Leaderboard

Nuke Town is the best part of the movie, it's legitimately good and... bizarre.

1. Main Title 2. Main Title 3. Main Title 4. Main Title 5. Main Title 6. Main Title 7. Main Title 8. Main Title 9. Main Title 10. Main Title 11. Main Title 12. Main Title 13. Main Title 14. Main Title 15. Main Title 16. Main Title 17. Main Title 18. Main Title 19. Main Title 20. Prelude and Main Title 21. Main Title 22. End Cast 23. End Title/End Credits 24. End Title 25. End Title 26. End Cast 27. End Credits 28. Finale 29. Finale/End Title 30. Finale 31. End Title 32. End Title and End Cast 33. Finale 34. Finale 35. End Title 36. Finale 37. End Cast 38. End Title 39. End Title 40. End Title I'll finish this later.

What's the problem?

What I’m looking forward to most of all with Indy 5 (apart from the score) is the fun of an adventure where things happen in a way that’s plausible in the real world. When Iron Man gets slammed into the ground, Stark doesn’t black out or break any bones. Nothing in his suit ever really breaks. When office buildings come crashing down, the camera is always just following five or six random people (always featuring the Attractive White Female) scrambling to safety; every time the next installment comes out, the heroes’ tech is bigger and better looking, but what for? Nothing is ever at stake and nothing ever seems to change by the time you’re done watching it 165 minutes later. At least indy 4 showed you something new, or at least strung together a series of setpieces that added up to something unique. And, if spielberg gets it right, we’ll get to appreciate how despairingly rare that is a couple summers from now.

I'm with you to some extent. My overall response to KOTCS was disappointment, but that's mainly to do with my love for the "trilogy" and how expectations that high are bound to fall. I found a lot of stuff to still enjoy in it. The entire first sequence (up to and INCLUDING the nuke/fridge moment, sorry all) was the kind of thing I wanted out of an Indy movie set in that time period, to be honest. I enjoyed the Indy/Mutt and Marian stuff. I still haven't given it a second watch, but on the Prequel Disappointment Scale, to me it was not the disaster that the SW prequels were, but probably more on par with the mediocrity of The Hobbit movies.

Pretty much sums up what went wrong with The Hobbit as well. Pretty much sums up what went wrong with The Hobbit as well. Pretty much sums up what went wrong with The Hobbit as well.

I'll be attending those concerts too but I exist only on a molecular level so I'll be pretty hard to spot.

I can't say I'm a big fan of The Hobbit films, for example, but they all have their moments, a lot of care went into making them, and I don't dislike them as much as it may seem I do. So there are some films that we pile on that really don't deserve it. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is not one of those films. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull deserves every bit of scorn heaped upon it. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is about the most obvious kind of cynical cash grab you can get. Not that there's anything wrong with cynical cash grabs, but it's obvious that no one working on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had any passion for it. There's not a single moment of honesty in the whole movie (the scene where Indy laments the death of Marcus comes closest). The photography is distracting and looks nothing like Slocombe's (a superior cinematographer) beautiful, earthy work. The colours are gaudy, and direction lazy and the less said about the script the the better. Mutt and Marion were a mistake, and from the Jungle sequence to the end the movie is more or less unwatchable. The one cool bit from the film is Nuke Town and Indy standing in front of that mushroom cloud..a striking image that reminds us that we're not in the 1930's anymore. I really hope they get back to basics with the next film, and acknowledge the reality of Indy's age. Here's what I said about this a month ago... ...and now this... Steven Spielberg: It May Be Time For A Female ‘Indiana Jones’

I feel like I’m sticking my neck out for no real good by saying this, but I enjoyed a lot of the inventiveness or neat touches in KOTCS—Area 51, the nuclear test town, the graveyard, the man-eating ants, the way the jungle blade sliced through the jeep... yes, the alien stuff at the end was out of place and the jungle chase CGI was too obvious. But to write off the whole movie is a bit much. Especially after a decade of lather-rinse-repeat superhero shit we’ve been force-fed by MCU, I’d much sooner have Indy 5 than Avengers 6 or 7 for summer movie fun.

