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Indiana Jones


zen

Which is your favorite Indiana Jones?   

13 members have voted

  1. 1. Pick one

    • Raiders (1)
    • Temple (2)
      0
    • Crusade (3)
    • Skull (4)
      0


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On 11/26/2022 at 5:11 PM, zen said:

Harrison Ford Reveals His Reason for Returning to Indiana Jones 5

 

 

In a recent profile on the film in Empire Magazine, Ford spoke about the upcoming film and said that his motivation for returning to the franchise was more about seeing where a character like Indiana Jones would be at the “end of his journey.”

 

“I just thought it would be nice to see one where Indiana Jones was at the end of his journey,” Ford said. “If a script came along that I felt gave me a way to extend the character.”

 

 

I hope that the film does not have a "sad" ending. 

 

 

ford is in a rush to "end" all his famous characters - indiana, han solo, etc

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Coming out on Fri! It will be difficult for Indy 5 to match the high standards of some of the previous films but as an Indy film, I expect it to be fun like all the previous Indy films. 
 

It does not need to be an all time classic like “Raiders”. As long as it entertains, it should be ok. 

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Watched the Dial of Destiny on the opening day … a time pass adventure film with good production values that captures the 60s well but not interesting enough.

 

Feels more like a Helena Shaw film than an Indy film. Maybe an old Indy does not work as much as we would have liked. 
 

So as expected, the Indy films get better in the reverse order with the 1st one being an all time great film! 
 

Edited by zen
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14 hours ago, zen said:

Watched the Dial of Destiny on the opening day … a time pass adventure film with good production values that captures the 60s well but not interesting enough.

 

Feels more like a Helena Shaw film than an Indy film. Maybe an old Indy does not work as much as we would have liked. 
 

So as expected, the Indy films get better in the reverse order with the 1st one being an all time great film! 
 

So you're saying Temple of Doom is better than The Last Crusade? Blasphemy! 

 

I would even put Kingdom Of Crystal Skull above Temple Of Doom. 

 

I thought this new movie would be set in the 70s or 80s given Ford's age. 

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39 minutes ago, Ranvir said:

So you're saying Temple of Doom is better than The Last Crusade? Blasphemy! 

 

I would even put Kingdom Of Crystal Skull above Temple Of Doom. 

 

I thought this new movie would be set in the 70s or 80s given Ford's age. 


Yeah, Temple has aged relatively better than Crusade. To summarize: 

 

Raiders = an all time great film in its domain 

 

Temple = a prequel to Raiders. The darkest Indy film whose last hour is a non stop action ride

 

Crusade = a return to the original formula

 

Skull = An aged Indy returns 

 

Dial = A Helena Shaw film disguised as an Indy adventure. In a way, a return to Crusade where Shaw is Indy and Indy is Henry Jones Sr. 

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4 hours ago, zen said:

Dial = A Helena Shaw film disguised as an Indy adventure. In a way, a return to Crusade where Shaw is Indy and Indy is Henry Jones Sr. 

It has been slated as woke nonsense for this very reason. 

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SPOILERs warning (nothing major but if you plan to watch the film without reading much about it) for below where some of the issues with Dial are highlighted:

 

 

Deglamorization of Archaeology

 

Archaeology is not necessarily glamorous. However, Indiana Jones brought fun and glamor to it on screen. You would see students folks to his classes. In this film, Indy as a professor of archaeology is a relic. Students yawn (uninterested) in his class. They do not care much about what he has to say even though Indy tries to motivate them by suggesting that "this could be on the exam" (or something along those lines).

 

It is only when Helena Shaw engages with him that we see some type of spark in him to maybe suggest that he is not used to such a level of engagement in his classes anymore. To add insult to injury, a TV is brought into his class to make the students follow Apollo 11 events (maybe hinting at science is now in and the future, not archaeology), and then Indy is handed out his retirement by the college.

