Indiana Jones 4

[tmax73]

I thought National Treasure 2 was stupid...

That's the point.  There were a couple times during Crystal Skull (the car chase in the jungle in particular) where I was consciously aware I was not the least bit worried about the wellfare of the main characters.  In all of the previous films I was able to watch the ridiculous stunts with a sense of awe and excitement.  I've reviewed the other three during the recent weeks and I still feel that sense of excitement with them.  Maybe because I was a kid when I saw them the first time.  That feeling just did not exist when I watched this film.  

I get the whole suspension of disbelief thing.  I get that it is supposed to be a homage to the serial adventures and sci-fi B movies of long ago.  Here is what my issue is with this film being made in 2008:
1. Cate Blanchet is not evil enough.  
2. As soon as we meet Mutt it seems obvious that he is Indy's son.  There is never any real tension between them.
3. The chemistry between Indy and Marian is forced.  
4. John Hurt in a throwaway role
5. The ewoks--err--monkeys
6. Nothing links Mac to Indy so when he first betrays him there is no real sense of "Oh no he didn't" because you're still thinking "Who is this guy and where is Sallah?"--I get it, John Rhys Davies wanted more $ than he is worth, Sean Connery is retired, and Denhom Elliot has passed on.  These things happen when magnificent egos (Lucas, Speilberg, Ford) chase a project through 4 diffierent writers over 20 years.

[who]

I thought National Treasure 2 was stupid...

  Maybe because I was a kid when I saw them the first time.  That feeling just did not exist when I watched this film.  

You got your answer right there.  You saw the first three when you were a kid.   You are not looking through a childs eye of wonderment.  To this day that is why I think most don't like the last 3 Star Wars movies.  

Everyone remembers seeing Star Wars and its 2 sequals as children.  It was new fresh and completely different than anything that came before it.   The first 3 Indiana Jones movies were this way also.  It is sad  :cry: , but we all grow up and become jaded and not as impressed with things.

[JR]

I didn't like it all that much, and I love Indiana Jones.  The waterfall scene, the tarzan scene, and the nuclear blast were all too ridiculous.  And the whole scene after the nuclear blast, where the FBI picks him up, had no point at all.  There is suspension of disbelief, and then there is just plain dumb.  The idea of aliens didn't bother me, but the ending kind of seemed like they just weren't sure how to end the movie.  Marion's role was almost pointless, and they could have left her out, because I never thought she was a very good actress.

I didn't hate the movie.  It still had some classic Indiana Jones traits.  And I kind of liked Indy's kid.  The plot just needed a little more work.

[cktuba]

To this day that is why I think most don't like the last 3 Star Wars movies.  

Nope, I dislike the last three Star Wars movies because...

1)The dialog is awful (especially between Anakin and Padme)
2)The Jedi are made to be too powerful, but their power is inconsistent... They were nowhere near as powerful in the original movies and their power seems to ebb and flow to fit the plot.
3)Anakin is basically just a whiny, little, pompous jerk through the new series... no like-ability or shock at his fall. Possibly, due to a very poor choice of actor.
4)Your telling me Yoda couldn't see through Palpatine... come on, the guy might as well have worn a big red flashing sign saying "I'm the bad guy."

[tmax73]

I thought National Treasure 2 was stupid...

  Maybe because I was a kid when I saw them the first time.  That feeling just did not exist when I watched this film.  

You got your answer right there.  You saw the first three when you were a kid.   You are not looking through a childs eye of wonderment.  To this day that is why I think most don't like the last 3 Star Wars movies.  

Everyone remembers seeing Star Wars and its 2 sequals as children.  It was new fresh and completely different than anything that came before it.   The first 3 Indiana Jones movies were this way also.  It is sad  :cry: , but we all grow up and become jaded and not as impressed with things.

True.  My son loved the prequels and also the originals.  He was the same age for the prequels as I was for the originals.

[tmax73]

To this day that is why I think most don't like the last 3 Star Wars movies.  

Nope, I dislike the last three Star Wars movies because...

1)The dialog is awful (especially between Anakin and Padme)
2)The Jedi are made to be too powerful, but their power is inconsistent... They were nowhere near as powerful in the original movies and their power seems to ebb and flow to fit the plot.
3)Anakin is basically just a whiny, little, pompous jerk through the new series... no like-ability or shock at his fall. Possibly, due to a very poor choice of actor.
4)Your telling me Yoda couldn't see through Palpatine... come on, the guy might as well have worn a big red flashing sign saying "I'm the bad guy."

