Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull rolled onto DVD on Tuesday, and with it the crushed dreams of children-past who were hoping for a flawless, action-packed adventure. Indiana Jones 4 came to theaters amidst a torrent of mixed reviews, and mixed reviews it deserved. The most highly anticipated adventure film was, as it turned out, about aliens. Aliens with big, shiny, plastic-looking skulls. Combine that plot with unnecessary supporting characters and so-so CGI and you get… the latest Steven Spielberg fine?
Frustrations aside, I’m happy Paramount sent me the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, because I will watch this movie again, and hopefully with dampened expectations I’ll be able to enjoy the picture more. In the mean time, though, I watched the special features. With further special editions inevitably coming in the future, the 2-Disc Special Edition is not jam packed as one might expect; there are no deleted scenes, bloopers or even a commentary. However, the discs do contain some in-depth production featurettes, which take you from pre-production through post-production.
These featurettes are pretty good and rather lenthy, though I compare all of these to the best I’ve seen, those from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, and they don’t really compare. While detailed, the Indiana Jones featurettes have an air of promotion to them; the interviews with the actors are very sanitized and not particularly insightful. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the exploration of some of the film’s more eleaborate sequences.
Other than that, there’s nothing but a couple of the movie’s trailers. Oh, and if you have an XBox 360, you can play a demo of LEGO Indiana Jones. However, I don’t, so I didn’t.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull has some decent DVD features, but if you aren’t sold on the movie alone and want some superstrong DVD features, you may want to wait until the next edition comes out.
George Lucas, who doesn’t inspire much confidence these days after three so-so Star Wars prequels and an Indiana Jones movie that could have, should have, could have so easily been so much better, is on my good side for the day. While Indiana Jones 5 is still just an idea bouncing around in his head (who blames him, after the movie made $300 million), he had these words to say on the MTV Movie Blog:
“Indiana Jones is Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones. If it was Mutt Williams it would be ‘Mutt Williams and the Search for Elvis’ or something.”
Personally, I think Indiana Jones 5 is a good idea. Yes, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was not all that great, but it seems like it would be pretty easy - if Lucas actually looked at his original films and made something a little more realistic, a little more down to earth - to do a good Indiana Jones movie. And, considering that the last one wasn’t terrific, I’m actually hoping they do another one to wash the bad taste out of my mouth.
Of course, all of that is said with the condition that Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. No one wants to see Shia LaBeouf’s character take over; that’d just be stupid. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones, and if he won’t do another one, don’t do another movie. Twenty years down the line, I’m sure they’ll remake the films or something, but keep the main character Indiana Jones, not his bastard child (named Mutt of all things).
As for Indiana Jones 5, Lucas would only say, “We are looking for something for him to go after. They are very hard to find. It’s like archeology. It takes a huge amount of research to come up with something that will fit.” How about something not involving aliens.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may have been a bit cheesy, but the movie is based on a real legend. John Trybus from Archaeology Magazine notified me a few weeks ago about a new section on their website devoted to Indiana Jones, and there’s an interesting article about the “real” crystal skulls.
There’s no point writing more than that - check out the article and see for yourself. Needless to say, the “real” skull doesn’t look as alien as the one in the movie.
Oh, those silly little Soviets. One may think that communism is dead in Russia, or not if you watch as Vladimir Putin moves “his country” closer and closer to a KGB-esque version of democracy, but regardless of what he denies, there still is a Communist Party in Russia, and they allegedly want to return Russia to the glory years of the Soviet Union.
OK, that may be a sweeping generalization of Russia’s Communist Party. The Red Scare is all but over, and people have their right to whatever political beliefs they may hold. There’s nothing inherently evil about communism, though the implementation of such ideals have never appeared to be as glorious as Karl Marx had foreseen. And when it comes to Russia, communism has a pretty bad track record. That being said, I’m sure there are the moderates and the extremists within Russia’s Communist Party, but you wouldn’t guess from this Reuters article about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
According to the article, Russian Communists aren’t too happy about the depiction of their brethren in the latest Indiana Jones movie, so much so that they are calling for the film’s boycott in the largest country in the world. You see, to them, Indiana Jones 4 is “crude, anti-Soviet propaganda that distorts history.”
No, they’re not complaining about the specifics within the Indiana Jones movie, which is clearly fiction from beginning to end, but instead about the depiction of Cate Blanchett as an evil KGB agent looking for a crystal skull that could give her unimaginable powers - along with a bunch of other mindless and “evil” KGB agents and Soviet soldiers. The following are quotes taken from a recent Communist meeting (according to the Reuters article):
“What galls is how together with America we defeated Hitler, and how we sympathized when Bin Laden hit them. But they go ahead and scare kids with Communists. These people have no shame.” Um, I’m pretty sure Communists have been used as villains in films for the last sixty years.
“Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett (are) second-rate actors, serving as the running dogs of the CIA. We need to deprive these people of the right of entering the country.” Really? Wow.
