The fate of Mac and the Soviets?

As my mom and I were driving home from the theater last night, we got to talking about the ending and how Oxley says the aliens are interdimensional beings and they and their craft basically go through a sort of portal/vortex into their home dimension, and we both wondered about Mac and the Soviets who got sucked in. Obviously, I think we can write Spalko off since her body disintegrates into nothing, but Mac and the soldiers are all sucked in intact. Do they die? What's it like on the other side?

My mom pointed out that the aliens survived in our dimension just fine, and they knew about farming and agriculture, so, she reasoned, their dimension must be similar to our own. Which means, provided they survive the trip through, Mac and the Soviets would be able to survive there. It looked to us like they were actually being sucked into the flying saucer itself, too. I think this is also the means by which the alien(s) intended to board the vessel, as well.

So, food for discussion. Does Mac mean it when he says he'll be alright? Or are he and the Soviets pretty much screwed? I know most sites (especially Moviedeaths.com and the Indiana Jones Wiki) equate being taken through the portal as being killed. But how do we define death when alternate dimensions are involved?

Perhaps their bodies die, yet the people themselves survive as altered entities. Bit like the afterlife, perhaps?

I have no idea. Everything could be possible since no hints where given, it was also impossible to recognise anything going on inside the vortex.
Also, it is clear that Spalko's ending was meant to be a clear death, but for me it could be also interpreted as a teleportation process. And the pain you say? Well, remember that the original body has to be annihilated and I seriously doubt that such thing will go as smoothly as suggested in Star Trek

The entire ending sequence was a bit unclear... Would the same brainmelt have happened to Indy if he had returned the skull where it belonged to (like he seemed to be trying to do)?

And why did the aliens have a spaceship if they also had interdimensional portals that they could have used?

Dr. Wolfwood said:

And why did the aliens have a spaceship if they also had interdimensional portals that they could have used?

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I've wondered about that too? The one aspect of the departure I did like was the disappearance of the 'saucer' once the rubble and dust had settled. Much more subtle than watching it 'fly into space'. Or into the space between spaces...

Dr. Wolfwood said:

The entire ending sequence was a bit unclear... Would the same brainmelt have happened to Indy if he had returned the skull where it belonged to (like he seemed to be trying to do)?

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I discussed this with a friend and I think the alien(s) knew Spalko was evil and so deliberately overloaded her brain. In the book, there are other would-be conquerors whose corpses also have the eyes burned out, set up outside of the throne room, which I wish had been in the movie.

So, to my way of thinking, the Crystal Skull throughout the movie was technically alive. It communicated with Oxley and briefly with Indy, too. Therefore it would know about Spalko's evil plans, and, also, one could argue that while uploading the knowledge into her mind the alien(s) saw in her mind what she had done to the Ugha, to the people they had helped and been worshipped by, and thus disintegrated her.

Thus once again, we learn that being evil never pays off in the end, and, to paraphrase Kazim, for the unrighteous, the [insert relic or power here] holds everlasting damnation.

So, I don't think Indy would've been killed if he had been the one to receive the gift of knowledge, because he would not have misused it as Spalko clearly intended to.

Of course this is all just speculation on my part.

Kooshmeister said:

My mom pointed out that the aliens survived in our dimension just fine, and they knew about farming and agriculture, so, she reasoned, their dimension must be similar to our own. Which means, provided they survive the trip through, Mac and the Soviets would be able to survive there. It looked to us like they were actually being sucked into the flying saucer itself, too. I think this is also the means by which the alien(s) intended to board the vessel, as well.

So, food for discussion. Does Mac mean it when he says he'll be alright? Or are he and the Soviets pretty much screwed? I know most sites (especially Moviedeaths.com and the Indiana Jones Wiki) equate being taken through the portal as being killed. But how do we define death when alternate dimensions are involved?

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Now that'd be interesting. Mac and the commies living off in another dimension as 'alien' farmers. "I'm gonna be alright, Jonesy! I'm gonna be a farmer!"

Dr. Wolfwood said:

And why did the aliens have a spaceship if they also had interdimensional portals that they could have used?

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I think the implication was that the "spaceship" didn't operate the way we traditionally think of one. It was basically just a machine that could open the interdimensional vortex- not fly around from planet to planet. (By suggesting that the Roswell aliens were of the same race, this means that their ship operated in the same manner.)

I just can't accept that Spalko died....

I will always think that she "rejoined" elsewhere, and is perhaps stuck at a table, playing cards with the aliens...Irina trying to read what cards the aliens are holding...and vice versa......

Agent Z said:

I just can't accept that Spalko died....

I will always think that she "rejoined" elsewhere, and is perhaps stuck at a table, playing cards with the aliens...Irina trying to read what cards the aliens are holding...and vice versa......

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She certainly has quite a poker-face...


"Am I vinning? Vou tell me..."

The Man said:

She certainly has quite a poker-face...

"Am I vinning? Vou tell me..."

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Crude moment coming up: Man I would so hit that! Ok, it's out of my system now.

Forrestal1972 said:

Crude moment coming up: Man I would so hit that! Ok, it's out of my system now.

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You fiend!

It bothers me that a snivelling turd like Mac would say I'm gonna be alright as he teeters on the brink of death. Surely his response would be to scream and weep like the coward he is? Awful writing.

The Man said:

You fiend!

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Tell me you wouldn't! Deny and I withhold Nurhatchi!

Connery's Toupe said:

It bothers me that a snivelling turd like Mac would say I'm gonna be alright as he teeters on the brink of death. Surely his response would be to scream and weep like the coward he is? Awful writing.

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Awful writing? Try everything between the Paramount Logo and the final credits. That's awful writing.

Forrestal1972 said:

Tell me you wouldn't! Deny and I withhold Nurhatchi!

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Oh, I would! I was simply acknowledging a fellow-fiend.

Forrestal1972 said:

Awful writing? Try everything between the Paramount Logo and the final credits. That's awful writing.

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Oh yes. I forgot. Sorry about the small omission.

Connery's Toupe said:

It bothers me that a snivelling turd like Mac would say I'm gonna be alright as he teeters on the brink of death. Surely his response would be to scream and weep like the coward he is? Awful writing.

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I don't know - I think there's some clear self-loathing going on in this guy. He's not happy that he went over to the wrong side, and he's not happy that he's greedy, but he is the way he is.

Also, I have to disagree with those who say that Spalko was killed because she was evil. It was making a point about knowledge, and, really, about the communist pretension to science, saying that if you were to know everything, you really have to be either God or dead. No mere human has that potential. Hubris, gang.

Its not awful writing, Mac had accepted the fact that he was a traitorous ******* who was getting what he deserved. His reassuring last words to Indy was meant so that Indy wouldnt keep trying to save him, thus getting himself killed in the process.

On the walls, was it just me or did the pictographs/hieroglyphs of the aliens appear to be wearing protective suits with breathing units on them? It looked like helmets and gear. So, if they were just being cautious, no worries...but if they had to adapt and work up a tolerance because their native air was different, Mac and the Reds, um, yeah...iAdios!