commontone said:
I also loved the Doom Town scene (actually, the whole opening 15-20 minutes). I wish I hadn't known about it beforehand; other people in the theater gasped when they realized what was happening. Still, it was well done. The mushroom cloud was great CGI in my opinion; looked very real and beautiful.
Same here. I also wish I hadn't read the script for Saucermen, in hindsight. However, I remember reading that Doom Town scene for the first time and thinking, "How's he going to get out of this?!" I actually thought it was one of the best cliffhangers they'd ever come up with.
But if I had to pick just one brief scene, it would probably be that final moment where Mutt picks up the hat. When Spielberg said he was thinking of how the fans would react to certain scenes, I know he relished the thought of how fans would react to that one.
I was literally praying inside "NO! NO! NO!"- as I'm sure nearly every other Indy fan was. It's a brilliant example of Spielberg skillfully manipulating his audience.
And then comes that fantastic payoff with Indy taking the hat out of Mutt's hands and giving him that
"not today, kid" grin. I had mixed emotions about watching Indy take the plunge up until that point, because that's where Spielberg made everything in the world right again.