Indy IV: thoughts, reviews, spoilers galore!!

[rickfc]

Spoilers!
**removed spoilers**

Hey Dan, there is a spoiler tag

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[spoiler]type your message here[/spoiler]

Just thought you'd like to know.

[Electronic Dan]

Hey Dan, there is a spoiler tag

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[spoiler]type your message here[/spoiler]

Just thought you'd like to know.

Done, thanks.

[lildrgn]

My take here. Beware of spoilers.

http://tinyurl.com/64eux2

[coopasonic]

I'm baffled by the hate for the MacGuffin.  I'm not sure why that's any more unacceptable than the supernatural stuff from the previous ones. 

Because this one went too far. The biblical stuff in raiders and crusade were OK with me, this was too much... maybe if they hadn't gone so far with it, simplified it some, it would be better. Oh and the tarzan bit... /barfsmilie

[Blackjack]

I caught a 7:45 p.m. Thursday show after work ($12!!!), and had a good time. Theater was packed but not quite sold out.

Just about every Indy movie has an "Oh give me a break" scene (re the mining cart jump across the train track gap in Temple of Doom), and I'd say a couple scenes like that, and the occasional disjointedness of the storyline were the only things that bothered me. And it's a shame they didn't invite Sallah (John Rhys-Davies, aka Gimli) back at least for a cameo.

Ford was once my favorite actor, but afik he hasn't been anything that would qualify as a hit since What Lies Beneath (2000), and hasn't really done an action movie that was a big hit since Air Force One (1997). He's in great fighting form, and he looks like he's genuinely having fun (so many of his movies the last 10 years or so have made it look like he found acting to have become a laborious job). He's in great shape for 65, and Karen Allen for 53 (and as someone who disdained the Hollywood plastic surgery habit no less).

I still found Iron Man a bit more uniformly entertaining and satisfying summer movie (even if you hate Robert Downey, don't read comics, don't like Iron Man etc., I've not seen a movie where more skeptics came out loving it), but I certainly loved seeing Indy, Marion and company, and I hope to see it a couple more times on the big screen.  And Paramount? They don't care, they released *both* those movies so they're going to be laughing all the way to the bank for quite some time. 

I think "ranking" it against the other Indy movies is a bit pointless, but I would say it compares well aside the other sequels. I loved Temple of Doom at the time I saw it in 1984 (age 19) but it hasn't really aged well in my memory. Raiders had the advantage of feeling 100% fresh at the time (even if it was inspired by 1930s serials) and having a great, non-action screenwriter's screenplay (Lawrence Kasdan), and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director even (losing out to Chariots of Fire).

What I really miss about 1981 sometimes (my older brother and I caught Raiders at a theater in Hawaii during a stopover, and we knew nothing about the movie going in) is that the entertainment news media was a lot less suffocating then. I think there was more room to get surprised by a movie, or to feel like you discovered a movie - even a big budget Lucas-Spielberg special. It's tough to do that now unless you're a total Luddite, or you are able to avoid TV and the Web altogether. 

[Kevin Grey]

I'm baffled by the hate for the MacGuffin.  I'm not sure why that's any more unacceptable than the supernatural stuff from the previous ones. 

Because this one went too far. The biblical stuff in raiders and crusade were OK with me, this was too much... maybe if they hadn't gone so far with it, simplified it some, it would be better. Oh and the tarzan bit... /barfsmilie

So opening The Ark of the Freakin' Covenant isn't going too far, nor is having them actually lay on hands on the Holy Grail, but

Spoiler for Hiden:

showing the existence of aliens

is?  It's not like the other movies left anything to the imagination. 

I guess I'm just surprised that a bunch of geeks think supernatural/biblical stuff = cool but

Spoiler for Hiden:

sci-fi

not cool. 

