I can't think of any... can you?

Nope. I also can't think of a series better suited to breaking new ground in the action/adventure genre than this one.

Something to aspire to perhaps... but not very likely given that KOTCS didn't look to break any new ground. I'd be happy with an Indy V that wasn't specifically designed to appeal to mass audiences, but instead tried to re-invent itself, addressed Indy's age a la Unforgiven, The Shootist etc. but I think Lucas, Spielberg and Ford will always naturally gravitate to a more populist vision of their creation. I definitely think there is potential for another really good quality Indy movie with Ford in role... I just think the opportunity has gone for something that can dig much deeper whilst generating mass appeal in the same way the originals did. :(

It would be a worthy aspiration.


And yes, to me KOTCS looked comfortable with going tiredly over old ground.


Yes, yes, and yes.

The alternative to such a concept is a horror show that will have even more of us putting our faces into our palms in disbelief.

All we realistically have left is places like this in which to imagine a better future, which we are most unlikely to see produced by the beards.

I think it's highly likely that if Indy V gets made soon, it has a good chance of being a better pitched, more self-assured movie than KOTCS was... if only for the fact that Lucas/Spielberg may find more of a natural groove after testing the water with 'Skull'. I still doubt very much it will be a ground breaker though. I doubt that it even has the potential to be a ground breaker.

Agreed.


Disagree.

And now, back to the slideshow:

Yesterday at the Golden Globes

Go to youtube and watch interviews with Harrison from 2011.

Then watch ones from 2001/2.

In the past decade he has stopped looking like Indiana Jones.

I think he looks precisely like Indiana Jones. He just can't run as fast anymore.

He's getting there.

A little late to the party here, but I agree to a lot of what Vile said. Unfortunately I feel like the time to make Indiana Jones movies has past, even if I really actually WANT to see another. Everyone's already said most of what I would say, I'm just agreeing here.

But if they DO make Indy 5:

They need to address his age, but not dampen his spirit. Indy doesn't go looking for trouble, it just finds him... he wouldn't actively fight people at his age if he didn't really have to. Put him in situations where he is absolutely forced to fight, despite knowing his age limits and the audience will be more inclined to believe that he is doing it in the first place.

Like with the Nazi mechanice... The same way he couldn't REALLY hurt him, he got lucky. I think that's the kind of thing an old Indy would run into. He would have to use his wits to try and stop them... he would TRY to use his brawn but obviously he's getting too old for it... and in the end he'd just freaking get lucky. They could make it both humorous and more honest. Indy has always been, imo, more about getting lucky and having the will to fight even though he is not necessarily the best fighter then actually being really strong.

Isn't he kind of already like that?


Like the entire warehouse bit? Drug there against his will, getting lucky when his chips were down with the rocket sled? These things were done in KOTCS, but they had gone just past believability. With some of the acrobatic stunts, and of course, the fridge was handled badly. I think the fridge actually might have worked with a few small touches. Anyway, I think that you are right, but that what you are describing is a longing for a hair more of a realistic touch. That's all that's needed to get Indy back on the rails for his age, and to return to form. All it would take is a bit of restraint from GL and SS, really.

To be fair... I thought the warehouse scene was the only one done right. (mostly anyway)

The way they handled the fridge landing it wouldn't have mattered if Indy was eleventy-one, because no human was going to walk away from that. It's the moment in the film that creates a division between an acceptable adventure that you want to follow, and one that you don't want to believe you're seing.

Restraint doesn't seem to be in George's vocabulary, and Steven can't or won't put the brakes on. I don't know how George could put his mind to a more "realistic" Indiana Jones after successively adding more extreme scenes to the movies.

Funny that, he's the one who stresses believablility during the Raiders Story Conference...

...and cuts the power to Spielberg's genre blender.


Today's mantra:

I got a bad feeling about this...

Hold that feeling. It will serve Indy well. ;)

Indiana Jowls and The Evil Haircut

Vs. Harrison in 1990, age 47


Even in 2008 he didn't look that bad:

His father aged better: Sean Connery at 70:


If you slapped a toupee on Connery, and dyed his hair black, he could easily have passed for 50 then.

It's amazing how much Harrison aged in a generally short period of time.
Harrison in 1981 (basically around the time of Raiders), age 39:


Harrison in 1991 (during filming of Patriot Games), age 49:

These posts actually make me want to see an older Indiana Jones even more, to prove the doubters wrong, because I know Harrison is still perfectly able.

The only posts that make me think twice about whether I want another Indy movie, are the ones questioning how good the story is likely to be, after it took them the best part of two decades to come up with KOTCS.

The older Indiana Jones is a character worth watching. There's no doubt about that in my mind, but can Lucas do him justice? That's the question I find myself asking now.

Indy at 40 = hero
Indy at 70 = zero

A perfectly sound and sane position. I don't understand the mentality of people who consider themselves fans, and yet can only talk sh*t about the character in his autumn years. "Thanks for the memories, you dried up old coot. Our youth-obsessed culture has no use for you, so please just wander off into the woods and die. We're done with you." *kick to the pants*

Of course, this probably speaks to the median age around here. I'm kind of old to be hanging out here myself. Maybe Indy and I should just wander off together, both being relics of the 80's and all.

I have nothing at all against people of Harrison Ford's age, I just dont want to watch them performing stunts like they did at 40 and pretending it's all ok.

It's not youth-obsession sticking two fingers up at the oldies, it's suspension of disbelief being stretched so far it snaps like a hernia truss.

What's a 70 year old Indy got to offer us as an audience?

Romance? I do not want to see Indy copping off with Judi Dench. That would be credible at his age, but it would make vomit appear in my mouth. Likewise if he cradle-snatched a 30-something. Just wrong.

Action? I don't want to watch him swinging from rafters and flying through the air in a fridge. That just makes me wince and shake my head. Similarly, if he just sits there and potters along like Sean Connery did in TLC, well sorry that's plain old pathetic.

Brains? You dont watch Indiana Jones films expecting intelligent, thought-provoking comments on life. And if you do, you need to get out more.

I have a solution for you in the (unlikely) event of Indiana Jones V. Just don't watch it. :D

Who says there has to be a romantic sex-scene with Indy now? Gross. The only romance I would like to see is a romanticized version of the era he's in. The complaints about KOTCS you mentioned are not enough of an argument for me to not want an Indy 5. Those things were done, and that's all over but the cryin'. I don't see any reason why an older Indy can't have an adventure that he himself is spearheading. He's old, not crippled. He can shoot, duck, use his wits, along with his whip. Does he need to be an acrobat? Certainly not. And who said anything about needing "thought-provoking comments on life"?