What year should Indy 5 be set?

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Pale Horse said:
Messages deleted by a mod. Now that is something that I haven't seen in a long time.
At least the kind that leave a trace behind.
 

Z dweller

Well-known member
Since my solitary crusade against extreme Ford fetishism seems to have caused offence, let me try to atone by posting this.

Harry for president! :p

1297895993251_ORIGINAL.jpg
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Z dweller said:
Since my solitary crusade against extreme Ford fetishism seems to have caused offence, let me try to atone by posting this.

Well, <I>contra</I> Sean Connery's Chicago way, we sometimes find it expedient to send posts from both sides of a conflict to the same place.

But now it's all over and forgotten! Back to the matter...

But since Disney chose to give Ford a last outing, at least I hope they place the action in surroundings that minimize the visual impact of the passing of time (anctartica, jungle, desert etc).

This is largely my view, though I also think that if there was anything really wrong about the level of attention Crystal Skull gave to its period is that it a lot of it was an American 1950s that we've all seen time and time again.

One non-domestic direction that is conceivable here is that of post-colonial independence movements. The prior film played in somewhat similar ground, considering that Crystal Skull was obliquely a repatriation narrative, with Indy taking an artifact stolen by colonists back to its source. (The source then returns to life and goes back to the space between spaces, so it's an imperfect analogy.)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Face_Palm said:
Indiana Jones is based in the decade of films that particular film is set in. The first 3 being set in the 30's are based on the serials of that decade. The 4th set in the 50's being based on the sci-if films the 50's are known for. To do something completely different for the 5th film wouldn't follow the series formula and wouldn't be an Indiana Jones film.
Face Palm, the formula is not that strict. Lucas & Spielberg always mention the ?30s & ?40s together and, after watching tonnes of stuff from that era, it?s apparent that the ?40s were the main draw for many aspects of the first 3 movies. Heck, one of the major inspirations for Indy?s outfit is from 1954 and (thanks to Attila recently) there was also a big influence for ?Raiders? as late as 1964. The first 3 aren?t based on the ?30s alone so, please, rid yourself of that notion. ;)

Plus, Indy 4 isn?t solely ?based on the sci-fi films the ?50s are known for? because it?s wildly different from the typical ones. No doubt that ?Crystal Skull? is a mish-mash of 1950s Hollywood (sci-fi, atomic threat, communism, greasers) but those elements are mixed into the established formula of the previous Indy entries. It doesn?t follow the 1950s sci-fi pattern so you won?t find a large number of movies/serials with a guy trekking through the jungle looking for ancient aliens.

Z dweller is right in this case.
Raiders112390 said:
It can still be a homage to 40s serials even if they make reference to the fact it's a different time. The prologue to LC worked despite it being very 1912, didn't it?
Face_Palm said:
The 1912 opening scene is not a reference to 30's or 40's pulp serial films. It's a reference to early films such as The Great Train Robbery.
It?s both. Train-rooftop action was a very, common routine in ?30s/?40s serials, especially in the western & spy/crime genres. Indeed, there are nods to ?The Great Train Robbery? but declaring that the sequence is NOT a reference to the serials is rather ignorant.

Raiders112390 is right in this case.

?
Anyway, I still maintain that the new movie should take place in 1962.
 

Raiders90

Well-known member
Stoo said:
The sweet spot is: 1962

If we go by trends in the series:

Harrison was 38 in 1980, portraying a 37 year old in Raiders;
He was 41 in 1983, portraying a 36 year old in TOD;
He was 46 in 1988, portraying a 39 year old in LC;
He was 65 in 2007, portraying a 58 year old in KOTCS.

Indy V could take place as late as 1968, with a 76 year old Ford at the time of shooting in 2018, portraying a 69 year old Indy in 1968. Which would continue the pattern thus far established with LC and KOTCS of Indy and Harrison being 7 years apart in age at the time of shooting.

I HOPE it is not the late 1960s, although it would leave room for Mutt to be away in Vietnam.
 

Udvarnoky

Well-known member
I think the when is less important than the where. If the movie takes place in timeless locations like ruins, oceans, mountains, wildernesses, castles, etc., then it could really be set anywhere between '57 and '77 with minimal need to acknowledge signifiers of the decade the way Crystal Skull was forced to with its U.S.-heavy first act. The key I think is to use settings where the decade is barely relevant. The villains will be a crucial choice as well.

So much can be dodged by leaving America out of it altogether. It worked for Temple of Doom, and it can work again. You could set Temple of Doom in a different decade and it would only require a handful of aesthetic adjustments. It would be smart to design Indy 5 as a similarly remote tale. It may be their only choice, really.
 

