Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [use spoiler tags, please]

[CoasterMatt]

The aliens from Indy 4 are the Sleestaks from Land of the Lost.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

Perhaps the aliens can return in Indy 5 to reveal themselves as what they truly are - inter-dimensional grave robbers stealing the treasures of Earth and the third dimension.

Joking maybe, but that would be awesome. I really think the aliens should have been shown as more of a 50's style threat, much more sinister and scary than the Russians ... who were played mostly for laughs and sex appeal.

Too bad Spielberg or Lucas or both couldn't seem to bring themselves to posit truly vicious and ill-willed aliens. But a 50's-themed Indy adventure calls for that treatment just as validly as did War of the Worlds ... and I wish Spielberg would have caught on to that.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Originally Posted by Alex

I would have loved to see this exhibited to a greater degree, but after the first 20 minutes did "50's paranoia" ever get even a nod? And same for the red scare. Other than having a Russian accent, there was nothing Russian or Communist about the threat and since the movie quickly moved away from anything resembling modern culture there was no Red Scare stuff either.

I'f they'd delved into it too deeply, I would have been irritated. Cate B's "you'll wake up and be us without even knowing what happened" touched nicely upon Commie phobia, I think. I was pretty punch pleased.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

Perhaps the aliens can return in Indy 5 to reveal themselves as what they truly are - inter-dimensional grave robbers stealing the treasures of Earth and the third dimension.

Not quite but there is a short story in last month's Asimov's that is vaguely along those lines.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

And I think the Nazis in Raiders were shown to be bigger baddies because they were prone to torture Marion Ravenwood. I guess, by extension, that reminded audiences of what butchers the Nazis were.

This point reminds me of all the stuff in Crusade that alluded to Nazi evil, such as the book burning (which was not only shown, but mentioned by both Henry Jr. and Sr.), and the part where they try to buy off the ruler of the made-up nation where the grail is hidden using gold trinkets "donated by some of Germany's finest families", ie Jews. Both of those bits gave me the shudders as a kid, and was plenty to remind me that this wasn't just about chasing an artifact, but about true evil getting some serious power.

[innerSpaceman]

What a let-down, then, that the power turned out to be you can live forever if you just stay inside this tiny room of a cave in the middle of nowhere.

Since that "rule" was never stated, I prefer to think that Indiana Jones cannot be hurt or killed except by extraordinary means, and so he can survive a nuclear flying refrigerator ride. But, er, since he crossed the seal ... he ages at an alarming rate. By the 70's, he will be a living skeleton.


They don't say how Professor Henry Sr. died, so I'll just imagine he was shot through the heart with a cannon ball at close range and thus could not survive even though equally immortal. Just to be sure, they cremated his remains.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

and was plenty to remind me that this wasn't just about chasing an artifact, but about true evil getting some serious power.

Hrmm, actually, they rather explicitly said that wasn't the case. When Indy confronted Elsa about being a Nazi she said, "Are you kidding, they just want to find the grail for bragging rights. I want it for the immortality!"

[Ponine]

Originally Posted by Alex

I would have loved to see this exhibited to a greater degree, but after the first 20 minutes did "50's paranoia" ever get even a nod? And same for the red scare. Other than having a Russian accent, there was nothing Russian or Communist about the threat and since the movie quickly moved away from anything resembling modern culture there was no Red Scare stuff either.

First let me say, the cat anology... omg.. funny.

I wonder how much of this plot line is on the cutting room floor.
Since we knew why she wanted the crystal skull, yet much of the WHY we had to glean ourselves.
It wasnt laid out. Now, what I would think is that even had they TOLD us straight out, it wouldnt have moved the story along. hence, cut it out, and let us see the Tarzan scene.

What I want to know, was there a REASON we saw the ark?

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

What a let-down, then, that the power turned out to be you can live forever if you just stay inside this tiny room of a cave in the middle of nowhere.

Since that "rule" was never stated, I prefer to think that Indiana Jones cannot be hurt or killed except by extraordinary means, and so he can survive a nuclear flying refrigerator ride. But, er, since he crossed the seal ... he ages at an alarming rate. By the 70's, he will be a living skeleton.


They don't say how Professor Henry Sr. died, so I'll just imagine he was shot through the heart with a cannon ball at close range and thus could not survive even though equally immortal. Just to be sure, they cremated his remains.

I heart you so!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Hrmm, actually, they rather explicitly said that wasn't the case. When Indy confronted Elsa about being a Nazi she said, "Are you kidding, they just want to find the grail for bragging rights. I want it for the immortality!"

I found a script and I thought maybe you were referring to the exchange at the book burning, but it's not there...I dont' remember her saying this.