Second time is a charm!!!... a motivational return to INDY 4

[Agent Z]

I didn't mind the prairie dogs at all but you would think that the producers would realize the cutesy CG would wind up the fanboys and doubters in the first second of the movie. I would love to chop the tarzan swing but can't see how you can with the switching around of people on the ducks.

Hmmm, it will be a challenge....

Maybe we will end up seeing

Mutt being carried down into the ant mound?

Alright, that would create more problems down the road to finishing the edit, but it would still be worth the try...

 

[Jones_Happens]

The biggest problem with this film is the fan's ridiculous expectations. This isn't the slow, boring pointlessness of Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. This is a fun, fast-paced movie that had NO CHANCE of pleasing a rabid fanboy.

The problem with some of the fanbase of movies like this is that they write the sequels themselves (either metaphorically or literally) and think their ideas are better than what ends up on screen.

 

[Darth Vile]

I went to see it for the 3rd time last night (and probably last time at the cinema). I can safely say (IMHO) that it is a good solid Indy flick... better than TOD and pretty close to LC.

The movie seems to run out of steam in the last quarter i.e. after the 3 waterfalls... but this happened to the same degree in both TOD and LC. I would have preferred Williams score to be louder in the mix, I would have preferred more dialogue/action from Marion and I would have preferred it without the CGI alien at the end. But that said, thoroughly enjoyable movie and sits rightly alongside the other three.

Last point... As it's half term for schools here, I took my stepdaughter to the show last night and, not surprisingly, the cinema was full of kids. At the end when the temple collapsed and the spacecraft flew off all the kids cheered spontaneously. Now I thought the spacecraft was the weakest point, but it just goes to show that you can't second guess the bits that kids will love...

 

[tjfbryant]

good point darth vile. Different parts of the movie appeal to different generations of fans. The kids will love the CGI, the big and bold and wow factor of the ending.
While most of the adult fans like myself would prefer the good old bike/ car chase in the beginning or the fist-a-cuffs with the Commy's. Its all perception..All of it. But Its damn true that a second go around with INDY 4 or even a third viewing makes it all worth wild.

 

[Michael24]

Just saw it again for a second time this afternoon and enjoyed it a little bit more. (Though I hardly had a problem with it the first time.) But I noticed a couple things I didn't catch the first time around. I was better able to understand the conversation between Indy and Mac in the truck, when Mac says, "Just like in Berlin. What were we?" and Indy has a moment of realization and says "Double agents." I missed that the first time around. And I think I also noticed that, in the chamber with the 13 skeletons, when the walls crumble away you can see a spinning movement outside the walls, and it made me think maybe they were actually inside the UFO at that point and didn't even realize it.

 

[Benraianajones]

I think they were inside the UFO at the end as well, with the rotating movements, almost as if the craft was starting up with the return of the skull.

 

[sandiegojones]

I didn't mind the prairie dogs at all but you would think that the producers would realize the cutesy CG would wind up the fanboys and doubters in the first second of the movie.

I guarantee that's why they did it. They indulged themselves in making this film and did what they wanted because they knew they could. I think they're all too old to give a sh!t about what a fanboy likes or doesn't.

 

[Michael24]

Well, as a filmmaker, I would be making something that I liked and would want to see, not something that I think a handful (in the grand scheme of things) of people on-line would want to see. I know they're making these movies for people to watch, but they first need to make something they like themselves.

 

[Darth Vile]

Well, as a filmmaker, I would be making something that I liked and would want to see, not something that I think a handful (in the grand scheme of things) of people on-line would want to see. I know they're making these movies for people to watch, but they first need to make something they like themselves.

Agreed. Although - Whilst I actually really like the movie, I did think some of those moments e.g. the prairie dogs/monkeys boarded on 1970's Roger Moore James Bond pastiche (although it didn't spoil the movie for me).

 

[jasperjones]

I do agree that the only person you should write/ make something for is yourself up to a point, but at the end of the day, this is also a commercial enterprise and the prairie dogs, tarzan swing and CG during the jungle chase are undoubtedly turning some people off the film, whereas they actually add relatively little to it. You could add that by removing those elements you would make more money at the box office. Imagine, for example, if the Phantom Menace hadn't had Jar Jar in it and had actually had a great script and been a couple of stars higher in terms of quaility. Imagine the money it would have made.