[Biyobi]

Kevin

Spoiler for Hiden:

My problem with it was that in the previous movies he was digging up the past, items that have a long history.  Archeology has a flavor of mummy's curses, not alien overlords.  In this one he was digging up the future (so to speak) and it didn't really sit right with me.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Just got back and I was none too impressed. There was just too much ridiculousness for my tastes and the villains didn't have nearly evilness of past Indy villains.

[Kevin Grey]

Kevin

Spoiler for Hiden:

My problem with it was that in the previous movies he was digging up the past, items that have a long history.  Archeology has a flavor of mummy's curses, not alien overlords.  In this one he was digging up the future (so to speak) and it didn't really sit right with me.

Spoiler for Hiden:

  It still worked for me because it *was* still about digging up the past.  Certainly the idea of ancient civilzations being visited by aliens and worshiping them as gods is nothing new and I think it works well with Indy's archeological angle. 

However, if it had been about aliens without the archeological angle then I definitely would have had a problem with it.

FWIW, I'm arguing more about the concept in play- I think the actual execution (particularly the ending) was lacking. 

[CSL]

Loved it. Maybe its the fact that I wasn't really around when the first three came out and don't see the first three all that often.

Pitch perfect glimpse of Indy in the 1950s.

Spoiler for Hiden:

The nuclear bomb test was done just right with just the right amount of unbelievability. The whole communism angle was great, with McCarthyism coming up - the "I Love Ike" line, the notion that Indy was working with the OSS during the war.

Shia was pretty good - I would like him in his own Indy series or something.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Some people won't like the particular plot device that was used, but I liked how they integrated the idea of Conquistadors, the City of Gold, and the idea of it all being wrapped up in archaeologists in some way. Now really the only thing that I found incredibly over the top was Shia swinging through the trees like Tarzan.

Better than Temple of Doom for sure. Probably tied with the Last Crusade, but not nearly as good as Raiders. They kinda used too much CGI though.

[ChrisGrenard]

So I liked the majority of the normal tomb raiding and fist fighting, but the overall plot (see other spoilers in the thread) was a MASSIVE disappointment to me.  And this is coming from an atheist who was perfectly fine with them digging up the Holy Grail.

EDIT:  Oh, and here's the proof of the massive suck near the end.  WARNING!! WARNING!! DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK UNLESS YOU WANT THE BIG REVEAL SPOILED.

[Pharaoh]

That was pure shit. Proof that Lucas and Spielberg are the fossils Indy used to dig up, and nothing but egotistical hacks who no longer have excellent support casts around them to restrain their childish imaginations and laughable attempts at making just a bit more money.

Dialogue being delivered with 2 second pauses that causes it to drop like a 10 ton piano. Nods to the past films only there to act a lube during the imagination rape that was occuring. Cartoonish action pieces strung together by THE SINGLE WORST FUCKING EXCUSE FOR A MYSTERY EVER.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Ring ring, Hello, is this Lucasarts? Yes, hello, this is 1998 calling, we made a movie called Stargate that did the whole "Aliens are our gods" thing about 10 times better (and with better effects I might add)

Indy strung along by terrible contrivances and plot hole glue (oh look, dont know where to go, well heres Ox with another random riddle to lead us onward!), and your 1999+ Spielberg Quality of everything be Kiddy Safe and Happy Free! (Max, you backstabbing prick, your going to die, "I'll be fine Indy!")......WTF? Its like Im watching War of the Worlds again and Tom Cruises son is magically teleported from the giant fire of gehenna ass bomb of death incarnate to Boston with milk and cookies.

It was almost a funeral with my friends after we saw it. All of us grew up with Indy, and loved them (christ, one of my friends went into history education because of it), and we all universally we're just shocked. Terrible plot that was obviously the pieces of the 3 other scripts they threw away the past 5 years glued together...no villain or goal...no mythology to excited about...no mystery or trap doors or adventure...just bad CGI, actors past their prime, and "THEIR TREASURE...WAS KNOWLEDGE!"

 

[Gratch]

Just got back, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.   I'm sure that if I took the time to think for even 2 seconds about how ridiculous it all was, I'm probably wouldn't have liked it nearly as much.   Thankfully, I didn't bother.  Just turned off my brain and simply enjoyed a silly, exciting, completely and utterly unrealistic ride. 

