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[Iron Bess]

I saw it at a screening a few weeks back...

I think it's a great Summer popcorn flick.

If you want deep and meaningful don't look here but if you want total and familier fun, then I thought it delivered.

Indy and Marion are SOooooo funny! They never miss a beat!

[hurricane]

Loved them together again - such great chemistry...

-- Hurricane

[Misson]

Wellll...it was better than Temple. I guess that makes it the third best Indy movie. Indy and Marion were the highlight for me as well. There were a ton of references to other movies (especially Raiders...including lifting the Raiders March verbatim from that movie...usually they at least tart it up with some of the current movie themes) which is sort of fun, but somehow the magic that makes a good movie a great one just wasn't really there for me. Lots of skeletons in many scenes, though - so that was good. Maybe I should see Iron Man...

[Misson]

Here's my Netflix review (I do so love writing Netflix reviews these days):

This is a perfectly good summer popcorn movie and a solid, if unexceptional Indy entry. Like the Bond series it's patterned after, it has all the stock elements of the marque - harrowing escapes, astounding (and impossible) whip work, a mystical McGuffin to be obtained, double-crosses, involved vehicle chases as the McGuffin is traded back and forth, amazingly well-preserved creaky ancient traps, skeletons (lots of skeletons), villains dying in horrible ways, scenes involving wading through some disgusting parasite and a dash of romance. Basically, everything you expect. I suspect for their own personal satisfaction, Lucas has inserted a lot of 50s nostalgia scenes and Spielburg has his disFUNctional family scenes. And you can't talk about he 50s without taking about the Reds and the atomic bomb, so that's there too. You'll certainly get what you paid for. However, it lacks that certain spark that makes a fine summer bubblegum flick into a great movie. All the expected (now mostly digital) effects and action aside, however, the Indy/Marion repartee was definitely the highlight.

[Graydog]

I didn't like it. This isn’t a horrible movie, it just isn’t very good. If you walk out right after the first major event (first 10 mins) then you’ll leave feeling good about the movie.

It went beyond formula to the point of- let's repeat many of the stunts form the previous movies, but now new and improved with CGI! On the other hand if you really love ok done CGI, then by golly this is the movie for you. With Spielberg directing, this is a well-constructed, beautiful movie with clarity on screen that is his hallmark. It’s just that the story is dull, the action is predictable, and the heroic characters don’t seem all that heroic (Exception for the first sequence.)

The character of Indy is flat. The movie suffers from a feeling that this is the plot I must follow it, instead of the feeling of unperdictability the twists and turns gave in the previous movies. The character is now a man controlled by destiny, instead of a man that makes his own destiny. In each of the other movies at the end you go, wow, what will Indy do next? At the end of this movie you go, goodbye Mr. Jones have a nice retirement.

This movie is not a terrible movie, it just fails to meet the thrill level expected in this series of movies. If you are a fan of the series, unfortunately, you'll have to go just to complete the series.

If you don't care about the series and just want to go see a good movie; from back in the days when Lucas was young and had some originality left in him, let me paraphrase- "This is not the movie you are looking for. Move along."

On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it a 3.

[Rumba Rue]

Well I'm going next week -during the day to see it. I can't wait for a great romp of fun!

[Red Bess]

I loved it. I thought it was better than either of the other sequels. It was totally predicable, but that was fine -- because I wasn't disappointed!

My only criticisms:

1) I would have liked to see more of Karen Allen (maybe earlier in the film)

2) I do think that "old" Indy was a little too resilient for his age. But as long as I was suspending disbelief anyway...

A great family summer movie. The perfect escape from high gas prices, natural disasters and presidential campaigns.

[Sjöröveren]

I was sitting right next to Red Bess, so I know we saw the same movie. I wasn't overwhelmed or underwhelmed. (I guess that makes me whelmed.) A little too predictable. I did think Harrison Ford was pretty good, trying to put more into the movie that was in the script. And I liked that Karen Allen makes no attempt to look younger than she is. People need to be told that women over 50 can be attractive and vibrant. And not nearly as dull as all the celebutards out there.

