Artifacts that Indy could find in Indy 5

Seamus Seagrove

New member
In the heart of Mecca in the most sacred Muslim shrine is embedded something called The Black stone. It is supposedly black because it absorbs man's original sin. Check it out on Wikipedia. This stone was believed to have been set in place by Mohamed himself. Islamic tradition holds that it fell from heaven into Eden to mark the place where Adam was to build the first temple to worship God. The stone was stolen many times and broken. In fact, pictures show it is now held together by a "ligature" of beaten silver. If it once led Adam to the center of Eden what is to stop some nefarious villain--perhaps a believed "long-dead" mentor of Indy's--from taking a piece of it and using it to find The Garden of Life. Youth restored at the Tree of Life. Innocence regained. The dark mercenary soul of a ninety-year-old man (Abner) washed clean... There are possibilities here.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
No more with the Abrahamic Religions. No Nazis either.

Indiana Jones works primarily because they flirt with the idea of the preternatural. In other words, those supernatural bits and pieces are a fragment of the larger, natural world. To do any more turns Indy into an older version of Rick O'Connell in the various Mummy pictures or a more deliberate inheritor of, precursor to Lara Croft. Both of those pictures are more in line with what I would call "fantasy-adventure," not action-adventure.

It's also where Kingdom failed miserably -- Indy was taken out of the realm of possibility, into the land of make-believe. But that's another topic for another time and place.

I have, in one of my notebooks, the layout for three separate Indy stories. None deal with the Abrahamic Religions, Nazis, or Russians. But since I have to run out the door (Up! It's here!), I'll briefly state the titles

Indiana Jones and the Heretic Pharaoh
Indiana Jones and the Eyes of Siem Reap
and a third story without a working title dealing Indy's adventures in West & Central Africa.

More later tonight. Especially if I can find out what notebook they were jotted down in.
 

MaverickKing

New member
I can't believe I haven't said anything here yet.

Well, we've had the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders, the Sankara Stones in Temple, the Holy Grail in Crusade, and the Skull of Akator (also, dispelling the myth of El Dorado) in Kingdom.

That still leaves a veritable wealth of mythology for Lucas to mine from. I doubt he'll dip into the same mythology twice, so I'd steer clear from anything in Jewish, Christian, or Hindu mythology now. That means great relics like the Staff of Aaron or the Spear of Destiny probably won't appear.

Things like Sun-Wu Kung's Garden of Immortal Peaches, the Fountain of Youth, artefacts involving eternal life, seem unlikely also - remember, the plotline concerning eternal youth and life was done with the Grail in Crusade, so it's unlikely to be visited again. So those few are out.

The Golden Fleece and Noah's Ark are nice choices, admittedly. But how would they work as MacGuffins, exactly? Noah's Ark has no purpose except for sitting atop Mount Ararat like a rotting boat which, technically, it is. And the Golden Fleece, in mythology, holds no actual power - it's just golden and shiny. So, nice as they are, these two are also unlikely.

Relics like Excalibur, Mjolnir, or the lost city of Atlantis, are popular choices, and probably work well in a fifth Indiana Jones movie. They've got my top votes, personally - each stays away from mythologies already explored, and are sufficiently different to the aforementioned quartet of relics Indy's already found.

But in terms of a MacGuffin, I believe - for the fifth film - it should work like Last Crusade: instead of having the film be all about that MacGuffin, it should be a secondary relic to the more important figure that Indy must find. In this case, I'd make it Abner Ravenwood. Have Indy find Abner Ravenwood, and learn his disappearance ties into the Nazis living in South America, who want Excalibur/Mjolnir/Atlantis. Go from there!!

And that's my semi-researched input.
 

The Tingler

New member
Atlantis has absolutely no chance whatsoever. Both Spielberg and Lucas are fans of the game and are close friends with Hal Barwood (who directed it). For the same reason the Tower of Babel won't appear, and both the Emperor's Tomb and the Staff of Aaron/Moses had to be approved by Lucas and Spielberg before they became a game. No matter how perfect any of these are, they won't be in Indy V.
 

MaverickKing

New member
Then can't they get Hal Barwood in as assistant director or something?

Fate of Atlantis would make a great movie. It's a shame it won't ever be one.

And if not, then Indiana Jones using Excalibur in a swordfight would be something special.
 

Insomniac

New member
MaverickKing said:
And if not, then Indiana Jones using Excalibur in a swordfight would be something special.
Too cookie cutter we need something new like the crystal skull UNEXPECTED and yet appropriate for the bad guys!

Something Fresh...


:sleep:
 

JCC1004

New member
Atlantis wouldn't be a bad idea unless they are in SCUBA gear for along time. It would be nice to see the wreckage of the Coronado as a little Easter Egg.:D I'm not sure about the Golden Fleece. It was in Jason and the Argonauts, but that moive is quite old(and good)so alot of people might not remember much. We'll just have to wait and see if they are actually making a moive and what they decide.
 

MaverickKing

New member
I also like the Land of Darkness, sometimes known as the Forest of Abkhazia, from mythology. Alexander the Great supposedly ventured in there in search of the Water of Life (a riff on the Fountain of Youth mythos).

I reckon it'd work well. If it wasn't like the end of Cradle of Life.
 
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