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Considering the Indy series as a whole, I find that both Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny have the same function: an epilogue of sorts, in which "old tired Indy" goes from being depressed at how the world is changing to finding a new family and a reason to life. And in that regard, I think Crystal Skull is a much more satisfactory epilogue than Dial of Destiny, because it's actually a happy ending for Indy. Heck, even the final shot of Indy grabbing the hat works much better in Skull! That being said, the Indy films are essentially independent films, so I like that each film has its own sidekicks. And Dial is a fun and enjoyable film! Just not the best ending to the series.

5. Dial of Destiny 4. Crystal Skull 3. Last Crusade 2. Raiders 1. Temple of Doom And I did like Dial of Destiny!

I don't agree with any of those lol

I had the same impression with the prologue. I went to see the film without having listened to the soundtrack, and I couldn't concentrate on the prologue because of that. It happens (althogh less heavily) with pretty much most of the action pieces - it's clear Williams wanted to base his writing on previous material to make it easier. However, I've listened to the album a couple of times now, and it's growing on me. The orchestration is awesome, and there are lots of new themes and motifs (although most of them rather brief and discrete).

Didn't it feel odd to have Indy exploring a major tourist attraction? In previous films, Indy always explores hidden, forgotten places. Even Petra is presented as a lost temple somewhere in the desert. Here, for the first time, Indy visits a tourist attraction. It felt "too modern". But maybe that's the point!

My take on this is that it works as a self-fullfilling prophecy. Archimedes meets Indy, and therefore, he makes an object that would, in the future, bring Indy to him. I thought that the Dial would stay in the past, therefore becoming a "bootstrap paradox" (Archimedes got the dial from Indy, and later, Indy would get the Dial from his tomb), but IIRC that doesn't happen, does it? I did find that Indy's arc in this movie was the same as in Crystall Skull. I too found it hard to get into the prologue (mostly because of the music). I felt the movie became better and better afterwards (NY had a nice 70s film noir vibe, and overall I prefer Morocco and Sicily as locations) and the last act was fascinating and crazy. However, I really didn't like the "sudden" ending. The fact that Indy was knocked out denied us of a proper ending to the climax (imagine the emotional swell of the music as we ctually see Indy & co. flying back to the present, while looking back longingly at that ancient time).

Probably, yeah. But mostly it was reused music. Or so it seems to me.

Just saw the movie. Some quick thoughts: (and as a disclaimer, I'm one of the weirdos who liked Crystal Skull) -Overall, the movie improved as it went on, Maybe because the first half is heavily featured in trailers, I enjoyed the second half more. -No paramount dissolve! No "Germany 1944" (IIRC). No opening credits montague!! -Prologue: too dark, too confusing to follow. The music was very distracting, as every single second was reused from another film. It took me out of the film. -NY: the music was very cool, very different from usual Indy films. -Morocco: this is were the fun begins! I really liked both Helena and Teddy. The auction scene and the subsequent accion sequence were great fun. -Coast of Athens: there were some nice scenes focusing on the characters. But I do feel that this segment could've been shortened/cut. -Sicily: great locations, great suspence, great action. I definitely enjoyed this part. -Climax: veeeery surprising, I didn't expect how it played out. I loved how crazy it was, and how it dared to do something different. I still do't know if it was brilliant or stupid. -As I said, Helena was a great character (and her theme is brilliantly used). And I liked Teddy a lot too (and, despite the billing order, he is clearly one of the leading characters). -I felt Indy's arc was a bit pointless, since it's exactly the same arc as in KOTCS. He is old, he feels he doesn't belong anywhere anymore, he gets dragged into an adventure, and gets a family.

Just saw the movie, without having listened to the album yet. The score has certainly ups and downs. The best part is how Helena's theme is used: it's used a lot, and in very different ways. It's clearly the main theme of the movie. The worst part is the music for the whole prologue. I'm sorry, but it was distracting as hell because every single second of it was reused music from an earlier movie! Every fragment. And each comes from a different cue, pasted together. For me, it sounds very similar to the tracked music for the Battle of Geonosis. (I know that this sounds like a sacrilege, but honestly.... I don't think there's such a difference between tracked music and literally reused music in this case....). Thankfully, all the other action cues are much better, even though many of them are CLEARLY based on a previous cue (which again, is distracting).

Track 4 is a mix of three different cues, IIRC. The opening comes from Irina's first appearance, the middle portion is part of the end credits, and the ending is an unused version of "The Russians Reappear".

That's quite common, actually, and often it's the other way around. A piece is composed for the end credits, and then used, with some modifications, as a concert piece. The most obvious example being the Raider's theme, of course.

I also like that edit! It sounds crazy, like Temple of Doom is from beginning to end. Short Round's theme is also shortened in the end credits (which is somewhat unfortunate, even though it sounds ok to me). The microedits in the end credits of Raiders are far worse in my opinion!

The beginning of the R2/jawas scene was one of the sequences that was completed during the Death Valley pick-ups, in early 1977. Therefore, Williams most probably didn't have a complete scene to score. I assume he wrote the beginning of the cue without actually knowing how long the final scene would be, or if the music would be needed or not. The only cues that were edited down correspond to the scenes that were completed in pick-ups: Death Valley shots (including the sandspeeder, the jawas and the sand people) and the cantina.