5)Flat performance by Natalie Portman in all 3 films.
6)Underutilization of Samuel Jackson

But, for all it's faults Yoda going Jedi Master with the lightsaber vs Dooku and Palpatine was transcendant.

[cktuba]

5)Flat performance by Natalie Portman in all 3 films.
6)Underutilization of Samuel Jackson

But, for all it's faults Yoda going Jedi Master with the lightsaber vs Dooku and Palpatine was transcendant.

Agreed!

[who]

I thought National Treasure 2 was stupid...

  Maybe because I was a kid when I saw them the first time.  That feeling just did not exist when I watched this film.  

You got your answer right there.  You saw the first three when you were a kid.   You are not looking through a childs eye of wonderment.  To this day that is why I think most don't like the last 3 Star Wars movies.  

Everyone remembers seeing Star Wars and its 2 sequals as children.  It was new fresh and completely different than anything that came before it.   The first 3 Indiana Jones movies were this way also.  It is sad  :cry: , but we all grow up and become jaded and not as impressed with things.

True.  My son loved the prequels and also the originals.  He was the same age for the prequels as I was for the originals.

So does my son and he is 11.  I agree that they are not as good, but then again I am not looking at them with 11 year old eyes.   The biggest problem IMO is that George Lucus is not a very good director. Screen writer, story creator, producer etc. he is very good at, but he is just an average director he is pretty good with the action sequences, but not a great dialog writer or director.  He only directed A New Hope of the original 3.

I also agree that Natalie Portman and Hayden Christianson were terrible in the movie.   The kid that played young Aniken Jake Lloyd was bad also.   The rest of  the cast was good.

I didn't think National Treasure 2 was stupid it was just too much like the other one.  It brought nothing new to the table.

[Big Sky Husker]

1.  Indy surviving a nuclear blast in a lead lined fridge...puleeze!  That fridge was at ground zero and would've been vaporized in the blast.

Yep, this was the one that got me. You are exactly right, it would have been vapor. In fact I believe the heat would have reached it before the blast wave, but I could be mistaken. To me this is the only one that I had really had to struggle with to suspend my dis-belief.

2.  Marion driving that vehicle off the cliff, the tree "catching" the vehicle and bending until the vehicle is on the bottom of the canyon, they drive off and the tree springs back up.

3.  Going over three water falls and nobody dies from drowning.



4.  Mutt, while stradling two vehicles engages in a sword fight and doesn't fall.

2,3 and 4??? Well, of course they were pretty much impossible... but that's SOP in an Indiana Jones movie.

5.  The aliens.

People have argued for years that aliens were involved with the Mayans, Aztecs,Toltecs, Incas and ancient Egyptians...  Not that I buy into that, but it didn't seem that much of a stretch for a movie, to me. I have heard that Lucas said that he "dumbed down" the script a bit... I wish he wouldn't have. It could have been even better, although maybe a bit more controversial with those who had trouble with aliens in the movie.

If the aliens had stuck around, imparted Indy with some sort of knowledge or launched some plot to take over the Earth... then I would have had a problem with it. But, as it stands, it really didn't bother me.

The fridge incident... it's possible the kitchen appliance could of survived.  Depends on how far it was from ground zero.

[Big Sky Husker]

To this day that is why I think most don't like the last 3 Star Wars movies.  

Nope, I dislike the last three Star Wars movies because...

1)The dialog is awful (especially between Anakin and Padme)
2)The Jedi are made to be too powerful, but their power is inconsistent... They were nowhere near as powerful in the original movies and their power seems to ebb and flow to fit the plot.
3)Anakin is basically just a whiny, little, pompous jerk through the new series... no like-ability or shock at his fall. Possibly, due to a very poor choice of actor.
4)Your telling me Yoda couldn't see through Palpatine... come on, the guy might as well have worn a big red flashing sign saying "I'm the bad guy."

5)Flat performance by Natalie Portman in all 3 films.
6)Underutilization of Samuel Jackson

But, for all it's faults Yoda going Jedi Master with the lightsaber vs Dooku and Palpatine was transcendant.

