Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

The only time I ever reacted like that, and still do I might add, is during the E G Marshall segment called They're Creeping Up On You in Creepshow.

I HATE cockroaches!!!!!!!!

 

[Douglas Monce]

"There aren't going to be anymore damn BUGS!"

 

[DavidPla]

1. Raiders
2. Crusade
3. Crystal Skull
4. Temple of Doom
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The Mummy

 

[DaveF]

That was the inference with the alien autopsy: the head was cut open with the skull missing. And it was stated directly that the aliens have crystalline skeletons.

But that being a machine makes no sense either: why would they make a self-constructing alien that flies home, after destroying the local inhabitants and exploding the brain of whomever reassembles the skulls?

Fun movie, but the "McGuffin" lacks the internal logic of the past Indy movies.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Wanna see this thread really go off the rails



...nah.
I won't take the bait this time. I'll just swim away
bubble bubble bubble

 

[Kevin Grey]

Was he really vicious or ruthless in Last Crusade? That's one of the reason I think that Last Crusade was really the template for Kingdom far more than the first two. With Kingdom it feels like Lucas and Spielberg said "man, everyone seemed to love Last Crusade so let's just do that one again".

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

It just struck me that if I see Indy IV this week, it will be the first time I qualify for a "senior citizen" rate at the movies.

Is there something ironic about that, or what?

 

[MielR]

Harrison Ford, too.

I saw it tonight, and while it's not in the same league as Raiders, it was an enjoyable film and I liked the nod to Raiders in the beginning of the film, and I liked the way the film wrapped up as well. But then, I went in not expecting much (the Star Wars prequels did that to me). Had I been expecting a film of the same quality as the first one (or even the 2nd or 3rd), I would have been disappointed.

 

[Greg_S_H]

It's interesting that they used the same low-key, almost third-rate titles for this movie that they used in Raiders and Last Crusade. Only Temple has the big logo title splashed across the screen. They ought to go back and Special Edition it to have the other kind of titles, but they probably wouldn't fit with the flashy musical number.

So, we've had the Paramount mountain fade into a mountain, a carving on a gong, and a groundhog mound. What did it fade into in Last Crusade? I can't remember right now.

 

[Chris Will]

A mountain in the desert.

 

[MikeRS]

Monument Valley.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Thanks. It's actually in the disc drive right now, but I was too lazy to check it out myself.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Technically the first CG character was the stained glass knight in Young Sherlock Holmes in 1985.

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

It wasn't shot in Monument Valley. That was actually in Arches National Park, Moab, Utah.

Doug

 

[Pete-D]

Yup.

By 1995, CGI I think really hit critical mass with the aforementioned Dragonheart, Capser (full CGI characters + live action) and Toy Story (full CGI feature with dozens of characters) all being big hits.

Having a CGI character, even one that interacted with live actors was no big deal at all by 1999. Honestly I think The Matrix was the movie that year that blew people's minds in terms of special effects, not TPM.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

The Stained Glass Knight wasn't a character per se. Not the way I think of it. It was basically window dressing (though mind-blowing at the time). I'd be hard-pressed to call the water tentacle (The Abyss) a character either, though it's more of one than the Stained Glass Knight. The T-1000 was probably the first character in a movie to make major use of CG. How can you guys forget Cameron? He is the reason the technology was there for Jurassic Park. He pushed it harder than anybody for the late eighties and the early nineties...the time CG became viable. Credit where it's due.

Kevin,
I'd say he was. He threatened (almost in a misogynous way) Elsa with a choking, shot a crap-ton of Nazis, threw down a cripple to get the cross of Coronado, etc. Still softer than ToD and Raiders, I agree. But not nearly like he was in this (even though the stakes were just as high...I guess). He did shoot the RPG and blow back the dartgun, but that weas about it. Just had a bit less of an edge, and I really like the edge for the character.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I thought the Matrix was really ho hum. By the time it had come out I was already seeing the "bullet-time" effect in TV commercials. In fact the first feature film that I remember seeing that effect in was Lost in Space in 1998. I didn't think they were doing anything particularly revolutionary either.

Doug

 

[Chuck Mayer]

There is my great white whale, Doug. But I'll let it go, for the sake of this thread. Read some Star Wars Saga threads to get my read on The Matrix absolutely deserving to win that Oscar. It's not even close, really.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Well it was the first in terms of CGI actually interacting with live action and showing that a CGI element can hold up with live action and look photo realistic. Before that CGI was mostly relegated to the kinds of things seen in The Last Starfighter.

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

I was completely unimpressed with The Matrix. When I look back on the film now its really amazing to me how it really doesn't hold up very well. It looks so 90s.

Doug