“Our movie-goers are teenagers who are completely unaware of what happened in 1957. They will go to the cinema and will be sure that in 1957 we made trouble for the United States and almost started a nuclear war. It’s rubbish … In 1957 the communists did not run with crystal skulls throughout the U.S. Why should we agree to that sort of lie and let the West trick our youth?” OK, so maybe the Communists are attacking the plot of the movie. Arguments like these are ones that really send me over the deep end - if you’re going to take mindless entertainment so seriously, how can we possibly take your arguments seriously?
Ultimately, I find things like this ludicrous. Countries get offended by odd things, and it’s not always too surprising - after all, many countries have very strong national identities and don’t like it when films portray them in a negative light (Borat comes to mind). Hell, even some people in the U.S. get upset about anti-U.S. films (Bill O’Reilly, anyone?). Still, this is the first time I’ve heard of the defunct Russian Communist Party getting upset about such a blatantly harmless movie (though I’ve come to understand that there were also complaints about 1998’s Armageddon because the movie portrayed a derelict Russian space station). I mean, really, so many American and European movies have portrayed Soviets in a much more negative light, and usually to a higher degree of realism. The James Bond movies come to mind. Dozens of other quality films, too. Why get heated - and call for the ban of - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?
I just got back from a Thursday-night showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and it is not everything I wanted and more. I liked it - it was entertaining enough - but there are some moments in the movie that really push your acceptance as an Indy fan.
A recent survey conducted by FilmJabber.com found that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was expected to be the best of the summer by moviegoers. The Harrison Ford-starring film, the first Indiana Jones movie in nearly two decades, has been buzzing, and 27% of the survey takers said it “will be the best blockbuster of the summer.”
Indiana Jones narrowly beat out The Dark Knight, which came in second with 26%. Third place belonged to the already-released Iron Man, which received 9% of the votes.
However, among men, The Dark Knight was considered to be the best by 34% of the group versus 21% for Indiana Jones. Among women, 31% expect Indiana Jones to be the best movie of the summer. Whereas one might expect Sex and the City to have ranked high in this category, The Dark Knight still came in second with 16%.
All of this bodes well for Thursday’s release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is a frontrunner to make more money than any other film this summer - and perhaps this year. Reviews have been mixed, but I wouldn’t expect anything less. The hype is so high that people are bound to be disappointed - more than likely, this is a film that will thrill and entertain more on a second viewing.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters on May 22nd, and shockingly, Paramount is releasing a new DVD set of the original Indiana Jones trilogy this Tuesday, May 13th. I mean, I am flabbergasted that Paramount would release a new DVD set so close to the release of their new Indiana Jones movie; it’s as if they want to milk some extra cash out of one of their most prized franchises. I just didn’t see it coming.
A few years ago, I picked up The Adventures of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection, which came with the three movies digitally remastered as well as a bonus disc (that I’ve never watched) that is, according to the box, “the ultimate anthology of Indiana Jones special features to accompany this classic DVD collection.” That’s interesting that that set was the “complete” and “ultimate” collection, when now we have Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection DVD set…
Anyway, this new Adventure Collection offers only three disc and doesn’t make any bold statements about being “the biggest and baddest,” but presumably that’s being put off until all four Indiana Jones movies are released in a single DVD set in the fall. Maybe then Steven Spielberg and George Lucas will actually provide commentary for the films.
Yes, this new DVD set still doesn’t offer director’s commentary for the films, which is a bit surprising. It does, however, have introductions by Spielberg and Lucas before each film, which, I guess, is meant to make up for the lack of six hours of commentary.
While the bonus disc from the previous edition is missing, there are bonus features offered on each movie disc. The features includes interviews with the Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Allison Doody), Spielberg, Lucas, Ford and the screenwriters; an examination of the famous “melting face scene” from Raiders of the Lost Ark; a featurette on the locations; and another featurette that covers the bugs, insects and other creatures found in the movies. The teaser trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie also plays at the beginning of each disc, cementing the fact that this box set is specifically intended to drive ticket sales.
Basically, the bonus features are pretty standard fare.
There are some interesting moments, but for those of you who already own the Indiana Jones movies, it doesn’t make sense to purchase this new set. The bonus features are not amazing, and unless you are so die-hard that you have to have every piece of material ever made on the subject, they aren’t worth shelling out an additional $35.
At the same time, the movies themselves have never looked better. I haven’t watched Temple of Doom yet, but Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade both look amazing. The picture is crystal clear and looks as brand new as movies filmed 20 years can look.
If you don’t have the movies and don’t care about bonus features, this new Indiana Jones box set offers the three movies in their finest form. However, if you don’t think that Paramount doesn’t have a box set due to be released in the fall with all four movies and a slew of special features, however, you’re kidding yourself.
While I was disappointed that the new Batman movie trailer didn’t premiere with Iron Man, I was delighted to see a new, longer and much better movie trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull before the comic book film.
