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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (James Mangold, June 30 2023)


Joe Brausam

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JWFan hating trees in sci-fi?!!! How could the fans of the man who absolutely loves trees and has written some of the most famous film music for space operas/sci-fi could hate them?!!!

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Tom Stoppard was a script doctor on TLC which goes a long way to explain the delightful comedic touches, but Connery's casting sealed the deal.

 

KOTCS really did suffer from being a mess of elements from all 3 original films, when part of the franchise's appeal was the different style each film had.

 

Lucas never shut up about how he envisioned the film as a sci-fi B-movie, yet apart from the flying saucer at the end, KOTCS has no resemblance to the 50s B-movies whatsoever. Maybe conceptually he was onto something, but the final execution certainly didn't reflect this intention (an ongoing trait for Lucas).

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26 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

KOCS feels like a movie that has had so many rewrites that the original point has gotten lost along the way.

And that original point was not very good to begin with. Extradimensional beings. No. Just no George.

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Even reading the earliest scripts like Saucer Men From Mars, I'm not convinced the McGuffin had a point to begin with (although the Crystal Skulls came long after Lucas insisted on aliens being a focal point, further discrediting the whole thing). Indy 4 was always a sequel in search of a story, rather than a story in search of a storyteller.

 

And it wouldn't kill Spielberg to leave the States to shoot the next one. Some generic Hawaii jungle with awful CGI foliage doesn't blend well with a cast and crew clearly enjoying 5-star accommodation at the Hilton.

 

I just hope he's doing this because he actually wants to do it. If it's just another, "I only want to do this film because it's fun working with my rich friends!" then the film is probably doomed. Temple of Doomed.

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Just now, BloodBoal said:

 

The year Williams wrote the music for Heidi! Maybe he can insert a reference to that score in Indy 5!

Maybe they can hire a young Williams look-a-like to make a cameo in the film recording Heidi! Indiana Jones and the Alpine Horns of Doom!

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2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Speaking of The Last Crusade. Was any filmed helped as much by it's casting as TLC was by the masterstroke of having Connery play Indy's dad?

Without that the film would probably not be as well regarded.

Connery is the only brilliant thing in that movie which is otherwise a lame repeat of the first one. 2 and 4 at least tried to do something different, with varying success.

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5 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Ford is brilliant as ever, and it has a brilliant score. Very good and funny script too.

 

The score is very good, but a bit less so than the 2 first masterpieces. Funny, yes, but to the detraction of characters. Markus Brody and Sallah are now goofy sidekicks, which is not fitting to their depiction in Raiders. The action scenes are underwhelming in comparison to 1 and 2, the special effects not so special. On the whole I get the impression of Spielberg not wanting to do this, but doing it nevertheless after 2 not so successful serious films.

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6 minutes ago, hanser said:

On the whole I get the impression of Spielberg not wanting to do this, but doing it nevertheless after 2 not so successful serious films.

 

Color Purple and Empire of the Sun weren't considered successfull?

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The Color Purple is just about as successful as a serious period drama could be in the 80s, grossing about $100 million.  But yeah Empire of the Sun was a straight-up flop.

 

 

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And actually, looking at his box office mojo page, adjusted for inflation The Color Purple was more successful than Lincoln, Minority Report, and Schindler's List: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Director&id=stevenspielberg.htm

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1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Bullshit! The whole father/son relationship is very Spielbergian!

 

But the rest? Been there, done that. and better.

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

Color Purple and Empire of the Sun weren't considered successfull?

 

critics dismissed them, they had Spielberg pidgenholed as a pure entertainment director.

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2 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

And neither were the box office crowd pleasers people had come to expect from Spielberg.

 

The Color Purple was the 4th highest grossing movie of 1985, behind only BttF, Rambo, and Rocky. I'd call that a success!

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2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I guess I'm only pressing the issue because I wish it was more revered in his filmography. I've always really liked that movie.

 

I feel with you. I feel the same with Empire of the Sun which is among Spielbergs best and most ambitious in my opinion. I guess the failure of this movie shook him very much, and lead to a string of mediocre movies: Indy 3, Always, Hook, Jurassic Park (yes, it is not a very good movie compared to Jaws or Raiders!). Only the financial success of the latter together with the critical success of his masterpiece Schindlers List restored his faith in his abilities, leading to an astounding second successful career as "mature" Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, A.I., Minority Report etc.)

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Well back to topic: I am really looking forward to this movie and hope that it will be a fitting sendoff for the character. And of course I hope for another Williams soundtrack.

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On 3/17/2016 at 5:54 AM, Stefancos said:

Like I said, Connery elevated it.

 

I must be one if the few who's not that fussed about Marcus and Salah being played for laughs. It fits the tone brilliantly.

 

Sallah I have no problem with. He was anyways a comedic character and there really isn't any discrepancy in performance or writing between his roles in the two films. If anything, he's funnier in Last Crusade - and I mean actually funnier, not just trying to be funnier. But the attempts to make Brody a comedic character are pretty embarrassing, from my perspective. Very little there that I find to actually be funny.

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Damn... i had deleted it because i was mistaken... I thought that the tie was Elsa's and he dones it to disguise as the Scottish Lord.

 

But he wears almost the whole film (venice to hatay)

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2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Ricard apparently HATED the fact that Indy wears a tie throughout. A fact I never noticed till it was pointed out to me.


I dunno. I quite like how Indy has a variation on his costume in the first 3 films. 

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