indyjones2131 said:
Whenever Lucas has spoken in the last 10 years (and recently regarding Red Tails), he's downplayed EVERYTHING he's involved in as being intentionally cheesy or goofy. It's clear that he knows he's lost "it", and is trying his best to temper expectations to create a sort of can't lose scenario. Raiders may have lighter moments, but the cheese level is NOWHERE NEAR what is found in the SW prequels or KOTCS
Also, as far as if they intentionally made KOTCS a bad movie -yeah they did in a way. They intentionally went with a bad concept, fake sets instead of shooting on location, CG, a goofy take on a legendary movie character, etc.
They HAD to know better.
Not necessarily. It was more like (on Steven's part): "Harrison is getting older every day. The fans want a movie. The public in general wants a movie. They've been aching for it. George won't really budge on the aliens thing, which I don't want and Harrison isn't into. I loved Frank's script, George rejected it. We've been at this standstill since 1993. He says we'll call them "Interdimensional Beings", whatever that means. Fine, whatever. George says he'll bend by putting the crystal skull element in, making it more adventure like. I don't really want to do this film, we left it golden back in 1989, but Harrison, George and the fans want it. I'll just go along and have my closer, David Koepp, do as best as he can, before Harrison gets too old. And I'll finally be able to get an atomic test scene in a film, something I've wanted since 1981. And maybe be able to promote Shia as a credible star."
On Harrison's end: "I loved playing Indiana Jones. It wasn't crappy written dialogue like Star Wars, and it's a lot of fun to do, it's a great character and it's my signature role. I haven't been a top grossing movie star since
What Lies Beneath. So, the fans want another romp, George wants another, I want to go back and revisit Indy and show everyone I still got it, and maybe this'll re-establish me as a blockbuster star."
George's end: "You know, working with Harrison in 1992 during Young Indiana Jones, I realized...We could make another Raiders picture. And then I thought, you know, Harrison's a little older now, we can't set it in the 1930s anymore. The 1940s..I don't know, 1949 maybe. But the 1950s....What's a good analogue for the 1950s? Aliens. Science Fiction B-Movies are to the '50s what Pulp Serials were to the '30s, so it's only natural that if Jones is moved into the 1950s, he comes up against aliens. And you've got the greasers and Russians running around wrecking havoc. And we've seen with the novels and video games' successes that the public is hungry for more Indy. Let's do it. We'll add in some references to the YIJC for the fanboys, bring back Marion to delight the fans, give Indy a child to possibly take up the mantle. It'll be great."
So production rolls on and there's both a sense of unease, a sense of compromise and excitement. It feels like it's 1989 all over again, like it's a family reunion, the beards have compromised, this is the last shot we got of seeing Harry on screen as Indy. It's Indiana Jones, what could go wrong?
That's probably the thought processes that were at work. Not "Hey, let's do everything we can to ruin Indiana Jones and upset the fans." It wasn't flipping us the bird. We were very much in mind. But they went into this with a compromise of a story, the result of one guy having a very clear vision and a desire to do this, and the other guy not really wanting to do it at all, and Harrison egging both on to do it, all while also wanting to please the fans as much as possible. They wanted to make the movie they wanted to see, while also wanting to please the fans, and that's haphazard. And it's the result of two film makers who are older guys, fathers, and have softened up and are willing to laugh more, and it's taking into account Harrison being almost elderly and having to work with and around that, as well as George's obsession with the '50s and science fiction.
Raiders wasn't made with any "fans" in mind. It was purely the film George and Steven wanted to see, and together with Larry Kasdan they made it a reality. Purely their own nostalgia for 1930s and 1940s serials mixing with late 70s/early 80s film sensibilities and a desire to do something unique. It was a film by George, Steven and Larry, with their own enjoyment in mind, and it happened to be a huge hit. TOD was the result of their personal turmoil bleeding over onto the screen, again a movie flowing purely from their creative juices and not from any desire to "please the fans." LC was made to apologize to the fans, send Indy off on a high note and as such we get a rather formulaic, "safe" romp with Sean Connery on board which was supposed to end the series triumphantly.
So you come to KOTCS, which feels uneven and rushed because it's cobbled from several scripts in a weak compromise, plus a rush to get it done before Harrison gets too old, plus Lucas and Spielberg being older and more politically the correct, the question of "should we address Harrison's age or not in the fim", plus Shia, plus loads of fan service and references since the project was for the fans from the outset, with a sense of finality and closure.