Destroying the MacGuffin

Toht's Arm

Active member
Attila the Professor's recent comments in "Why wouldn't Marion tell Indy she had a son" got me thinking. What if at the end of Indy V, he willingly destroys the artifact rather than let it fall into the wrong hands (or even on the basis that it's too dangerous for anyone to possess)? That would trace all the way back to Raiders where he couldn't will himself blow the Ark sky-high, and make for an interesting series character arc...

What do people think?
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
That was Darabont's approach... not the usual Deus ex machina.
TURNER: JONES! NO!
(Indy glances over)
This could be ours! Think of the power! Think of the possibilities!

INDY: I am!

...and BLAM! Indy pulls the trigger. THE CRYSTAL SKULL is shot right between the eyes, EXPLODING into a fantastic shower of spinning crystalline fragments — and an incredible amount of ENERGY erupts as the glowing light is released.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
The Drifter said:
It sounds weak in Darabont's script. I like the idea, but think it could be expanded upon.
Not prodding or anything (Do tell! Do tell!) What are your expansion ideas? And I know it's hard to tell someones tone through text sometimes, but I am being serious. How do you expand on this idea? What would you do?
 

The Drifter

New member
Dr. Gonzo said:
Not prodding or anything (Do tell! Do tell!) What are your expansion ideas? And I know it's hard to tell someones tone through text sometimes, but I am being serious. How do you expand on this idea? What would you do?

For starters the Crystal Skull is too weak of an object to really have any impact if Indy destroys it or not. Most of the viewing public isn't familiar with it. Something Biblical or something steeped in the public's knowledge would have much more emphasis than some obscure relic having to do with 'aliens'.

I haven't read all of the script that Moedred posted a snippet from, so maybe I shouldn't have jumped the gun and said what I did. But, (and I have no idea if this was in said script) Indiana Jones would NEED to acquire said relic or bust. Maybe his job as a professor is on the line, or maybe even his life, or better yet the life of Marion or Mutt? Something greater needs to be at steak for Indiana then merely 'keeping relic from bad guy'. Something personal, and if he destroys it, that will be taken from him, or at least there would be a great chance that it's gone.

That would show Indiana Jones in a new light for me. He's always seemed sorta selfish in a way (some may argue this opinion, I'm sure). And the times that he wasn't, his actions were always for the museum.
So by making him acquire the McGuffin for another party to save his job, life, family, etc and then seeing it's horrible power, and thus destroying it - well, that would give it a whole new layer IMO.

I'm not the best at explaining these type of things, and I do hope that this was not a muddled mess.
 
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Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
I'm not a fan of Darabont, but I really like the idea of destroying the MacGuffin. Heck it would've been a better climax than what we got.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Indy versus the Aliens.

Just as Irina asks to know everything, Indy levels a rocket launcher at the living artfacts, and, to misquote Aliens, yells something along the lines of:

"Leave my b!tch alone!"
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Forbidden Eye said:
I'm not a fan of Darabont, but I really like the idea of destroying the MacGuffin. Heck it would've been a better climax than what we got.

You don't like The Shawshank Redemption, The Walking Dead, The Green Mile or The Mist? (and to a lesser extent A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors?) :eek:
 

Indy's brother

New member
Toht's Arm said:
That would trace all the way back to Raiders where he couldn't will himself blow the Ark sky-high, and make for an interesting series character arc...

New Villian: "Go ahead, blow it up--"
Indy: "OK."
Indy blows the thing up with a dead serious grimace.

I could see it. It would be a nice little bookend if done right, and no one would see it coming.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
The Drifter said:
Anyone else with any other interesting ideas to share?
Indy using the MacGuffin to spice up the hanky-panky stuff with Marion?





<small>See? Yours wasn't that bad.</small>
 

IAdventurer01

Well-known member
Finn said:
Indy using the MacGuffin to spice up the hanky-panky stuff with Marion?

So, the villain is zombie Belloq trying to woo Marion away from Indy and racing our hero to the MacGuffin which is a magnet of another sort? ;)
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
IAdventurer01 said:
So, the villain is zombie Belloq trying to woo Marion away from Indy and racing our hero to the MacGuffin which is a magnet of another sort?
Now that sounds like something straight out of San Fernando Valley.





Though when compared to the plot of KotCS...
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Now if Indy were to destroy the object it would probably boil down to finding the object at the very end, ie No back n' forth like: the good guys have it, wait now the bad guys have it, ok the good guys have it again.

It would have to be something that Indy starts off knowing, or discovers through the course of the film, is too dangerous to be kept around. He WILL destroy it when he finds it. That's kind interesting now isn't it? Indy's soul purpose for finding this object would be not "fortune and glory" but saving humanity. I think that would give it a somewhat fresh spin and if the beards were to continue I'd prefer to see this. This isn't Indy's first rodeo, he knows these types of objects are too dangerous for any one person or any group of people to get there hands on.

Actually the more I talk about it the more I like it. A lot of the film could deal with Indy struggling with "it belongs in a museum" vs. "I'm gonna blow up the ark Rene". Could be interesting.

but alas we'll never see it happen
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
The Drifter said:
For starters the Crystal Skull is too weak of an object to really have any impact if Indy destroys it or not.
100% this. I'd agree. It would have to be something, I don't know, quite legendary and possibly a little frightening.
 

The Drifter

New member
Dr. Gonzo said:
100% this. I'd agree. It would have to be something, I don't know, quite legendary and possibly a little frightening.

Yes!
The Skull was too weak. It didn't deliver enough "umph" for the viewer to be invested in it's mythos.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Finn said:
Indy using the MacGuffin to spice up the hanky-panky stuff with Marion?

Family.Guy.426.Petergeist%5B(029251)13-57-27%5D.JPG
 

Toht's Arm

Active member
Indy's brother said:
New Villian: "Go ahead, blow it up--"
Indy: "OK."
Indy blows the thing up with a dead serious grimace.

I could see it. It would be a nice little bookend if done right, and no one would see it coming.

That was my thinking exactly. We have four movies now, three with very similar endgames. It's the fact that ToD is so different from the others that has led to me appreciating it more and more over time... I'd love the fifth one to not be obsessed with sticking to the formula...
 
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