Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). The Saltiest Tears of the Kingdom.
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- Опубліковано 25 вер 2024
- #indianajones #harrisonford
Stam Fine Reviews looks at a film that some folk refuse to acknowledge even that it exists. In 2008, Producer George Lucas and Director Steven Spielberg reunited with Harrison Ford to give us the much-derided Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Also stars Karen Allen, Shia Le Beouf, John Hurt, Cate Blanchett, and Ray Winstone. Also, Beware of the Asteroids!
Gawd..... I'm ancient enough to get the _Space 1999_ reference.
Me too.
The fridge thing was the original time machine concept for Back to the Future. Time travel by a nuclear blast. Luckily they dropped that idea.
Came here to say this 🙂
Because time travel via a DeLorean makes more sense?
Just love Stam Fine vids. Easily one of my favourite You Tubers 😃😃
The inflatable boat thing was sold via editing, it was silly but followed enough basic physics like air resistance and a soft landing for slo-mo to make it feel possible. The fridge idea turbo jumped the shark, even without the frickin’ nuclear bomb (!?) there’s no way in hell anyone could survive that harsh ground smashing. He’d be a meat pretzel.
Thank you! I am tired of people apologizing for the fridge nuking.
You know they did the stunt with the inflatable with real people so in some part it was real - they didn’t film dummies as it wasn’t convincing enough
This feels like a strange excuse made to make a movie you didn't scrutinise as thoroughly as a kid make sense while the movie you watched when older with equally as wacky stunts seem worse, somehow. The inflatable boat scene even has some of the most jarring rear projection in the entire series, the editing to me makes it blatantly obvious nobody is actually in the little boat as it drifts down.
I like both movies by the way, but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull's problems are not in the action set pieces. Criticism for those feel to me like an inability to accurately represent the series. The whole lot of them are filled with strange gags that would make no sense in real life. They're incredibly playful capers.
@@retro2103 ok.
Your a teacher?
Part time.
I don't know why but it makes me laugh.😂😂😂
Genuinely laughed out (very) loud at the course to the sun bit, well played Stam.
In defense of Mutt, er whatever, he does mention early in the movie that he does "fencing" so, before you dismiss this potentially hidden cinematic masterpiece....there's that.
I enjoyed it for what it was.
The franchise had run it's course. It only really worked set in the 1930's so a post war story was always going to be a longshot, but their lead was too old to it still be in the 30's.
One last attempt to lay a hopeful foundation for a reinvigoration of the franchise with a new younger lead by the studio and producers.
Agreed. They left it too long. Bit like the Terminator franchise in some ways
The young Indiana Jones was the way to go. Was a great TV series
When I watched "Last Crusade" in the theater, the whole house was roaring and applauding at the "hat-transition" from River Phoenix to Harrison Ford.
When I watched "Crystal Skulls" in the theater, there was so much awkward silence right from the CGI gopher-mound scene ... and eventually people started to walk out.
I'd say it wasn't quite up there with the Star Wars prequels in the "disappointed expectations department", but it wasn't far off.
The DED really did manage to outdo itself in the SW series. I watched Crystal Skulls at home and fell asleep through most of it.
It was a good sleep though
@@darkstar3116What year did they start getting good?
R. I. P. River Phoenix, Sean Connery and Denholm Elliot, on the other hand I'm glad they didn't live to see Indy 5.
The gopher mound was a perfect metaphor for this movie. A molehill had literally replaced a mountain.
I don’t mind Crystal Skull. It’s just a bit of fun.
Don't worry guys. The next Indiana Jones movie will be better...right? It can't possibly get worse.
die hard 5?
Oh thank goodness.
I think doesn't next movie will be way better that's just my opinion though
This series has always been a case of diminishing returns.
They thought the same about the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
Love your videos and can’t wait to hear your review of Dial of Destiny
So I had zero expectations for this film back in 2008. Didn’t think it’d be good because there was no way you could follow up on Last Crusade and, for me anyway, Spielberg and Lucas hadn’t done anything I liked for a good while.
But goddamn, I’ve never had low expectations actually be too high for what I saw.
Pacing and structure are terrible, and there’s no energy brought to anything within. A waste of time.
Thanks Stam for all the reviews!!
Pretty spot on analysis. However I think you are too hard on Shia. Yes he may have or had personal issues. But I can't think of any role where he didn't do a fine acting job. Some of the roles (transformers, crystal skull) had poor writing and thus were not as good as they could have been. But the acting, action, often effects, are usually great
It's not the worst movie ever and in the couple of weeks it will be remembered better, but by 2008 Spielberg had lost that zany energy which made original trilogy great. Frank Darabont's original script probably would have improved the movie, but i don't think that under any circumstance it could have been comparable to the OT.
