Yeah, my friends and I all agreed to blame George Lucas for the weirdities in Indy 4.
I'm not sure, but I'm pretty positive he would destroy just about anything if they paid him for it. I'm just surprised we don't have a Star Wars/Indiana Jones crossover in the making.
...unless that's what Indy 4 WAS setting us up for...
Today's comic hits the nail on the head - hanging story points galore, odd plot twists, and an over-all storyline that just doesn't cut it.
It's really appalling how badly Hollywood treats the average movie goer these days.
Indy 4 fit right in with the other 3 in the series. Trans-dimensional beings are no stranger than face-melting spirits or a magic cup that grants immortality.
It was a little too "Stargate SG1" in some parts, but I'd say it was better than Temple Of Doom.
Hey, I laughed at this strip, and Lucas sets himself up for a lot of the scorn he faces, but... since Dave Kellett wants to nit-pick, I'm going to nit-pick the nit-picker a little here. ;)
Indy being an "OSS" agent now
Because if he wasn't a member of SOME government agency, the FBI would've been even MORE freaked out that he was running around a nuclear testing site with Soviet soldiers, they would've held him in custody, and then the movie would've been over 20 minutes in.
the CIA/FBI watching his moves
C'mon... he was running around a nuclear test site with a bunch of Russian soldiers. If he got out of that with the CIA and the FBI *NOT* watching his moves, we'd be in here whinging about how unrealistic that was. Plus the FBI's scrutiny is what causes the university to suspend Indy from his professorship, which gives Indy the free time to hop on a plane and go running around in South America for a few weeks. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to take any time off, and then the movie would've been over 30 minutes in.
Cate Blanchett having psychic powers
Look up "red herring" on Wikipedia.
why Mutt brought his bike to South America
Hey, Peru is BIG. You try flying to Peru and then walking everywhere sometime.
why the Russians needed the warehouse alien AT ALL
Because the USA had one and the Russians didn't. Same logic behind Russia developing nuclear weapons, actually.
why why why an "Indy" movie went X-Files and brought in aliens
... because aliens are COOL?!? But yeah, that was strange, especially considering that Spielberg and Lucas have never, ever, EVER done anything involving aliens before. Ever. Very out-of-character for them, huh?
why it was important that they be transdimensional aliens, yet they still had a SPACE-ship at the end
Hey, you try opening up a transdimensional portal in your backyard some time, and if you survive, you can let me know how that worked out for ya. In the meantime, I'll head out into space to open up MY transdimensional portal so I don't destroy my house/neighborhood/continent/planet. You're welcome.
Dave, please don't take offense. I'm just havin' some fun with ya. I do it because I love ya. ;)
(Well, maybe "love" is the wrong word. Should I do something manly here? Chest-bump? Belch, maybe?)
(Not that there's anything wrong with that...)
A friend of mine pointed out that the only way to get into the final chamber was to have the crystal skull  which was stolen from that very chamber. In short, you have to have the skull to steal the skull.
I hadn't even seen that one! I was so underwhelmed by the lacking MacGuffin that I missed that! :)
Maybe there was another way in, and Indy just didn't find it because he didn't need to look for it.
Or maybe they picked the lock. It's basically just a locked door, and the skull was the key. But you don't need a key to open a locked door if you can figure out how to pick the lock.
Or a secret knock! Yeah! Whoever originally stole the skull must have deciphered some glyphs on the wall and found out there was a secret knock, and he just walked up to the door, did the secret knock, walked in when the door opened, looked around at the 13 identical crystal skulls and said, "Y'know, I think I'll steallllllll... THAT one! But just that one. Two would be greedy."
(Okay, okay, weak-sauce, I know. But prove me wrong! Just try it! Nyah!)
The two things I will say in defense of Indy IV: First, the OSS thing. Keep in mind that Raiders took place in 1935. Temple of Doom in 1934. Last Crusade in (I think) 1938. So the movies jump forward to the 50's and total skip over WWII. So the whole "OSS agent" element was basically just to say that Indy did something during the War. (And props for the Pancho Villa comments - a little nod to the Young Indy Chronicles).
Other than that, I've really got nothing. But "nuke the fridge." Love it!
"Fortunately, it wasn't integral to the plot, so it can be somewhat ignored."
I get the feeling they said that a lot while they were making the movie.
But, you know, my parents told me that you should never play in old refrigerators. After what I learned from Indy 4, I'm starting to think they may have had it in for me!
Personnally I don't see how they couldv' come up with anything really good 20 years after a great trilogy that had an "Indiana Jones feel". You can't just reproduced this after 20 years.
When an idea like that whole "Indiana Jones" concept has been done and redone already, it's hard to come up with anything new that people will like as much. Remember the first movie when Indiana takes out a bag of sand to replace the statue (was it a statue again, long time no see) in that chamber. That whole scene is totally unexpected, because we didn't know Indiana Jones then, didn't know there were all sorts of tricks and clues he could look for too (ex: when he's in that room where there's a small model of a city on the ground, and he puts a long stick with a sort of crystal at the end (lack of english for me sorry) and the light of the sun comes through and points out the location of the Ark). That was sweet, you were like "wohhh".
So in Indy 4, when for example he climbs on a step or a bench to see a global view of the floor and the kid sweeps off the sand and "OO there is something written there". That was a combination of that one scene in the old movies when he climbs up the stairs in the library to see the global view of the floor down below, therefore seeing the clue. And that second scene with the small model of the city where he sweeps off the sand to uncover the spot to fit the stick in.
So we get it sometimes you have to climb up to see a general view and sometimes clues are hidden behind sand.
And the whole movie goes on with 'nothing new'.
Except the WORSE parts of the movie which were entirely new to me in an Indiana Jones context:
- nuke the fridge (though I thought that was funny as hell)
- the kid going Tarzan in the jungle with his monkey buddies (OH. MY. GOD.)
- The groundhogs (and when you see them for a 5th time you're wondering why you left your shotgun at home) (not that I have one)
As for the aliens, it didn't think it was any different from the lost magical ark or the spirits from the past movies... great special effects too.
Had a laugh at the "greaser vs prep" scene in the bar...
One last thing, good job on the magnetic skull. Whenever it's magnetic. Which is whenever. Are the red carnivore ants made of a material which is opposite to metal by the way?
Capfett, I teach English as a Second Language (ESL) at the local library, primarily to Hispanics (but a few others as well). Sheldon is a tool I have used for a couple of years now. Did cartoons help you with written English?
I ask because I basically taught myself to read from comics and pulp fiction mags, so I thought it would be a big help in ESL. So far it has worked quite well. Other than comics, are there any other print media you find especially helpful?
PS: Don't disparage your English skills, they are very good.
Thanks :) Actually I learned English in general from watching TV sitcoms like Fresh Prince, Roseanne, Seinfeld (back in the day), etc., and movies.
As for the written part, I mostly learned it in high school, where we had a ton of books to read, and from playing online games when I was a teenager, did a lot of chatting then.
For me it was definitely all those books in highschool for the spelling part, and chatting on the Internet for the common expressions and slang... :)