When the director himself says at the start of the KotCS documentary on the DVD that he really didn't want to make this movie and George Lucas basically pestered him into doing it, it doesn't have a good ring to it.

Yeah, that's real fine fancy analysis you brought here, Chen G. 'Course I don't know what that bastard jurassic shark's gonna do with it. Might eat it I suppose.

From almost the same year and completely ill-served by a movie its own production company found so irrelevant it played only for three days in Canada, 'Lionheart' is and always will be, next to Rózsa's 'Ivanhoe' my all-time favourite knight score. After Goldsmith's scores became idiomatically bigger in the mid-70's, with a heavy emphasis on french impressionism, he accordingly ventured into a leitmotivic approach he personally was not very fond of when the movie required it (Lionheart does in spades) - the results were always stellar, even when working under strained conditions like here. Franklin J. Schaffner, who frankly had seen better days and filming a lackluster script that may not be as awful as some will have you believe but hardly worth the time of such a talented old craftsman, did this medieval adventure in eastern Europe (to save a few pennies) and Goldsmith also went to Budapest (the second time after 'King Solomon's Mines', another full-blown adventure score). The story of a young but not very promising knight (Eric Stoltz) sent out to prove himself, assembling a Robin Hood-like band of children joining him on a wee 'crusade' or rather, trotting along uninviting romanian landscapes, battling a demonic child-snatching Gabriel Byrne begged for not much, musically, but it's a textbook example of Goldsmith wildly (wonderfully) overreaching to make up for the movie's shortcomings while intelligently keeping his orchestral apparatus airy and appropriately 'young' instead of bombastic. So yes, you probably enjoy this score much more if you never ventured to Youtube to watch the movie. All themes relating to Robert Nerra, the Stoltz character, are built on a characteristic three-note call. Often used as heroic fanfare it's the building block for a long, stately hymnal tune (the main theme, often joined by a chattering woodwinds representing the wandering children), a minor-drenched love theme for Nerra and his lady (one of Goldsmith's most convincing creations, considering love themes were not exactly his forte) and a faintly medieval questing motif. That's already quite a line-up, though 'Lionheart' offers riches beyond, especially a wonderful english folk tune enlarged for full orchestra for a warrior girl (Mathilda) and of course, a darkly Orffian chant for the Black Prince (with three or four other ideas for locations and situations dynamically interacting). That you never would mistake these pieces for anyone but Goldsmith is a given, but still, the painterly splendor he achieves in a succession of long set pieces is quite something. Chief among the scores highlights are 'The Banner', which midway through its noble horn recitation of the main theme goes into a bright crusader's fanfare (it's Rambo in the middle ages) before closing with a joyful medieval dance, the aforementioned 'Mathilda' cue, a wild, cheerful battle between hers and Lionheart's theme that should be studied by young composers for virtuosity's sake, and finally, 'King Richard', linked above, a finale that really does nothing wrong in terms of epic closure and variation, bringing the hymnal tune to a giant conclusion. The much-maligned playing by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra is fair (they sometimes flub in up-front brass parts which are painful, as 50 seconds into 'The Wrong Flag') but on the whole, they keep up in other complicated parts well. Goldsmith still overdubbed them with synths in many spots, probably because of dissatisfaction but also because he was just too damn fond of his Yamaha's then and the results are often not pretty. The new ultra-clean digital recording techniques add an overt brightness (up-trebling without depth in the bass) that is still more than listenable but make me long for a new recording with better rehearsed musicians and minus the brass synth doublings sound awful and frankly do not contribute anything. But even without such super-worthy project, Varése's multiple releases of this score belong into any self-respecting film music collection.

Music isn't just themes. But if you're going to use that as an indicator of greatness, Star Wars has its fair share of great, epic themes, which Shore isn't that good at developing long, interesting themes.

Oh please do not start this whole SW/LotR debate yet again. It can only end badly.