 


An ultra-safe approach

 

Indy films appear to follow a pattern in the first 4 films. In b/w relying on the staple Nazis as villain formula, the series pushed itself by taking risks in films such as The Temple of Doom and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by incorporating relatively different storylines, adding aliens, etc.

 

With Dial, esp. with a new director, the franchise had a choice to push its boundaries, however, it chose to go the ultra-safe route of banking on the staple formula. It was as if it wanted to go by a checklist and not "offend" fans by taking unnecessary risks, attempting to dish out a 20th-century film to 21st-century audiences, who probably saw through this to stay away - on the opening day I mostly saw grey beards and grey hair.

 


A vehicle to explore a Helena Shaw franchise

 

One of the reasons that this film appears to lack the "Indy spirit" relatively speaking is that it probably is also exploring the idea of a Helena Shaw franchise. While Indy is being phased out, his successor, conveniently his goddaughter, is being phased in.

The goddaughter also has her own version of "Short Round". In a way, reflecting back on Crusade, it is like Shaw is "Indy" and Indy is "Henry Jones Sr."

 


Mundane action and stunt sequences

 

All four previous Indiana Jones films have memorable stunt sequences. To mention a few: Raiders has that memorable opening sequence and then the truck chase. Temple's opening sequence is equally memorable, and then its last hour is like a nonstop action ride. In Crusade, there is the escape from Zeppelin and the subsequent chase. And Skull has an amazing sequence in the Amazon and a nice bike chase segment earlier in the film to complement it.

 

Relatively speaking, there is nothing much of interest. There are long chases that have minor highlights such as Indy riding a horse in the subway in an otherwise ordinary segment. The opening sequence is relatively engaging but more for its drama and for setting the film up than for action/stunts.

 


The score

 

Nothing much to write home about as it appeared to merely attempt to remind the viewers about the highlights of the past films.

Edited by zen
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A rewrite (Spoilers warning obviously):

 

 

Below is how I would rewrite Dial while keeping key characters and plot similar.

 

It is 1969. Indy wakes up in his lavish home to the smile of his beautiful wife. He has been a successful archeologist and professor who now is enjoying his retirement (not a relic as shown in the film). Show some of his daily routines and add a few discussions about Mutt's death with his pictures hanging on the wall.

 

An unexpected visitor disturbs the tranquil atmosphere. Helena Shaw walks in demanding the part of the Archimedes Dial. Professor Basil Shaw, an expert on the Dial, has been kidnapped by the Nazis.

 

Flashback to the 1940s. It will be a longer segment than the current opening sequence where Basil and Indy work to prevent the Nazis from taking ancient artifacts. Voller is introduced as well.

 

Indy and Helena fly to Tangiers (or anywhere in North Africa) where they are joined by Sallah, who has also successfully retired (and not driving a cab in the US), and Teddy, who has some connection with Sallah. A team is formed where a young Teddy is reluctantly accepted as a member.

 

The team meets with Voller to exchange the dial with Basil Shaw. A shootout happens where Sallah dies a respectable death in trying to save someone. As the team escapes, Basil is shot as well.

 

Indy, Helena, & Teddy are filled with remorse, but they have to get to the remaining dial before the Nazis do. Deciphering the clues left to them by Basil, they reach a remote island.

 

In between, we see how Helena's character develops and how she forms a bond with Teddy.

 

After an elaborate treasure hunt, the team manages to complete the dial. As they are about to board the ship, the Nazis once again capture them.

With the dial in the Nazis' hands, they set their evil plan in motion, which can include time travel. The team jeopardizes the plan. Indy gets seriously injured in the process. There is a race to return to the present as Indy requires urgent medical attention. The portal is about to close too. Somehow the team makes it to the present. As the portal closes, it destroys the dial too.

 

A few weeks pass. Indy has recovered. A CIA agent walks into his home with a proposition. Marion gives a nasty look to Indy, who smiles and looks toward Helena and Teddy.

The film closes with Helena and Teddy investigating "something" in Istanbul (or a similar place)!


(written it in one go without editing)

 

 

:beer:

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