Did the action scenes disappoint?

Let me start by saying I really like this movie. I recognize it's flaws, but I think it stands up well to the others.

But I think for me one of the biggest things that bugged me about the movie was the action scenes. There just weren't a whole lot of the Indy action moments that I loved in the other 3. In a lot of the action, Indy was along for the ride, or a secondary character in the scene. I went back and compared the action scenes from all three movies.

Raiders
The idol Temple/escape from Peru, the bar fight, basket chase, airplane fight, the truck chase - All iconic scenes with Indy the main cog in the action.
The ark being opened is not truly an "action" scene, but is the one scene in the movie where there's a lot happening and Indy isn't the protagonist, but more of a bystander.

Temple of Doom

The nightclub, plane escape, thuggee fight in his bedroom, the fight in the temple with Chatter Lal and co, the fight with Pat Roach on the conveyor, the escape into the mine car chase, and the rope bridge - Again, Indy is the main player in all of these scenes, with Shorty getting a brief piece of the spotlight before the mine car chase

Last Crusade

The train, the ship Coronado, catacombs/boat chase, Castle Brunwald action, motorcycle chase, plane/car chase, tank attack - Indy is the one making it happen in all these scenes

Crystal Skull

Warehouse/Nuclear Blast - Indy is the main player here, and in my opinion the warehouse scene is one of the best in the movie

Motorcycle chase - The highlight is Indy going in the car and coming back out, but Mutt is driving and he is the one that eludes the bad guys

Grave robbing scene - Indy is the main player, but the scene is so short it doesn't give a ton of pleasure in the action

Jungle chase - Most of the action is Mutt - Indy mainly drives around in this scene, while Mutt punches, fences, and swings all over the place

The ant fight - Great fight scene with Indy at the center of it

Climactic scene in the temple - Indy is pretty much just an observer of what is going on

So 6 main action scenes (7 if you want to count the waterfalls, but Indy didn't do much in that scene either), with Indy being at the center of only three of them. I guess it was to be expected that there wouldn't be quite as much stuntwork with Harrison Ford involved because of his age, but I was hoping for more than what we got.

Does anyone else agree?
 

Mothy

Guest
Yep, KOTCS fell flat on its face in the action and suspense stakes. No way near as good as the previous three at all.
 

Quickening

New member
Yeah I mean there was "action" but none of it even comes close to the original trilogy. It was all too clean and shiny. Too sanitised. The bit in Last Crusade where the Nazi falls on the tanks treads and then falls under them had more of the "right stuff" than this entire film. Sigh. This is Indy 4 (n)
Id love it if Vic Armstrong had been on board for this one and we'd had some good old fashioned stuntwork.
 

MolaRam2

New member
The action and suspense moments sucked in Indy 4. Crappy action and no suspense equals a crappy Indy movie. I mean the Campus Chase was okay, but it felt way too safe. The Jungle Chase was okay to a degree, but it was completely ruined by the CGI swinging monkeys which completely destroyed the mood.

Indy 4 felt way to save and an Indy movie should never feel safe. Indy movies are about danger, adventure, and high stakes.
 
Too bad the Jungle Cutter was wasted. Would have been awesome to see Indy vs. Dovchenko and have him get thrown into the cutting wheels. Sure it would have been like the Pat Roach brawl in TOD but that's elemental Indy. Instead, he takes it out with an RPG. Lazy.
 

agentsands77

New member
Yes, the action scenes didn't deliver. They just weren't that exciting or creative. This is one area where Darabont's CITY OF THE GODS definitely did better.
 
Going into the movie, you want to be entertained and thrilled. You're expecting a moment to cheer.

You're anticipating that moment where you can burst into applause or a fist pump after Indiana swings on his whip to escape a blowing up ship or vanquishes the enemy.

During every scene, there never was an 'over the top' climax point that takes you there...

I compare it to:
When Jordan gets the ball with 10 seconds left, you feel the anticipation, anxiety and tension build up...you're expecting something to happen. When he 'inevitably' hits the game-winning jump shot you're beyond primed to celebrate.

Instead, Crystal Skulls was like watching Jordan pass the ball and the backup gets fouled and sinks both free throws to win the game...yeah, we won, but where's that picturesque moment of glory?

Indiana never really takes that last jumpshot. If I wanted to watch Mutt Williams fence and Tarzan it, I'd watch Transformers instead.
 

Salacious

New member
agentsands77 said:
Yes, the action scenes didn't deliver. They just weren't that exciting or creative. This is one area where Darabont's CITY OF THE GODS definitely did better.


I 100% diagree. I didnt find one thing in Darabounts draft that was better except that river sequence, but you are just compariing it to falling off waterfalls without action in KOTC.

At least KOTC had a MUCH better opening sequence and a decent motorbike chase in the first half of the movie.

But KOTC still had weak weak action sequences in the 2nd half of the movie. Very disappointing.

But I am sure as hell happy the Darabount movie didnt get made.
 
Honestly, the best Indiana Jones moment came when Indiana bullwhipped Area 51's ceiling light onto the truck (albeit the wrong one, which was classic).

Also the college chase scene when Indiana jumps into the Russians' car, punches everyone out and jumps out the other side.
 

Dr.Sartorius

New member
I thought every action scene involving Harrison Ford was exciting and played out well.

