Moonstar319 said:

Those ants were pretty creepy!!!

veronikka said:

Kids

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

NO SPOILERS (yet )
OK, I'll say it loud and clear: Indy4 IS a new Phantom Menace

BUUUUUT: there is a major difference: Indy4 is a failure, but is still 1000 TIMES more enjoyable than PM due to a simple reason: it has the hero of the original trilogy; I mean, PM had some great moments, but overall the film was not enjoyable due to the fact that almost all the characters were NEW (Yoda's cameo and the young Obi-Wan being the exception),and you know what happens when you mix a mediocre script with new/uncharismatic characters: the movie is a complete failure.
But that's why Indy4 succeeds: it has a lot of AWFUl (I mean, AWFUL) CGI moments (Spielberg, you're a liar, pure and simple), the over-the-top moments are here and there, the script is weak, but the film IS enjoyable because our larger-than-life hero, Indy, is BACK and kicking asses as he used to (Harrison Ford is in top form!), and the charisma factor CLEARLY disguises the embarrassing/weak/disappointing moments (and there are plenty of them )

SPOILERS
That said, I'm gonna talk about the "good" scenes " and the "bad" scenes

Good:
-The early fight at the Hangar
-The cafe-fight and the pursuit through the campus
-The quicksand scene (the snake joke was great )
-The "you're my dad-you're my son, like it or not" scene, great
-The fist-fight between Indy and the bulky russian, surrounded by the killing ants.
-The temple scenes (not the final scence when the aliens appear, though )
-The wedding ceremony

Bad: the rest of the film
-The atomic explosion and the icebox scene: THE MOST RIDICULOUS AND INTOLERABLE SCENE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A "SERIOUS" SEQUEL, this scene only makes Indy4 a failure.
-The tomb's quest: 0 mistery, 0 difficulty, 0 tension, a bad copy of the tomb's quest of the Last Crusade.
-The jungle pursuit: ovet-the-top, boring (yes, BORING) and downright ridiculous (the Tarzan-like moment is forced and poorly staged)
-The waterfalls scene: almost as embarrassing as the icebox scene
-The AWFUL Alien's CGI.
-Irina's death: predictable and bland, no gore, no tension, no horror. The CGI was decent, though
-The flying sauce scene: Ok, this is an Indy film and there is always magical and esoteric powers, but this a bit...uh...extreme, don't you think? Still, it's somehow convincing, not the worst scene of the movie...

I know the film is set in the 50's, but c'mon, the russians were not that evil, or at least they were as evil/ambitious as the americans were then, this was a COLD war, remember?
What about south-american fascists or ruthless mercenaries, Mr.Lucas? Those would have been better villians than the russians.
Also, Irina is a weak lead villian with a poor/pompous motivation (endless knowledge and psychical powers to control the capitalist world, great ) and the entire plot device is too sci-fi for a Indy film, this is not a fuc*ing videogame for god's sake! And what about the Lost City of Atlantis, Mr.Lucas?; you knew that ALL the Indy fans wanted Atlantis as the Macguffin for the new Indy film, but as always, you had to stick to your guns, right? now, you can take your plastic skull and your aliens up the ***)

OVERALL: just and "ok" movie which feels like a "for fans only" sequel. BY FAR the WORST of the 4 films (I believe that it's a sin trying to compare Raiders or Last Crusade with Indy4), and OF COURSE TEMPLE OF DOOM IS 1.000.000 BETTER at EVERY SINGLE LEVEL, I MEAN, EVERY SINGLE LEVEL
But at the same time, Indy4 is 1.000.000 better than those Nicolas Cage's adventure films (I don't even remember their name), Tomb Raider I & II and the Mommy II (but it's not better than the original Mommy,though )

It feels like Lucas, Spielberg and Ford just wanted to make this film for the "fun" factor and they don't give a damn if the results have been mediocre or just watchable. This movie feels like an obligatory "let's do it for the fans and for the fun" and obviously NOBODY involved in this took the film very seriously. There's nothing wrong about it, since like I've said the movie has its very funny/entertaining moments, Ford is marvelous and as an artifice of pure nostalgia the film works. But as a "serious" sequel of the (probably) best action/adventure saga of our time, this movie is a failure.

PD: oh! and I don't want Indy5 (if they make it), since I don't want another weak "for fans only" film; the final wedding ceremony feels like the BEST possible ending for the Indy saga.

SPOILERS OFF

And what about the Lost City of Atlantis, Mr.Lucas?; you knew that ALL the Indy fans wanted Atlantis as the Macguffin for the new Indy film, but as always, you had to stick to your guns, right? now, you can take your plastic skull and your aliens up the ***)

Excellent post!

I personally disagree with some of your likes and dislikes.

I didn't feel the chemistry between Indy and Marion this time around. It felt forced. The wedding was actually one of my least favorite parts of the movie. "Hey! Haven't seen you in nearly 20 years! Here's your grown son. Lets get married!"

Although the bit at the very end where the kid picks up the hat and is about to put it on but is snatched away by Indy was AWESOME!!!

I didn't have a problem with the waterfall scenes (although ALOT of people do). Hey! It's freakin' Indiana Jones, OK?

Also - Irina's death is definitely a nod at the original film.

JoeTyler said:

If you want an Indy adventure about Atlantis go play Indy & The Fate of Atlantis. Its by far one of the best point and click adventure games I have ever played, top with the fact that it had voice acting which for the time it was made was a tremendous feat!

Its possible that they didn't do that because people who have played the game and many Indy fans would have, they would already know the story...that and it was still set in the 40s so it wouldn't have worked with the timeline.

PurpleJedi said:

Thanks!

The waterfall scenes are a failure because the first and the second were TOO big, so the third one was huge and looked ridiculous, nobody could have survived that; the entire scene was forced (but I know that those waterfalls are real, somewhere in argentine, if i'm not mistaken)

Irina's death was ok enough, I guess I was pissed at the awful CGI alien
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[Edited 5/30/08 5:06am]