For me not as bad as other reviews suggest, I actually thought ‘Temple of doom’ was the poorest of the franchise. I must admit the cinematography, especially during the sword fight scene was horrifically bad though. My overall opinion is that it was still a fun, happy feeling adventure movie with a still amazing actor in Harrison Ford. 6/10.
This is the movie in which I use as the "Bar" to rate horrible movies. F-
this is actually a very good movie y’all just scared of aliens admit it
Raiders of the Lost skull
I think this one's a bit overhated. The real problem is that Indy is just too damn old. I enjoyed everything that didn't involve geriatrics pretending to be 30. A big budget alien-archeology flick with ruthless Russians and rock 'n roll would have been great if they had just bothered to come up with an original character.
I never really watched the first three films, only bits and pieces here and there so I can't really compare. I did think the ending was a bit over board to have in this franchise.
Painful to watch for me, like all Indiana Jones movies. But perhaps this is the worst so far.
Fabulous stunts and action sequences to keep your eyes stuck to.And the sets of the lost city were just flawless.The final sequences made it a must watch for the adventure lovers.
One of my favorite adventure movies ever!
While the original three Indiana Jones films are hardly a bastion of realism, they might as well be a documentary compared to the late fourth entry, which features some of the most ridiculous set pieces imaginable. I feel like the nuke-proof fridge gets a lot of flak, but the worst moment for me was undoubtedly Shia LaBeouf's Tarzan imitation, somehow catching up to speeding jeeps by swinging from vine to vine. It's the kind of sequence that makes you scratch your head and wonder what these Hollywood folks are thinking. Another puzzler is the surprisingly selective magnetism of these alien artifacts. I suspect these otherworldly properties are in fact powered by screenwriting contrivances. These kind of critiques can feel a bit nit-picky, but the sheer volume of these issues makes them hard to ignore. I'd also point out that if the movie logic hand waving was in service of an otherwise great film, I think everyone would have less of a problem suspending their disbelief. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. Despite my issues with the original three films, at the very least they contain numerous iconic moments. This film on the other hand is largely forgettable, and the parts you might remember will not be for a positive reason. I'm not going to update my legacy score of 6/10, but I would knock this down to a 5, possibly even a 4 based on this re-watch.
With all that said, shoutout to the only line that got a laugh out of me: when Shia LaBeouf gets spooked by a spider web and reassures himself by saying "It's just a thing". For some reason that really got me.
The movie is pretty decent up until Marion shows up, then it goes from fun goofy to just goofy. Between the swinging monkeys, the killer ants and the multiple warterfalls it just goes off the rails. Also just changing things from Indy and Mutt on an adventure to Indy, Mutt, Marion, Ox and Mac just make things way more complicated than they need to be, and that’s before getting into the spacemen that aren’t spacemen. Anyway the nuke the fridge scene rules and Indy staring down a mushroom cloud is iconic.
At the beginning of "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" Indiana Jones dies in the explosion of a nuclear bomb. This is followed by a very long dream sequence in which he suddenly has an annoying son (Shia LaBeouf) and is looking for aliens. At least, that's the only way I can explain why this movie sucks so much. Maybe the main character just doesn't work at an older age, but I didn't like much else either. Cate Blanchett has rarely been worse, and the rest of the cast doesn't really work either. At most, I could take something positive from the return of Karen Allen. The biggest problem at the end, however, is that there is simply no sense of adventure. And with that, the film doesn't even begin to live up to its predecessors.
After seeing this movie twice and trying to convince myself it was better than it was, I've reached the point where I can appreciate the good and despise the bad. There are some things to like. The opening scenes with the reintroduction of Indiana Jones at the warehouse and it's subsequent chase, harkens back to the first three movies. We even get a glimpse of the Arc.
