Indiana Jones

[Atreides]

I cannot wait for this to come out. Cate Blanchett as the villain - squee!!!

My unpopular opinion is that I really liked Temple of Doom. Even Kate Capshaw! And Short Round is the most adorable kid. I love his voice.

[Smilla]

Temple of Doom was one of my favorite movies as a child.

I'll probably see this new one just out of sheer incredulity. Still can't believe it got made.

[bklynred]

Temple of Doom gave me nightmares of the Wrath of Khan variety as a child, but as an adult it really grew on me.

The closer it gets to opening night, the more I'm getting swept up in the excitement of it all. I saw another trailer of it today and I found myself promising I'd be there opening weekend. Damn you, effective marketers! *shaking fist*

[jynni]

It's very, very good, however, the last ten minutes keep it from being great (I just sat there thinking "Damnit Spielberg!"). Everything up till that point is darn near perfect - the action sequences are fantastic (thank you Spielberg for going with real stunts over CGI!). The movie looks, feels and sounds just like the rest of the trilogy - most of it is classic Indy at it's best.

My biggest nitpick is Karen Allen. Her role would have worked better as a small cameo. I really thought keeping her around for half the movie really hurt it overall. I'm sorry but she has not aged well and looks awful on screen. Acting wise she gets schooled by Ford, Blanchett and Labeouf and teeters on the edge of being annoying.

I'll also say there are a few scenes that feel like they were stolen from the cutting room floor of the "The Mummy Returns"but most of these happen at the end.

So, overall, the movie is perfect for the first hour and fifty minutes. It's hard to say where I'd place it when comparing it to the originals because they are just so damn good but I'd say it's a worthy addition, unlike certain other additions to classic series *cough*Star Wars*cough*. I'm definitly seeing it again in theaters - the magic and excitement of the originals is still there.

[kostgard]

That's good to hear (well, except for the last 10 minutes part and Karen Allen not being all that great).

What stunk about the ending? Was it just too schmaltz-y? I'm having visions of a rainbow-colored E.T. type ending.

[rorgg]

I always loved the original Raiders, didn't care much for Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade was my favorite, because... Connery. Come on. Plus, I think it had the strongest story line of the three.

I'd avoided re-watching Temple of Doom for ... oh, well over 10 years ... but I caught it over the weekend. I'll up it a half a notch from my memory. The storyline is better than I recalled, but it's still clearly in 3rd place. Willie really needed a steaming mug of STFU the whole movie.

[jynni]

May 20, 2008 11:36:12 GMT -4 kostgard said:

That's good to hear (well, except for the last 10 minutes part and Karen Allen not being all that great).

What stunk about the ending? Was it just too schmaltz-y? I'm having visions of a rainbow-colored E.T. type ending.

Big Spoiler!!!
First, it turns out that the Crystal Skull is actually part of a skelton from these alien-like interdimensional beings that whatever ancient society they were talking about worshiped. That whole part felt like Spielberg trying to find an excuse to make another movie about aliens. After the alien spaceship (yes you read that right) spins it way back to it's interdimensional wherever it's going, there is a slightly cheesy scene on top of the leftover ruins with Indy, Marion, Mutt and Ox, after that it cuts to Indy and Marion (this was the damnit Spielberg part for me) getting married in a cute little ceremony in a church.

It's better than the ending of ToD but pales in comparison to the brilliance of the ending of Raiders or even the warmth and humor of Crusade's ending.

I forgot to add that John Williams did a wonderful job with the score and came up with great new music while finding ways to incorporate old themes pretty seamlessly.

Cate Blanchett is awesome! You could tell she had an absolute blast with this character and is very much a scene stealer.

[kostgard]

Ah, I see what you mean about the ending. Thanks for spilling the beans! I'm a total spoilerwhore.

Although the bit about the crystal skull [INFO RELATED TO BIG SPOILER] isn't all Spielberg and Lucas. Crystal skulls actually exist - the Mayans made them...or did they?! There is apparently a section of the people who study the skulls who believe that they were left here by aliens and contain a bunch of information which we haven't figured out how to access yet./Info pertaining to spoiler.

I'm seeing it on Thursday afternoon. I'd go for Blanchett alone.

[Smilla]

...egh.

That spoiler...is something else. I think I'll still see it, but...gah.

[WitchyPoo]

The Last Crusade left a bad taste in my mouth but Shia and Cate might sway me to see this.