KotCS: Homages, Similarities, and References

WeAreGoingToDie

New member
oki9Sedo said:
It occurred to me before the film came out that they might use font like that for the opening credits, just like a '50s B-movie, but I'm glad they didn't.

Aw, c'mon! You'd love it! And a bit of theremin thrown in for good measure.
WOOooooooeeeEEEEEOOOooooo! ;)
 

sandiegojones

New member
I posted this in another thread but since this is appropriate I thought I'd share it here too for those who still hate the fridge scene:

That was a joke. If your as old as the filmmakers and not 14, you'd know that in the 50's the government promoted the ridiculous "Duck and Cover" routine in schools. For those who don't know what that is, basically in the event of all out nuclear war you just crawl under your school desk and let the blast pass over you. There's even a cartoon with a turtle of all things singing a little tune (it's on youtube I bet).

My dad always said they did it so everybody who got nuked was in a neat pile of dust after the blast. Easy to clean up. :p

Also back then, fridges were made of die cast steel and not plastic like they are today. They also had latches like car doors, which if you were inside, were impossible to open. Many kids in the 50's actually died from locking themselves in the fridge.

The Doomtown scene is a joke that plays on both of these. That's why they made a point to show the fridge is "lead lined" and that the latch on the door breaks when the fridge crashes down in the desert so Indy can get out. Later the General says to Indy "don't you know it's dangerous to climb into one of those things?". They acknowledge the joke right there!

Unfortunately a lot of references in KOTCS are limited to those who lived in the 1950's or those very aware of their history and pop culture references. Of course he couldn't live, but you can't live when your heart is ripped out and a yellow raft would actually pop from a large fall or shred when it hit the ground and slalomed through coarse snow. It's a movie, not a documentary.


EDIT- Here are links to validate this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_a...rl]http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5073.html

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received reports of numerous suffocation deaths involving children who crawled inside latch type freezers, clothes dryers, combination washer/dryer units, picnic coolers, ice boxes in campers, and old-style latch type refrigerators. Most of the victims were four to seven years old. In all cases, the doors could not be easily pushed open from the inside. In some of the incidents associated with clothes dryers, the appliance was accidentally turned on while the child was inside.

Frequently, the children were playing "hide-and-seek" and the appliance or chest provided a deceptively good place to hide. When the door slammed shut, the tight fitting gasket on most of the appliances cut off air to the child. This, along with the insulated construction of the appliance, also prevented the child’s screams from being heard. But abandoned appliances are not the only items involved with accidents like these. Entrapment deaths have been reported in products in use or stored in the kitchen, laundry room, basement, or garage. Deaths also have occurred in ice boxes located in campers parked outside the home.

For the past forty years, the Federal Refrigerator Safety Act has required that refrigerators be capable of being opened from the inside.
 
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sandiegojones

New member
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http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/PhotoLibrary/Dr-01.jpg

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Stoo

Well-known member
sandiegojones said:
There's even a cartoon with a turtle of all things singing a little tune (it's on youtube I bet).

Bert2.png
Bert the Turtle looks sort of like Hanna-Barbera's Touché Turtle from 1962/63 who was a Zorro-type character. ("Touché AWAY!")
Look at him. Can you see some Mutt similarities? A rapier-wielding, vine-swingin' cartoon?:p

2058661134_756ba27aeb.jpg
 

sandiegojones

New member
Despite what some people think, I feel that Spielberg and Lucas may have had the most fun making this film. The other films were period movies but other than the look (or Nazi's) they aren't too time specific.

In KOTCS they went out of their way to acknowledge the 50's because they lived during this time. There are so many things you'd expect to see in a 50's film that are cliche from Elvis and hot rods and diners, but I think they threw in everything they loved since KOTCS has more overt nods to classic films than any of the other in the Indy saga. There's the brief close up of the Converse shoe (the most popular shoe ever) hitting the gas pedal in the opening race, "I like Ike" and doom town (having Howdy Doody on the TV was a nod to their youth I'm sure) to lines like "Smog in the noggin", "daddy-o", "saucer men" and so many film references from Forbidden Planet, THEM, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Body Snatchers, Invaders from Mars, etc.