Since 1993, Spielberg has been mortally terrified of making some silly fun and failing.
He knows all of the reviews for a "fun" failure would include, "...I expected more from the man who made Schindler's List".
It was a very good movie, but it did to him what "Unforgiven" did to Clint Eastwood.
Spielberg matured for the wrong reasons. Crystal Skull was missing the cool, gritty violence of the OT.
Yup.....it was the fridge...
I apologize if this is not the right location to put this. This does bring back great memories. I may be over looking this, but you seem to be missing one William Katt, the son of Barbara Hale (Perry Mason's secretary Della Street) as The Greatest American Hero. The show based on the Theory "What is an agerage Homan were given special powers" - and the first thing he lost the instructions.
1981 - 1983? It brought us the great theme song heard on the radio - "Believe it Or Not." - Song by Joey Scarbury -
Believe it or not, I'm walkin' on air
I never thought I could feel so free
Flyin' away on a wing and a prayer
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me
To me, this would be interesting. However, it is just an Idea! In the words of Bob Hope - Thanks for the memories!
Kingdom of the Crysta Sliders
Watched this over the years with the kids and we always enjoy it.
Why are people so prima donna-ish about CGI? If they'd had the same attitude about stop motion back in the day Ray Harryhausen would have died an unknown pauper. I think the problem is that people think "oh, you just have to feed in the specs and the computer does the rest", which is utter bullshit. Every CGI scene from "Breaking the Ice" to the latest Avatar movie is a triumph of hard work and creativity that rivals any breakthrough in stop motion or practical effects. This hatred of CGI also has people mistakenly belittling the effort of practical effects artists, like the guys who created the live action Lycans in Underworld or the full-body robot suit worn by Robie Williams in Bicentennial Man. CGI is an awesome human achievement and it's brought us some of the best cinema ever.
Stam, how's your auntie Beryl? We've not heard from her in a while.
she belongs in a museum.
People fixate on the negatives of this movie... Monkeys, refrigerators, rubber snakes, the criminal underuse of John Hurt etc... Okay, it's not great, but it's not Police Academy 3: Back in Training. It's fun enough.
I wish I never got ...."some of that"
I actually like the whole fridge scene it's when the at the time over casted shia shows up that I thought it tanked that and the CGI and Aliens BS , it was nice to see Marian though
Yeah, I've watched this one a few times over the years, but I just can't deal with it. The ONLY part of it I actually enjoy is the big cafe brawl and chase through the campus, which I feel like is the only time it really gets back to the original magic. The rest is just too silly for me.
Otherwise, my rankings are simply release order. ROTLA>TOD>TLC>KOTCS. I'm vaguely curious if DOD will manage to break this trend, but in truth, I have so little enthusiasm for it I'm not even sure when I'll get around to watching it. Probably once it's on streaming. Maybe.
Yeah I agree, I enjoyed that motorcycle chase with al that 50s atmosphere, and the homage to Denholm Elliot by having a painting and a statue of him in the uniersity, but I also quite enjoyed the chase through the jungle and seeing Mutt fighting dueling Spalko.
I think the real point of these videos is that the world needs a new franchise: AUNTY BERYL AND DICKHEAD DAVE: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS.
I actually quite enjoyed it. Was great to see Indy reunited with Karen Allen, who is such a great actress. Lebeuf did a good job as Jr, Jr, & I think if the torch was to be passed in a few yrs I would have accepted a now maturer Lebeuf in the role. The only thing that took away from the previous magic was that it was just lazily crammed with green screen in literally every scene. Indy 5, from what has been revealed, is a 100% hard pass for me. It didn't need to be made, & the disrespect given to Indy is an insult to the movies & the Legend of his character
As far as I know there is no special effects technique that can make up for a lack of *charisma,* which Harrison Ford and Karen Allen both have in abundance. I kept waiting to see the raw potential onscreen to imagine Shia growing into the role of their character's offspring, but the spark just wasn't there for me.
@@NieR.Amanda I see what you're saying, but I was referring to a more mature Lebeuf as of now who has grown out of that hyperactive overacting youngling that he was back then
@@EDDIEM0NS00N I still think he lacks the charisma to revive what was once a popular movie franchise and carry it on his shoulders.