Thread hi-jack alert.

The BEST scene in all of the Star Wars movies... the light saber fight in the cryonic chamber between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.  Great action, great dialogue (The Force is with you young Skywalker... but you're not a Jedi yet), great scene.

Pure gold.

[BleedsHuskerRed]

I love steven spielberg....but this just wasnt my movie. There were some cool parts and I thought Harrison Ford did a good job. Shia Lebuff had me a little confused...was he supposed to be tough like brando in the wild one? or was he supposed to be the comic relief? I enjoyed most of the fight scenes....but the story was pretty much complete crap. Aliens? gimme a friggin break.
And as far as the thread hijack goes...frist three star wars are some of the best films of all time...the new ones suck....

[Cdog923]

I thought National Treasure 2 was stupid...

  Maybe because I was a kid when I saw them the first time.  That feeling just did not exist when I watched this film.  

You got your answer right there.  You saw the first three when you were a kid.   You are not looking through a childs eye of wonderment.  To this day that is why I think most don't like the last 3 Star Wars movies.  

Everyone remembers seeing Star Wars and its 2 sequals as children.  It was new fresh and completely different than anything that came before it.   The first 3 Indiana Jones movies were this way also.  It is sad  :cry: , but we all grow up and become jaded and not as impressed with things.

True.  My son loved the prequels and also the originals.  He was the same age for the prequels as I was for the originals.

So does my son and he is 11.  I agree that they are not as good, but then again I am not looking at them with 11 year old eyes.   The biggest problem IMO is that George Lucus is not a very good director. Screen writer, story creator, producer etc. he is very good at, but he is just an average director he is pretty good with the action sequences, but not a great dialog writer or director.  He only directed A New Hope of the original 3.

I also agree that Natalie Portman and Hayden Christianson were terrible in the movie.   The kid that played young Aniken Jake Lloyd was bad also.   The rest of  the cast was good.

I didn't think National Treasure 2 was stupid it was just too much like the other one.  It brought nothing new to the table.

You have it a bit backwards.....Lucas is a good director, but he's a TERRIBLE screenwriter. The OT had their scripts touched up by professionals...the NT were all Lucas. Hayden Christensen is not a bad actor, by any stretch of the imagination...but it's hard to make gold out of ****.

[Husker94]

1.  Indy surviving a nuclear blast in a lead lined fridge...puleeze!  That fridge was at ground zero and would've been vaporized in the blast.

Yep, this was the one that got me. You are exactly right, it would have been vapor. In fact I believe the heat would have reached it before the blast wave, but I could be mistaken. To me this is the only one that I had really had to struggle with to suspend my dis-belief.

2.  Marion driving that vehicle off the cliff, the tree "catching" the vehicle and bending until the vehicle is on the bottom of the canyon, they drive off and the tree springs back up.

3.  Going over three water falls and nobody dies from drowning.



4.  Mutt, while stradling two vehicles engages in a sword fight and doesn't fall.

2,3 and 4??? Well, of course they were pretty much impossible... but that's SOP in an Indiana Jones movie.

5.  The aliens.

People have argued for years that aliens were involved with the Mayans, Aztecs,Toltecs, Incas and ancient Egyptians...  Not that I buy into that, but it didn't seem that much of a stretch for a movie, to me. I have heard that Lucas said that he "dumbed down" the script a bit... I wish he wouldn't have. It could have been even better, although maybe a bit more controversial with those who had trouble with aliens in the movie.

If the aliens had stuck around, imparted Indy with some sort of knowledge or launched some plot to take over the Earth... then I would have had a problem with it. But, as it stands, it really didn't bother me.

Fair enough...after all, this is strictly our opinions here... :lol:

However, I have trouble finding other intelligent life here on Earth, let alone believing there is intelligence scattered throughout the universe or in other dimensions.   :lol:

[Husker94]

 I've reviewed the other three during the recent weeks and I still feel that sense of excitement with them.  Maybe because I was a kid when I saw them the first time.

You're probably on to something here...

[Sgt Red]

I saw it last Friday.  Very Very good!

I also saw Harold and Kumar escape from Gitmo recently.  That has got to be one of the worst movies ever made!!!  I don't rank it as the worst because I did laugh a few times.