And Indy was involved in the action during the jungle chase. If you'll recall he began the escape from the cargo truck. He fired the rocket launcher at the jungle cutter and engaged in several fistfights with Mac and the Russian soldiers.

Having said that I think the film could have afforded a couple more major action scenes involving Indy.
 
Dr.Sartorius said:
I thought every action scene involving Harrison Ford was exciting and played out well.

And Indy was involved in the action during the jungle chase. If you'll recall he began the escape from the cargo truck. He fired the rocket launcher at the jungle cutter and engaged in several fistfights with Mac and the Russian soldiers.

Having said that I think the film could have afforded a couple more major action scenes involving Indy.

Yeah, he was involved, and the scene started with him driving the action, but you have to admit that once the scene really got going, the focus of the fighting and stunts was Mutt. He was the one sword fighting the main villain, he was the one swinging on vines, while Indy was in the one vehicle, providing some complementary action.

Look, I didn't think the action overall was as bad as some of these other people are saying it was, I just didn't think Indy was involved enough in it. As I said before, I loved the warehouse scene, the motorcycle chase was good, not great, the jungle chase was good action apart from the vine swinging. But I think the person above who likened it to Jordan passing the ball instead of shooting it really described my feelings. Indy never had that moment where you could get all excited and be like, Yeah, that's what these movies are all about. The closest it came for me was when he jumped out of the truck before the collision, when he slid down on the chain and kicked Dovchenko through the glass, when he jumped back out of the car onto the bike, and when he blew the dart back into the native dude's mouth. But even those great moments weren't quite the stand up and pump your fist moments you hope to see at an Indy movie. And it wasn't Harrison Ford's fault, it was just the way the action was written that never gave him the chance.
 

The Man

Well-known member
To this day people marvel at the centrepiece action sequences of the three originals. Five years from now - hell, one year from now - will people see any dazzle in a farcical, poorly choreographed, CG-heavy romp through a 'Peruvian' jungle? It's doubtful...
 

TheLastCrusader

Active member
The warehouse action scene simply rocked.
The Motorcycle Chase is my favourite piece of action in the movie. This is probably the reason why I'll see the movie another 2 times.
The Grave Robbers fight lacked some gunshooting on Indy's behalf. It was too short and kind of came out of nowhere. Easily the worst action scene in the trilogy, but still has its moments.
The Jungle Chase lacked one thing: Indiana Jones. Too bad... Still enjoyable though.
The fistfight with Dovchenko rules. However...

Agent Spalko said:
Too bad the Jungle Cutter was wasted. Would have been awesome to see Indy vs. Dovchenko and have him get thrown into the cutting wheels. Sure it would have been like the Pat Roach brawl in TOD but that's elemental Indy.
... this would've been awesome. :cool:
 

Crusade>Raiders

New member
I enjoyed the action scenes, and I had a big smile on my face for most of the Jungle Chase, but I wish they're was some excitement in the final act. Indy solving some booby traps, or doing some crazy **** at the end.
 

MaxPhactor23

New member
I actually enjoyed the action scenes to varying degrees. My only beef is the lack of violence in them. It didn?t mesh well with the former films. Couldn?t Indy have shot a single person? Come freaking on! Dropping that gun does not count either! The guy has a gun for a reason. It?s completely different in Temple of Doom. His lack of gunplay makes sense because he didn?t have his gun, plus it?s made up for with more fist fight scenes. It?s completely absurd for him to not use his revolves (or any gun) when he has it.
 

TheLastCrusader

Active member
MaxPhactor23 said:
I actually enjoyed the action scenes to varying degrees. My only beef is the lack of violence in them. It didn?t mesh well with the former films. Couldn?t Indy have shot a single person? Come freaking on! Dropping that gun does not count either! The guy has a gun for a reason. It?s completely different in Temple of Doom. His lack of gunplay makes sense because he didn?t have his gun, plus it?s made up for with more fist fight scenes. It?s completely absurd for him to not use his revolves (or any gun) when he has it.
There's an awesome gunfight/car chase during the opening scene of Temple of Doom. There's more gunplay in ToD than in LC even.
 

Jones_Happens

New member
Personally, I like the action scenes in KOTCS. I will concede the fact that many of them felt a bit safer than the previous films.

I really believe that the Indy/Dovchenko fight scene, however, was one of the most intense in the Indy films.
 

Silentrascal

New member
None of the action scenes in KOTCS were particularly strong; from the warehouse chase in the beginning, to the motorcycle chase across campus, to the jungle chase, or even the Indy/Dovchenko fight (which was probably the MOST lame hand-to-hand fight in an Indy movie to date). Everything felt completely contrived and way too safe, almost as if they didn't even need to hide any of the rigging or cables that were attached to the actors since their movements didn't seem realistic anyway.
 

Jones_Happens

New member
Silentrascal said:
None of the action scenes in KOTCS were particularly strong; from the warehouse chase in the beginning, to the motorcycle chase across campus, to the jungle chase, or even the Indy/Dovchenko fight (which was probably the MOST lame hand-to-hand fight in an Indy movie to date). Everything felt completely contrived and way too safe, almost as if they didn't even need to hide any of the rigging or cables that were attached to the actors since their movements didn't seem realistic anyway.
We'll have to disagree about that.
 

The Man

Well-known member
The bike sequence in Skull isn't a sliver - not one patch - on Crusade's escape from the Nazi castle.
 
Top