Dialogue being delivered with 2 second pauses that causes it to drop like a 10 ton piano. Nods to the past films only there to act a lube during the imagination rape that was occuring. Cartoonish action pieces strung together by THE SINGLE WORST FUCKING EXCUSE FOR A MYSTERY EVER.

And this is different from any of the other Indy movies...how?

[th'FOOL]

Sorry, but the knight painted blue at the end of Last Crusade was far more ridiculous than anything in this film.  C'mon, people, the Indiana Jones movies have been nothing but pure camp from the get-go, THAT IS THE POINT. 

I thought it was great fun.

[Rumpy]

Ok, so I saw it tonight. I thought it was absolutely great. Lots of good humour and the stunts are spectacular! Probably some of my favourite stunts from the series are in this movie.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Though, I do hate the resolution at the end, with the use of CGI and all.


I do have a few minor quibbles overall though. Beginning: Rock & Roll music instead of the Indy Theme. WHY? Ok, I know they used it to set the tone, but to me it felt the opposite. It felt pretty dry.

Whip Cracking: Aside from the one use of the whip in the warehouse, that's all there was of the trusty whip. Come on. Give us a little whip action! An Indy movie isn't the same with his whip.

The Indiana Jones Theme. It was used very sparingly, almost like it was used as an afterthought to remind people that what they were watching, was an Indiana Jones movie. The whole score itself felt underwhelming, and I thought that an Indiana Jones movie deserved something better.

[Fireball1244]

I read a script that obviously evolved into KOTCS about ten years ago called

Spoiler for Hiden:

Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men from Mars. The fridge/bomb thing, the alien connection and the Russians were all in it. There was also a wedding at the end, which they fortunately changed the bride to Marion in the movie, but unfortunately removed appearances by Sallah and Short Round.

I really liked KOTCS. I think anyone who argues that it is markedly worse than TLC or TOD are remembering those movies through rose-colored lenses. I re-watched them all in preparation for KOTCS, and they're wonderful, but cheesy movies. There's nothing in Indy 4 as absurd as Mulla Rohm pulling out the slave's heart and the slave not dying, and no character or scene as annoying as Willa.

The one thing I felt the film was lacking was a visual feel of the menace of the enemy. We all know Soviets are the bad guys, but where were the Soviet flags, etc? The Nazi banners and flags and the palpable visual presence of the Nazis in Indy 1 and 3 was part of what made the Nazis such fun villains, but that is missing here.

One thing I love about Indiana Jones movies is that all mythology, all legends, all stories inevitably turn out to be true. In Indy 1, there really was a Jehovah. In Indy 3, there really was a Jesus. But in Indy 2, there really is a Shiva and a Kali. How's that work? Who cares, it's fun! The TV shows went along with this concept, as well, and Indy 4 take the same approach to the modern mythology surrounding the crystal skulls.

I think the main problem with this film is that it's not spectacular. It's good. Had it been released 3 to 5 years after Last Crusade, it would have been a solid entry into the series, but recognized as being nothing special. Unfortunately, as 5 years became 10, and 10 became 19, the weight required of and expectations assigned to this movie grew and grew and grew. I don't think that any movie could be the end-all-be-all Indiana Jones film -- because Raiders already is that -- but a lot of folks will expect that from this movie that's been "in the works" for two decades.

I'm glad they finally made it, glad I got to see it, and I'll be happy to buy the Blu-Ray when it's released.

A solid "B."

Raiders of the Lost Arc: A
Temple of Doom: C
The Last Crusade: B+
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: B

[YellowKing]

Saw it. As a standalone popcorn movie, it was OK. As an Indiana Jones movie, I felt it was completely different than the other three, didn't fit into the series at all, and was so far-fetched, even for an Indiana Jones movie, that it distracted from the film.