Yes I agre, I loved each moment of Harrison and Karen, there's such a great chemistry there, and it felt more connected with the first film, I also loved the ending of the two getting married, a proper ending that Indy deserved, it seems that Indy 5 is not going to respect that.
Still would have prefered if they had made Fate of Atlantis instead.
That would have been a much better idea.
yeah, at least Fate of Atlantis used aliens as an ancient civilization.
FYI, the term we use in the UK for what LeBouf does is "Piss Artist".
I can't stand artists who think they are doing something important with their craft.
I give it 5 bags of popcorn and 3 sodas, its no Hobbit or Jack Reacher but it gets the job done.
The major problem with this film is that the macguffin sucked. Most of the film is devoted to explaining why that silly skull is important and it still made no sense at the end of the day. Why did the tall alien look nothing like small Roswell aliens? There's half assed explanation by Natasha Fatale, a distant cousin? Why was it a combination of like a dozen other aliens? Why was there a portal to another dimension, I think, inside the spaceship? The whole explanation is, the single alien was waiting for it's skull and it just wanted to go home? There's just too many questions unanswered.
In subsequent views, I realized that they already told you from the beginning that it was all about aliens, making you lose less expectation to solve the mystery of the skull, in contrast to the previous objects, which had this kind of mysterious aura that it was already revealed towards the final act.
@@jesustovar2549There was more to it than that. They are interdimensional beings and one lost his skull and the big reveal is, they visited earth, got some souvenirs, and went home.
This is by far the best Indiana Jones film of the franchise. In fact, this film is the best Spielberg film ever made. Frankly, it is the best film ever made by George Lucas. Actually, this is the best action film of all time. I swear, this film is better than every Oscar winning film. Seriously, this film is even better than Citizen Kane. This film is better than Alc*hol, Dr*gs, R*ck n R*ll and S*x. Hands down, this film is better than Relig*on, Sp*rts, Tax Ret*rns, Indoor Plumb*ng, Scho*l and Electr*c L*ghting ..
Holy Cr*p. The Great Asterix is back, he will censor us all. Save yourselves. Run for this hills. Ha Ha Ha. Cluck Clunk. F'Tang.
For a moment I thought you were serious, you had me.
@@jesustovar2549 Cheers. I reckon most folks were disgusted and didn't read the whole thing.
My take on his movie was... I didn't hate it but didn't love it. When Ford decided to get up on his feet it almost felt like an Indiana Jones movie. But he's just not young enough to pull off the required physicality of the role and so it ended up with the title character kinda just sitting there too often.
I love all of them, like for Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, it's just a bit of fun :)
It would have been a great movie in the Mummy series
The best part of this movie was the Fallout: New Vegas Easter egg.
You've actually made me wanna rewatch this. Instead of that heap of rubbish that'll be out soon.
Fantasy/scifi, it's all the same.
Was Cate's accent that bad?
I tried SO HARD to apologize and rationalize this film but I could get past the Frige if not for the FN MONKEY SWINGING. I saw this 3 times opening weekend and the fridge had mixed reactions, but the MONKEYS got people uniformly "What-The-Fuq" out loud.
Also hearing ppl dissing the prairie dogs, but didn't anyone else out there notice it was a parody of the Jawas "wchedieee!" scene fom the pod race in SW Ep 1?
I liked the movie. Still better than the Temple of Doom.
LOL, Hell no!
@@ricardocantoral7672 Look deep inside. You know this to be true. 😁👍
I was fine with the fridge, Mutt and his dumb hat, the CGI animals (even the dumb monkeys) and a lot of assorted nonsense. But Mac being a triple crossing agent when we have no history with him hurt it and the MacGuffin being interdimensional saucer people just didn't seem right to me. Id rather they have just made it an Mayan/Aztec religion or something and kept the supernatural/religious element but left unexplained, just like the Ark, the Grail and the Sacred Stones. Even if interdimensional beings/aliens was part of the design or hinted at and are the in-universe explanation. I just think it felt weird to peek behind the curtain. Like if it turned out there were interdimensional beings living in the Ark and it was them that killed the Nazis the whole time. It's just a stupid extra layer. The films is too sympathetic to the bad guys too which hurt it. Too eager to show Russians aren't just evil Nazis in a series than needs unambiguous baddies for Indy to be the good guy even though he's a bit of a grave-robber/murderer/thief/cradle-snatcher.
But I definitely like this movie more over time.
You rate temple of Doom as the worst?! Big mistake ...KALI MAAAHHH!