The ultimate 4 disc set of I Pass for White. The ultimate 3 disc set of The Screaming Woman The Box Set of John Williams/Martin Ritt collaboration. More Pete "n" Tillie yeah

None of the sentimentality in E.T. comes across as false. It's as genuine as it comes in films. That is why saccharine is a poor choice of words. E.T. is sweet. The real thing. And John's score, one of his tickets to heaven, is a rare and beautiful work virtually unmatched

Agh this is harder than I thought and honestly I feel a little bad that it’s really just the usual suspects here. Hook Empire strikes back Lost World ET Schindlers List Superman Raiders Star Wars Home Alone The Fury

Well, like with many things in life, it’s all relative. No one would survive in a flying fridge, fair enough. But if the script required you to, it helps with the suspension of disbelief if you can see some consequences from such an outrageous stunt. With Indy, we do; we always do: he always looks like he’s been put through the wringer, and that’s half the fun of watching his ridiculous adventures. I just wish filmmakers would try a little harder in other blockbuster properties to make it seem like there are consequences—whether it’s after being punched in the face or after a 40-story building comes down. I’d even settle for some dust or a few rips and tears in superman’s suit after he busts through reinforced concrete walls at 150mph. Iron Man’s suit obeys no laws of earthly physics in how it comes apart when Stark is done burning hundreds of gallons of whatever (stored who knows where) after skyrocketing 40,000 feet in the air in a blink... sorry, MCU, for dumping on you so much today, but I guess I’m realizing how checked out I am after a decade of superheroes. Because eveything is TOO fantastical, there is no point in an emotional investment in the story. There’s no satisfying payoff when someone gets their due at the end, because it was just too make-believe silly in the first place. and hence why I’m spending so much time defending KOTCS and Indy 5. Because I crave stories in the vein of the old spielberg &lucas, when you knew it was a movie, but you could still enjoy the ride because the ride was more real. (Alien crystal skulls notwithstanding.)

I think it was less plausible than Indy getting dragged behind a truck relatively unscathed, but more plausible than people's faces melting off because they looked at something.

Not to justify one wrong with another, but was Indy's escape from the plane in Temple of Doom really any better?

Well yes, *if* he can keep the Schindler anecdote to himself. Otherwise, he's out, and no dessert.

I can't wait to hear Giacchino's new theme!

The ants were cool. It quenched a bit of my hunger for this sort of thing.

How can you still be hungry after eating Katie McGrath and a pteranodon?

One might almost start to think you're not too fond of films in general. But, perhaps surprisingly, that isn't the case, is it?

In no particular order- Star Wars E.T- The Extra Terrestrial Jurassic Park The Empire Strikes Back Hook The Phantom Menace Return of the Jedi Schindler's List Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Jaws

You always were a cunning linguist, JS.

I'll also be attending the thursday and friday concerts. I'm 9cm tall, so please don't step on me.

The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is.

Very repetitive.

But so much of the jungle chase was shot legitimately, albeit in the cushy safety of Hawaii, before Lucas and ILM cartooned it to hell and back. What started as just covering up tire tracks from the camera track ended up coating the entire screen with relentless CGI foliage. The result is a blurry, cartoony mess. The sword fight atop the cars is surely the worst offender (yes, even worse than swinging with monkeys in the vines). It's even replete with a godawful fake lens flare smeared all over the frame, as if to hide the godawful CGI all over the shot. What the actual fuck was Spielberg thinking when he signed off on that? If nothing else, Spielberg has always had an astute eye for poor CGI but he just didn't seem to care with KOTCS. You're right though, watching this documentary on how much was done practically really is an indictment on... something! I'm not sure if it's the colour gradist, Kaminski asking for bloom/smoke, an ILM compositor on steroids, or Spielberg himself, but all this work just looks like a mess of over-processed digital rubbish in the final cut. The jungle-specific stuff starts at 11:00 and it's just depressing how much better everything looked BEFORE they smeared digital plants all over the frame. Ironically, they cite the reason for this as, "selling it to the audience that they're driving through a jungle, not on a road." Fail much? All they did was make it look like a Pixar movie and draw attention to the fakeness of the imagery, when it was shot in a real jungle!

"Shut up, Margaret!"

Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams: Quite sublime in its entirety. Makes me wish JW would record more of his concert works and suites with other great soloists. Saving Private Ryan

Danger Will Robinson plays at the end of episode 1

Maybe they'll issue a ...book?

Wow. A depressing sign of the times at JWfan.

