Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2 Disc Edition) [2008] - DVD (Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone - Dir: Steven Spielberg)

Nearly 20 years after riding his last Crusade, Harrison Ford makes a welcome return as archaeologist/relic hunter Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, an action-packed fourth installment that's, in a nutshell, less memorable than the first three but great nostalgia for fans of the series. Producer George Lucas and screenwriter David Koepp (War of the Worlds) set the film during the cold war, as the Soviets--replacing Nazis as Indy's villains of choice and led by a sword-wielding Cate Blanchett with black bob and sunglasses--are in pursuit of a crystal skull, which has mystical powers related to a city of gold. After escaping from them in a spectacular opening action sequence, Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young greaser (Shia LaBeouf) whose friend--and Indy's colleague--Professor Oxley (John Hurt) has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts. Whatever secrets the skull holds are tertiary; its reveal is the weakest part of the movie, as the CGI effects that inevitably accompany it feel jarring next to the boulder-rolling world of Indy audiences knew and loved. There's plenty of comedy, delightful stunts--ants play a deadly role here--and the return of Raiders love interest Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, once shrill but now softened, giving her ex-love bemused glances and eye-rolls as he huffs his way to save the day. Which brings us to Ford: bullwhip still in hand, he's a little creakier, a lot grayer, but still twice the action hero of anyone in film today. With all the anticipation and hype leading up to the film's release, perhaps no reunion is sweeter than that of Ford with the role that fits him as snugly as that fedora hat. --Ellen A. Kim

Customer Reviews of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2 Disc Edition) [2008]

spitfire
Flintshire, N Wales
1st December 2008

Ronseal
Indy 4, 18 years or so in the making and was it worth it? Of course it was!! Indy is back. This film does exactly what it says on the box; it gives you an Indiana Jones movie with Russians instead of Germans. Now this aint perfect, no its not, but its still a mile better than most movies of this style.

I have recently re-watched the film on DVD and found myself enthralled right upto the end- well, before the aliens phone home!! Indy 4 is a superb movie that has allowed for the time difference between films and obvious ageing of its cast by letting Indy be more wiser.

Harrison Ford at 64 puts in a superb performance and gets thru a fair amount of stunt work too!! He doesn't hide the fact he's older when Ray Winstone tells him 'This isn't going to be easy' when the Russians have them bundled out of the boot of a car by gunpoint- 'Not as easy as it used to be' he replies.

I thought the story was well written, using the cold-war era and the Russians to good effect. The introduction of Shia LaBeouf a nice touch, as Henry Jones jnr now became the father figure, literally!

I liked the way the film referred back into the past with a shot of the Ark in the warehouse scene or Indy calling Mutt 'Junior'. I also got the feeling that Indy had been a busy and brave man for his country with refrences to his courage in the field for the CIA during WW II. You had a sense that much had happened to Dr. Jones.

What made me laugh was, with all this sense that a lot has happened in the 18 years since, as soon as Marion Ravenwood appeared the two of them got into it as if they were still on the set of 'Raiders...'.

I myself didn't buy the ending, it was the weak point of the film. That maybe because of the alien connection but it didn't detract from the output as a whole because the alien theme wasn't overpowering until the finale.

I was impressed with the film at the cinema. As with most Indy fans I feared the worst but was very satisfied (and relieved) that it wasn't an embarrassment. I would hope Indy 5 will be made (a 5 film contract was set up when Raiders was made) as Harrison still has it in him.

Teemacs
Switzerland
30th November 2008

If you have so far missed seeing this...
...my advice is for you to continue to do so. This really is the most amazing piffle. I watched only out of nostalgia for the three previous, equally pifflish but somehow much more fun, incarnations. The plot? WHAT plot??? The acting? Totally hammish, none more so than Cate Blanchett's villain.

It gets two stars rather than one, only for the marvellous visual effects and the equally marvellous reincarnation of the 1950s, clothing styles, cars, etc.

giddig
Dudley, UK
29th November 2008

A lot of fun to be had!
I watched it twice at the cinema and just saw it a third time on DVD. The first time was a bit disappointing, the second time it was good with expectation more realistic and a third time it was very good. The first three were great and the fourth is a bit different but it's not nearly as a bad as some people say. The gophers, the silly tarzan bit and Karen Allen's hammy acting are all very forgiveable. The old ones had their silly and hammy bits too. The only bit I properly dislike is the full on sci-fi, Close Encounters ending. They should have the destructive ending and leave it up to the viewer to decide the exact reason. That sci-fi ending is the contrast from previous films magical artefacts that separates this one from the others. It's all good fun though. Watch and enjoy. But please, no more wth Harrison Ford and no more more with son of Indy taking over that would be a step too.

A. Rezek-clarke
London, England
29th November 2008

A LITTLE CONFUSED
The latest Indiana Jones film was very tongue in cheek and and while the film had the usual banter and repartee of its predecessors I thought that like many older people the film was a little confused.

I got the impression that I was watching Indiana Jones one moment and then someone had changed channels and I was watching an episode from the X Files and expected to see Mulder and Scully popping out from the undergrowth in search of extra terrestials the next. Since extra terrestials were in the movie it only compounded my belief that the director seemed to have lost his way in that he couldn't decide which film he was supposed to be directing: Indi or X.

Anyway, if you want a couple hours of stuff and nonsense then the film is good with the usual array of special effects and action scenes.

Surely its time for Indi to finally hang up his hat for good.

The truth is out there!

Paul Jason
UK
26th November 2008

A big shame
After a wait of almost 20 years the fourth Indiana Jones installment finally arrives and has an awful lot to live up to. But with a script thats been in the making for almost 10 years, the film was bound to be a success. So why was it such a dissapointment for the true Indy fans?
A few of my friends really enjoyed this film. When I did the research I found out that all of them had never seen the original films. Case closed. So what we have hear is a decent enough stand alone film that should not under any circumstances be compared to the original, and here's why.
First off, Harrison ford looks old and completely out of character at the start of the film. But as the film gets going he does get into his role more comfortably and somehow even starts looking much younger as the film goes on, weird. Half way through the film I'm getting more into the storyline and enjoying the lack of CGI graphics that dominate so many of our Holywood blockbusters today. Jones has a few decent fight scenes retro James Bond style with no special moves - just the plain old smack to the face. The kid with the bike isn't too anoying as the typical fill for Holywoods quota on young attractive teen stars that also have dominated our screens for the last 10 years. Old characters from past films are also introduced yet again, nice move. Where was John Rhys Davies though?
However, about half way through the film everything suddenly went downhill. Suddenly all the surroundings and effects are CGI, the stunts and actions scenes lack any kind of realism and the storyline seems to have been finished off by Chris Carter ripped off one of his x file episodes. Rather than remain a true classic Indiana Jones film, it falls victim to the pressures of Holywood and what the producers 'Think' the audience wants. By the end of the film I was glad it was over. I missed the awesome subtle adult humour, the realistic effects (Not CGI) and the truely great characters. In the end the storyline didn't know where it was going and it seemed to neglect so many angles it could have taken involving greater character development, especially with the bad guys and a more complex and enjoyable adventure story. Of course it was unlikely to be as good as the originals, but I don't understand why the makers of these sequels that go horribly wrong don't realise what they are doing? They should seriously forget all this special effects nonscence and pretty faces and just stick to the original formula's. Now thats what makes a good film! Overall though, a good film for the kids.