So I just saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls.

Overall I can say that I was genuinely pleased with it. Some of the classic "Indie" moments (abruptly shooting a menacing opponent, two speeding vehicles with a character stuck in battle between the two, and of course his fear of snakes) and some interesting CGI moments.

The story itself was just OK. It dragged on for a bit in the middle. A friend of mine actually fell asleep for a few minutes. The Crystal Skulls topic may also turn off some people who aren't familiar with the whole "alien origins of civilization" theories.

However, it was nice to see Indiana Jones back in action. Shia was good. Cate Blanchett was a great villainess. It was nice to see Karen Allen again (Marion from the original movie)...although them getting married at the end after they hadn't seen each other 18 years bit was not believable.

(speaking of unbelievable...wait'll you see how he survives a nuclear blast!!!!)

In the end, it was good so I will give it a

Been hearing good things about the movie. Yeah, I don't like the whole alien idea... I mean in the first movie we had the Ark of the Covenant. The power of god... now we're down to aliens...

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from beginning to end.

It was nice to see Marion from the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie.

What's interesting is the box in area 51, which broke, showed a part of the Ark of the Covenant which leads me to believe that the next movie might come full circle back to the Ark of the Covenant and end the Indiana Jones Movies.

The ants freaked me out

Those aliens are

The Crystal Skulls of Central America are replicas of human skulls carved from transparent quartz crystal. Some are distorted, but others, like the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull of Lubaantun, Belize, are anatomically correct.

Mayan creations myths allude to thirteen powerful Crystal Skulls dispersed throughout the Central American continent.

Many claim the Central America Crystal Skulls possess supernatural powers, and serve as hubs of energy. Some people believe Crystal Skulls have healing abilities, or may be used in predicting the future (like a crystal ball). Others believe the skulls are bad luck, especially the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull. Some even believe the Crystal Skulls are linked to the lost civilizations of Atlantis or Lemuria, or to alien life forms.

Scientists, however, believe in none of the above.

The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal
There have been several Crystal Skulls found in Central America, but the most famous is the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull.

The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull was allegedly found in 1926 in the Lubaantun Mayan ruins of Southern Belize, then known as British Honduras. The discoverer was Anna Le Guillon Mitchell-Hedges, daughter of archaeologist F.A. Mitchell-Hedges. See photos of Belize's Lubaantun ruins.

Mitchell-Hedges claimed to have discovered the skull in the collapsed altar of an ancient Mayan temple at Lubaantun. See a photo of the site where the Crystal Skull was said to be found. According to Mitchell-Hedges, she was told by the resident Maya the skull was used to "will death". Because of this, it was nicknamed the Skull of Doom.

The authenticity of Mitchell-Hedges’s story is controversial. There is evidence she purchased the skull at an action decades after she claimed to find it, while there is zero evidence of her having possessed it before the mid-1940s. Even if she did, rumors suggest Anna Mitchell-Hedges’s father purchased the skull and planted it in the Lubaantun ruins of Belize for her to find. There are also signs the skull was carved from 19th century metal tools, disproving its pre-Colombian origin.

Yet ancient or not, the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull is extraordinary. The skull is 7 inches long and 5 inches high, and weighs about 11 pounds. Uniquely, the jaw detaches from the rest of the skull, which was carved from a single piece of quartz.

More amazingly, the Mitchell-Hedges skull was carved against the natural axis of the crystal, which should have made it shatter. Because of this, it is impossible to duplicate, and the secret to its construction remains unexplained.

Other Crystal Skulls in Central America
The histories of other Central American Crystal Skulls are even more dubious than that of the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull. Like the latter, most Crystal Skulls bear marks of 19th century jewelers’ tools, especially along the ridges of the teeth. Yet the supposed pre-Colombian origin of Crystal Skulls cannot be verified – because the skulls aren’t organic, carbon dating will not work.

The closest in design to the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull is the Rose Quartz Crystal Skull, which also possesses a removable jaw. It was said to be found on the border of Guatemala and Honduras. The Mayan Crystal Skull, allegedly found in Guatemala in the early 20th century, and the Amethyst Skull, said to be discovered in Mexico around the same time, were also carved against the axis of the crystal.

Another Central American Crystal Skull with an enigmatic history is called “ET” because of its overbite and pointed skull. Creepy!

