Indy V as a Hammer Film

Jones Disciple

Active member
sandiegojones said:

Sandiegojones,

Medusa is a great idea and it is nice to see that someone else had already thought about it. But it probably has little chance of being incorporated into an Indiana Jones film as it appears a new Clash of the Titans movie is being filmed right now which just happens to have been scripted by Lawrence Kasdan. I don?t think they will want to cover the same subject so soon after someone else has, which is one of the main reasons Saucer Men From Mars was halted after ID4.
 

Darth Vile

New member
deckard24 said:
Lee could be a great villain, but he wouldn't be a very physical one, he'd be more along the lines of a mastermind like Belloq or Donovan. The only issue is his age these days, and his ability to actually take part in a film that spans the globe.

Agreed - As much as my heart would love to see him in an Indy movie, my head says otherwise. Gary Oldman would make a great "Hammer Horror" type villain though (especially with those Dracula connections). ;)
 

Indie House

New member
deckard24 said:
When each of the McGuffins from the first three films were revealed in the finale, they had supernatural elements but no true movie monsters (giant serpents, Minotaurs, werewolves, vampires, that sort of thing).

Of course the Indy films aren't about total realism, but for the most part everything but the big finale reveal has been, and to introduce true Harryhausen style monsters would seem out of the realm of Indy.

I agree with you on these points but also think Greek mythology could be a great backdrop if handled well.

I certainly do not credit myself as any kind of writer but have pondered this scenario before:

Have Indy arrive at the summit of a snow covered mountain. As he steps through a hidden entrance he is greeted with Greek architecture, tables, chairs, clothing and jewelry left strewn and abandoned. The unusual thing about this landscape is the enormous scale of everything. The ceiling vanishes almost from sight and the furniture towers above. As Indy enters a darkened room he strikes a match. Revealed are the skeletal remains of a giant animal, not dissimilar to dinosaur bones but with differences to that which has ever been seen.

The question resonates as to whether these are the remains of an ancient civilization of giants or the fabled Gods of Olympus. The evidence could suggest either.

Perhaps Greek Mythology could work without the blatant littering of CG creatures or monsters.

:hat:
 
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emtiem

Well-known member
Snakes said:
Anyone else come across this poster? Too bad this film was never made.


Yes, it's marvellously insane that poster, isn't it? :) I've always wanted a copy of that.

Okay; I'm sold- Indy has a perilous cable car ride up to the evil castle on the mountainside whilst under attack from Pterodactyls! :D
 

sandiegojones

New member
Jones Disciple said:
Sandiegojones,

Medusa is a great idea and it is nice to see that someone else had already thought about it. But it probably has little chance of being incorporated into an Indiana Jones film as it appears a new Clash of the Titans movie is being filmed right now which just happens to have been scripted by Lawrence Kasdan. I don’t think they will want to cover the same subject so soon after someone else has, which is one of the main reasons Saucer Men From Mars was halted after ID4.
Oh, I'm sure they'd never go that route, but Greek mythology is a good way to go (Kasdan wrote the new Clash of the Titans screenplay BTW so perhaps he could come up with some Indy plot lines since he's been steeped in Greek myth recently?).

I was proud of how I used Medusa's head in my little story! Stone Nazi's.

As far as a fifth film, Lucas always wanted to do a "ghost film" with Indy. That was his original idea for a sequel before TOD. I could see it happening since we've already seen the spirits of the Ark and an 800 year old knight. We all know Lucas likes to go back to old ideas.

It'd be fun to watch an Indy film and actually be scared and have that quiet tension of classic horror movies. Are there any historically haunted places outside of the U.S. that also have a historical or spiritual setting?
 

deckard24

New member
Darth Vile said:
Agreed - As much as my heart would love to see him in an Indy movie, my head says otherwise. Gary Oldman would make a great "Hammer Horror" type villain though (especially with those Dracula connections). ;)
Yeah Oldman would make another great villain, and a fun nod to Air Force One.

