The 4th object

What kind of biblical or other religious artefact could be next?

Spielberg once said the original trilogy was supposed to cover the three major religions: Judaïsm, Hinduism and Christianity.

If you would add a fourth, what would it be? Buddhism.

What kind of artefacts does Buddhism offer?

"Dorje" is the Tibetan word for "vajra", meaning "noble stone". It embodies not only the brilliance of refracted or reflected illumination, but it also symbolizes the impervious and fixed solidity of the point of power around which all else turns -- the axis mundi or hub of the world.

According to legend, Indra's thunderbolt was fashioned from the bones of the great Rishi Dadhichi, who was decapitated by Indra in sacrifice. Dadhichi's indestructible skull-bones gave Indra the most powerful of weapons. By its energy he slew innumerable of his enemy demons. In mythological descriptions, Indra's thunderbolt is shaped either like a circular discus with a hole at its center, or in the form of a cross with transverse bladed bars. The Rigveda, the most ancient text in the world, identifies the vajra as a notched metal club with a thousand prongs. According to a Buddhist legend, Shakyamuni took the vajra weapon from Indra and forced its wrathful open prongs together, thus forming a peaceful Buddhist scepter with closed prongs. The Buddhist vajra hence absorbed the unbreakable and indestructible power of the thunderbolt.

I'm not saying they'll make a movie about this, but it sure was fun looking it all up

It has to be something that holds universal interest. The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail is something that everyone at least has heard of. Not that the Temple of Doom was a bad movie, but I think most people like that one the least because it was hard to connect with the magic stones.

At the same time, it almost has to be an object that can be moved from place to place.

I would say that some type of Egyptian artifact would be cool to see Indy hunt down.

One of the great mysteries of the planet is Atlantis. Maybe he could search for an artifact that leads to the discovery of Atlantis. There are some who theorize that the Egyptians knew about Atlantis and may have left clues to its location and reason for disappearance.

Aliens, what Aliens? I wanna see Indy come across Alien artifacts, and then get beamed aboard a space ship, only to be given a guide to help him "hitch-Hike" if you will across the galaxy, only to be picked by by a quick-witted smuggler named Han . . .
I really don't care what Indy is looking for as long as the movie is kick-ass, and gives us the hour and a half of solid action, humor, and huge visuals!

"I think most people like that one the least"

TOD is my fav Indy film... I like the young, dark Indy... he's a thief, and a grave robber, but he's not so immoral that he's not on his way to being redeemed... After LC, I think the character has lost all the foibles that make him interesting... Like Han Solo by the time we got to that silly, muppet-filled 3rd "Star Wars" movie, he's just not very interesting anymore...

So for Indy 4? A quest object? I donno... his slippers, his Geritol, and enough fibre in his diet?


Heh

Well as Jedi Knight is now an official religion, why not see a movie of Indy Vs Darth Vader?

It won't be Atlantis, because there's already a computer game about that, and it won't be Avalon, because there's already a book about that. In fact, many ideas posted on this board have already been used in books. Can't say for sure if they will keep the books in mind, but it would sure suck if they didn't.

Aliens would fit the Roswell time frame and considering Spielberg's affinity with aliens ... But no, I'm sure he realizes the alien angle has been milked dry. Remember "The Forgotten".

Could they do something with this:

In the 1950's a major temple to the Moon-god was excavated at Hazor in Palestine. Two idols of the Moon-god were found, proving that the Allah which Muslims around the world worship as the only true God was a pre-Islamic pagan deity. Photos at the escavation of Allah sitting on a throne show the crescent moon, the symbol of the Islamic faith. Yet these Moon-god statues were made long before the Islamic faith was founded.

If what I said about the ideas in the books not being recycled is right, I think it's safe to say we can rule out these things:

Atlantis
Mayan God Quetzalcoatl
Viking ship
Genghis Khan
Anasazi
El Dorado
Easter Island
Labyrinth of Horus
Avalon
Delphi
Stonehenge
Amazon
Noah's Ark
Unicorn
Merlin
Philosopher's stone
Dinosaurs
Ultima Thule
Omega Book

I don't see the "Tree of Life" in there, or the flamming sword.

As far as not repeating material found in the books, most people in the general population don't even know there are books. And even a lot of us fans, who know about the books, can't read half of them because they're in German and have never been translated into English.