The incredible sequence with the testing of the atomic bomb and Indy's encounter with the "nuclear family" though outrageous is impressive, especially the view of the mushroom cloud. Indy and Mutt's escape on motorcycle from some Russian baddies through the halls of a university is another exciting chase sequence. The problem is that all of this occurs in the first quarter or so of the movie. The last 3/4 are practically putrid, most of the groans being generated by Shia LaBeouf. It's not that he's bad as Mutt, he's just put in such unbelievable situations that it's hard not to laugh for the wrong reasons. The sword fight while straddling two fast-moving vehicles, the way he catches up to the rest of the Indy gang by swinging Tarzan-style assisted by monkeys to thwart the bad guys. Ouch, its really bad. Oh yes, and there's also plunging down three waterfalls in a jeep, escaping man-eating giant red ants and so on.
I love action flicks, but it was beyond too much to take. I didn't have much of a problem with the discovery of ancient alien visitors. Sure it's over-the-top, but after everything else I'd just seen, at least the scale of it was awe-inspiring instead of totally ridiculous. I'm going to say this movie was average, benefiting only from the presence of Harrison Ford and the strength of the first quarter of the movie.
Two decades after The Last Crusade, all the pieces finally fit back together for this long-awaited reunion between George Lucas, Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg. Tough to recapture the same old magic after so much time apart, but they actually manage to get it done... for a while. I can remember loathing this in the theater, avoided it for years on that merit, but my kids wanted to give it a try and I figured enough time had passed to give it another chance.
The first hour is, shockingly, rather painless. A carefree romp that, admittedly, isn't on par with its distant relatives, but at least it's in the ballpark. We've got era-appropriate villains (the traditional Nazis smartly replaced by Russkis to fit the cold war), deep dives through crypts and libraries, warehouses stuffed with artifacts, whip-slinging physical action... even crotchety old man Ford seems to be having a great time. Hell, I didn't even mind a peak-overexposure Shia Labeouf, vacantly kicking around the screen as a greaser tagalong. Yes, the infamous nuke-fridge scene occurs during this part of the film, and it's still an eyeball-roller, but that's basically just a throwaway bit and the plot quickly moves to conceptually greener pastures. I found myself thinking, hey, maybe I was too harsh with that first watch.
Then we reach the jungle and the wheels come off. Practical effects give way to glaring CG. Themes shift from the mythical to the absurd. Credibility goes sailing out the window. I know what Lucas and Spielberg were thinking. This is a series that's been built around stretches of the truth, poking and prodding reality until it doesn't seem so outlandish to be literally chasing the holy grail. They wanted to stick to that concept, push the envelope just a bit farther, play with the cheekier sci-fi concepts popularized during the late '50s. But man, oh man, did they misjudge. Somewhere between the vine-swinging tarzan monkeys, the trans-dimensional space aliens, the man-eating insects, the moving-vehicle swordfight and, yeah, that silly bit with the refrigerator, we shed our tenuous connection to the real world and lean into the ludicrous one. They've pressed their luck way too far, taken their audience out of the moment, and suddenly we've noticed the holes. Crystal Skull might not be quite as thorough a stinker as I'd remembered, but it's still bad.
6 - Fair
It isn't up there with the others, but still a good movie.
The one thing that killed this aside the incredibly bad casting for Indy's kid can be summed up in one word, aliens. You want aliens watch Aliens not Indiana Jones.
The usual Indiana Jones stuff (which is decent). But everything they decided to update or change sucks.
yes, I like this movie. sue me.
and I love even more after watching the 2023 sequel.
George Lucas wearing the "Han Shot First" shirt behind the scenes should've been an indicator of where this was headed.
Also, Indiana snatching his fedora away from Mutt at the end reminds me of when Jeremy Renner was rumored to be the new face of the Mission: Impossible franchise after Cruise and Paramount's epic mid-2000s falling out. "You're gonna be our new Ethan Hunt! Oh, wait, you're one of The Avengers and that movie just cleared a clean billion at the box office, so you probably aren't gonna be available..."
I liked this one better than the others
Honestly, my only problem with this movie is that it's somehow rated lower than The Temple of Doom. No matter how bad the cinematography Crystal Skull's may or may not be, at least it wasn't boring.. unlike Temple of Doom.
