I’m not a big movie buff. When people ask me if I’ve seen such and such movie that recently came out, probably 98% of the time, my answer is something like “What was the title? No, I’ve never even heard of it.” I don’t really follow what’s been released lately, and I certainly don’t go out of my way to watch most, or even many, of them.
I am, however, a big Indiana Jones fan. I grew up on the movies, and for a time in my younger years (say, 9 to 11), I yearned to be him; I had a brown aviator’s jacket that looked vaguely like Indiana’s jacket, and I consistently asked for an Indiana Jones hat. Thankfully my parents never got me one; I’m sure I would have been pummeled the first time I wore it to school, and my fighting skills would surely have not been up to Indy’s standards. But I digress…
So, being an Indiana Jones fan, when I learned that it had came out on DVD, it was high time for me to watch it. We rented it a few nights ago, and… well, I was rather disappointed. If you’ve not seen the film yet, it is now time for you to bail out, as spoilers will be running rampant in roughly four sentences. Anyone left? Excellent. Moving along:
The beginning of the film had me captivated. They touched on all of the right things from the old movies, tying it all together. The warehouse was wonderful, and they had the right music to go with it, too. Ford, while obviously bit (okay, a lot) older, fell into the Jones role admirably, I thought. He crashed into the Soviet truck so well, I could have easily been tricked into thinking I was watching one of the original movies. However… as the movie went on, it lost me completely. Come on – Indiana Jones and aliens?
I suppose it’s fair to argue that all of the other movies were way over the top, too. Let’s see – we had the Ark of the Covenant that melted Nazis; a religious cult that ritually ripped out folks’ hearts, only for them to continue living so they could be burnt up in a massive lava pit; and the Holy Grail, which could heal a grievous gunshot wound, and which was, incidentally, guarded by a knight who had been alive since the Crusades. Way over the top, I know.
But there weren’t aliens. I can’t really put my finger on it, but at least for me, Indiana Jones and aliens don’t mix well. I think part of the reason is that they pull the Jones films away from the era I know them to be in – the World War 2 years. Moving forward in time to deal with Ford’s age is fine; replace the Nazis with Soviets, and move along. But throwing aliens into the bargain was too much for me. That’s not to imply you couldn’t have aliens show up in the World War 2 era; I suppose they could. But as the original films were, being set in the era they were in, they had a certain feel to them. The aliens messed that feel up for me. I had fun watching the movie, as it was nice to get in touch with some childhood memories, but I think it could have been a lot better.
It was the hat+whip combo for me. I only once saw a whip like that. In a completely Indy-unrelated airport store in Boston… of all places. (I didn’t get it. Too expensive. But that memory is so vivid I can almost reach it.)
The movie was fun, but ‘over the top’ couldn’t be a better description. I’ll forever be haunted by the thought of Indy’s son going Tarzan.
AH-HA!
While I didn’t like too much either, I’m going to suggest something you probably won’t do (and I only did because I was bored and roomies were doing it). Watch the film a second time.
Watching it a second time made moved me from utter hatred and rage the butchery (1st viewing) to mild disappointment. It might to the same for you. All I can say is that I’m very surprised how much a second viewing changed my mind about the film. I’m not sure why but I found it wasn’t as bad as I had thought when I watched it the first time.
hthth:
I’d forgotten about that horrible scene. I don’t recall what I said at the time, but it was something like, “Well, this is utterly stupid.” Indy being saved from a nuclear explosion by hopping in a refrigerator was also a bit much for me.
Also, lucky you – I’ve never seen an Indy whip at all. I’m sure I could buy one online for a few hundred bucks, but then I’d end up in the hospital after trying to do some fantastic Indy trick.
Tom: I might watch it again somewhere down the road to see if I feel the same about it. I’m sure I’ll still dislike the aliens, and think the Tarzan moment is idiotic, but perhaps it would ease my dislike a bit.
Still, though… if I’ve got time to rewatch an Indy film, it’ll probably be one of the originals, which I know I love.
“But as the original films were, being set in the era they were in, they had a certain feel to them. The aliens messed that feel up for me.”
I can understand not liking it, but it was a quite intentional thing on the filmmakers’ parts to go from taking inspiration from cheesy 30s serials in the 1980s to taking inspiration from cheesy 50s movies in the 2000s.
While it’s not one of the best Indy films, I enjoyed it. Part of it is my wanting to enjoy it, though. Since the originals came out when I was aged -1 through 7 I didn’t appreciate them until much later, and I know I’m willing to overlook a lot to get what I can out of one I can be a part of from the beginning.
The aliens were something different, but really for me they’re less unbelievable than legitimate Judeo-Christian artifacts.
Probably also watching shitloads of SG-1 desensitized me to crossover of religion/ancient astronaut/archaelogist heroes.
Joshua:
Ah, I didn’t know that. Perhaps that was part of the problem.
The crossover in SG-1 doesn’t bother me in the least – it’s a sci fi show. But Indiana Jones wasn’t sci fi, so plopping aliens into it just didn’t work for me. It screwed with my mental construction of proper Indiana Jones mythos.