Some people complained that the last preview was a little too goofy and comical; apparently, someone was listening, because this new trailer has almost no humor whatsoever. That’s a good thing. The trailer starts off with a little more explanation about the myth of the Crystal Skull - essentially more information about the plot than anyone has heard about before (the Crystal Skull is believed to be some relic that, when returned to a sacred temple, the person who is responsible for its return will be able to control its power any way he or she sees fit). Beyond that, the movie trailer digresses into an action montage, some of which we’ve seen before as well as a few new tidbits.
Overall, the new Indiana Jones movie trailer is much more cohesive and really gets you pumped up, whereas the teaser trailer was entertaining but not particularly motivating. With only a few weeks left before its release, this trailer made me just a tiny bit more excited.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives in theaters shortly, which means that Lucasfilm and Paramount are back at it releasing everything Indy in anticipation. With re-release DVDs of the original three Indiana Jones movies coming soon, April 29th brings The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Three: The Years of Change to DVD in a massive box set in vein with Volume One and Volume Two.
Like the previous two box sets, Volume 3 is packed with special features, movies and so on and so forth. George Lucas and the crew spared no expense making these box sets, even going as far as to re-edit the original television show, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, into feature-length films. Whether that’s a good thing, maybe not.
This final box set comes with 10 discs, seven Indiana Jones movies and, according to the box, over 15 hours of special features and over two dozen documentaries. Needless to say, I don’t have the time and willpower to watch everything before writing this review.
A fan of the show growing up, I always enjoyed the the stories involving teenage Indy (played by Sean Patrick Flannery) a lot more, for obvious reasons. The stories are more adventure-filled, a lot less sappy and generally more interesting. While the original TV show mixed together the stories of super-young Indy and teenage Indy on, generally, an episode-by-episode basis and earmarked those episodes to shots of a really old Indiana Jones, these box sets have recut the episodes, made them more chronological and removed the old Indy altogether. The result is several feature-length movies that, while able to focus a lot more on a specific plot line, aren’t nearly as cohesive as they should be.
To make hour-and-a-half-long movies, Lucas had to splice and dice two or three stories together to make one, and the result is often a meandering one. Take Tales of Innocence, for example (coincidentally the first movie I watched on this box set). The first half is about Indy trying to identify a traitor in his crew during World War I and his ultimately tragic love affair with a local woman. It’s pretty exciting and entertaining, aside from a few slow minutes. Then, suddenly, the story switches gear and Indy and several new characters travel to investigate the disappearance of a group of soldiers, only to find that one of the missing commanders has somehow turned into Lord Dracula. This story is fine, too - and also plays into the mystical element that is found in all of the theatrical releases more so than most of the World War I plots - but is clearly not a part of the same movie.
To save time, money and effort, and to appease fans, I would have just left the episodes as they originally were, but we’re stuck with these feature-length re-edits which are good enough. A lot of people had probably forgot that there were dozens of additional hours of Indiana Jones goodness available, and it’s nice to see this high quality show get some renewed attention.
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume III: The Years of Change is available to own on April 29th. Did I already say that?
The teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is now online, as I’m sure you know. Easily one of the most anticipated sequel of all times, the fourth Indiana Jones returns Harrison Ford to what is arguably his most memorable role (or is that Han Solo?). Karen Allen also returns, and new faces such as Shia LaBeouf and Cate Blanchett are involved.
The teaser trailer is just that: a teaser trailer. There’s nothing that gives away the plot, and basically is broken into three sections:
An intro, covering the past three movies
The return of Indy, first seen as a shadow
A bunch of action scenes
All I can say is that I’m a little underwhelmed by the teaser trailer. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t magnificent, either. I don’t like the opening to the teaser trailer, which tries to label Indiana Jones as a savior to the human race; while maybe he is, I’ve never thought of his character as such, and this trailer seems to make him out to be some superhero. Once it gets past the intro, however, the trailer picks up well enough. The action looks pretty good (though the special effects are a tiny bit questionable)… My only other complaint is that Harrison Ford’s one liners really aren’t that great. It would have been nice to hear him say something a little longer than two or three words; as such, his lines are so short and sweet they don’t give you a chance to laugh.
I would have preferred to see a quick little intro, a bunch of action and one established scene with some funny dialogue. My expectations for this Indiana Jones movie are high, and thus my expectations for the marketing are even higher; this teaser trailer is good, but it could have been better.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull rolled onto DVD on Tuesday, and with it the crushed dreams of children-past who were hoping for a flawless, action-packed adventure. Indiana Jones 4 came to theaters amidst a torrent of mixed reviews, and mixed reviews it deserved. The most highly anticipated adventure film was, as it turned out, about aliens. Aliens with big, shiny, plastic-looking skulls. Combine that plot with unnecessary supporting characters and so-so CGI and you get… the latest Steven Spielberg fine?
While I was disappointed that the new Batman movie trailer didn’t premiere with Iron Man, I was delighted to see a new, longer and much better movie trailer for 