Seriously, it's as if they took the more unbelievable and absurd aspects of all the previous films, combined them together, then multiplied the result by 1000. I understand Indiana Jones has always been camp, and a nod to old serials, etc. etc. But I thought they took it way too far. The other films, even when mixing in crazy/supernatural notions, always had a believability factor within the Indy universe. They turned Indy into a comic book character, a Saturday morning cartoon. And it wasn't even just the plot that was absurd - almost every aspect of the film was way over the top.

I can't help but feel that Lucas & Spielberg took a little piece of my soul. This is the equivalent of going to see Goonies 2, discovering they find a time machine, travel back to the 1800s, and help Lincoln lead the country through a civil war with a little help from their talking dinosaur buddy. That's how fucking out of left field this is.

[Gratch]

I can't help but feel that Lucas & Spielberg took a little piece of my soul. This is the equivalent of going to see Goonies 2, discovering they find a time machine, travel back to the 1800s, and help Lincoln lead the country through a civil war with a little help from their talking dinosaur buddy. That's how fucking out of left field this is.

Pretty sure I'd pay to see that... 

[msduncan]

I enjoyed it.    Not my favorite of the Indy movies, but it was fun.     I think Shia did a great job, and Harrison was back to Indy for sure.

I hope it does a bazillion dollars so we can continue seeing successors to this movie come out.

[Rumpy]

Saw it. As a standalone popcorn movie, it was OK. As an Indiana Jones movie, I felt it was completely different than the other three, didn't fit into the series at all

When seeing it, you have to realize that it's been 20 years since The Last Crusade came out, and things have changed, not only for Harrison Ford, but in the world of Indy, so the tone is sort of different from the last three, and I think that's what a lot of people seeing it have failed to realize. Things have changed too much. It's not going to be the same Indy you saw him in The Last Crusade. The world of Indy has just gone through WWII, when last, it was on the brink of war. Of course things are different.

[YellowKing]

I understand they were making the most of the "era" Indy is now in. However...

Spoiler for Hiden:

Aliens? Psychic powers? The series always had a touch of the supernatural, but it was tied into religion and faith. That made sense in the context of the films - it was established in the first movie with the Ark of the Covenant that 'hey, these artifacts are real' and that trend continued through the Holy Grail in the Last Crusade. Crystal Skull veers off into left field with interdimensional beings, the idea that ancients were visited by aliens, all kinds of hokey new age bullshit. Basically, Lucas pulled another "midichlorians" on us. He's explained away the religious mysticism of the previous movies with freaking Roswell aliens. It makes me madder the more I think about it. The problem isn't in the 20 years that have passed, the problem is in the asinine direction they took the supernatural elements of the series.

[ChrisGrenard]

I'm with Yellowking, and I'm a freaking god-forsaken Atheist.

[Electronic Dan]

Spoiler for Hiden:

He's explained away the religious mysticism of the previous movies with freaking Roswell aliens.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Eh?

I don't think the existance of Aliens was the problem (note the existance of Indian gods in Indyverse.)  Just the poor way it was handled.

[msduncan]

Spoiler for Hiden:

YK, you know I'm conservative.    I'm also not an atheist.  However, I have to pass along something that is sort of related.   A friend of mine was in the Airforce during the 1970's.   His commanding officer was stationed at Wright Patterson during the 1940's.  Wright Patterson was where they reportedly took the wreckage and bodies of whatever it was that crashed in the desert in 1947 after they transported all of it from Roswell.  This guy saw things that he said was definately unexplainable, and in his opinion not from this earth.    Something happened out there in the desert in the 40's, and it wasn't a weather balloon. 

[YellowKing]

Spoiler for Hiden:

While I'm skeptical about UFOs, I enjoy watching shows about them. I'm a sucker for UFO videos, documentaries, etc. Whether or not there are extraterrestrial beings is not my beef with the movie. It's the fact that I don't feel like they fit the running theme of the Indiana Jones movies. I know what they were going for - they were trying to inject a little 1950s "saucer men" Cold War paranoia into an Indiana Jones film. Unfortunately, I felt that they did the reverse, and instead injected a little Indiana Jones into a 1950's saucer men B-movie.

