Spielberg: "Indy IV was George Lucas' idea"

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Last month Empire released a largely hagiographic interview with Steven Spielberg about how hard it was to make Tintin and how brilliant the technology and Spielberg's own mind was. I didn't post it here because it was too dull to even read. However, this month Empire has come up with the second, meatier part of the interview. While you can't copy and paste text from the iPad edition onto Safari, these revealing bits of candor from Mr Spielberg about Indiana Jones IV are posted on the magazine's website;

How, unfortunately for everybody involved, he was just executing George Lucas' vision:

I'm very happy with the movie. I always have been... I sympathise with people who didn't like the MacGuffin because I never liked the MacGuffin. George and I had big arguments about the MacGuffin. I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings. But I am loyal to my best friend. When he writes a story he believes in - even if I don't believe in it - I'm going to shoot the movie the way George envisaged it. I'll add my own touches, I'll bring my own cast in, I'll shoot the way I want to shoot it, but I will always defer to George as the storyteller of the Indy series. I will never fight him on that."

His somewhat pertinacious defense of the Nuke the Fridge idea:

The gopher was good. I have the stand-in one at home. What people really jumped at was Indy climbing into a refrigerator and getting blown into the sky by an atom-bomb blast. Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying "jump the shark". They now say, "nuked the fridge". I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture.

There are more interesting tidbits I'll try to post when I have more time tomorrow (I'm neglecting a deadline just to type this). But for the time being these two statements, while imbued with typical Hollywood diplomacy (the journalist conducting the interview should be dragged to the street and shot for letting a source get away with such lousy arguments), seem to somewhat liberate Spielberg from totally owning the train wreck that was Indy IV. Whether one buys the "the Indy was always Lucas telling the story and me filming it" angle; whether Spielberg's loyalty was detrimental to his career or not is up to each reader.

Nothing we didn't know already, but it's nice to see how he puts it into words.

It does however beg the question: Finances aside, who was benefited from Indiana Jones IV?

[Jay 37,369]

Never would have guessed the fridge was Spielberg's idea and now Lucas's. Damn.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Am i the only one who thinks that scene is actually good?

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Nope. I'm a big fan of the whole sequence. Best in the movie, really.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I love Ford's reaction in that village...

[Quintus 5,399]

The nuke scene is one of the movie's better moments, I liked it immediately.

The biggest revelation here is that he regards George as his best friend. And not John.

[Incanus 5,715]

So basically what comes out in the DVD documentary is confirmed by this article. Lucas basically nagged and bullied Spielberg along for the ride and tugged at his sleeve long enough for him to say yes to the whole idea and Spielberg didn't have enough guts to say no or veto the story.

Oh and he is just pulling our leg. Williams is his best friend. Everybody knows that.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

It's scary how good it feels to me to exonerate Spielberg from bad decisions and to vilify Lucas, when it would be just as logical to blame Spielberg for allowing those decisions to be taken seriously in the first place, no matter how romantic his reasons.

I guess I'm just throwing a bone to whatever defenders Lucas may still have on the face of the Earth.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

The fridge scene was far from the worst thing in that film. Everything that was wrong with the film in my view can be firmly planted in Lucas' hands. It's nice to hear from the man's mouth, but it's not surprising.

[publicist 4,643]

The fridge scene, however silly, is brilliant in the way it embodies the atmosphere of a decade, namely Cold War fears and atomic paranoia, and elevates it to a pop culture reference worthy of the pulpy Indy-spectacles.

The terrible second half of the movie is exactly the kind of lame hackwriting we so fondly remember from those creaky old buggers called EPISODE I to III. Spielberg certainly is guilty of making bad movies, too, but i side with him here. The whole mess stinks of Lucas.

[Incanus 5,715]

I can just picture Lucas dragging a whining Spielberg to the set each morning. With slumped shoulders the director makes a deep sigh and under watchful gaze of Lucas starts his toil.

