We need something original!

I think we need something different in Indy 4. A lot of plot ideas being thrown around seem to focus on the premise of "bad guy tries to find artifact to win war, Indy must stop bad guy." So far, 2/3 of the Indy movies have followed this plot... let's not make it 3/4. At least it made sense in the earlier movies, since they took place at the dawn of WW2, and it is a historical fact that Hitler was obsessed with the occult and he did seek the Holy Grail (well, I doubt he personally went after it, but it was on his "to do" list, if nothing else.) But if Indy4 takes place during the Cold War, it would just be silly and contrived to have Russians seeking a powerful artifact to win the Cold War. We need a new type of enemy, not just a substitute for the Nazis. "Temple Of Doom" broke the mold, and managed to do something different while still remaining true to the spirit of the first character. "Last Crusade" felt like an Indy movie because it basically rehashed "Raiders." For my taste, I'd like to see Indy4 break the mold again while still remaining true to the spirit of the first three films. Surely there are new story ideas that could work, right?

(I know we've had threads on similar topics, but since there isn't a whole lot of new stuff to discuss at the moment, I figured it might be worth hearing what some of the newer visitors to the Raven think about the types of plot and villains we should see in Indy 4.)

I agree with you largely, not just because i dont want to see the same movie again but because when compared to the action and freshness of Raiders and the fun and actual emotion of LC, Indy IV will never be able to match it becasue:
1. The setting robs the series of the perfect villains
2. The world of Indy is lost post WWII
3. Considering the affection the action sequences particularly are held in and the age of Ford etc the action sequences in Indy simply cannot top the trilogy
4. How exactly can you top the Holy Grail?
5. How many more fresh angles are there to the character? (straight action character to resentful son)

But breaking the mould?
I really dont see how many different types of Indy movie can be made, as they do all require there to be an artifact and to be honest Indy IV is not in the postion to play with the expectations of the audience.
But i dont want to see Indy IV follow the formula absolutely, i would like it to stand outside the trilogy with perhaps Indy IV being a little more character driven...

bob said:

But breaking the mould?
I really dont see how many different types of Indy movie can be made, as they do all require there to be an artifact and to be honest Indy IV is not in the postion to play with the expectations of the audience.
But i dont want to see Indy IV follow the formula absolutely, i would like it to stand outside the trilogy with perhaps Indy IV being a little more character driven...

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Thanks for reviving my dying thread, Bob!

I agree with you about the limited nature of Indy films and how it's hard to completely break the mold (actually, that was my argument in another thread in which some people were saying Lucas should have made six or seven Indy movies... there simply isn't enough flexibility to allow for that number of films without it becoming laughably repetitive.)

Yes, there should be an artifact. But it could be handled differently. One idea that has been tossed around this board for a while is that Indy has the object early on, and needs to find a way to destroy it before something bad happens. It's a slight variation on the theme. Temple of Doom varied it a bit from Raiders by letting the bad guys have the artifact from the start, rather than it being a race to acquire it (as in Raiders and Last Crusade.)

Indy 4 shouldn't mess with people's expectations too much, just enough to keep things interesting and to make it memorable. There are subtle ways to do this-- using a setting like Siberia or some other frozen tundra could make Indy 4 stand out as something different, whereas I think it would be a mistake to return to a desert environment.

I'm not sure I agree about it being more character driven. I mean, it SHOULD have some degree of character development, I guess, but not at the expense of good action. This is the last Indy... let it go out with a bang!