A fair review
John Hurt is a 👍👏
ohhh nooo
I have less problem with the fridge than most folks it seems. If they had reduced the CGI flying through the air bit that would have reduced him to goo inside it and just concentrated on him trying to survive the initial blast then that was not a bad choice! But they didn’t... The second half of the film and the ultimate blow off was horrid. I had my suspension of disbelief all ready to go and they blew it with those ants, the stupid sword fight and undead or slightly dead, or mostly dead (only MOSTLY dead!) aliens from a convenient parallel dimension to which they wanted to return.
Shia and Mutt are going to be the biggest winners of the new movie, because if you hated Mutt, wait till you get a load of Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
I actually liked Mutt. He was one of the few things that actually worked in Crystal Skull.
@@ricardocantoral7672 Absolutely. The part with him and Indy bumming around the 50s America town is like the only enjoyable part of the movie. In general I wish the whole movie was just Indy and Mutt bumming around America trying to bond.
@@DioBrandoWRYYYYYYIt's sad that the best part of the film had little to do with the main story.
@@ricardocantoral7672 the entire movie otherwise trash. it's just this floaty, fake-feeling imitation of the past but without any of the grit or the bite, and the villains are extremely lame. there's no menace to them and it's way too cartoony
Harrison Toyota lol
Oh dear 🎥
In my opinion, the crystal skull is really too recent of a myth that had already been debunked by the time the movie had come out. Like, it's a standard ancient aliens story from the 60s and doesn't really carry the same legendary weight as the ark of covenant or the Jesus cup
"That just happens to be part of an atomic test"
Add that line to any human activity and you got all sorts of drama. Unfortunately, even an atom bomb could not ironically protect this movie from its innate nature. That being said, I like Indie and, demonstrating my personal low viewing standards, I enjoyed this movie right up to the climax which was, well, what it was.
There's a town in Iowa called Nevada and they pronounce it ne-VAY-da. So there.
Never saw this movie. Never saw the SW prequels.
Based Duckhead David is always a winner.
They should have put the movie back in the fridge, and left it there.
You know, contemporary reviews of the movie by the press were actually rather positive for this film; you can look it up. The reviews that weren't positive were mostly those of new fresh-faced pop culture reviewers on UA-cam who had a severe axe to grind with George Lucas for 'ruining' the prequel trilogy of Star Wars (and also the reworked rereleases of the originals). It seems strange now but online opinion for the prequels bordered on a hatred akin to the current sequel trilogy, but only on certain subsections of the internet. You can now find tons of reactions and reviews of people going into this movie dreading it by its reputation and coming out having really enjoyed it. People with absolutely no horse in that weird ass race between George Lucas and his betrayed fans from the 00s and the kids who watched their reviews and internalised that dislike.
Hey, there's a script going around that is a rewrite of Crystal Skull. It's really good and way better than the movie. Have you read it?
I'm with Butters (Twitch?) on this one. I liked it! It was entertaining! It's an Fing FANTASY!
Monkeys
Ants
Fridge.
UFO
Sword Fighting Scene
Tarzan
That's all I can see when remembering this movie and its just stupid.
While I absolutely despise this film (except for the ending... I do like the ending...), I'd never blame Shia LeBouf for it. It's the unbelievable b.s. they had his character doing, not LeBouf's acting skills. It's only happened a few times in my life, but laughing out loud while in the theater at something that was unintentionally funny definitely happened when he started swinging on the vines with CGI monkeys. It just looked sooo...BAAAAD... and even if it'd been picture-perfect CGI, it still would've been so unbelievable. That, to me, is the real problem with CGI. It's hard enough to get people to suspend disbelief at fantastical ideas, but when those ideas are rendered in the uncanny valley (and may as well have gone fully-animated like Superman taking off in the early Kirk Alyn serials), there's no hope of retaining or regaining it.
I enjoy all these movies, i mean are UFO and aliens any worse or netter than taking to god, ripping beating hearts out or a immortal cup.
I think the problem is the aliens were a sci-fi thing introduced in to a franchise that wasn’t sci-fi, so it didn’t feel consistent with the other films.
Thanks, Stam. As bad as this is, it is still better than Temple of Doom.
Oh Hell no, Temple of Doom is MILES beyond this fluff. Beautiful practical sets, badass Indy, gritty, bloody violence, cool minecart chase, a wonderfully colorful villain, a goal that actually makes sense, Willie and Short round. What does Crystal Skull have? Old, overly comedic Harrison Ford, too many useless side characters, bland villains, fluffy CGI violence, a goal that makes no sense, BLECH!
