Why They SHOULDN'T Make Indy 4
 

Are there others like me who love the Indy movies, but DON'T want to see them make a fourth Indiana Jones film?

I just got done watching "Last Crusade" for the umpteenth time (first time on DVD, though) last night and that movie is the PERFECT ending for the series:

* We find out how Indiana got some of the trademarks he carries around with him

* The item searched for is the ULITMATE prize: The Holy Grail (how could they search for any item cooler than this?)

* Indy repairs the estranged relationship with his father

Plus, there are hints throughout the film that this should be the FINAL big adventure Indy will ever take:

* During his fight with the "Protector of the Grail" on the boat in Venice, Indy states "This is your LAST chance!" and the guy replies, "No, Dr. Jones - it's YOURS!"

* After the tank battle in the desert, Indy's father yells at him and states "What are you standing around for when we're so close to the END!"

* When reaching for the grail at the end of the film, Indy's father tells him "Let it Go"...not only asking to give up the grail, but also implying that this is Indy's first step in giving up his quest for relics in exchange for a closer relationship with his father and his friends.

* The characters literally ride off into the sunset at the end of the movie.

Now, I love the character as much as many others out there, but there's nothing worse than seeing a series of great movies ruined by the quest to capitalize on their success with even more sequels. This has happened to so many other series, and I would hate to see it happen to Indiana Jones.

I think another reason for my fear is that Indiana's character arc is so nicely wrapped up in "Last Crusade" that I'm worried they are going to ruin it with another picture. I mean, what relic can Indy possibly search for that would be bigger than and have more of an mystique about it than the Holy Grail, and what emotionally would be more important to the character than settling his differences with his father?

Maybe Spielberg, Lucas and Ford can actually top "Last Crusade" (I probably trust the fact that Frank Darabont's writing the script more than I do anything else), but I'm sure I'm not the only one who immediately thought "Phantom Menace" when it was announced another Indy film was in the works.

Anyone feel the same why I do? Anyone have strong points on how and why another sequel would or could work?

I also had the same feelings after watching Last Crusade on DVD. It just wrapped everything up so nicely. I love to see Indy 4, but I also want to believe that the filmmakers can do it right (no overuse of CGI and more reliance on stuntpeople and mechanical effects).

CGI destroys most movies these days. I hope they continue to use the matte backgrounds but I doubt it. Anyway, I feel Harrison is too old to be running around as Indy now.

Well said, Spooky. I'd like to see the script for Indy 4, though.

I'm curious to see how they'll pull this off. It has been 15 years since the last film after all.

I dont want them to make another one because i already have the box set. Dont want to have to buy another box set when indy 4 comes to dvd.

We've had a room full of snakes, a room full of bugs, and a room full of rats. What's left to do?

I think it should end because most involved seem physically past their prime, and it is a perfect ending.

A room full of ravers?

Re: Why They SHOULDN'T Make Indy 4
 

I completely agree w/ everything you said. The Indy movies are in my top 5 all-time favorite movies & you would think someone like that would want another one, but I absolutely do NOT want another Indy movie to be made.

One of the things that worries me the most about a 4th film, is how Lucas said in the documentary how part of the main challenge with the sequals is how each one has to top (action wise) what the previous film did. Now I don't see how this can be done w/ the 4th film without using dreaded CGI. Plus, now that Harrison is so old, he probably will not do any of his own stunts, which means most of the big action scenes will probably done without the Indy character or heavily CGI'd.

Add that, to my theory that there has NEVER been a good forced sequal (Rocky 4 may be the exception) & that is all INDY 4 will be. It's a forced sequal, there is no know need for it.

What's a "forced sequal"?

I'm guessing a sequel done just to make money, rather than to continue/finish a story.

In all honesty, how many are there that aren't like that? LOTR is the only one I know of in which they actually had the films coming out whether the first one did well or not.
Everything else, whether or not they plan it as a trilogy, hinges on the success of the first movie. Had the first Matrix come out and flopped, then Reloaded and Revolutions would have remained in the Wachowski's heads, same with the OT of SW.

Yeah, but in the case of the Matrix and Star Wars, the people had the stories in their head. They're getting told just depended on the originals doing well enough that the studio would give them the $ to make them.

A lot of sequels are just thrown together to cash in on the original. They're was no existing story in anyone's head when the first one was made. The film just did well, so the studio pays someone to throw together another one to cash in on it's success.

