Jungle Cutter

Toht's Arm

Active member
Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread, but I don't suppose anyone's heard anything more recently about whether there were originally grander plans for the jungle cutter? I thought that maybe SOMEONE would have asked a question about it in Q&As, or seen some kind of evidence since 2009...

As people pointed out, its inclusion and then rapid exit does seem strange in the film.
 

Udvarnoky

Well-known member
By all accounts it was filmed as scripted. Unless there's an earlier Koepp draft where it was actually given justice, I'm afraid we're forced to conclude that these high profile storytellers sincerely didn't think there was anything better to do with that awesome vehicle but blow it up.

Even where the script failed to capitalize on it, though, I'm surprised Spielberg didn't. There are a number of examples throughout the series where the director effectively invented/expounded set pieces during filming, like the German wing fight in Raiders. I think it's inescapable that the older movies were made by younger, hungrier film makers with more ingenuity than budget.

And just to lay on the heartbreak: while the glossy-looking jungle chase may lead you to believe that the jungle cutter was largely a CGI creation, it was not! They ponied up for a real, physical, functional vehicle with whirring blades! And did basically nothing with it! 2008 Spielberg would never be able to justify that to 1981 Spielberg.
 

Toht's Arm

Active member
Thanks for that, Udvarnoky!

It's surprising that the cutter existed in a physical form, since it certainly didn't appear that way in the film. Then again, the jungle chase looked distinctly greenscreen-ish, even though, as I understand it, most of it was on location/on a proper set.

It still seems strange, however - maybe it's a result of the seams showing in in the patchwork of script drafts, especially considering that I felt Koepp's screenplay seemed rushed in comparison to Darabont's. The fact that the jungle cutter DRAWS ATTENTION to the mysterious and unbelievable 'jungle roads' that the vehicles use is the weirdest of all.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Toht's Arm said:
Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread,
Don't be sorry, Toht's Arm. Resurrecting previous threads is a good thing.;)

Yes, the jungle cutter was underused but I agree with Attila that its on-screen brevity was a nice, tantalizing touch!(y) It would've been cool to see more of the Jungle Cutter but the fact that it WAS NOT exploited makes it a more mysterious machine...(pushing it into a realm BEYOND the Flying Wing from "Raiders"). In my opinion, this was a fine & commendable way to treat such a device.

On the other hand, how I wish "Crystal Skull" had a fight involving the Jungle Cutter!:( Dovchenko could've had his head squished between the blades!:dead:
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
It would've been cool to see more of the Jungle Cutter but the fact that it WAS NOT exploited makes it a more mysterious machine...(pushing it into a realm BEYOND the Flying Wing from "Raiders"). In my opinion, this was a fine & commendable way to treat such a device.

It brings to mind the concept of the "Giant Tank" in Chris Columbus' Indiana Jones and the Monkey King script:


A GIANT TANK

SHOOTS out of the jungle. A METAL MONSTROSITY. ONE of a kind. The tank is over TEN TIMES the size of a normal tank. Nearly 100 FEET LONG. Over 25 FEET HIGH. It is equipped with THREE LEVELS. On the TOP LEVEL, is the tank's swivelling GUN BARREL. ENORMOUS. The size of a CANNON. Two giant, BLAZING RED SWASTIKAS adorn both sides of the tank's SECOND LEVEL.

Thankfully even KOTCS didn't take the concept that far from reality.


On the other hand, how I wish "Crystal Skull" had a fight involving the Jungle Cutter! :( Dovchenko could've had his head squished between the blades!:dead:

A rewrite could have omitted the awkward snake/sandpit scene, and transferred the pit into the path of the Jungle Cutter...with Dovchenko becoming trapped in it.

A little like that scene in Caligula!

ngbbs4e7ac15d62f22.jpg
 

Spurlock

New member
That's a true shame they didn't use it well, it could've been an action sequence to rival the truck chase or bridge scene, with so many different, dangerous parts coming together to form that, it's a horror not to have been used in the slightest.
 

Dr.Jonesy

Well-known member
Spurlock said:
That's a true shame they didn't use it well, it could've been an action sequence to rival the truck chase or bridge scene.

I love the jungle chase - but I think they so should have used the jungle cutter!
:cool:
Oh well, too late now. Still a great action sequence.
 

Sea Monarch

New member
Dr.Jonesy said:
I love the jungle chase - but I think they so should have used the jungle cutter!
:cool:
Oh well, too late now. Still a great action sequence.