The franchise, Ford and a bit of sentiment build the film, but unfortunately LaBeouf is in the second category among casts... and the plot went a little too far. ;)
I re-watched this in the leadup to the new (2023) Indiana Jones movie, and I regret everything. I had forgotten just how bad it was. I had even seen tweets and toots over the last 12 months saying it wasn't as bad as people said at the time. I don't know what those people were on about because it's so much worse than my memory of it.
Harrison Ford was already too old to play Indy in this 2008 movie. How bad is he going to be in the new (2023) movie?
Watched it when it came out and it wasn't a fan, haven't seen it since. Until tonight as in the lead up to Dual of Destiny a 1-4 rewatch was in order naturally. this one just doesn't cut the mustard, when you go back to back each film until 4.
Crystal skull felt a little lackluster, and it's crazy when you consider it's roughly the same length. The humor, the adventure and the action going from Temple of doom or last crusade is just lost here, although I did give marks and enjoy the fight sequence in the jungle all the way from the vehicles up to the temple and the library bike scene.
the other movies held my attention every nail biting second but this one I was looking away and doing menial things in the quiet parts.
Going back to last crusade where Nazis boards the plane looking superior and Indy throws him out the window before saying he didn't have a ticket, to which all the guests get their tickets out, then a lull before going into the airplane dogfight, like that's Indy - humour, suspense and action, none of which we get here in the same measure at least.
if I go to watch them again (which I will) I would be fairly happy watching 1-3 and just the bike and jungle sequence from this one skipping the rest.
I also feel this one didn't. have enough real filing locations to it as well and utilized more cgi, it's just a weird one. Speaking of I wasn't enthralled by the nuke sequence either, like yea being flown into the air inside a fridge.....was any of that necessary, Indy survives a nuke that just happens to be going off and survives, I don't know.
In my opinion the weakest in the collection thus far, although they have from what the trailers have shown, brought the Nazis back for Dial of destiny so, I'm hoping it's a return to form.
I don’t have much of an issue with what Spielberg and Lucas did with the story here. If you understand the source material these movies always pulled from, this is the natural evolution of the Indiana Jones story. The movie comes from a time where Spielberg was experimenting with the look of his films, and while this film doesn’t look anywhere near as good as the original trilogy, the results aren’t half bad. There’s still plenty of ambition in the framing, blocking and stuntwork, which you can’t say about Dial of Destiny. Sure, the set pieces are a few notches below the franchise’s best, but there are still a couple of memorable moments here. Some of those moments are infamous for all the wrong reasons (nuke the fridge; Shia LaBoeuf being Tarzan), and it’s hard to argue against this one generally having the dumbest script of the franchise, but the motorcycle chase is still a lot of fun to watch. Technically, Spielberg makes more than a few bad calls here. A lot of the CGI looks unpolished (those prairie dogs, why?), there’s some very noticeable ADR and some of the creature design isn’t great. A good argument could be made that his heart wasn’t fully in this one. You can’t say that about Harrison Ford though, he’s still fantastic in the role and I like that the movie isn’t afraid to call out his age. Unfortunately he’s paired up here with an annoying sidekick played by Shia LaBoeuf and an underwritten (though cool looking) villain played by Cate Blanchett. All in all, I appreciate Spielberg’s risk taking with this one, but the silliness should’ve been reigned in, and some of the ideas needed more refinement in order to keep this engaging all the way through.
4.5/10
Like my junior highschool years: a good effort but the end was comically all over the place.
Crystal Skull follows the same pattern as the others in the franchise but is more entertaining than all but the first and even the ridiculous ending can honestly say it didn't feature a grail knight.