Pretty Sure its the famous warehouse 51
Lots to dislike, the Russian just weren't particularly good as villain compared to other villians in the series, and even the crystal skull was a bit crap, the nonsense around 'real' crystal skulls would have made a fun film without the very disappointing tacked on aliens bit, all round a bit of a wasted opportunity. Great video as always.
The reasons why the Russians weren't good villains was because they were just banal stand-ins for the Nazis. The never did anything truly sinister and neither did Natasha Fatale.
@@ricardocantoral7672 yes, and not even visually interesting.
It took me a year to finish this movie.
After the fridge scene I stopped watching.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull reminds me of Beverly Hills Cop 3 in that they aren't bad films had they been standalone movies. But given they were sequels they were seen quite rightly in tandem with those
The premises are pretty awful. They would still be bad if they are stand alone movies.
Harrison Toyota
I’d give it a B. More good than bad. Cate Blancette can do no wrong in my eyes
C'mon, that silly accent? Straight out of the school of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
@@ricardocantoral7672 But the films are supposed to hark back to the 1950s popcorn adventures. The accent SHOULD be OTT and silly.
@@keithhealing1115Lucas said it's supposed to be a 1950's sci fi B movie and it's nothing like them anyway. Besides, the previous films had far better, more dignified villains.
Yeah I liked his performance too, always love Cate, to me she can't do anything wrong even in a bad movie.
Concur
Ive always wondered why people focus on the fridge considering the nonsense situations indy gets into and out of in other films. Similarly for the skulls, the first film had god melting nazis. The fridge and skulls are the least of the films problems and there are many problems.
Crystal Skull might be an okay middling film on its own, but you're talking about the Indiana Jones franchise. It's a higher standard.
The aliens ruined this movie. The kid was worse than the aliens. Not looking forward to the next one, but hoping they surprise me.
11:20
Just gonna say it..The directing in this movie may be the worst I’ve ever seen!.The actual story is really good..His son,marrying Marion,the communist scare,even the Crystal Skull legend is a great storyline..Spielberg’s directing choices were terrible!.To many jokes and a cartoony second half really crush this movie..But there are still a few fun nuggets here and there in this movie
Oh my god you poor babies who hate this movie because of the ants and the cgi and whatever you guys are sad. You can't have fun .
E T go home!
While watching it in the theater, I was fine until the stupid Russian vehicle with the buzz saws came on the screen. Took me completely out of the experience.
At least Shia is merely forgotten these days - rather than reviled like Kathleen Kennedy!
I don't dislike this movie. I saw it with my Dad in high school. It was nice.
But it's not very good, either.
It never happened. Why did Stam Fine invent a 4th Indiana Jones film just to have something to review today?
I Must be one of the 5 people on the planet that enjoyed this movie. Yes it's daft, but it's an adventure/fantasy film ffs
As is often tragically the case, throwaway lines in the film suggest a far more interesting film. I'd have much rather seen the wartime adventures of Mac and Indy.
Mac's actions in this film totally ruined the character. His constant betrayals were irritating. The only good side character was Mutt.
@@ricardocantoral7672 I agree with your first two sentences, which underscore my point. The other advantage of a wartime adventure would have been the complete absence of Mutt. There'd have been room for larger roles for Henry Senior, Marion, and Sallah, as well as a thoughtful send-off to the late, great Denholm Elliott.
@@colormedubious4747actually like Mutt and I think Crystal Skull would have been far more palatable with him alone and Marion briefly appearing at the end. As for any war time adventures, it would have been nice to see Marcus Brody and Sallah.
@@ricardocantoral7672 Who would have played Brody? Denholm "But... you're wearing lederhosen!" Elliott died in 1992.
@@ricardocantoral7672 You know what I realized? Mac is a useless character, remove him from the film and you will see that it does not affect the plot at all, it does not make the film better or worse.
I did not like this one very much…. Was missing something…. Ooo yea.. reality! Just too many imposible action scenes.
Too much bad SFX, good SFX last, like Jurassic Park, or Raiders.
There’s a fourth Indy film?
Oh, no there isn’t.
all i say is south park
You rank Crystal Skull at 3? Wow, you do live on the bottom of a planet!
Well at lest there is something to compete for worst Indy movie.
UGH! Easily the worst film you've ever reviewed. Everything about this film just seems off. When I heard they'd made yet *another* one of these movies I was just dumb struck. The Last Crusade is the last of these movies for me.
No. It really is a bad film. Sorry.
Nah, its disappointing AND bad