Saucer Men From Mars script
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MolaRam2
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Okay, I just read the Saucer Men script. I don't see exactly how KOTCS is a homage to 50s sci-fi movies other than the fact that an alien and a flying saucer (plus a dead alien) briefly (and I mean briefly appear). Saucer Men was a much better homage to 50s sci-fi movies. The script had some issues that needed to be polished like the ending, but it's not as bad as the KOTCS by any means (at least judging from what I saw on screen). Would Saucer Men be a good Indiana Jones movie in the traditional sense? No way. Would Saucer Men be a good tribute to 50s sci fi? Most definately, if they got the ending and some other problems worked out.
The main other problem I have aside from the ending is the doomtown sequence. The usage of the fridge in Saucer men isn't as idiotic as it is in KOTCS, but it is still pretty dumb.
There are several pluses over KOTCS such as: Indy fires his gun, far less boring exposition, no needless secondary characters, no CGI prarie dogs, no CGI monkeys, no 3 waterfalls, no flying fridge, no space between spaces, better death of villian, more focused.
I am against an Indy movie taking place in America for a considerable amount of time, but it's still better than KOTCS.
The main other problem I have aside from the ending is the doomtown sequence. The usage of the fridge in Saucer men isn't as idiotic as it is in KOTCS, but it is still pretty dumb.
There are several pluses over KOTCS such as: Indy fires his gun, far less boring exposition, no needless secondary characters, no CGI prarie dogs, no CGI monkeys, no 3 waterfalls, no flying fridge, no space between spaces, better death of villian, more focused.
I am against an Indy movie taking place in America for a considerable amount of time, but it's still better than KOTCS.
"Saucermen" is the movie that Lucas wanted to make in the first place.
KOTCS is a result of compromise with Spielberg and Ford not wanting to make an all-out alien/saucer movie... and Lucas refusing to give all the way on some of the key ideas (rocket sled, nuked fridge, Roswell, aliens, spacecraft, ants, etc) that were there all along.
KOTCS is a result of compromise with Spielberg and Ford not wanting to make an all-out alien/saucer movie... and Lucas refusing to give all the way on some of the key ideas (rocket sled, nuked fridge, Roswell, aliens, spacecraft, ants, etc) that were there all along.
MolaRam2
New member
IrishJedi said:
Judging from the script, I like the rocket sled and ant scene alot better in Saucermen. There seemed to be more tension in these scenes in the Saucermen script, plus Indy spraying oil on the enemy and than the enemy burning up on the rocket sled was alot more badass than anything in KOTCS.
Jonesy9906753
Well-known member
aha! i've found it! http://www.simplyscripts.com/i.html
CasualJeff
New member
James said:
Agreed. I rolled my eyes when I read this in the script. "Now, instead of shooting you now, I will hang you upsidedown with a rope and light a fire and wait for the fire to slowly burn through the rope so that you fall onto ants which will eat you! And now I will make my escape! Bwahaha!"
Still, Saucer Men had a lot going for it. The fake wedding scene sounded awesome, and I liked the doomtown sequence a little bit better. (It's more triumphant, and less cartooney. Although I still loved the KotCS version.)
Also I liked that they had an action sequence on a plane at the end. It seemed kind of boring in script form, but I'm sure Spielberg would have planned it out in an exciting way. A plane action sequence is great--the next big step from the previous films. We had a truck fight, a tank fight, and now a plane fight.
The ending definitely needed some work. The drive-in/make-out scene--that was another eye-roller. And the movie could have used some exotic locations. They should have had the aliens come to a snowy climate to retrieve the artifact, or something cooler. I think KotCS is a lot better than this script, but I still like a lot of elements here. They should have given it one more rewrite and then made it back in the early 90's.
Oh... when walker wrote "each page is stamped with the Lucasfilm stamp that identifies each page as being from Indy 4, draft 4" I thought at first he had a different draft... but apparently that's what "4JON004" means. Took me 3 years to figure that out. Though it could mean trusted recipient number 4. I'm still amazed how bad security was in the 90's, especially at Lucasfilm.
KarmicCurse
New member
It's no longer available through that link. Can someone please re-upload it?
KarmicCurse said:
Scroll up a bit - it's available at Moedred's site.
RaideroftheArk
New member
MolaRam2 said:
Was that not enough?
How about "big damn ants"... Although not as big as the ants from THEM!, one could definitely see some homage paid, just with that statement, to the 1954 film.
I wouldn't say that the entire movie is a homage to only Sci-Fi movies of the 1950's but also to some of the adventure movies of that area as well.
At a certain point, the Saucer Men from Mars script felt like MARS ATTACKS featuring Indiana Jones. KOTCS at least balanced aspects of Sci-Fi with Adventure as another poster already stated.
To me, this gave it better separation from the previous movies, but kept it in a familiar territory.
The fridge scene was a little better in the script, I think it would have let audiences wrap their brain around his survival a little better...but the one that was filmed was hilarious...seeing old Harrison roll out of that fridge all disheveled with his hat brim meshed up was pretty funny.
Also the fact that a nuclear bomb was used for a relatively non-serious purpose. Although, to really capture the sci-fi feel, Indy should be 55 feet tall in the fifth one.
RaideroftheArk
New member
Attila the Professor said:
LOL...spot on.
"Indiana Jones Vs. The World"
Indyologist
Well-known member
It was interested perusing the past fears, issues and interests in this older thread now that KOTCS is reality. Look it over. For those of you who posted in this thread, have your feelings or thoughts changed? Do you have any new observations to add?
KarmicCurse
New member
Sorry but I never actually did find the link to that download. 
KarmicCurse said:Sorry but I never actually did find the link to that download.
Moedred's livejournal. There's a number of links to it up there.
As an alternative to my odd html formatting, here's the pdf.
http://www.mediafire.com/?aylwgwgt8xf
http://www.mediafire.com/?aylwgwgt8xf
One things for sure: Saucer Men From Mars would have been a very, very interesting experiment.
God knows if it would have worked or not, but it would have been very interesting.
They took the right approach with Crystal Skull, I think. Push the boundaries and do fresh, new things but keep it familiar at the same time.
God knows if it would have worked or not, but it would have been very interesting.
They took the right approach with Crystal Skull, I think. Push the boundaries and do fresh, new things but keep it familiar at the same time.