I rewatched it, having only viewed this once when it was originally released in theaters. (All the others I've seen multiple times on home video.) "Crystal Skull" honestly doesn't deserve the meanness and hate. This time, I put my brain on hold, especially since I'd forgotten most of the plot. Has it aged well? I just got through watching all the movies in rapid succession preparing for "Dial of Destiny" and they all haven't aged well: the plot holes seem bigger on the small screen, the special effects seem cheesier and Indy... well, Henry Jones, Jr. has major character flaws. However, I had fun with Mutt and Mom. And Irina. And Mac. And, oh, poor beloved Ox. We need more of the late John Hurt in our lives, sadly. I'm going to up my original "6" rating to a "7" -- take that. Will I watch this again? Probably not.
:heart:x4
I re-watched this movie last night - hoping it wasn't really as bad as I remember it. Sadly it did not get any better over the last 15 years.
The whole thing was just wrong from beginning to end. They made the humor way too over the top. It used to be more natural and subtle. Shia LeBeouf did not belong there at all. And then there was the whole Sci-Fi angle with cross-dimensional aliens. . . really??
I seriously hope the new one Dial of Destiny is a bit more grounded. But i have my doubts.
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
I must confess that I only recently discovered the existence of this fourth film. Despite having come across the worst online reviews, I didn't quite notice the huge gap in quality compared to the original trilogy. Sure, there’s indeed a sense of weariness that permeates the film, but I can't help but attribute it to the fact that Spielberg's magic doesn't quite mesh with modern productions. His signature style, without the nostalgic patina of vintage allure, often comes across as contrived and cartoony, lazily rehashing itself with no attempt at meeting the sensibility of new audiences. And let's not even get started on the janky CGI – it did the film no favors, to say the least.
Overall, I found the film rather lifeless and tiresome, except for the exhilarating jeep chase, which was delightfully absurd and embraced a proto-Fast and Furious-esque level of trashiness. Cate, my dear, I adore you, but that eurospy villain accent was atrocious.
Cate Blanchett looks like Governor Arihnda Pryce (Star Wars Rebels) and still holds the record for the worst Russian accent in cinematic history. Tarzan (Shia LaBeouf) swings on some vines, makes friends with some monkeys and sword fights like a pro. Senior Jones developps his psychic powers and the franchise is now officially linked to the Alien franchise. None of the performances are worth mentioning here, the story made no sense to me, too much use of CGI, the action sequences are bland and the sci-fi stuff doesn't belong in this franchise it's so off-putting and mis placed. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is definitely the worst in the franchise and even if I were to judge it as a separate entity not in the Indiana Jones franchise, it's still a poor attempt at an action movie and very generic. The ants were incredible though and I loved the entire set piece for the third act especially the ancient mechanical doors opening.
A minute of silence for the rat snake, who apparently wasn't a rat snake.
Indiana Jones
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) https://trakt.tv/movies/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-1981
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) https://trakt.tv/movies/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-1984
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) https://trakt.tv/movies/indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-1989
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) https://trakt.tv/movies/indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull-2008
5,5/10
H H H H H
There are a lot of reasons to consider this worse than the other three Indiana Jones films, but the most disappointing aspect is that everything is surface-level. The Macguffin, the plot, and the locations tell us nothing about Indiana Jones as a character, or make us interested in the other characters. Even in Temple of Doom, we can extrapolate some semblance of character motivation or value from something (anything). There's nothing here but a flimsy plot based on a non-existent myth. One-note characters jumping from setpiece to uninteresting setpiece.
Speaking of the other characters, they try really hard to integrate John Hurt's character, Oxley, into the journey of finding the resting place of the crystal skull, but Oxley just isn't interesting. No matter how much you tell us about who his character is, it's difficult to connect with them if we aren't shown anything that confirms it. Plus, they expect us to believe that Oxley had already done the entire journey years ago, even though they use the crystal skull to get out of so many crazy situations. I can suspend my disbelief for a lot of things, but I just can't with that.
And I know that all media about the Cold War makes the US government out to be hyper-paranoid about Communist spies, but the fact that there are repercussions for Indy being unknowingly associated with a Commie spy is frustrating. Not sure how the US government actually acted in that time period, but would they blatantly accuse a war veteran of being a spy the entire time? Seems completely unreasonable to me. Plus, they seemed to forget that his friend had double-crossed them before, and they just let him tag along as they outran the Russians. There's no reason they should have let him do that!