[publicist 4,643]

Why Spielberg thought it necessary to throw away a year of his time to direct a film from a script he found bad (translating MacGuffin here) is his secret, though.

[Quintus 5,399]

It's scary how good it feels to me to exonerate Spielberg from bad decisions and to vilify Lucas, when it would be just as logical to blame Spielberg for allowing those decisions to be taken seriously in the first place, no matter how romantic his reasons.

I guess I'm just throwing a bone to whatever defenders Lucas may still have on the face of the Earth.

See, I still blame Spielberg 100% for the Indy IV travesty. He was the director, he could have been forthcoming with his better judgement and told Lucas no, but he did not.

I also think he's lying when he says he's happy with it.

[publicist 4,643]

I also think he's lying when he says he's happy with it.

Thanks, Captain Obvious...

[Quintus 5,399]

Well, there's a lot of gullible people on this board!

[Trent Hoyt 13]

This is such a non story. That article is just link baiting.

[nightscape94 965]

And to think I've been blaming David Koepp.

I recall an interview with Frank Darabont who said that Spielberg though it was the best script he'd read since Schindler's List. Of course Darabont was quoting Spielberg himself, about his own script, so who knows.

I'm curious how it would have turned out with his script.

[Demondm810 399]

Why Spielberg thought it necessary to throw away a year of his time to direct a film from a script he found bad (translating MacGuffin here) is his secret, though.

Oh, I don't know...

700+ million dollars?

I like the fridge part. And I'm not surprised it was Spielberg's idea. He's by far my favorite director, and a literal genius. But he's been known to be goofy from time to time. Can't see anything wrong with that.

[Incanus 5,715]

The Darabont script certainly had some decent sections but it was a ungainly affair full of perhaps even greater follies than the Koepp one.

[Quintus 5,399]

This is such a non story. That article is just link baiting.

Yes.

[Demondm810 399]

The Darabont script certainly had some decent sections but it was a ungainly affair full of perhaps even greater follies than the Koepp one.

him being eaten by the giant snake was ridiculous.

[Quintus 5,399]

The Darabont script certainly had some decent sections but it was a ungainly affair full of perhaps even greater follies than the Koepp one.

I'd have taken my chances.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Sounds like something from Anaconda.

[Jay 37,369]

Both scripts were ridiculous. They should have adapted the Fate Of Atlantis storyling instead of the alien BS they went with

[Incanus 5,715]

The Darabont script certainly had some decent sections but it was a ungainly affair full of perhaps even greater follies than the Koepp one.

him being eaten by the giant snake was ridiculous.

And surviving another nuclear blast sized explosion at the end another.

Both scripts were ridiculous. They should have adapted the Fate Of Atlantis storyling instead of the alien BS they went with

Yeap. That story would have had some meat on its bones. Great possibilities.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Atlantis? that just sounds lame.

[Jay 37,369]

You've never played the game? It's terrific.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

A game is not a movie Jason.

[fommes 153]

Oh and he is just pulling our leg. Williams is his best friend. Everybody knows that.

[Jay 37,369]

A game is not a movie Jason.

Did I say it was?

[fommes 153]

A game is a movie Steef.

Here

[Quintus 5,399]

Honestly, the rubbish alien macguffin has very little to do with this movie's sucksmanship.

[Jay 37,369]

One of the biggest problem I have is that it starts out being Indy vs Irina in a race of who will get to the golden city first... but they eventually end up working together instead. Its dumb.

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

Am i the only one who thinks that scene is actually good?

You are not. I love the flying fridge.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

One of the biggest problem I have is that it starts out being Indy vs Irina in a race of who will get to the golden city first... but they eventually end up working together instead. Its dumb.

Its the same with TLC.

[fommes 153]

I dislike the flying fridge, but the previous sequence is great. And I wouldn't know how he could get out of that situation otherwise...

[Jay 37,369]

One of the biggest problem I have is that it starts out being Indy vs Irina in a race of who will get to the aliens first... but they eventually end up working together instead. Its dumb.