At the end of the day none of this matters anyway, as the film will make a pot load of cash, despite what the naysayers would like to believe there are boatloads of people who actually love or at least enjoy the movie (I'm one of them) and no doubt there will be an army of kids who will lap that sh1t up, thus balancing out lost box office of jaded fans. But for the sake of discussion there's something else to think about anyway...

 

[Grizzlor]

I went and saw the movie for the second time yesterday, and as I expected, I enjoyed it much more. A lot of the confusing parts I was able to get this time, mostly from concentrating on dialog. Some parts were over the top, but that's what they do in sequels. They never want to do the same things over and over again. Other than the ending, which was very vague and thrown together, it was a great movie, a lot of fun. No cringe moments from me, and I love the ton of homages to the previous films.

 

[Bantu-Wind]

I agree with this thread. Although I still felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities, the second viewing was much more enjoyable for me. Being aware of certain things explained in the novelization helped ease the confusion, and the cartoon-ish sequences didn't catch me off guard this time so I wasn't quite as bothered by them.

 

[DaveTheHutt]

Well, saw Indy IV again yesterday. First time I came out disappointed, but this time (as others have found) I really enjoyed it - the middle didn't seem as slow as I remembered, and stuff that I missed or didn't 'get' first time became clearer.

The opening is great, the graveyard scene is great, the jungle chase is fun (though why-oh-why didn't they do more with the jungle cutter!?!?!) and it 'feels' like an Indy film - good stuff.

There's no doubt Indy IV has problems, all of which have been debated at length - it's far too talky at times, Marion is poorly used, too many characters and Indy too passive at the end, the frikkin' alien appearance, etc - but I can see myself happily adding this to my Indy collection and watching it from time to time.

Reading some of the threads on here I do wonder if some fans have worked themselves up intp a lather of self-perpetuating hate, obsessing over elements they perceive as 'crimes against Indy'. I don't get it myself - the other films have plenty of silly moments, but I don't hate those films.

 

[jasperjones]

Yeah, I don't quite get the venomous hostility either. I can totally see why people have issues with it but the loathing is kind of rabid and doesn't seem in perspective to the actual quality of the movie (but I guess that's just my opinion). It seems that the general consensus is MIXED. Plenty of people that enjoy it. Plenty that don't. It seems like the extremists on either side are in denial that the other side may have a valid opinion. Really weird.

Also, I couldn't agree more about the Jungle Cutter. If ever a vehicle was perfect for an Indy in peril sequence it was this. Instead we got a CG monkey sequence. Oh well...

 

[TheMutt92]

I'm jealous of all you guys who've seen it more than once! Lack of cash is kinda preventing me from going out too often (and the fact that I have a need to see nearly every summer movie!) But I think I agree w/ most of you that second time is the charm: the more I think of the movie, the more I like it! So I can't wait to finally see it again!

 

[Mutt-Jones III]

Hahaha.

I liked it the first time and loved it the 2nd time. Just wait until you see it for a 3rd time

Multiple viewing increase the value of the movie until you get bored at your 51st viewing.

Lol.

 

[vaxer]

I just saw it for the second time yesterday, it's incredible how I enjoyed it so much more! Maybe on the fist watch I was too stressed to enjoy what in the end is just 100% entertainment. I also captured some interessting details I had missed and that gave to movie much more value.

 

[Canyon]

I've now seen Indy 4 five times and I have to say that this movie gets better and better with each viewing.

Not only does it feel more Indyish, you tend to notice little things more and more. I noticed things like Harrison giving lop sided smiles, that sort of thing.

 

[Peacock's-Eye]

Three times. Does get better each viewing.
I'm done 'till the DVD comes out.

Overall, I don't think another summer movie will beat it this year. Dark Knight - been there, done that. More superheroes. TV adaptations. Yawn. It's a good Geek crop, I'm not knocking the upcoming popcorn flics - but Speed Racer was truly out there, unusual, and I believe, groundbreaking as a kid's movie. And Indy4 has a little bit of everything.

Summer peaked early for me.

Bring on Hellboy II, and I'm done!

 

[Raiders of Clay]

Great thread. You really hit the Indy 4 problem. We don't look at Indy as if we were kids again. When I sit down and watch one of the original 3 I feel like I am 7 years old again. I hope this movie will make me feel the same way after I watch it a few more times.