But even that aside, some of the stuff I hated was just so *out there.* Indiana Jones surviving a ground zero nuclear blast in a refrigerator? Indy's son swinging on vines through the jungle with an army of monkeys? Indiana Jones surviving a killer ant attack by using the psychic powers of a crystal alien skull? Indiana Jones escaping the dangers of an ancient temple that turns into a flying saucer and takes off into another dimension? If you had told me a week ago any one of those things were in the next movie, I'd have thought you were pulling my leg. Seriously, how can anyone think any of those ludicrous things have any place whatsoever in an Indiana Jones movie?

I'm glad for those who enjoyed it. I wish I was one of those people, but instead I guess I fall into the "angry ranting internet dude" camp.

[rshetts2]

Well Im sorry for those who didnt enjoy it.  I liked it a lot.  I understand it wasnt going to be able to live up to the origional Raiders.  Raiders was the first and nothing will ever live up to it. Still, it was a entertaining romp in spite of some of the "out there" plot points.  Of course Im willing to suspend believe and understand that this is based on the 1930's style pulp fiction such as Doc Savage and stuff like that.  I always suspend belief prior to walking into the theatre on these.  Campy?  Yes.  Unbelieveable escapes? Yes.  Fun?  Yes!  My advice is to watch it for the fun of it and try not to mentally pick it apart as you watch it.  If you can do that you will probably enjoy the ride, if you cant, you probably wont.

[biggercup]

Do you think maybe it's us that grew up and not the indy?

I re-watched the Raiders of the Lost Ark couple of days ago and I couldn't believe the scene with German Sub and also a few other sequences. (like the one with a monkey)

Then again when I watched it as kids, I couldn't care less.

[Electronic Dan]

In case anyone's interested in some of the movies referenced in Indy 4 (apart from other Lucasarts movies), here's a list of some of them. 

Spoiler for Hiden:

Even escaping a nuclear blast in a fridge is in there...

[CeeKay]

this just in:

INDY STILL ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

that is all.

[SuperHiro]

Just saw it.  The movie started out with some promise, and then on the first jungle chase scene it jumped on the taxi to stupidtown and didn't stop until it crashed into the lamp post on the corner of Shit and Overwrought CGI.

It's definitely more of a Lucas film than Spielberg.

[Kevin Grey]

It's definitely more of a Lucas film than Spielberg.

I think it's kind of the opposite.  Lucas was pretty much responsible for the first (and superior IMO) half stuff with Spielberg and his pet screenwriter, David Koepp,seemed to responsible for most of the material in the second half that I thought hurt the film.  I love me some Spielberg but I think he and Koepp bring out the worst in each other. 

[Jimmy the Fish]

I am in total agreement with YellowKing. What a bizarre movie. I can suspend belief as much as anyone. Heck, I thought the 4th Die Hard movie was brilliant. Setting aside the whole alien theme, which I didn't have much of a problem with, the leaps in logic and common sense are so mindblowingly lame, it was just shocking. Aside from the stuff YK mentioned, there's also

Spoiler for Hiden:

the ridiculousness of the waterfalls, the on again off again magnetic properties of the skull, seemingly neutralized at times by a piece of CLOTH, natives literally coming out of the walls. Does Lucas really think his audience is so catatonically stupid??

There are so many problems with this movie that one could write a thesis about it. After 2/3 of the movie, I stopped caring and wanted it to end. Quickly. I actually left the theater feeling angry. Angry that Lucas/Spielberg took a favorite icon I grew up with and stomped all over it like a piece of garbage.

I guess on the bright side, it was cool to see Harrison Ford in costume again. He looked great, even at his age, and Shia LeBeouf was great too.

(sorry, I added the spoiler tag for those who haven't seen it yet)

[EngineNo9]

Use spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet please, Jimmy da Fish. 