The very first sentence of the video is false. "In february 1977 Lucas gathered a bunch of his friends to show them a rough cut of the film....". That february 1977 cut already included most of the changes that the video mentions, was done by the three editors (and in fact, Marcia and Richard Chew had already left the editing team months before), and was almost identical to the final cut, except for the fact that the SF and the music was missing. In fact, that was pretty much the cut Williams scored.

-The first cut of the battle was done (mainly) by Marcia Lucas, following the script and using WWII footage, without temp music. (circa october 1976) -The second cut of the battle was done (mainly) by Marcia Lucas, changing the structure and adding the countdown, using WWII footage, without temp music. It is unclear exactly which editor came up with the idea of the countdown. It doesn't really matter, since it was a collaborative effort anyway. (circa november 1976) -The third cut of the film didn't change the final battle, still used WWII footage but added temp music. This was done by Paul Hirsch (who gives a lot of info about this whole process in his autobiography). Marcia had already left the film. This is the cut that Williams scored in January 1977. -The special effects did come very late but didn't alter the edit in any significant way. They just swaped placeholder WWII footage with SF shots. Paul Hirsch gives himself a lot of credit about the temp music choices, by the way.

Agreed. Crusade is indeed the second best of the trilogy just behind Raiders.... but Temple of Doom is even better than the best!

What does that mean, exactly? Being a "producer" or "executive producer" means anything nowadays. And without knowing how much direct imput he's had, my bet is closer to none. I'm sure he's been consulted, and that he's read the script, seen conceptual art, visited the set and watched a rough cut. And I'm sure he offered some advice. But that's pretty much it. He isn't in charge of anything, and is basically letting the new director do his thing (again, this is speculation on my part). Spielberg is a director. He doesn't create stories. He isn't a showrunner/producer (the way Lucas used to work). His imput comes when he takes on a project as a director. I don't think someone's statements can be dismissed or not based on whether you think he is a "liar". "Lies" and "truths" are not absolute categories, historical research is based on sources and on facts. In this case, the timeline doesn't check out: Kurtz wasn't working with Lucas by the time Raiders was in production.

Kurtz wasn't even around Lucas at that time, he had been replaced by Kazanjian long before any early ROTJ discussions happened. Those claims were made years later, and are clouded by his subjective opinion and bitter memories. Trying to bring the discussion back to Indiana Jones, I'd say that the first Raiders film (and to a somewhat lesser degree the other three as well) is an example of a perfect collaboration between the creator/producer (Lucas) and director (Spielberg). Everything went down smoothly, the result was outstanding and their friendship became stronger. The film is 50% Lucas 50% Spielberg (or, as Spielberg said it once, "a dream by George, made real by me" (can't recall the exact quote but it was something like that). Let's see what happens now that the next film is, for the first time, 100% someone else's.

The Jabba scene was deleted long before Williams spotted the film. (Oct/Nov.76 vs. Jan.77) However, keep in mind that when Williams spotted the film, the cantina reshoots hadn't yet taken place (not even the musical band was in the scene!). Considerig that the whole sequence only has source music, it is possible that Williams didn't know how many source cues would be needed for the final scene, and they left a gap in the numbering, just in case...

Yes. Besides, none of those characters is essential to that scene. They are just there. Whenever they concieved that scene, I doubt it was much more specific than "Every main character of the show is in the church greeting Jack and ready to move on".

Nope. Here Lindelof explains how the flash-sideways idea originated somewhere around season 4.

The showrunners did have the final scene (or rather, the final shot) in mind from early on, but I'm not sure if "early on" refers to the time JJ was working on the show, or it refers to Lindeloff alone.

Abrams was involved in the pilot (obviously) and mapping out the early storylines of the show (when it was picked up for 13 episodes, plus the double pilot). But he left production before the show even started airing. Later, after Alias ended, he was supposed to get more involved in Season 3 (possibly writing and directing the premiere) but he just ended up co-writing that episode.

So, three episodes of around 50 minutes each is exactly the lenght of the movie. Where are all the extra details?

Everything about this seems like a bad idea. I'm just trying to imagine how a 8-episde adaptation of PS would look like... Episode 1 would just be a very extended prologue plus Harry's daily life until he starts to get the mysterious letters. Who is writting to him? Can't wait till next episode! Episode 2 would be Hagrid's revelation about Harry's past, and the trip to Diagon Alley. A really fun and exciting episode, can't wait to get to Hogwarts! Episode 3 would be the journey on the train, introducing Ron and Hermione, and the banquet. Still no trace of the plot, but it's a fun episode! Episode 4 would include Harry's first lessons, his confrontation with Malfoy and the encounter with the three headed dog. What could that dog be guarding? Mid-season climax without a doubt! Episode 5 would include Hallowe'en, the encounter with the troll and the Quidditch match. Finally some action! But still, what's that fricking dog guarding? And is Snape a bad guy? Episode 6 would be about Christmas and the Mirror of Erisded and finally, FINALLY, they find out that the dog is guarding the Philosopher's Stone! Wish I'd noticed the subtitle of the season earlier! Episode 7 would see the action ramping up before the climax: Hagrid hatches an illegal dragon and the boys get detention and encounter a hooded figure in the forest. It's Voldemort!!! What a reveal! Episode 8 would be climax, with all the challenges and the final confrontation. Do we really need 8 hours to tell that story?