Discuss Chapter 5 - Mutt Williams (DVD chapter by chapter discussion)

Some more exposition and some more action! It's...

Chapter 5 - Mutt Williams
27:38 - 36:56


"No time for laughs Mister Mutt!"

(description pulled from the Indiana Jones Wiki)
Jones decides that there is nothing left for him at the university, so he buys a train ticket to New York. Shortly after boarding the train, however, he is confronted by Mutt Williams who asks him if he's ever met Harold Oxley. Mutt gives Indiana a letter that was sent by his mother, Mary Williams. Two KGB agents try to capture Indy and Mutt when they were at a bar, but a Greaser and Soc fight breaks out and the archaeologist and his new sidekick get away. A brief University campus chase starts, but it ends when one of the two pursuing Russian cars crashes into a statue of the now deceased Marcus Brody while the other car is cut short when Indy and Mutt take a shortcut through the library.

Chapter Index:
Chapter 1 - Nevada, 1957
Chapter 2 - The Warehouse
Chapter 3 - I Like Ike
Chapter 4 - Of Interest to the Bureau

Once again Please no trolling or bashing of the film. The word "sucks" isn't a valid form of explaining why you hate something. I'd like a friendly discussion for those who enjoy the film and watching it on the small screen.

One of my favorite scenes (the fact that I'm a Shia fan I think makes me a bit biased, but...), everything from Mutt's entrance, to the jock/greaser fight, and finally, the motorcycle chase (an improvement on LC's) is pitch perfect. Its also where we get our first hint at things to come...

Oh, and on a side note, I love how Mutt refers to Marion as 'Mary'. Called it in the theatres, but I love Indy's response.

This is the part i was kind of dreading in cinemas. Shia. However, I really don't think he was bad in Indiana Jones, and after his jungle antics, he doesn't especially take center stage much. So, I do enjoy these scenes. I like the diner scene too, when Indy explains about Akator and the skulls power - only then to reveal at the end he has no idea of what the power is, because it is just a story.

I thought the scene where the bike chase begins to the "A Whirl through Academe" was good.I like when Indy gets dragged in the car and climbs out the other side.

As for Marcus's statue head, whilst I do agree, I don't think Indy would become like his dad (I hate when he says "This is intolerable!" when running from the junglecamp) - however, I can believe Indy would scowl at Mutt here - some greaser boy he hardly knows is laughing at the fact "the head of some guy's statue" has broken off and landed in the car. But as we all know to Indy, it isn't just "some guy", we all know to Indy, Marcus was a good friend who has recently died, so I don't think Indy no matter what his age, would giggle along with the fact some punk he hardly knows.

This chapter has some nice moments. I particularly like Indy's initial disinterest in Mutt. Instead of asking why he's looking for him, he just tells him to look out for the end of the platform. The conversation in the diner is good too. More of Indy not taking the local myths too seriously. It's still about the archeology for him. He's not even terribly concerned with whoever Mutt's mother is.

The motorcycle chase is vintage Indy-keeping-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat stuff.

Also worth a mention; Chapter 5 has the prettiest girl to ever appear in an Indiana Jones film.

StoneTriple said:

Also worth a mention; Chapter 5 has the prettiest girl to ever appear in an Indiana Jones film.

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Who, yo momma?

Ah ha ha ha ha ha!

StoneTriple said:

Instead of asking why he's looking for him, he just tells him to look out for the end of the platform.

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I love the weary authority in Indy's voice ("You're runnin' out of platform, kid."), and the fact that he doesn't think of himself as an "old man".

The diner conversation is one of my favorite scenes in the entire film. The timing between the two actors is great. I wasn't eager to see Shia appear in this film, but watch how he relays the story's exposition. It's surprisingly good stuff. I particularly like his response to a girl's offscreen remark, "Hey, nice jacket!", and to Indy's doubts over whether Akator even exists. He considers it for a moment, before disagreeing. In this way, the scene also provides us with a clear view of each character. Mutt is eager to get moving and just wants to know what the power is, so what's the power? This is contrasted by Indy's world-weary authority (again), as he confidently- but reluctantly- relates the bedtime story.

Another nice moment is the way Indy bristles when referred to as a "grave robber"- instead priding himself on being a tenured professor. This is revisited during the cemetery scene, where we see Indy's true nature kick in.

The motorcycle chase is vintage Indiana Jones. My favorite part is when Indy is pulled off the bike and Mutt suddenly realizes he has entered Indy's world. It's similar to the moment in LC, where Henry marvels that people are trying to kill them. Mutt's never been involved in this type of chase, but it's just another day at the office for Indiana Jones. Of course, this is underscored by the final gag, where Indy calmly answers the question in the library. I love that the students aren't that surprised to see Professor Jones doing something crazy- which suggests they've witnessed this type of behavior from him before.

LOOOOOOOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this whole segment. sooo freaking good.

I really like almost everything in this scene. The score, the action, the jokes all are perfect.

This adds great to a perfect 1st half of the movie.

This is a good chapter, with many moments in the classic Indy style. I particularly like the diner scene. The atmosphere is very nice.

Some funny dialogue too, for example when Indy says "There's been a lot of Marys, kid" and Mutt's reaction to that. Also the expression on Mutt's face when Indy is dragged to the backseat of the car during the chase and Indy's expression when Mutt says "What are you, like 80?". Priceless. I also love it when Indy doesn't react to Mutt's "Hey, old man!" -line while on the train.

The cinematography in this chapter is probably most classic-Indy style in the whole movie. Very much like the Marshall College sequences in ROTLA and LC.

The exposition, then. I think it's done nicely and they cleverly avoid the scene getting too long by cutting it in half with the motorcycle chase. All the necessary information is given, and by the point Indy translates Ox's letter we're all ready to get the adventure going.

A really strong chapter, with an excellent car/motorcycle chase. As others have already mentioned, much of this chapter really evokes the spirit of Indiana Jones and a bygone age. As far as specific shots are concerned, I love the shot of Mutt driving through the steam at the station.

I also have to mention the diner scene. Nothing much happens apart from a little exposition... but I enjoy the way it plays out.

I thought the chase a bit weak - it's a chase, nothing happens much, it's rather sedate in Indy terms and as with most of the movie, every shot is either telegraphed in advance or held too long (or both.)

Except that is for the climbing through the car scene, which was pure gold

i thought the motorbike chase in LC was better BUT this was awesome too ... and i loved the idea and execution of action on campus - where we are used to indy being in professor mode. the slide through the library was really cool and i also liked the fifties setting but how it was all still similar enough to the look of the first three movies.

at first i hated that they knocked the head off of marcus's statue - seemed disrespectful! but i don't know how else they could have had him in the script so much "in spirit" ... and it was good he wasn't just forgotten about. everyone obviously had a lot of love for denholm.

the ox said:

at first i hated that they knocked the head off of marcus's statue - seemed disrespectful! but i don't know how else they could have had him in the script so much "in spirit" ... and it was good he wasn't just forgotten about. everyone obviously had a lot of love for denholm.

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I think it was good Marcus "helped" in his clumsy way in this movie. Indy showed his respect for Marcus when he didn't laugh at the fact the statue's head popped off and instead scowled.

i agree - was cool they showed marcus "helping". i just didn't see it at first ...

Benraianajones said:

I think it was good Marcus "helped" in his clumsy way in this movie. Indy showed his respect for Marcus when he didn't laugh at the fact the statue's head popped off and instead scowled.

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that was one of the best bits in the movie imo

I liked the scene, but with one criticism; it seems that they forgot to apply the serial structure to the chase. By this I mean, a moment that you could stop the movie at and consider a cliffhanger, like in the Raven bar when Marion shoots the Nepalese thug, making you think, for a fleeting moment, that Indy was shot. In most of the Indiana Jones action scenes, there are moments like this, and it felt strangely absent in this chase, despite it being one of the most nostalgic action pieces in the film.

I was actually surprised to see so many people bristling about MArcus's head popping off, & saying it was disrespectful to the character, etc. I remember sitting in the theatre, loving that moment, and completely "getting it," I didn't feel it was disrespectful in the least, I felt it was cool to see Marcus in some form.

That said, this is a segment that both evokes the orginal trilogy with the diner scene and the exposition, but also solidiies the 50s era and style of the older, more grizzled Indy. Wonderful stuff really, although it's really the last time in the film that I really remember "feeling" the time period. After Indy & Mutt get to Peru, it might as well be 1936 again, except trade Nazis for Soviets. Just something I've come to notice through repeated DVD viewings.

nevsky41 said:

That said, this is a segment that both evokes the orginal trilogy with the diner scene and the exposition, but also solidiies the 50s era and style of the older, more grizzled Indy. Wonderful stuff really, although it's really the last time in the film that I really remember "feeling" the time period. After Indy & Mutt get to Peru, it might as well be 1936 again, except trade Nazis for Soviets. Just something I've come to notice through repeated DVD viewings.

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I totally forgot it was the 50s once the jungle segment began. Not really a bad thing. I forget the originals are in the 30s oddly enough when I watch them, even with the Nazis.

I thought the 50's vibe was still there after Peru...just more subdued. It drew on 50's adventure films (ie. cemetery; sand pit; Akator), pulp magazines (ie. psychic interrogation), and B movies (ie. ants; aliens).

I didn't mind Marcus' head coming off, though I'd have preferred it to serve more of a purpose, eg the car has crashed into the statue anyway, so I'd rather it had flown through the air and clobbered the other car somehow