When they first started working on the story (10-15 years ago) it took place in the 1940's and I think they kind of hit a stalemate, but once they really moved forward and figured it had to be the 50's they all got excited because they could re-connect with their youth while also get back with their friends who they've worked with for so long. I think they really had love for this film and that's why they did it knowing they'd get the backlash for the direction they went.
 

sandiegojones

New member
Check this video out from about 2:30 minutes in to the end.

<embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=4479658576403508568&hl=en&fs=true" style="width:400px;height:326px"
 

martinland

New member
Stoo said:
Bert the Turtle looks sort of like Hanna-Barbera's Touché Turtle from 1962/63 who was a Zorro-type character. ("Touché AWAY!")
Look at him. Can you see some Mutt similarities? A rapier-wielding, vine-swingin' cartoon?:p
BAHAHAHAHA, *roar*! Great one (y) (y) (y) (y)
I love it!

Nice finds all in all!

*tears of joy running down cheeks* (and because I just watched John Williams conducting at age 76 and receiving a gift from Spielberg in 'Adventures in Post Production' ;)

Bye,
Martin
 

Stoo

Well-known member
sandiegojones said:
Check this video out from about 2:30 minutes in to the end.
Excellent footage and photos, sandiego. Thanks for posting them.(y)
martinland said:
BAHAHAHAHA, *roar*! Great one
I love it!
"Touché AWAY!" Mutt is Touché Turtle. Here's another one:

touche-tortue.jpg
 

Indy's brother

New member
Homages to Other Films

It's no secret that Spielberg pays homage to other films in the IJ movies, but I just found one that I doubt anyone noticed. There are more references to other films in KOTCS that we are aware of, so let's post them all here.

"Robinson Crusoe on Mars" (1964)
r_crusoe_8_resized_da9df.jpg

(Plus, this one adds another reference to "Saucermen From Mars"!)
 
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Indy's Fist

New member
For as much as they tried to give this movie a 50's B movie feel, it still feels more like a Saturday morning serial like the original three.
 

Darth Vile

New member
Indy's Fist said:
For as much as they tried to give this movie a 50's B movie feel, it still feels more like a Saturday morning serial like the original three.

I agree... and that's because (delete as appropriate) Spielberg and Lucas were not brave/stupid enough to go with it 100%.
 

James

Well-known member
I feel the middle act is where the film veers closest to the B movie formula, as it imparts a lot of exposition at the risk of becoming "talky".

But I don't think there was ever a chance of them going 100% with the concept. Both Lucas and Spielberg enjoy putting Indy in cliffhanger situations far too much to completely give it up. The Saucermen script is probably the closest they ever came, but even it still reflected Indy's serial roots.
 

Indy's Fist

New member
I've often wondered why with so many of Lucas's films based on, and let's be honest, crappy B/serial movies are fans and audiences so overly critical of these movies? The cheese and camp are what make these movies fun. I mean if they were all serious then it would be Shindler's List not Indy or Star Wars.
 

Indy's brother

New member
Indy's Fist said:
I've often wondered why with so many of Lucas's films based on, and let's be honest, crappy B/serial movies are fans and audiences so overly critical of these movies? The cheese and camp are what make these movies fun. I mean if they were all serious then it would be Shindler's List not Indy or Star Wars.

It's my understanding that as a cinephile, Spielberg would plumb the depths of long forgotten b-movies for any salvageable content. Just because an old movie as a whole sucks, that doesn't mean that there isn't a great shot or two in it. Or just because a film has been forgotten by many, that doesn't mean that it wasn't groundbreaking in it's time.

A perfect example of this (and to make the purpose of this thread more clear) is the original "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1959). This film has been mined for musical inspiration for Indiana Jones, as well as content. In Raiders, the boulder gag, and the ray of light bit from the map room are both from this film.

In KOTCS, there is also a scene directly inspired by this 1959 adventure classic. At the end of both films, the adventurer and his companions escape a crumbling subterranean death trap by being expelled through a vertical cave. In "Journey", lava propels them. In "Kingdom" water propels them.
 

Indy's brother

New member
It could be argued that a flying saucer is such a generic shape that it's appearance in KOTCS could be a composite of the many discs seen in films before it. Yet there is a striking resemblance (imho) between this:

saucerrising(1).jpg


And the ones in "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers":

e3.jpg
 
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