[Misson]

Have you ever seen an interview with Karen Allen? She is just as cool as you would expect her to be in an interview (at least the few I've seen.) If I were constructing the perfect woman, there'd be some of that type of person in there. (And when I got done, she'd have to go off and find the perfect man who would have some Sean Connery and Harrison Ford in 'im. )

[Duchess]

Have you ever seen an interview with Karen Allen? She is just as cool as you would expect her to be in an interview (at least the few I've seen.) If I were constructing the perfect woman, there'd be some of that type of person in there. (And when I got done, she'd have to go off and find the perfect man who would have some Sean Connery and Harrison Ford in 'im. )

Misson Plays God, could be the plot line too!

[Misson]

Probably John Cusak as well. Harrison, Sean and John. Remember that WB Cartoon where Daffy gets turned into a weird composite monster with a flag on his tail with a picture of a screw and a ball? It would probably wind up something like that.

Indiana Jones and the Deformed People of the Mission God...why does The Island of Dr. Moreau keep coming to mind?

[Rick Skinner]

Took the whole family to see it Friday night. Everyone enjoyed it. It's not as good as Raiders or Last Crusade, but it is a very good movie. Loved the character interaction. The refrigerator was little much, but it was funny.

[Misson]

Exactly. (Just how much lead was that refrigerator lined with?)

[Christine]

I went and saw it earlier today before going to work. I liked it, I liked it a lot! It was a fun movie! Lots of laughs and thrills, a good time was had by all. I saw the 3rd one in the theater when I was about 12. How cool that almost 20 years later I go to the theater to see the 4th one. I'll agree, some stuff was a bit hokey, but guess what, the other 3 movies had some of that too in parts. That's what makes it great! Had some seriousness, had some silliness, had some thrills, it was just a fun ride! It's a movie, it's meant to be fun.

[Mr_Scabbs]

I agree with Graydog. It wasn't a great movie. It was so-so. I debated if it's worse or better than Temple of Doom. I ultimately think it's worse than Temple of Doom, because at least that movie had memorable scenes. The new film left me bored. This isn't to say it's a horrible movie. I liked it for that fact that it was an Indiana Jones movie, and it was awesome seeing him again. However, I just felt the film could have been done better...

[Ransom]

I liked it, but felt that poor ol' Indy was a little tired and shopworn — which would be natural, given what the man has been through in his life. Harrison Ford just didn't have that same "spark" as he did in the first three movies. He seemed almost resigned to the confrontations he gets into, rather than challenged and intrigued.

Also, they should have brought Karen Allen in a lot sooner. The interaction between her and Ford made the movie.

I'll buy it, and enjoy watching it again, but it didn't have that old zing.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

I was readin' (on another board) that a new phrase similar to- "jump the shark" has been coined by this movie. You'll understand when ya hears it

[Rumba Rue]

I finally saw the movie. Though it was a nice romp, it seemed to be really lacking in excitement. I have to say that if that supposed crystal skull was real, it would weight a ton!

To me it looked like acrylic with crumpled up aluminum foil and some fiber optic strands along with some what looked like that angel hair stuff you use to put on Christmas trees. (Wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what it is)

I wish the movie had not put any more military stuff in, enough was enough in the first three. I think the script could have been done so much better.

Anyone else notice besides me that the coin stuck to the skull was a piece of eight?

I kept looking on the walls and stuff for pictures of C3PO and R2D2 as Lucas is known to do....didn't see any, but that doesn't mean they aren't there and I missed them. And wouldn't you know it, Speilberg just had to put aliens in the picture along with their flying saucer.

[Honour Bright]

Did anyone else notice that when the jeep hit a box in the warehouse in the beginning that a corner sheared off and you saw the Ark of the Covenant?

I really liked the movie, I judged it on its own merit rather than compared it to to the others. Never did see Temple of Doom though.

Well, it was worth a jumbo-sized popcorn.

With extra butter.

Smuggled my own Pepsi in..but you didn't hear that from me!

[Rumba Rue]

Yup saw the box with the Ark of the Covenant, it wasn't hard to miss.....yes it did get a chuckle out of all in the audience.

[Lady Alyx]

I had heard a bad review from an office co-worker, but gotta still see it myself, either in theatre or DVD releases. Temple of Doom wouldn't have been so bad if they cut back the gross stuff like the monkey brains and that horrible gross 'let's take the heart out' ceremony.....eeeeew yuck.

[Misson]

I thought Temple of Doom was unnecessarily dark overall. Indy is supposed to be an homage of the 40s serials, so it should have been bright and fun and hokey like the first and third ones. Instead most of the sets were dark and gloomy, the slavery of the kids was depressing, the cult and voodoo aspects weighed things down, etc. (Lucas actually has said it's because he was going through a divorce when he conceived it.)