Its the same with TLC.

Sort of.

Also a problem I have is that Indy doesn't even want the skulls, he never cares about them. He's not motivated. Yet he ends up risking life and limb to get to the hidden city anyway. I dunno. All the characters have motivation problems. The script isn't well thought out, its just an excuse to tie various set pieces together.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

indeed, its very logical.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Before this article, everyone despised the nuke scene. After this article, "Oh it was Spielberg's idea? It's genius! Love it, so funny and fits right in with everything else!!"

Only at JWFan.

[MSM 126]

It's scary how good it feels to me to exonerate Spielberg from bad decisions and to vilify Lucas, when it would be just as logical to blame Spielberg for allowing those decisions to be taken seriously in the first place, no matter how romantic his reasons.

I guess I'm just throwing a bone to whatever defenders Lucas may still have on the face of the Earth.

See, I still blame Spielberg 100% for the Indy IV travesty. He was the director, he could have been forthcoming with his better judgement and told Lucas no, but he did not.

I also think he's lying when he says he's happy with it.

To my taste the direction wasn't really spectacular either. It was jerky and static at times and never felt really natural.

[Jay 37,369]

Before this article, everyone despised the nuke scene. After this article, "Oh it was Spielberg's idea? It's genius! Love it, so funny and fits right in with everything else!!"

Only at JWFan.

I still hate it, more than anything in the movie.

I am indeed surprised how many people here are defending it, I don't remember a single person defending it before

[MSM 126]

It sucked big time, period.

Flying saucers, ok. Flying fridges, please no.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Before this article, everyone despised the nuke scene. After this article, "Oh it was Spielberg's idea? It's genius! Love it, so funny and fits right in with everything else!!"

Only at JWFan.

I still hate it, more than anything in the movie.

I am indeed surprised how many people here are defending it, I don't remember a single person defending it before

Ahem.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Before this article, everyone despised the nuke scene. After this article, "Oh it was Spielberg's idea? It's genius! Love it, so funny and fits right in with everything else!!"

Only at JWFan.

I'm going to puke rainbows, really.

I just hope in the future spielberg says the monkey scene was his idea and people will love the whole movie

Really i never saw so many praises to the scene together.

I think i always have stated that i liked the scene and that it's humor works.

[publicist 4,643]

Nobody disputes that the sequence is idiotic (well, i'm not), but it is idiotic in a inspired way. The rest ist just lame hackwork and that's much more criminal.

[Quintus 5,399]

Before this article, everyone despised the nuke scene. After this article, "Oh it was Spielberg's idea? It's genius! Love it, so funny and fits right in with everything else!!"

Only at JWFan.

Not me: I've been a nuked fridge bannerman since day one. I know there's posts in existence which prove it!

I am indeed surprised how many people here are defending it, I don't remember a single person defending it before

You either have a short memory or you didn't read my posts.

Nobody disputes that the sequence is idiotic (well, i'm not), but it is idiotic in a inspired way. The rest is just lame hackwork and that's much more criminal.

^This. Absolutely this.

[crocodile 8,017]

The nuke scene is one of the movie's better moments, I liked it immediately.

The biggest revelation here is that he regards George as his best friend. And not John.

I like the whole opening of the film. It's a bit later when the problems start.

Karol

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

The Darabont script certainly had some decent sections but it was a ungainly affair full of perhaps even greater follies than the Koepp one.

I'd have taken my chances.

do you want to read it?

Really, it has monkeys too. And marion is married and his husband comes along. they have to make him a badguy so she can end with indy.

Its ok for darabont to say kotcs is shit, but praising your own shit (because that is what it is) is worse.

[Quintus 5,399]

I read my fair share of Darabont's script back when it was relevant and I liked what I saw.

[crocodile 8,017]

We know for a fact that Darabont wrote at least a couple of drafts. Who knows which one we got to read? And I agree, it has many problems. But as a story and concept it works better. Even if some of it was really cheesy.

Karol