Z dweller

Well-known member
Udvarnoky said:
I think the when is less important than the where. If the movie takes place in timeless locations like ruins, oceans, mountains, wildernesses, castles, etc., then it could really be set anywhere between '57 and '77 with minimal need to acknowledge signifiers of the decade the way Crystal Skull was forced to with its U.S.-heavy first act. The key I think is to use settings where the decade is barely relevant. The villains will be a crucial choice as well.

So much can be dodged by leaving America out of it altogether. It worked for Temple of Doom, and it can work again. You could set Temple of Doom in a different decade and it would only require a handful of aesthetic adjustments. It would be smart to design Indy 5 as a similarly remote tale. It may be their only choice, really.
^ this.

I made the same point up thread.
 

IndyBuff

Well-known member
Udvarnoky said:
I think the when is less important than the where. If the movie takes place in timeless locations like ruins, oceans, mountains, wildernesses, castles, etc., then it could really be set anywhere between '57 and '77 with minimal need to acknowledge signifiers of the decade the way Crystal Skull was forced to with its U.S.-heavy first act. The key I think is to use settings where the decade is barely relevant. The villains will be a crucial choice as well.

So much can be dodged by leaving America out of it altogether. It worked for Temple of Doom, and it can work again. You could set Temple of Doom in a different decade and it would only require a handful of aesthetic adjustments. It would be smart to design Indy 5 as a similarly remote tale. It may be their only choice, really.

That would work well and give them room to play with the formula a bit. I wold be down with that.
 

Kai Hagen

New member
Like how the older generation have romantic feelings for the 1930s and the 1940s as an Indy setting, the younger generation probably thinks of the 1960s that way. They take modern technology for granted. And they take for granted at how a lot of the countries that were undeveloped are modernized now.
 

Wilhelm

Member
1937 - For the action teaser with a CGI young Harrison Ford fighting nazis.

1968 - For the rest of the movie with an old Indy searching for his last mythic artifact.
 

Face_Melt

Well-known member
Wilhelm said:
1937 - For the action teaser with a CGI young Harrison Ford fighting nazis.

1968 - For the rest of the movie with an old Indy searching for his last mythic artifact.



That would actually be awesome.
 

seasider

Active member
I've always thought a fun opening sequence would be to show a flashback with Indy on an expedition with Abner Ravenwood and a young Marion. It would be a chance for us to finally see Abner on screen and get a hint of their backstory that we briefly hear about in Raiders.
 

Z dweller

Well-known member
Wilhelm said:
1937 - For the action teaser with a CGI young Harrison Ford fighting nazis.

1968 - For the rest of the movie with an old Indy searching for his last mythic artifact.
Even better: late 1920s to early 30s with a younger actor in the action teaser.

Then early to mid 60s with Ford for the main adventure, linked to the teaser by macguffin, villan or both.
 

Henry Jones VII

Active member
Wilhelm said:
1937 - For the action teaser with a CGI young Harrison Ford fighting nazis.

1968 - For the rest of the movie with an old Indy searching for his last mythic artifact.
Fine by me. sounds good :whip:
 

DeepSixFix

New member
Wilhelm said:
1937 - For the action teaser with a CGI young Harrison Ford fighting nazis.

1968 - For the rest of the movie with an old Indy searching for his last mythic artifact.

As I understand, the upcoming "Die Hard: Year One" intends to feature a modern day John McClane with flashbacks to his younger self as a NYC cop. Somehow the storylines intertwine as he works the case in the past and present.

What if a 1960's Indy needs to find an artifact he lost long ago, and via flashbacks relives that adventure and explores the clues he needs to use to find it in his present day...
 

Face_Melt

Well-known member
DeepSixFix said:
As I understand, the upcoming "Die Hard: Year One" intends to feature a modern day John McClane with flashbacks to his younger self as a NYC cop. Somehow the storylines intertwine as he works the case in the past and present.

What if a 1960's Indy needs to find an artifact he lost long ago, and via flashbacks relives that adventure and explores the clues he needs to use to find it in his present day...


Sounds like the plot of Mr. Holmes (2015).
 

Kai Hagen

New member
http://history-world.org/archeology.htm
Since the 1960s, urban archaeologists have dug deep under modern cities such as London, Paris, and New York City, uncovering earlier cities that lie beneath streets and skyscrapers. These excavations help explain much about urban life today and also provide important information for city planning. For instance, they have provided information about the origins of social classes and the foundations of modern infrastructure, such as sewage systems.
In one of the scenes, I'd like to see Indy exploring underneath one of those cities.
 
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