Aww. Love you too. And after rewatching the whole series this weekend -- in preparation for Dial of Destiny tonight, for which I’m currently transporting my childhood fedora back from Palo Alto as we speak -- I remain secure in my defense of Crystal Skull. It’s a fun movie! It takes big swings! The highs are not as high as Temple of Doom, but the lows are not nearly as low.
You’re 100% right that other than the action, the sense of history is what makes Raiders and what still sets it apart from every other action franchise. Real and fictional. It’s also one of those things that feels missing from Temple of Doom specifically. Not only are the Sankara stones invented for the movie and the Thugee cult more or less completely fictionalized, but Indy is more of a capital-C Character than he is a person with a past in that movie. It never struck me as making a whole lot of sense that the Prime Minister of Pankot was so familiar with him and all his exploits.
Last Crusade brought that kind of stuff back with a vengeance (and so did Crystal Skull — yes yes boo hiss but it did).
My favorite scene nowadays is actually that first exposition scene with the Army intelligence guys. I’m not sure any other combination of writer/director/star other than Kasdan/Spielberg/Ford could pull off a scene like that. Could any other action star seem legitimately excited when lecturing about biblical history like Ford does? Not sure any modern movie would have the guts to try something like that scene either, they don’t trust the audience enough to find a history lesson interesting.
As for that Belloq prequel… you may get your wish sooner rather than later, if Disney pulls the trigger on a Disney+ series. Now that Harrison Ford is finished, the franchise graverobbing era of Indiana Jones is about to begin. Unless Indy V bombs, I guess!
1. YES! The army intelligence scene is just perfect! Seriously delightful. I love, too, that Jones and Brody are such nerds about the whole enterprise that they seem near-offended that the intelligence guys are so dense.
And I love that it's all this boring lecture stuff--giddily delivered--and then all of a sudden, the stakes get raised when they see the drawing of the Ark.
2. That you are shipping the fedora is one of the coolest things I've read in a while.
3. I do tend to agree with your takes that Crystal Skull takes big swings; and that its highs are not as high, and that its lows are not as low as Temple of Doom's. I mean, there are scenes in Temple of Doom that I actively dislike. I guess the CGI is especially off-putting. I mean, the ant scene?
4. Here's hoping Dial of Destiny is at least watchable. I really would binge the heck out of a Belloq prequel series.
Aww. Love you too. And after rewatching the whole series this weekend -- in preparation for Dial of Destiny tonight, for which I’m currently transporting my childhood fedora back from Palo Alto as we speak -- I remain secure in my defense of Crystal Skull. It’s a fun movie! It takes big swings! The highs are not as high as Temple of Doom, but the lows are not nearly as low.
You’re 100% right that other than the action, the sense of history is what makes Raiders and what still sets it apart from every other action franchise. Real and fictional. It’s also one of those things that feels missing from Temple of Doom specifically. Not only are the Sankara stones invented for the movie and the Thugee cult more or less completely fictionalized, but Indy is more of a capital-C Character than he is a person with a past in that movie. It never struck me as making a whole lot of sense that the Prime Minister of Pankot was so familiar with him and all his exploits.
Last Crusade brought that kind of stuff back with a vengeance (and so did Crystal Skull — yes yes boo hiss but it did).
My favorite scene nowadays is actually that first exposition scene with the Army intelligence guys. I’m not sure any other combination of writer/director/star other than Kasdan/Spielberg/Ford could pull off a scene like that. Could any other action star seem legitimately excited when lecturing about biblical history like Ford does? Not sure any modern movie would have the guts to try something like that scene either, they don’t trust the audience enough to find a history lesson interesting.
As for that Belloq prequel… you may get your wish sooner rather than later, if Disney pulls the trigger on a Disney+ series. Now that Harrison Ford is finished, the franchise graverobbing era of Indiana Jones is about to begin. Unless Indy V bombs, I guess!
Okay, so much awesome stuff in that reply.
1. YES! The army intelligence scene is just perfect! Seriously delightful. I love, too, that Jones and Brody are such nerds about the whole enterprise that they seem near-offended that the intelligence guys are so dense.
And I love that it's all this boring lecture stuff--giddily delivered--and then all of a sudden, the stakes get raised when they see the drawing of the Ark.
2. That you are shipping the fedora is one of the coolest things I've read in a while.
3. I do tend to agree with your takes that Crystal Skull takes big swings; and that its highs are not as high, and that its lows are not as low as Temple of Doom's. I mean, there are scenes in Temple of Doom that I actively dislike. I guess the CGI is especially off-putting. I mean, the ant scene?
4. Here's hoping Dial of Destiny is at least watchable. I really would binge the heck out of a Belloq prequel series.
*the CGI in Crystal Skull. (I also don't like how clunkily they handled the whole supposed secret paternity bit.)
Update: seen Dial of Destiny 3 times now. It’s far more than watchable
Update: I've seen it only once, and I had a really good time. I'm pleasantly surprised.
Want to state for the record, though: I think you could have written a better script.