The British Crystal Skull, made of misty quartz and less detailed, on display at Museum of Mankind in London. The Paris Crystal Skull is on display at the Trocadero Museum of Paris. The skulls are nearly identical in size and design, and were said to be purchased in Mexico at the turn of the 19th century.

Crystal Skulls in Popular Culture
Crystal Skulls are so fascinating, their likeness has been references numerous times in popular culture. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, for one. In addition, multiple Indiana Jones novels include tales of Crystal Skulls. Television series Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World used an image of a Crystal Skull as its logo. Video games “Nancy Drew and the Legend of the Crystal Skull” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow” utilize Crystal Skulls as plot devices.

http://gocentralamerica.a...+wikipedia

Alien Origins of Civilization

http://www.geocities.com/...et003.html

luv4u said:

Yeah great, that site claims that the Roman Empire "started" in 753 BC,...
for God's sake

[Edited 5/23/08 14:05pm]

luv4u said:

I know that people are going ot pick the movie apart...but at the end of the day it was good entertainment, and nothing less in over-the-top action that could be expected from an Indiana Jones flick.

Yeesh, I thought it was pretty disappointing. The script just had no flow or something, and the aliens were just tossed in there. The minute that one came to life when it got its head back, it became clear they had no idea how to end this thing. Which is shame, because I mostly enjoyed the first half.
[Edited 5/24/08 8:52am]

Never watched any other Indiana Jones movies, went to see this one today, I enjoyed it!!!

veronikka said:

You have never seen the original Indy movies! BLASPHEMY!!!

kcwm said:

nope, never seen them but Ive been on this

veronikka said:

Kids

Seriously...you should check out at least the first one. Raiders and The Last Crusade are the ones I like best.

veronikka said:

ooooh wow, looks cool. do tell more!

I´ve heard the worst things about it and now I
am hesitant to go to see it

garganta said:

just go and see it. i had a great time!!!

liked the first half up until the cgi stuff like the ants and monkey swinging and spielberg should have not literally shown those guys at the end... keep it mysterious and mythical....

I thought it was good, nothing special. I liked it, but I loved the first three. I thought this new one was nowhere near as much fun as the other ones, and that's too bad.

garganta said:

Just think of it like you would a new Prince album. It may not be as good as the previous films, but it's better than a lot of the stuff that is being put out nowadays.

It's a fun movie and worth seeing at least once.
[Edited 5/26/08 15:18pm]

I liked it alot. I actually think the 1st and this one are my faves. I never really dug the 2nd one. The 3rd one was cool, though.

My favorite cinema (or: the most convenient one to get to) is right next to the Amsterdam soccer-stadium (capacity: 45.000)....This week, the Dutch village-idiots (see picture) are entertaining the Dutch bourgeoise in this stadium, performing their idiotic sing-along songs (mostly camp covers), and therefore the area around the stadium (thus also the cinema) is very hard to reach.....that's the reason why I haven't seen Indy yet....




and I'm too lazy to hop on my bike to see it in the city.....

I liked this movie...saw it today..was pretty good.

I thought it sucked.

eVeRsOlEsA said:

Really???

MoniGram said:

yeah, it was too predicable So far the movies that are out or coming out have no original ideas.

eVeRsOlEsA said:

Well yes I will give you that it was predictable, but it was still pretty good. I liked the whole alien idea...

Going to see this tonight can't wait!!

I enjoyed the movie and thought it was pretty good. The whole thing about the 13 skulls my dad was saying is based on some Mayan stories he's read and apparently has a connection with the year 2012. I'm not quite sure. The ants did scare me though. Ever since I had ants in the kitchen cupboard, bathroom, and closets in my apartment (due to a neighbor who had them and moved ) I get the heeby jeebies when I see them.

Moonstar319 said:

Those ants were pretty creepy!!!

i saw this movie on friday and really enjoyed it.

BUT some of the scenes were definitely lifted from other movies like The Mummy, I and II and Lara Croft Tomb Raider. i got the feeling that the writers and producers watched every single succcesful adventure/treasure hunt movie ever, took notes on the most satisfying scenes and then modified said scenes slightly to fit the Indy movie.

but i loved the ending where, after a lifetime of searching for treasure, Indy finally discovers the REAL treasures in life.

I was dissapointed with it. Pretty much paint-by-numbers Indiana Jones and lacking any of the charm of the 80s films. I also found it be somewhat self satisified and Ray Winstone annoying which is a shame.