Even though it's not in keeping with screen accuracy, I thought Hasbro did an awesome job with making the Jungle Cutter able to launch it's cow pusher, and also making the blades able to spin, without needing to wind anything, or use batteries. When my Niece, and Nephew, still lived in town, I would have them over, and let them play with my opened Hasbro Indy collection. And they love it all! Especially the Jungle Cutter! My nephew, never seemed to tire of launching the cow pusher at figures, and Akator Temples Door! Now if I only Hasbro would make the Duck, and the Roadster from Raiders.(y) Meanwhile, I may have to try to get some more Indy toys to give to my nephew, who has a lot of everything else.
 

Spurlock

New member
Dr.Jonesy said:
I love the jungle chase - but I think they so should have used the jungle cutter!
:cool:
Oh well, too late now. Still a great action sequence.

The really sad part about that scene is that it looks mega CGI, even though it's not. Just the lighting of the whole thing is off for some reason. Takes me out of the whole experience. (n) As well as the fake plants hitting Mutt in the crotch.
 

Sea Monarch

New member
Dr.Jonesy said:
I love the jungle chase - but I think they so should have used the jungle cutter!

Oh well, too late now. Still a great action sequence.

I absolutely love this action sequence too!

Spurlock said:
The really sad part about that scene is that it looks mega CGI, even though it's not. Just the lighting of the whole thing is off for some reason. Takes me out of the whole experience. (n) As well as the fake plants hitting Mutt in the crotch.

It's true, that we can still recognize when something has been artificially lit. Still, I don't mind the color gels, or sheen they gave this sequence. It seems to befit the pulp serials these sequences pay homage to. I also love this sequence because we finally get to see some extended play of Indy in the jungle! A setting that we can almost imagine Dr. Jones spending a good deal of his adventures in, yet till now, we only got to see him there briefly, in the Beginning of ROTLA, and on the road to Pankot in TOD.
 

Spurlock

New member
Sea Monarch said:
It's true, that we can still recognize when something has been artificially lit. Still, I don't mind the color gels, or sheen they gave this sequence. It seems to befit the pulp serials these sequences pay homage to. I also love this sequence because we finally get to see some extended play of Indy in the jungle! A setting that we can almost imagine Dr. Jones spending a good deal of his adventures in, yet till now, we only got to see him there briefly, in the Beginning of ROTLA, and on the road to Pankot in TOD.

Sort of, another thing I don't like if how there are like perfectly cut roads. Now you can saw that was the Jungle cutter, but they had blown it up before they got that far. The type of Jungle I want to see Indy in is the lush, vibrant, thick jungle, not sparse and hollow. While it may have been in the jungle, it sure didn't seem like it.

I can see SO many action/horror opportunities with that Jungle Cutter each time I look at it (I write my own action adventure series), and it's ripe with possibilities. Like someone sliding between the cutting and the plow part, being in sheer terror as it nearly cuts their abdomen open. GAWD DAMMIT SPEILBERG.
 

indy-lucas-50

Active member
I love the jungle chase - but I think they so should have used the jungle cutter!
:cool:
Oh well, too late now. Still a great action sequence.

thats one of the few legit things that briefly bothered me about "crystal skull". there was so much potential with it. especially when you look at all the artwork from the Hasbro line. it could've continued the convoy chase sequence that always occurs in each film, even "Indy V". :gun:

Raiders Truck Chase
Temple Mine Cart Chase
Crusade Tank Chase
Kingdom
Destiny Rickshaw Chase
 

British Raider

Well-known member
The artwork is awesome. I feel the way they dispensed with it in the movie was at least efficient, if destructive. But it’s easy to see how they’d have performed an action scene on it ala Last Crusade tank chase.
 

JackBurton

Active member
I read it somewhere (maybe here ;) ), but an out of control Cutter could've worked. The jungle Chase as it is, with the added danger of a vehicle crashing through the forest and appear wildly from left and right.
The RPG scene could be added towards the end to stop this madness.
 

indy-lucas-50

Active member
yea, that would've been dope, having the Cutter go out of control cause now it's a conflict for everyone simultaneously, even the villains. similar to what happens when they hit the army ant-hills.
 

emtiem

Well-known member
I read it somewhere (maybe here ;) ), but an out of control Cutter could've worked. The jungle Chase as it is, with the added danger of a vehicle crashing through the forest and appear wildly from left and right.
The RPG scene could be added towards the end to stop this madness.
Yes here's my post (14 years ago!) where I said an out of control Cutter could've been good fun. I can imagine all sort of crazy paths being cut through the jungle that the various jeeps could race down, crossing paths etc. The sort of thing I could imagine Spielberg having fun with.
 
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