Lawrence Kasdan

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Crack that whip said:
He co-scripted both Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, actually, and Empire is certainly very well regarded indeed - generally as one of the very few sequels that surpass an already-great original, even - so I don't see that his experience on those necessarily hurts anything (for that matter, Jedi is still generally much better-regarded than the prequels).

Um...what I meant was Return of the Jedi was the first time he revisited a story he already wrote. He didn't write Star Wars, so even though Empire was a sequel, he was still coming into it fresh and wrote it as if it were a original story. As a result, he brought a breathe of fresh air to the Star Wars franchise that might not have been in Empire otherwise. He wrote ROTJ, but it wasn't considered as good as the previous two by many, which probably help cement Kasdan's feelings about writing sequels.

Frankly, in the article above, Kasdam sums up the problem the Indiana Jones franchise has had since Temple: Lucas and Spielberg accomplished everything they intended of Indiana Jones with Raiders, and much more. So it's pretty challenging to find new material they can use for this world, let alone to coming close to topping Raiders.
 

IndyForever

Active member
Until/when/if Lucas does the draft nothing else will happen & after the way he got hassled few weeks by some dorks with a video camera after leaving a restaurant with his daughter you have to wonder if he will even bother.......
 

Randy_Flagg

Well-known member
Toht's Arm said:
I agree that not being fanatical about sticking the formula would be a good thing. Let the story develop organically instead of worrying about standard scenes appearing at certain points throughout the movie. ToD is great in that regard - one event leads to another and the movie never gets boring. Hopefully Kasdan wouldn't simply start with a list of Indy "must-haves", like a vehicular chase, a university scene and the villain getting fried by the artifact at the end - just let the narrative dictate what happens.

Yup.
I would say NO university scene at all, unless it's presented in a very different way. We certainly don't need to see Indy teaching his class and then being interrupted by the dean again (actually, Indy is the dean now, so I could almost see them doing the scene in reverse-- Indy interrupting a new teacher. But that, again is too similar, and would feel like a hokey wink at the audience.) If the university is going to be in the movie at all, then do something entirely new, like have the villains raiding its archives for some notes that Indy had made about the location of a certain artifact.

And let the ending be something new. I LOVED the ending to TOD. It was totally unlike Raiders, and to this day, it remains my favorite ending of all the Indy movies-- it's non-stop action, with Indy playing the key role in everything that's happening. He's not a bystander watching some supernatural power destroy the villains.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
IndyForever said:
Until/when/if Lucas does the draft nothing else will happen & after the way he got hassled few weeks by some dorks with a video camera after leaving a restaurant with his daughter you have to wonder if he will even bother.......

What? When did this happen? He was hassled with one of his daughters? Link/video?
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Stoo said:
Georgie, Stevie & Larry need to sit down and have another 5-day brainstorming session like they did back in January 1978!:whip:

You're onto something.

They should sit down in one of the screening rooms at Skywalker Ranch and watch (in this order): (1) The Big Chill, (2) Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- and (3) The Game of Thrones [a serial that knows a thing or two about how to end things for major characters (note the plural)].

Then they should adjourn to the library, grab some legal pads, plug in some serious Trent Reznor -- and start work . . . and to Hell with the Macguffin!

Recently in an article Joss Whedon discussed the challenges of having to maintain continuity with the other recent Marvel films in making The Avengers and in the end he noted that there were as many gifts as challenges. I think that's the case with Indiana Jones. Lucas, Spielberg, Ford and Kasden are all getting older and they are all smart enough to realize that the real challenge is knowing how to end a story. I think there's a fantastic ending story for Indiana Jones post KotCS. I'd take that challenge -- Marion, Mutt, old age and all. And so should the powers that be. What a chance to make a statement. I bet Kasden looks at some of his past work like the Big Chill and sees it as embarrassing naval gazing -- and I bet Lucas and Spielberg look at KotCS and see it for what it is (at least we know Spielberg does) -- and I'd hope they are at a stage of life -- with the kids grown up -- where they'd want to make a statement that means something. Who knows, it's been done before (Clint Eastwood).

Just wishful thinking.
 

Olliana

New member
Randy_Flagg said:
Yup.
I would say NO university scene at all, unless it's presented in a very different way. We certainly don't need to see Indy teaching his class and then being interrupted by the dean again (actually, Indy is the dean now, so I could almost see them doing the scene in reverse-- Indy interrupting a new teacher. But that, again is too similar, and would feel like a hokey wink at the audience.)

That could work if they do it like FoA, Indy interrupting a good friends's dia presentation or something. Or we finally get to see Marcus' museum Indy talks about all the time, and he's lecturing something. And finally LC's dialogue would make further sense:
INDY: That belongs in a museum! -- PANAMA HAT: So do you! (y)
 

Montana Smith

Active member
My greatest fear:

peter_pooping.gif
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Key phrase in the article...

IF APPROACHED.

I mean, who wouldn't want to pen Indy V if approached...?:rolleyes:
 

Randy_Flagg

Well-known member
Pale Horse said:
IF APPROACHED.

I mean, who wouldn't want to pen Indy V if approached...?:rolleyes:

Possibly Kasdan. He just says he'd listen to what they have to say, but he doesn't sound all that gung-ho about actually writing it.
 

Indy's brother

New member
As far as the formulaic bit, I would like an opening 3rd act this time. Other than that, yeah. Breaking the formula a bit is ok with me. I like TOD for that aspect. I like all the films, but sticking too close is an unnecessary approach. Some things you just have to have, though, like Indy not being able to keep the artifact at the end, for example. Or the main quest artifacts having some kind of supernatural/religious slant to them.

Seeing Indy in disguise again would also be nice, but not needed I guess.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Randy_Flagg said:
Possibly Kasdan. He just says he'd listen to what they have to say, but he doesn't sound all that gung-ho about actually writing it.


Can you blame him?

Putting aside my prior post, how would you pen an action adventure that has as its starting point an elderly couple and their adult son played by one of the most overbilled actors in a generation?
 
Indy's brother said:
As far as the formulaic bit, I would like an opening 3rd act this time. Other than that, yeah. Breaking the formula a bit is ok with me. I like TOD for that aspect. I like all the films, but sticking too close is an unnecessary approach. Some things you just have to have, though, like Indy not being able to keep the artifact at the end, for example. Or the main quest artifacts having some kind of supernatural/religious slant to them.

Seeing Indy in disguise again would also be nice, but not needed I guess.

Do you have to have Indiana Jones in it too? Cos that might rule out a decent Indy 5.
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Joe Brody said:
how would you pen an action adventure that has as its starting point an elderly couple and their adult son played by one of the most overbilled actors in a generation?


I'd start with a soundtrack by Kenny Loggins and Ray Parker Jr., followed up with Mel Brooks as the writer and Harold Ramis as the director...
 

Mickiana

Well-known member
If Leslie Nielsen was still around and if Indy 5 was going to be made, Leslie would be great as Indy, along with all of Pale Horse's previous suggestions!
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Pale Horse said:
I'd start with a soundtrack by Kenny Loggins and Ray Parker Jr., followed up with Mel Brooks as the writer and Harold Ramis as the director...

[In my best Brad Pitt 12 Monkey's voice] . . . .exactly!


Mickiana said:
If Leslie Nielsen was still around and if Indy 5 was going to be made, Leslie would be great as Indy, along with all of Pale Horse's previous suggestions!

. . .or you just repurpose the fridge for Mr. Nielsen's remains.
 
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