I'm still really into the idea of another rival archaeologist, maybe a younger one.
Originally Posted by Indie House
I agree with you on these points but also think Greek mythology could be a great backdrop if handled well.

I certainly do not credit myself as any kind of writer but have pondered this scenario before:

Have Indy arrive at the summit of a snow covered mountain. As he steps through a hidden entrance he is greeted with Greek architecture, tables, chairs, clothing and jewelry left strewn and abandoned. The unusual thing about this landscape is the enormous scale of everything. The ceiling vanishes almost from sight and the furniture towers above. As Indy enters a darkened room he strikes a match. Revealed are the skeletal remains of a giant animal, not dissimilar to dinosaur bones but with differences to that which has ever been seen.

The question resonates as to whether these are the remains of an ancient civilization of giants or the fabled Gods of Olympus. The evidence could suggest either.

Perhaps Greek Mythology could work without the blatant littering of CG creatures or monsters.

If they could pull it off without over the top CGI monsters, it might be interesting. The islands of Greece would offer a fantastic backdrop for an Indy film!

Originally Posted by Snakes
Anyone else come across this poster? Too bad this film was never made.

That is an awesome poster!
 

Johnny Nys

Member
Mm, what about the Gates of Hades? Although an actual three-headed dog might be over the top, it might be used metaphorically, perhaps even some kind of booby-trapped statue where you have to choose the right "path" of three?
 

James

Well-known member
deckard24 said:
I think a giant snake could work, after all there have been documented cases of snakes up to 30 feet long. http://www.reptileknowledge.com/articles/article17.php

The issue with the City of the Gods snake wasn't really the size, but the fact that it swallowed Indy whole.

deckard24 said:
The only question is, are we talking a snake like the one in Anaconda, or something the size of the one from King Kong(1976)?

I always think of James Earl Jones turning into that giant snake in Conan The Barbarian.
 

deckard24

New member
James said:
The issue with the City of the Gods snake wasn't really the size, but the fact that it swallowed Indy whole.
Yeah a snake that swallows Indy whole sounds a bit much!
Originally Posted by James
I always think of James Earl Jones turning into that giant snake in Conan The Barbarian.
You know I thought of Conan as well when you mentioned the giant snake angle for a fifth film.
 

Perhilion

New member
as much as I'd love to see it, I don't think an Indy horror film would work. It wouldn't be scary 'cause Indy is in it and he aint afraid of no ghost.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
avidfilmbuff, I like the idea of Indy V as a horror movie, but not really in the Hammer-style, as it maybe a bit too 'campy'. That may be the wrong term, but Hammer were renowned for being lurid and gory.

Perhilion said:
as much as I'd love to see it, I don't think an Indy horror film would work. It wouldn't be scary 'cause Indy is in it and he aint afraid of no ghost.

There would be limitations in the horror genre due to the age-range that the film would have to encompass. On those grounds, Indy V could be creepy, rather than gory. I remember a disney ghost film from long ago that built up quite a creepy tension.

I tend to view the worlds of Indy and Hellboy as similar - they are both really investigators who encounter strange, unexplained phenomena. The problem with most ghost and horror stories, though, is that the tension in the build-up is usually so much better than the actual reveal of the ghost/creature.

With an Indy film it's the journey of discovery that he makes that's important, as that's where the cliffhangers and adventure lie.

The ghost story at the beginning of the Monkey King script got a bit wild, but the premise was a good one.

So far with Indy movies we have seen Ghosts, the power of the Ark, a working voodoo doll, an 800-year-old knight, a wound-healing cup, beings from another dimension.

On that basis it's been a pretty wild journey so far, so the options are really still open for almost anything to turn up in Indy V.

I like the idea of the undead (Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead meets Hellboy: The Lost Army). It's a story that could take place in Africa, as that's the original source of voodoo, and is still practised there. I could see a film that begins in a creepy old European haunted castle, and then moves to Africa as the investigation develops.
 
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Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Montana Smith said:
I could see a film that begins in a creepy old European haunted castle, and then moves to Africa as the investigation develops.