[Kevin Grey]

Damn, people, you do know that Spielberg had final script approval, final cut, had his pet screenwriter do the final write on the script, designs pretty much all of the action sequences himself, etc, right?  This damn internet tendency to blame everything they hate in the movie on Lucas is ridiculous.  From everything I've read about the making of the film, other than the core concept, the stuff people seem to hate the most came from Spielberg and Koepp. 

[whiteboyskim]

Holy shit. And I mean that in the best possible way.

/sarcasm

I mean... HOLY. SHIT. GOOD GOD WAS THIS TURD OF A FILM AWFUL.

For more specifics we turn now to Page 2 wherein WBS goes on a tirade against the sheer awful that was KOTCS:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The movie started with some promise. The whole opening captured the '50s perfectly with the race and then the Soviets blasting their way into Hanger 51. We were with it so far. Then they open the trunk, yank out a character we've never seen before followed closely by Dr. Jones. The two are revealed to have been in WWII together. Gotcha. They open the doors and show the ending from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Still with it, despite the film beginning to sound and look an awful lot like Fan Fiction 101. The hunt for the mysterious box lead by some bizarre Soviet chick with a bad haircut. The reveal of Mac as a bad guy. Wow. Didn't see that coming from the opening frames. Indy runs then the action scene builds and builds and builds and Spielberg again shows why he can direct action better than Michael Bay ever could.

"You don't know him! You don't know him!" got one of the biggest laughs from me. Then... Indy and the Russian sidekick are on a missile blasting out of the hanger and we catch a glimpse of the Ark. Okay. A little odd but I'm still good.

Then Indy gets to the fake town and I cock my head. Wait a second, I think. When did "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" become "Indiana Jones and the Return of Young Indiana Jones Adventures Through History"? Regardless, I actually dug this scene. Indiana Jones was always Lucas' own gateway to various parts of history so I'm willing to run with this. Then the fantastic explosion and Indy thrown clear. Still good so far despite beginning to feel like a very different film than the others.

Indy gets interrogated by the feds and we begin the true downfall of this film - telling, not showing. A major sin of bad screenwriters, and something every single screenwriting teacher will tell you on the first day of class is telling the audience information instead of outright showing it to them. Re-watch "Raiders of the Lost Ark" again and witness how much a character the Ark is in the film, and that's because of how the characters react to it. It's not like Indy and Sallah pulled it out of the Well of Souls and then stood around jawing about how they better not touch it because they could die, or it could destroy everything around them. They were simply terrified of it because they knew, and by seeing how scared they were of it we the audience were scared for them.

Ahem.

Now, the film cuts to the university and Indy gets fired and is promptly met by another new character who takes him out to talk about saving his mom. Then... the film AGAIN falls into exposition heavy territory and blathers on and on and on and I start to doze off. Literally. I've never fallen asleep in an Indy film but I feel myself slipping. Then the KGB show up and start to escort them out. Mutt then punches the jock and the setup to a brawl happens. We then cut to a shot of the Jocks versus the Bikers and I immediately had two thoughts:

1. Jets... SHARKS!!
2. The fight scene in "1941" when the Navy and Army fight it out.

Holy. Shit. What the hell just happened to my Indiana Jones film? The only thing I can say was a positive here was that it lead to my favorite action chase in the film and that's because it all looked real. Indy going through the car and back onto the bike was awesome and the chase itself was pretty good... then it caps it all off with a giant fuck you to Denholm Elliott's Marcus Brody, thus continuing to shit all over the legacy of the character brought on by "Last Crusade."

More exposition follows as Indy and Mutt get to South America (with a heck of a shout out to the Young Indiana Jones series with the Pancho Villa reference). We then sorta wander into a tomb of no real danger despite a 10 second brush with some half-ass natives and Indy and Mutt find the crystal skull. Cool. It looks like an alien head so good God, I guess Indy's going to fight some little green men at the ending, huh? Then, I swear to God, Indy stands there for three minutes talking to himself out loud about why the skull is there and why this Oz character would have found it then put it back. Had Kasdan had a hand in this I'm sure they would have found the skull, then said something to the effect of "Oz must have known he was being watched. We have to get this out of here." or something that would have totally gutted the entire waste of that scene.

