Mabuse

Red Letter Media posted a Crystal Skull review a few days ago.

Great stuff.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-zphhfHon_I

Abob Teff

Glad they had time to figure it out.

Crocker Jarmen

I saw this at the theater and was disappointed. Not too long ago, I put Crystal Skull on, intending to watch just the opening scene and I wound up getting sucked in and watching the whole movie. Nowhere near the greatness of the 80`s Indiana Jones movies, but this one is still perfectly acceptable late afternoon viewing. I had fun more often then I didn`t.

EctoCooler

the thing i remember most is that shot of Harrison Ford's front teeth at the end when he's looking to the sky and remembering his dad. Youd think with his money Ford would afford better looking dentures. Same goes for Leonard Nimoy.

atrium

This thread is a fascinating read (at least the first few pages) cause it consists of half of the people trying to will themselves into believing this wasn't a disaster of a movie, and the other half accepting the sad reality of disappointment.

I think many of these late 90s / early 2000s movies are gonna go down in the nadirs of film history because CGI was still so primitive. This film looks horrible in retrospect, blatant green-screening throughout.

E Unit

I may have to suck it up and watch it again, but if it's one thing I remember is that the effects weren't bad at all. Just everything else.

atrium

Including the parts when Indy's fridge gets nuked, or Shia swings like Tarzan through the trees?


The entire screen looks fake except the actors.

dex14

The effects are awful.

I saw this posted a few weeks ago. 7:40 they start talking about this movie.

RichC2

The whole movie looked like it was shot on a green screen a la Sky Captain.

E Unit

Hello, I forgot all those parts, including the fridge nuke. Well, that clip is enough to make me not want to see it again. So thanks.

dex14

atrium

The point they made about physics.

That's a good comparison, although it worked for Sky Captain because we weren't coming in with expectations of a more gritty look, like with previous Indy films. It also worked cause Sky Captain is superior to Crystal Skull in every other form of film-making and storytelling.

It also reminds me a bit of the final shots of Vanilla Sky, although again it worked for that movie because it's consistent with the dreamy feeling of the entire film


Happy to help.

atrium

I also want to add that I find it a bit dismaying how many people seem to think Temple of Doom is a bad film?

It's a far more interesting and adventurous movie than The Last Crusade.The Last Crusade is basically what happens when a director capitulates to a whiny fanbase. The next film ends up being Diminishing Returns: The Movie. I saw something similar in the J.J. Abrams directed Star Wars films. Filmmakers who are afraid of negative reaction from the fanbase so they do paint-by-numbers Indiana Jones and you wind up with a fun, albeit slightly soulless retread.

Temple of Doom has a ton of flaws, but it's macabre and old and evil presence is a really cool left-turn from Raiders, yet it still feels a part of the Indiana Jones universe. It's a way more interesting movie to watch and discuss.

brayzie

Thank you.
But I thought that Spielberg himself was unhappy with Temple of Doom because supposedly he was in a dark place when he made it, and therefore, that's why it was supposedly a "darker" film. I honestly don't see how it was any darker when in the first one you had people's faces getting melted off, and people skewered and shot in the head. Was the public critical of ToD at the time? If that was the case, maybe that was just an excuse that he used so people weren't just thinking he was caving to the critics? Kind of like the Star Wars cast throwing Rian Johnson under the bus to promote TROS.

Temple of Doom is a great follow up to Raiders. Last Crusade isn't bad, but I can't even get through the first third of the film. The first two though, I can watch from beginning to end. I wanted to see another exotic locale, and instead it's mostly just Europe.

OldBoy

i think heart ripped out of chest beats face melt...

Abob Teff

Funny, I remember the exact opposite ... the effects were god-awful and the rest could have been made tolerable (but really wasn't) if they hadn't gone the Phantom Menace route.

brayzie

Apples and oranges, but they’re both still fruit.

Temple of Doom isn’t that much different in tone than Raiders.
I’m watching the scene now and the hear itself is realistic and creepy, but it’s not like Freddy ripping it out someone’s organs. It’s surprising bloodless for a heart that’s “ripped out.” The guy here is apparently still alive too.

Even though I grew up on Indiana Jones movies, I don’t necessarily think the series is “family friendly” and it seems like some of the critics at the time were under the impression that it was supposed to be. Plus it had a slightly stronger rating so what’s the problem? Is it really so much better to portray the Nazis again as mere Saturday Morning Cartoon villains?