The longer the movie goes on, the harder it gets to watch. The action scenes are incomprehensible once they get to Peru, and yeah, the more you think about it, the dumber the concept of "aliens in an archeological adventure movie" becomes. This feels like it could make for an interesting Indiana Jones novel, much like how Star Wars told many wild stories in the Legends canon. But between this movie and the pieces we can gather from the filming of Indiana Jones 5, I'm not holding out any hope that this series can even get close to the lowest lows of the previous three. Not by a long shot.
And if you ask me, that whole scene where Indy survives a nuclear explosion in a lead-lined refrigerator is flipping awesome, and you can't change my mind!
You lost me at the aliens.
At first it was just a little bit boring, but then it just started to make less and less sense. Indians Jones is about rituals, mystic, legends and archeology not aliens or beings from another dimension. Watching Shia sword fighting in cgi made me remember raiders when Indy is dragged by a moving car. I mean... I don't know what happened this was not Indiana Jones.
A goofy yet some-what fun time. Which definitely isn’t necessarily a good thing. When Spielberg and Lucas took 20 years to agree on a script they liked. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull should have been so much better.
There’s more comedy than adventure. With Cate Blanchett playing a silly Russian villain who thinks she can read minds. You also have Shia Leboeuf swinging on vines with monkeys. Among many other head scratching moments.
I feared rewatching this for the exact reasons I hated this.
The story makes no sense, I have no idea what mcguffin leads to the other mcguffin and I have no idea why they need it. Shia LaBoeuffs character does nothing to add to the story, remove him and you have the same movie minus one scene with swordfighting.
It's such a cool idea, but it's hobbled together like a rusty old car is held together with ductape. The cinematogrphy is awful, it did not inflict the nostalgia on me I had hoped for and expected. I'm sorry Steven, but what the hell?
cate blanchett would like to speak to the manager
This movie >>>>>>> Blade Runner 2049
Spoilers: Jones went from fun ridiculous to just stupid. First we see something that's insanely magnet effect gun powder but nothing else seems effected. When they find the source where has all the gun powder gone? Ray Winstone has a head on collusion then in the next shot he's standing up with his head in his hand. Jones survives an atomic bomb by getting in a fridge! So much for the great action openers Jones was known for.
I went into this movie with low expectations and it was about what I expected. There was a lot of swashbuckling action scenes mixed in with some other scenes that really made me shake my head. To sum it up... completely unnecessary but if you suspend some disbelief this movie is passable.
Its nowhere near as good as the originals but its still an ok movie. Harrison Ford is still great as he reprises more roles he did in the 80s. I love Cate Blanchett but her character didn't work for me and remember when Shia LaBeouf was going to be the next big star? The aliens were a weird choice. There was too many CGI animals. Overall worst in the series but I would still watch it at least once to see all of Indiana Jones's adventures. I'm not excited for the next one but I am cautiously optimistic.
My ol'lady wants to watch nature shows right now so even watching this again seems less painful
We see the fanedit, is shorter, almost without ridiculous scenes and best music
Sequels always water the initial experience of the first one. Sad really but rarely do sequels out perform. One case however is the Trek series where the 1st was terrible and the Wrath of Kahn much better. Skip ST 1 if you can. Sorry, I did digress but point is with each Raiders installment it just gets worse in spit of some great talent in each of them. #ShiftvW8
As with all the other Indiana Jones movies: for me this 4th part is just a mediocre action flick. Why the Indiana Jones franchise got it's huge fan base I will never understand (although at least with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull people begin to agree with me. Or how else can the 63% rating be explained?!)
I'm not an archeologist so I didn't get all the jokes or references.....hence the 'meh'
Shout by SamuBlockedParent2023-06-12T20:14:02Z
The movie is great fun! Absolutely overhated…
Yes the plot is absurd at times and it can’t compare to the original trilogy. But I enjoy it nonetheless.
Y‘all need to stop taking everything so seriously.