Please guys, I just want some quantifiable data! A hundred, fifty, ten, c'mon! Don't be shy now!...Just don't leave me hanging, please!...I must know the numbers, I must know the Top of everything! Help a poor man out, I'll take anything! Please! ... Please?

The Purge. The premise was quite interesting, it was only executed rather badly. The characters are too shallow and do strange things, the father is weird from the start and it's a shame that half of the film was wasted by long silences and sudden, deafening blasts. So cheap. It could have been so much more.

Would anyone be willing to take those nice new colours from page 1 and add them to the "target exclusives" that are found over at HQcovers? I did a quick one in preview but i don't have any real programs to make them look perfect. https://hqcovers.net/2016/03/19/star-wars-target-exclusive-collection-by-john-williams/

Apparently its from a Polish interview: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=https://kultura.onet.pl/wywiady-i-artykuly/james-newton-howard-geniusz-z-przypadku-wywiad/h5er1cc&prev=search

I've always wanted a JNH SW score... too bad he couldn't do it. But JP is a great composer as well. Really the only two people I would be upset if they hired are Alexander Desplat or Hans Zimmer (or any of Hans' talentless lackies).

Yes, this is the point: considered in the context of the SW universe, I did not find it disappointing. It could have been better, for sure, but there are other entries in the franchise that I consider much worse, also in the plot. It is ok to expect something better, but frankly, this movie was bashed in an excessive way almost everywhere on the internet. I found the aggressive reaction of many fans to be disproportionate to the flaws of the movie.

But if you do, you'll have space in your stomach for the Denny's tie-in! Genius marketing!

1. Schindler's List - To me, one of the greatest scores ever written, and a worthy addition to the classical canon as well. 2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - From a symphonic perspective, this is Williams' greatest work. Awe inspiring, a post-modern masterpiece. 3. Jane Eyre - A lovely score, heartfelt, with great grace and elegance. 4. Superman - A subjective favorite. It is a fun score, iconic and all that. There are moments of singular genius, though, like Leaving Home and the Love Theme concert piece. 5. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial - A classic, and absolutely so. The harmonic textures alone blow my mind. Add the melodies, and I'm in tears. 6. Far and Away - Great score, some of the best melodies Williams has ever written. 7. Hook - Quite fantastic. I hear something new every time I play it. 8.Jurassic Park - Epic. Deliciously overscored, which is just how I usually like it. 9. The Last Crusade - The best of the Indy scores. A lot to like in this one. The classicism is particularly appealing. 10. The Empire Strikes Back - A consummate masterwork. The action music is possibly the best action music ever written for the cinema. And the whole work comes together so well, like a tone poem. Empire of the Sun and Star Wars come a very close #11 and #12 for me.

What about the Disney Records attack on "On the Conveyor Belt"?

Not everyone's life revolves around these movies. Some of us have lives outside the cinematic universes, you know? You know how a normal person gets up and goes downstairs and eats breakfast and kisses somebody goodbye and goes to a job and...you know? I used to care more about SW when the prequels were coming out. After I lost my fandom around Disney's acquisition of LFL, I just couldn't ride anymore. Until I heal.

0:45 - 0:55 Lalalala....

I used the colors @crumbs suggested:

I didn't think the problem with the unwatchable KOTCS was Ford's age, but rather what they had him doing via the terrible script and bad supporting characters across the board. This could work, maybe, if they do it right....i.e. an Indy movie that relies more on Indy the archeologist, professor and acquirer of rare antiquities, and less the action hero. Obviously, you can have some of that, but not so much as to strain credulity. Indy will clearly need a new sidekick to handle a good deal of the action...perhaps one of his students (and they'll probably make it a woman, some kind of prodigy). And it goes without saying, no to Marion, and certainly no to Mutt. Yes to Sallah. I'm not hopeful. Koepp can't write and Spielberg doesn't know how to direct movies like this anymore. And I've resigned myself that at a minimum the film won't look anything like an Indy film thanks to Kaminsky's awful, gauzy, over stylized cinematography. And who knows if it will sound like an Indy film because there's no guarantee Williams will be doing it. As it is, I consider the Indy films a trilogy, and he rode off into the sunset after Last Crusade and that was it.