More Russian not-quite-mayhem. Marion is introduced again and it's awesome to see her. Then she starts half-assedly bickering with Indy and the thrill is utterly gone. There is no passion, no energy, no chemistry. It's like everyone's trying their damndest to care and they just don't. From this point forward I literally did not care about the film in the slightest and had this been on TV I would have flipped the channel.

I would, however, have missed it when "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" became "The X-Files: I Want To Believe In The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls". I liked the chase through the jungle despite it being so heavily CGI that there was no sense of danger whatsoever. Then Mutt and Russian Chick sword fight while Marion gives Mutt tips on how best to parry.

Then we have the man-eater big-ass ants that carry the Russian guy down the ant hole.

Then we have the crystal skull warding off the hordes of angry natives and Mac saying he's really been a good guy all this time and Indy buying into it, along with his friends who have only seen Evil Mac up to this point.

Then we have the reveal of the chamber of crystal skulls and they're all alien. Gosh, I wonder if the temple really is a giant... Yup! The room falls apart and Indy and co. run out, the Russians are sucked up into nothing, and Russian Chick's eyes burn out in a flash of CGI. Mac gets sucked into the vortex after telling Indy "I'll be alright." Indy watches the ending of the first X-Files movie as the space ship flies off and the river fills in the valley and all is well again.

Indy and Marion get married and exit the chapel and all is happy and well, but hint at further adventures with his son.

Why the fuck did I pay any money for this shit? I swear to God, Lucas and Spielberg can bite me. Koepp has no soul to his writing and the final script was a Frankenstein monster of a film cobbled together from four or five different scripts. I hate to point out the obvious, but what the hell was it about this POS "greatest hits" compilation that made the three principles stand up and say, "Yeah! Let's go make that!"

This was a disaster, plain and simple. For those of you who say I'm over thinking this I'm really not. I never felt a good vibe from the trailers. I was excited to see Marion again and that's it. My God was this just a bad movie. That it was a bad movie starring one of my childhood favorite characters just pisses me off even more to the point of active hate. You want to know what the saddest part of seeing this today was?

That I really, really want to see "Hellboy 2" after catching that trailer.

[Kevin Grey]

Actually I thought the Hellboy 2 trailer was pretty mediocre.  Movie itself might be fine but the trailer was a mess. 

[The Grue]

Actually I thought the Hellboy 2 trailer was pretty mediocre.  Movie itself might be fine but the trailer was a mess. 

Trailer was the awesome.....you fail.

[Gratch]

Strange, they didn't show the Hellboy 2 trailer before mine.  Not that I really would have cared, as I thought the first one was an overblown crock o' shit.

[JayDee]

Actually I thought the Hellboy 2 trailer was pretty mediocre.  Movie itself might be fine but the trailer was a mess. 

Trailer was the awesome.....you fail.

Then I fail too because I thought the trailer was horrible. Upon completion of the trailer the person sitting next to me said "Uhhhh, no thanks." I have to agree. Pass.

[kratz]

Man, I was super disappointed.  George Lucas really needs to be banned from making movies.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I was on board at the start... I thought all of the cold war stuff was fun and the action and chases were very physical and in keeping with what you expect from an Indiana Jones movie... then they hit the jungle and the entire thing came careening off the of rails... crappy green screen BS all over the place... it just became another shitty summer action adventure flick, devoid of the real physical stunts and charm of the previous films... the alien aspect was handled poorly, Karen Allen looked like an old leather handbag, the humor was too forced... sword fighting on the digital cars and swinging through the vines like a monkey are when I started getting pretty pissed off...  ugh.  They might as well re-title Speed Racer as American Graffiti Returns for how close they got to the feel of the originals.