. I enjoy it. It's got some annoying bits, but so does Last Crusade (And Willie Scott, but thats all that isn't perfect in TOD). People that bitch about the fridge scene need to get their panties out of a knot because its no more over-the-top than the Black Sleep of Kali, Mola Ram ripping people's hearts out, or Henry crashing a fighter by getting a flock of seagulls to fly.

[Angelica]

Gophers, Shia's character, Harrison Ford's alternating expressions of boredom and shame, the ending...yeah, it's really quite awful.

[Apollo]

Shia was probably the wrong young actor to throw in there.

And Ford is really getting too old to be an action here. Remember the hostage one from a few year ago that he was in a few years ago? Dreadful.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Groghan

[Randy Lahey]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

Oh piss off you moose fucker! The first three were amazing movies!

First one was great, second one was decent and the third one was good. People act like the trilogy is right up there with Star Wars and Back to the Future when it just isn't.

It really is though. Empire shits on all but other than that.......... Jedi <<<<<<<<<< all Indiana Jones barring the fourth.

I agree.

And Bacardi, the Back to the Future trilogy sucks. I don't think I've ever seen anybody even attempt to compare it to Indiana Jones and Star Wars before.

Edited September 26, 2012 by Randy Lahey

[Angelica]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

Oh piss off you moose fucker! The first three were amazing movies!

First one was great, second one was decent and the third one was good. People act like the trilogy is right up there with Star Wars and Back to the Future when it just isn't.

It really is though. Empire shits on all but other than that.......... Jedi <<<<<<<<<< all Indiana Jones barring the fourth.

I agree.

And Bacardi, the Back to the Future trilogy sucks. I don't think I've ever seen anybody even attempt to compare it to Indiana Jones and Star Wars before.

It doesn't suck, it's just a prime example of turning a great movie (the original is fucking magic) into a franchise and tarnishing it's legacy in the process.

[bacardimayne]

That one may be underrated, but Indiana Jones as a whole is overrated. The first one was the only really good one.

Oh piss off you moose fucker! The first three were amazing movies!

First one was great, second one was decent and the third one was good. People act like the trilogy is right up there with Star Wars and Back to the Future when it just isn't.

It really is though. Empire shits on all but other than that.......... Jedi <<<<<<<<<< all Indiana Jones barring the fourth.

I agree.

And Bacardi, the Back to the Future trilogy sucks. I don't think I've ever seen anybody even attempt to compare it to Indiana Jones and Star Wars before.

Better than Indy, worse than Star Wars.

[Georgy Zhukov]

Underrated? No.

Decent? Yes.

This. I enjoy it. It's got some annoying bits, but so does Last Crusade (And Willie Scott, but thats all that isn't perfect in TOD). People that bitch about the fridge scene need to get their panties out of a knot because its no more over-the-top than the Black Sleep of Kali, Mola Ram ripping people's hearts out, or Henry crashing a fighter by getting a flock of seagulls to fly.

Not to mention the iron cage in the lava pit not melting. That is even more ridiculous than surviving a nuclear blast in a lead lined refrigerator. Iron melting point as at 300 celcius where lava burns as low as 700.

[Tater Totts]

Gophers, Shia's character, Harrison Ford's alternating expressions of boredom and shame, the ending...yeah, it's really quite awful.

Yeah sums it up pretty well