Maybe a forced sequel could be something like Kill Bill, where they're forcing a "sequel" out of one movie.

I don't know if I would call Indy 4 a forced sequel. It's been 15 years, numerous scripts, and Spielberg and Lucas and Ford not agreeing on anything til recently. I doubt this movie would be any more forced than the others, though perhaps not as welcome. Personally I'm all for them making this movie. Spielberg is still a great director in my opinion, so I definately want to see what he can come up with. CGI??? It's Spielberg, he's the best in the business. If there's anyone who's not going to go crazy and overboard with CGI, but instead use it well, I'd say it's Spielberg. And with Lucas really only writing the story, the only question mark is can Harrison Ford still act. Even if he can't, I'll still watch. Bring it on!!!

A "forced sequel" is just my term. Others don't have to agree with it. When the last movie in a series is wrapped up to near perfection (as Crusade was), & doesn't obviously leave opening to the next movie & then they make a next movie anyway, that is a a "forced sequel". Plus the way Hollywood more now than ever, just makes remakes after remakes, sequals after sequals, I can't help but feel like Indy is only being made now, b/c Hollywood is out of ideas, so this is like a movie in a can, it's already got a huge fan base, it has built in box office success, & the premise is already set up.

Add that to the star of the movie aging to the point (IMO) that I find it hard to believe a man of that age can do the things the character of Indiana has done in the past. Plus, I think some will agree, it's just like Star Wars, the original 3 are movie perfection, they can never be topped, & I don't want a 4th movie to be made that will be the weak link in a rare series of perfect movies.

Possible items to get in Indiana 4:

Excalibur sword
Ankh of Ra
The re-emergence of the Lost Ark from storage

Possible things to avoid:
A room full of deranged zombies
A room full of lions or tigers


I am putting my faith into Spielberg more than Lucas. It seems to me Spielberg knows what people want unlike what Lucas has done to his Star Wars pre-quels by making the Star Wars series a complete crap.

Just to add to Regurgitator's list:

Atlantis
Noah's Ark
The REAL Holy Grail (Da Vinci code readers will know what I'm talking about)

Here's a reason why YOU shouldn't watch the fourth indy. Because you made this thread.

so just be glad they didn't edit the other three films to fit with the fourth. simple as that. pretend it never existed.

Why not have more movies? We see in an episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles that an older Indy (with scruffy beard) is still going strong.

http://www.indianajones.com/young/ch...young_1_bg.jpg

I'd rather them make a new Indy movie that I don't have to watch than for them to butcher up the ones that already exist by adding ewoks and CGI laserbeams or whatever.

Well, I have my own opinions here.

I DID NOT like the third Indian ajones movie. It was - like someone else said - cartoonish and seemed tired, while the jokes were terrible (one of the most deranging being, IMHO, a signpost in the middle of nowhere indicating Venice and Berlin)... Most of the characters seemed to be there only for comic relief, and the Mickey Mouse reference was stupid - especially since the Nazis hated that cartoon. The whole movie semed a parody to the other two.

From this point of view, a sequel that would restore dignity to the franchise would be good.

On the other hand, it may very well be badly done. Both Lucas and Spielberg have been involved exclusively with flops recently.

One COULD bring Indy back to the screen, if the age factor was taken into consideration. Michael Caine's secret agent Harry Palmer was revived in the 1990s, and although the films were modest in scope and made for TV, they were rather good, especially the first one. So from this point of view, an Indy coming back from retirement could work.

If ONLY it was done right. And the risks of damaging the trilogy is too great - it's been already weakened by that stupid TV series add-on...

So, taking into consideration everything at stake, and no matter how much I'd like to see Indy again, I believe that a fourth movie is not worth the risk.

I doubt if they have gone thru so many scripts and ideas in the past 15 years for a fourth movie that the ideas they are settling on now are so horrible that it wouldn't work, and also if they have waited this long for the right ideas to come into place, then this is not a "forced sequel" but a carefully planned one. Like other movies, it will have those who love it and those who hate it, and I am willing to give it a chance.

As for things they could go looking for, how about the Shroud of Turin?

I'm not worried about that. My box set says it is "The Adventures of Indiana Jone The Complete DVD Movie Collection." Those of us lucky enough to get a box saying it is the "COMPLETE" collection will get the 4th movie for free when it is released on DVD... ;)