Indiana Jones and the Box-office Boom

[Clare Newsome]

It may have been a disappointment to many, but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has been a massive financial success - earning $786m against an estimated budget of $185m (that much, and yet the CGI was still that bad?

)

Its success has helped Lucas and Spielberg top the entertainment world's richlist

 

[Anonymous]

I thought it was better the second time of watching, but I have to agree it left a lot to be desired.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree about the CGI, not good enough for a 'Big Budget' movie. Amazingly if you watch The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor you would think your watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull....

 

[ElectroMan]

Interesting, a recent newspaper article cited that and Quantum of Solace as two mega-hyped films that haven't done as well as expected on DVD ...

 

[Anonymous]

Seem to recall some dodgy CG in Quantum too, when Jimmy B is falling through the plate glass roof in pursuit of a bad man.

 

[Liam19]

Clare Newsome:
It may have been a disappointment to many, but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has been a massive financial success - earning $786m against an estimated budget of $185m (that much, and yet the CGI was still that bad?

)

Its success has helped Lucas and Spielberg top the entertainment world's richlist

Count me in the disappointment camp - I have virtually no respect for George Lucas nowadays. He seems to be nothing more than an apathetic, money-grabbing old man nowadays, content with regurgitating his only two successful film entities (Star Wars and Indy, of course), with the minimum of creative effort. The script for Skull is unforgivably lazy, and it stumps me as to why Spielberg (a man I still greatly admire) didn't recognise just how a weak a story this was.

I'd also love to crucify Lucas for over-use of CGI, but that would be unfair since it seems to have become a device for many Hollywood filmmakers to camouflage a poor/non-existent story (lookin' at you, Mr. Bay...). While I've never found the Star Wars prequels as offensive as many others have (since I have an inherent fascination with the Vader backstory), Indy 4 proved to me that Lucas cares more about his wallet than about his beloved characters.

Spielberg needs to move on, and keep building on his vastly more impressive catalogue of great films. Let George take care of Shia LaBeouf's inevitable Indy outing...

 

[Anonymous]

Shocking, to say the least, for a totally rubbish movie!

 

[professorhat]

Agreed, I gave it another chance and watched it a friend's house a few weeks back - if anything I found it even worse than when I saw it in the cinema.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, the only way it'll end up in my collection is when it inevitably appears in the Indy Quadrillogy on Blu-Ray.

(NB - we watched the DVD special features - was it me or did it seem Spielberg was apologising for the film in his interviews, pretty much laying the blame completely at Lucas' feet on the fact it got made!)

 

[Anonymous]

Whilst it's the worst entry in the series I do like it better than a lot of other films.

I'd considr those Godawful Pirates of the Caribbean sequels (especially the third one) to be far worse films than Crystal Skull.

 

[ElectroMan]

Liam19:
Count me in the disappointment camp - I have virtually no respect for George Lucas nowadays. He seems to be nothing more than an apathetic, money-grabbing old man nowadays, content with regurgitating his only two successful film entities (Star Wars and Indy, of course), with the minimum of creative effort.

Plus American Graffiti and THX 1138 ... and of course, THX itself.

- and according to imdb, Indiana Jones 5 is in development!