Which is, of course, something the Big 3 once envisioned as well, so it's not out of the question. Of course, much of their Africa (and of their creepy castle, for that matter), made their way into Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so the likelihood of Africa is anyone's guess.

One big element that hasn't shown up yet, which would be a likely guess, but which almost certainly wouldn't coincide with any horror-esque plot about zombies, is river pirates. Pirates and the undead - a combination that the Disney trilogy has now rendered impossible.
 

emtiem

Well-known member
This is still a great idea; I'd like to see an Indy in this vein. We need a secret cult of Devil worshippers (all of which occupy high places in society, natch) who are working to resurrect the Beast himself! :D
And dinosaurs. Maybe robots too. ;)
 

Darth Vile

New member
emtiem said:
This is still a great idea; I'd like to see an Indy in this vein. We need a secret cult of Devil worshippers (all of which occupy high places in society, natch) who are working to resurrect the Beast himself! :D
And dinosaurs. Maybe robots too. ;)

Sounds like Doctor Who territory... ;)
 

avidfilmbuff

New member
emtiem said:
This is still a great idea; I'd like to see an Indy in this vein. We need a secret cult of Devil worshippers (all of which occupy high places in society, natch) who are working to resurrect the Beast himself! :D
And dinosaurs. Maybe robots too. ;)

Well I don't know about dinosaurs and robots, but Indy placed against another sinister cult led by Christopher Lee is in my opinion a great story option. Dartmoor would be the ideal setting since that was the setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles, which, besides being Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous book, was also one of Hammer's best films. I think if Spielberg and Lucas do decide to go this route, that particular film should be their main source of inspiration.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
avidfilmbuff said:
Well I don't know about dinosaurs and robots, but Indy placed against another sinister cult led by Christopher Lee is in my opinion a great story option. Dartmoor would be the ideal setting since that was the setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles, which, besides being Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous book, was also one of Hammer's best films. I think if Spielberg and Lucas do decide to go this route, that particular film should be their main source of inspiration.

Yes, Hound of the Baskervilles was one of Doyle's most atmospheric stories, and Dartmoor can be a creepy and lonely location, especially with a mist descending...

The premise of the story is a lot less lurid than most of Hammer's output. Christopher Lee would be an excellent choice for the main villain, heading a cult. Hopefully it would be more of a Cthulhu type of cult than the villagers he lead in 'The Whicker Man' (which was a creepy film for different reasons). No doubt Mr. Lee would have obtained some rare artifact for use in a special ceremony out on the moor...

Hound of the Baskervilles also illustrates my view that the best parts of creepy tales or horror stories are the build-up rather than the reveal. It was inevitable that Holmes would find a rational explanation for the stories of the ghostly hound. Did Hammer manage to follow Doyle's story? I don't think I ever saw their version, though I remember their 'Golem' film with Don Henderson and a creepy moor.
 

avidfilmbuff

New member
Montana Smith said:
Yes, Hound of the Baskervilles was one of Doyle's most atmospheric stories, and Dartmoor can be a creepy and lonely location, especially with a mist descending...

The premise of the story is a lot less lurid than most of Hammer's output. Christopher Lee would be an excellent choice for the main villain, heading a cult. Hopefully it would be more of a Cthulhu type of cult than the villagers he lead in 'The Whicker Man' (which was a creepy film for different reasons). No doubt Mr. Lee would have obtained some rare artifact for use in a special ceremony out on the moor...

Hound of the Baskervilles also illustrates my view that the best parts of creepy tales or horror stories are the build-up rather than the reveal. It was inevitable that Holmes would find a rational explanation for the stories of the ghostly hound. Did Hammer manage to follow Doyle's story? I don't think I ever saw their version, though I remember their 'Golem' film with Don Henderson and a creepy moor.

There were some changes. Holmes has more time in the story, which is an improvement in my opinion. It has that same creepiness. And I don't want to give any spoilers, but a character who wasn't a villain in the story is one in the film. And that particular character's relationship to the villain in both the film and book is different in both versions.

Despite its changes, it still is a good film, overall.
 
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