Of course I hope they try to avoid contradictions, but if Indy 4 was about Quetzlcoatl and contradicted Hohlbein's book, I'd never know it.

Moses' staff would make for a great quest, especially if it could sdtill be changed to a serpent.

Other possibilities that spring to mind might be the horns the Israelites used when the walls of Jericho fell, or Gideon's sword.

Perhaps, if you wanted to tie things back into ROTLA, Indiana could be led to find the remnants of the Tabernacle that Israel constructed during their journey through the wilderness, prior to entering Canaan.

Or, (and I know I'm stealing from the novel/film The Robe here), perhaps Indiana could seek out the robe Christ wore on the day of His crucifixion, which the attending Roman soldiers gambled for.

I was digging around in the archives and ran across this interesting idea:

Aaron H said:

As romatic as the Arthur stories are, and as much as I would like to think them to be true, I must doubt their validity in the realm of history since there is no evidence to support such a King or kingdom without there being a much larger "footprint" left on history.
Personally, I find great inspiration in the Arthur stories and use some of those ideas for my own books...but I digress.

I sure would love to see an Indy film touch on the Arthur Legends.

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Of course, some might argue that the presence of the Grail in Last Crusade already counts as the Indy films touching on the Arthurian Legends. Still, I think Indy searching for the ruins of Camelot, or for Arthur's reknowned sword Excalibur, could have interesting potential as a story, if handled right.

Wow, that was an old quote...but I still stand by it. Perhaps while searching for Arthur/Excalibur, Indy could uncover the truth behind the legend we know.

That is why I think they shouldn't stop at IV, there are too many stories to tell.

There ARE a lot of possible stories, and thats why I really don't care where the movies stop. Sure, a bunch of movies would be fine, but film is only one medium in which to tell a great Indian Jones Adventure. After all, The "big three" aren't immortal.


Even though a comic, I still think the Speak of Destiny (a.k.a. Lance of Longinus) would be great. Unfortunately, a WWII timeframe helps this a lot and I don't see that happening in a future film.

How about this: Indiana Jones and the Blade of Eternity.
It's a title of a book that I wrote about Indiana Jones. He seeks to find a sword that can turn back time and deflect the threat of evil away from the one who can harness it's power. Except in this book his antagonists are the Soviets and the Japanese. The story takes place in 1941.

possible storylines

How about Gideon's trumpet (not literally a trumpet... think revelations).

Artifact from the future? (Think a "good version" of Timeline.)

Help a russian scientist defect with somekind of doomsday device?

Pale Horse said:

I don't see the "Tree of Life" in there, or the flamming sword.

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This is the story I would love to see!!

Paden said:

Moses' staff would make for a great quest, especially if it could sdtill be changed to a serpent.

Other possibilities that spring to mind might be the horns the Israelites used when the walls of Jericho fell, or Gideon's sword.

Perhaps, if you wanted to tie things back into ROTLA, Indiana could be led to find the remnants of the Tabernacle that Israel constructed during their journey through the wilderness, prior to entering Canaan.

Or, (and I know I'm stealing from the novel/film The Robe here), perhaps Indiana could seek out the robe Christ wore on the day of His crucifixion, which the attending Roman soldiers gambled for.

Click to expand...

Moses's staff ( it was actually Aaron's ) was in the book Indy and the Secret of the Sphinx by McCoy. But this would still make an excellent story. There is alot of story about the staff in the Bible and it's final resting place was actually in the Ark of the Covenant.

roundshort said:

Aliens, what Aliens? I wanna see Indy come across Alien artifacts, and then get beamed aboard a space ship, only to be given a guide to help him "hitch-Hike" if you will across the galaxy, only to be picked by by a quick-witted smuggler named Han . . .

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Cool. I wanna see Indy get an anal probe!

indyt said:

There is alot of story about the staff in the Bible and it's final resting place was actually in the Ark of the Covenant.

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Which, according to Raiders, was filled with sand. Meaning that Aaron's Staff was removed and hidden elsewhere...perhaps with the Ten Commandment's Tablets?!
Maybe Indy must find all of these artifacts and bring them together to combine their power and have a massive showdown between good and evil!

temple of john said:

Aaron, I don't think any of us are excited to see your staff.

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Keept hat thing away,

How about

"Indiana Jones and the Search for . . .well, who really cares what he is looking for; but, he kills a a bunch of nazis, makes some jokes, and bangs a marginally good looking chick and saves the world, or at least a village"