What stunts in the OT are inconceivable for our present Indy?
 

Honestly, the first stunt that comes to mind is bedding hot young female leads. Past that, the only other things are ones the two that have already been hotly debated for their unbelievability: raft parachute, and the fridge. I mean, KOTCS had arguably the most unbelievable stunts in the first half hour than the OT combined. I say tone it down to the sightly more believable stunts of the OT and I think our currently aged Ford can slide back into the familiar.

Back on point: What stunts from the original trilogy are, in your opinion, just too far off for Harrison Ford these days?

Leaping onto the Tank.

Yeah, I'll give you that one. I've often though that it was one of, if not the most dangerous stunts in all the films. The similar jump in KOTCS from truck to jeep in the warehouse hurt MY knees a bit to watch, but Indy's vehicle-to-vehicle jump in KOTCS' jungle chase was handled well though, I thought.

I'd have to say this one might be pushing it...

What about it, particularly? That slamming into that cliff didn't kill each one of them is pretty imposible at any age. The degree of agility and athleticism with the horse to tank transfer won you the last one, but this....I'm going to have to disagree. He only has to be strong enough to cut through the rope (pretty moderate), and survive an impact (as I mentioned before, impossible for anyone). The rest is run of the mill punching, fighting, climbing stuff. Well run of the mill for Indy, anyway.

I think that this would be nigh impossible for anyone at any age. Think about it - holding onto something with your whole weight while bouncing on a pot-hole riddled road, and adding to that you may fall and the douche who is driving is trying to squish you into the car ahead! Wow!



Awesome thread by the way!

I was thinking of that one Montana, but I concluded that it doesn't take much to fall through a few awnings and bounce on another, and into an awaiting car.
An older Indy may be battered and bruised, but just throw him out a window, and he could let gravity do that for him.

It's all about whether we believe he's a seventy-something actor faking a sixty-something Indy or not.

I misread the original post, my apologizes.
And, since I am now on the up-and-up; I'd say any stunt from the "OT" would be too much for Harry to bear these days.

That's how I look at the situation. It's the difference between a character in his prime pushing himself to the limits, and a character in his '60s trying to emulate the past. On top of that, it's a 70-something actor playing the character, which compounds the issue from an audience perspective.

This, for instance, might induce an Indy heart-attack before he reached the river:

The bits when he sits down might just be possible for Ford now.

That's what it boils down to... I'm sure that Ford will try and match the fitness he had as a 40 year old. I'm sure there are 60-70 year old stunt men out there that can still do the stunt work... but do/will the audience believe it?

Well you asked:
...and despite safety harnesses and stuntmen I think it's too extreme a stunt to believe an elder Indy can handle.

As you mention:


...though I'm willing to suspend some measure of disbelief that Indy could have benefited from the uneven surface of the cliff absorbing some of the momentum, and possibly transferring it the Thuggees above him. I would expect a concussion, broken ribs, all types of lacerations.

The same way I believe, (though the film doesn't confirm) that they could have survived the raft/parachute if they hit the mountain at a greater angle AND in deep powder.

The bridge as is, is too much in my estimation. Then again the fridge was a major disappointment.

Maybe if Indy climbed into a fridge on the bridge I could look past it all...;)

Hanging from the truck in ROTLA and being drug behind it, it's more suspense and luck really, he's hanging on to things. I think Ford could do stuff like that now, though I'm sure it would be approached differently with the pacing. The window jump from Club Obi-Wan, I'd have to say that I don't think that would be able to be done now. The first thing I think is "broken hip" to much high impact stuff there for an older man. Hanging from the tank by his shoulder strap: Why the heck not? Actually I think that a stunt like this one might even play better with his current age than some of the others mentioned so far. And To Replican't and Montana: :p

Is the question about the CHARACTER, Indiana Jones, or the ACTOR, Harrison Ford?

If its the former - old Indy seems as capable of doing all that sh*t same as before. He jumps between moving cars, delivers beatings and takes beatings as well as he did before.

If the latter - Harrison Ford didn't do those stunts himself even back then, let alone now.

Old Indy might still be down for a few carpet burns with the lady of his choice, but with the truck it's a rough desert road. Muscles, bones, hips... if we can believe that seventy-something Harry is is portraying a sixty-something man of iron, then okay I'll go for it. Though it puts him into the category of a character like the Batman - a non-super-powered super-hero who can soak up more punishment than a human should, but is still susceptible to broken bones if pushed too far. (Compare the comic stories Knightfall, in which his back is broken, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, in which Bruce is 55).



Hanging off the gun was hard on his body, too:




Don't go putting me in the same bag as repliwon't. :p

You see, I think it impossible to have anything like the rope bridge "stunt" without thinking that...moreso than the window drop.

Seems to me he did more stunts in Skull than he did back then; probably thanks to CGI wire removal. He's doing loads of his own stuff in the warehouse chase and fight.
In Temple he could barely stand up thanks his back injury! :)

The rope bridge = broken everything. Just like the fridge!

Screw that! Indy could replay the scene he did Henry Jones Sr. but this time with Mutt.

"It's disgraceful, you're old enough to be her fa... her grandfather."
"Well, I'm as human as the next man."
"Dad, I *was* the next man."
"Oh... ships that pass in the night."

:gun: :whip:

With Shia's reputation the woman in question would be Marion. :eek:

I think the bottom lin is, were there to be physical failures, (and many there should be) the joking asides should wait till later.

The Bantu Wind scene was THE way to do it. Screaming "WATER! WATER!", was a nice transition to the next cliff hanger, but where were the consequences once the adrenaline cut off?

In those days he was young enough to recover. Nowadays he's liable to leave various organs attached to booby traps. The only thing he'll be sure of keeping is his hat.

I don't mind seeing him getting beat up...I like the fact that he's tenacious. The wise cracks just have to take a backseat next time out. At least till a more opportune moment.

Most wise cracks are old hat now. They can make for a poor substitute for meaningful dialogue, and ultimately reduce any scene to the level of the wise crack itself.

Indy taking the hat from Mutt was enough of a wisecrack...

Would Indy bedding a young (Mutt's) love interest be considered a stunt?

Bring in the body double!

Personally, I don't know if I can really maintain a suspension of disbelief of Indy doing stunts knowing Harrison's real age at this point in time. It's true, the last film the "age" problem was the least of it's issues... but it will be a lot harder to forget he is 70-something with Indy 5.

In a lot of ways, I don't want it to be made. I feel now, that the time has passed. If they wanted to make Indy 5 they should have done it years and years ago (same goes for Indy 4 to a lesser extent).


... But if they do move forward with it, I think it would be best if they actually had him sustain a serious injury from trying to do something he would have pulled off at 30/40 something. Make a sort of joke out of him getting too old for it. It would be all that more interesting to see him continually get himself out of dangerous situations while injured, all the while people yelling at him for being crazy and/or stupid to be trying stuff like that at his age.

On that note: It would be interesting if throughout the film he was racing against time in some way. An injury of some kind that, if he didn't reach where he needed to in time, he'd die. Yes, kind of like at the end of TLC, but drawn out and all on Indy.

I'm against him "bedding" Mutt's gf or something because I don't think they really need to repeat that joke. It's been done.

Imagine if George takes a note from The Dark Knight Rises, and has a Bane character break Indy's back, so that a young apprentice (Mutt/Azrael) has to step in while he recovers. :eek:

The horror! The horror!