The other problem with it was the whole set up - plane crash, improbable boat sledding and then going in search of a stone that does...what? It's never made clear what use the stone is to the village other than the fact that Mola Ram uses the lot of them together for some vague evil plan. Plus Willie was so annoying that you almost wished she would get eaten by the bugs. If that were possible. (I sort of liked Short Round, though.)

On another note, I saw a comment on the new one that I thought made a good point. After the first half of the film, Indy doesn't really solve any problems or put together the pieces of the puzzle (other than finding the entrance into the temple or whatever it is), he just sort of follows the path that events lead him on. Still, it's not a horrible movie, it's just not as good as 1 and 3 IMO.

[Lady Alyx]

I liked Willie's silk pajama's! :angry:

[Cpt Sophia M Eisley]

I posted my thoughts on an Indy related board a few days after seeing KotCS, and after digesting my take on the movie since then my opinion doesn't seem to have changed. I didn't go in with any expectations. Unfortunately the latest IJ installment didn't capture my attention as I thought it would. I didn't feel immersed in the story (visually), the plot itself felt rushed, and the areas of the world the characters went to (with the exception of the end) were rather dull (mho). In terms of the focus of the story (aliens), while I have researched a bit of mythology and stories on the subject, I felt the holy antiquities (the MacGuffin'sof films 1 and 2) were easier objects to wrap one's mind around and understand the significance of. KotCS wasn't a terrible movie, just not my favorite of the series.

[Mission]

This is designed to be a sort of current movie thread since we occasionally talk about such things in here.

I just saw the new Bond flick Quantum of Solace. Note that I will not put any spoilers in here per se, although this movie telegraphs its story with precious little subtlety, so there aren't many surprises that I could reveal that are likely to ruin your viewing experience.

If you decide to see it, watch Casino Royale first. This film refers back to that one constantly. This film's biggest role is to set up a new secret world organization. I understand they can't use SPECTRE any more because of the lawsuits with Kevin McClosky, so I guess this is designed to create a new threat, supposedly suited to modern sensibilities, although the explanation given by Mr. White in the beginning of the film parallels Dr. No's explanation of SPECTRE in the 1962 Bond film.

Speaking of Mr. White, the villain here (and I'm not really giving anything away) is Mr. Greene. (I do so hope that if they stick with this premise long enough to get to Mr. Pink that he says something about wanting to change his name.) Mr. Greene runs a eco-friendly firm, which I find sort of hilarious given that this is a European film. There's also a deposed dictator and some corrupt officials. Unfortunately, none of these villains is particularly interesting or noteworthy. And I've seen the same schemes in other films and TV shows, so there's nothing new here.

What I thought was odd was that they didn't really use much of the Bond mythos. You expect certain things in a Bond movie -for better or for worse- and they aren't here for the most part. So this is just another slam-bang action film along the lines of many that you've seen recently - Bourne, Transporter, etc. The Bond films often borrow from whatever is popular at the time which this time includes head-ache inducing car car chases, somewhat hard-to-follow fights and in-your-face camera angles. Q and his gadgets are missing. Moneypenny is nowhere to be seen. The set-up is a brief, tech-happy series of touch screen computer scenes (why is every dollar the Brits are tracking shown as an individual movable object? Are MI6s programmers really that bored?). The girl is fairly irrelevant IMO, except as a device to move the action along. She is on a parallel course to Bond. While Bond's underlying motive has little to do with the main story, hers is better integrated. They did have a nice role for Felix Leiter and they used the same actor in consecutive films so the audience who is not immersed in Bond lore could follow the character better. They also brought several other things back from the first film, which is why you should probably refresh your memory if you decide to see this one. The saving grace here is that at the end, they imply by the final scene that "James Bond will return" to his standard characterization in the future. I wonder how Craig will do when he's really saddled with all the mythos?

Craig is pretty good, although he doesn't have much to say. There is none of the delightful character development of the first film for him, so he goes around looking fit and grim. He makes a very Connery-esque Bond, though. I think the next film will really be telling for him - either he can pull it off or they may switch to a new actor. M shines in her role. Once again they have decided to give her a more active role, which doesn't really fit Fleming's characterization of the service at all, but it fits the recent action film mold.

I look forward to the next film. This one was pretty irrelevant to the series IMO. It's a decent action flick though.