Indiana Jones Quartet

[Mike]

Okay, so there were a few people who were shocked by my lack of attention towards the Indiana Jones Trilogy (soon to be a quartet from 22 May 2008). Well in the build up to the new film release the BBC were showing all the original films starting with the

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Which I missed. . . if any one would like to review it please do, or invite me over for a DVD watching session!

Temple of Doom
The troubled second film by all accounts. The film starts with Indiana Jones bartering with a Chinese criminal mastermind for a diamond. The trouble that ensues makes him flee the country (on one of the masterminds planes) doh! After crash landing in India he discovers that a village had their sacred stone stolen and he rushes off to the rescue. At best this film was disjointed, at worst it was boring. I can't believe anyone would rave about this outing. only mildly entertaining.

The Last Crusade
There is a simple premiss. Indiana has returned to his college (university?) and is bombarded with administration tasks and hounding students, a far cry from his adventures! After escaping from a window he is 'asked' to visit a rich archeologist regarding an archaeological find regarding the Holy Grail, the chalice that bore Jesus Christ's blood from the cross (a cup because the Da Vinci code is not out yet!). He discovers that his father was looking for the Grail and has gone missing. With the warning 'Don't trust anyone' Dr Jones sets out to rescue his inattentive and bumbling Grail obsessed father.

Well the film was very entertaining, I can see why it has a good reputation with this outing. The dialogue was fun, the actor's were a good match and the story was entertaining. There were so, so many plot holes though it let the side down a bit. Lets be honest; the X was obviously in the floor of the library; there was NO X when you got the close up shot; the oil filled tomb; waterproof tracing paper? The immortality, that is an obvious one for the next film (because he looks older!) I stopped counting after a while. All in all . Good but the plot holes let the side down from a full flavour behaviour.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Pending. Please wait.

[Mike]

PS The latest indy film is the ONLY thing being shown on Friday 23 May 2008 at the AMC in Manchester.

[Fez]

The immortality, that is an obvious one for the next film (because he looks older!) I stopped counting after a while. All in all . Good but the plot holes let the side down from a full flavour behaviour.

but as the last grail knight quite clearly says, immortality only lasts until you cross the seal in the temple floor - pay more attention mike, that wasn't a hole it was a solid lump of how to stop any immortality being continued into the new film. i think you owe this film another star for not paying attention. dunce.

[Mike]

I say nay sir. For the very reason it does not deserve it!

[Andy]

Raiders -
Temple -
Last Crusade -

I loved the Indiana Jones movies and yes, for the first time in 2 years, I will be making a trip especially to the cinema to watch it. I doubt it will be any good but I have loved watching them again on Sunday nights. I just hope they don't pump it full of cgi and keep it to what it does best, near slapstick adventure.

[Mike]

Its had mixed reviews so far but lets be honest some people will just pan it for the sake of it. Will be seeing it at the cinema too! but don't know when yet.

[Mike]

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Pending. Please wait.

Here is it the muchly anticipated definitive review of the Crystal Skull. Generally I thought this was on a par with the older Indy films. There was a bit of humour, lots of action and the story was as implausible as ever! Lets be honest they used the franchise well and and stuck to the formula. I especially liked the references to him being old and becoming his father (part way through he started saying that things were 'intollerable' in a mimic of Sean Connery!).

All in all actually a rating. Don't expect a well thought out film, just go for the action and the, well, action. The only down side that prevented a five star rating was the rather bizzare ending. Indy meets Xfiles as phil put it. . .

Oh, and his is the worst archeologist ever. What ever he finds, he destroys! The mumified remains of on Conquistadors, temples, artefacts. What a strange way to preserve the past!

[stimpsonslostson]

I'd agree with
ticked all the boxes I wanted it to. Lots of action, adventure, bugs, humour and all living up to the Indy feel.
It did feel like we'd strayed into an X-files episode towards the end, but that tied in nicely with the 1950s feel so I'm willing to let it pass. (I hardly went to see Indy expecting gritty realism!)

I occasionally question why they feel the need to pair the ageing star with a new sidekick in all these sequels, although to be fair Shia LeBoef was OK (I usually hate him!).
One of the funniest things Mike and I noticed was a credit for Indys COSTUME designer! Fedora? Check. Leather Jacket? Check. Bull Whip? Check. Boots? Check.
p

[Mike]

Mr. Ford's Costum designer is the full title of the credit. I liked the fact it started with 'Harrison Ford In' which is a classic old school opening sequence!