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MONDAY AM: It's officially a mega-hit for adventurer Indiana Jones after a 19-year hiatus. The 10th biggest Friday-through-Sunday in the U.S. of all time, the 5th biggest international opening of all time, Steven Spielberg's biggest opener (passing War Of The Worlds), and George Lucas's second best opener behind Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith. 
This tentpole kept going strong all weekend despite the very mixed morning-after watercooler talk about whether the actioner was even worth watching -- leading many Indy faithful to complain that Spielberg and Lucas just phoned it in. (But my sources maintain the filmmaking duo thought they'd made a good pic. Go figure.) The North American box office gross on Paramount's Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull will be $151M for the 5-day Memorial Weekend (Thursday's $25M, Friday's $31M, Saturday's $37M, and Sunday's $33M as well as Monday's expected $25M), $26M for the 4-day holiday, and $101M for FSS.
Internationally, Paramount's Indy 4 is also piling up the box office gross. The foreign estimate through Monday is expected to be $160 million -- shattering the record for Paramount's best overseas opening previously held by the opening of Spielberg's War Of The Worlds ($102M). So, with North America's $151M total take through Monday, that's a $311M worldwide haul.
In second place for the 3-day weekend was Disney/Walden's successful sequel The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian whose gross fell 58% from a week ago to a big $23M for FSS from 3,929 venues and $28.6M for the 4-day holiday for a new cume of $96.6M. (See below for the Top 10 chart.) It's now taken in $49.3M overseas from 13 territories which represents an 11% increase over Narnia 1. The 3rd spot was another Paramount actioner, Marvel's Iron Man, with $20.1M for FSS from 3,915 runs and $25.6M for the 4-day holiday for a giant new cume of $257.8M.
Indy's PG-13 fourquel opened at 12:01 AM Thursday into 4,260 theaters in North America and also day and date in 61 foreign territories (except Japan). Paramount saw some weakness in the tracking among teens. But that was made up for by nostalgia among adults: the problem is that those older moviegoers generally wait until the 2nd or 3rd weekend to screen a flick. And then there was the hot button issue of the film's story quality, or lack there-of. In the end, none of these concerns mattered: Indy 4 kept piling up the box office dollars.
Here are the records Indy 4 couldn't beat: The best 5-day opening ever was the humongous $172.8M recorded by 2005's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith. That pic also scored the best Thursday take of $50M; then again that pic finished out the prequel trilogy. The best Memorial Day Weekend was posted last summer by Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End which also completed a trilogy; its 4 1/2-day opening posted $153.0M and its 5 1/2-day figure was $160.8M. Still another number to consider is what Spider-Man 3 did during its first 5 consecutive non-holiday days last May: $169.4M. Globally, the record number floating around is a high-wire act of $400+M for summer 2007, when both Spider-Man 3 and Pirates 3 sparred over which set the worldwide debut total. But Pirates 3 opened day and date in over 100+ foreign territories.)
Informed guesstimates from my box office gurus before the film opened ranged from a North American low of $142 million to a high of $175 million. I thought the answer lay somewhere inbetween -- around $160M. Then again, that's not taking into account how movie theaters are raising ticket prices by a dollar or two this summer because popcorn is more expensive. (According to news reports, next year's corn stocks are expected to plunge to a 13-year low, corn-futures contracts have soared to an all-time high, and the sudden demand for ethanol will claim 40% of next year's corn crop. Even the paper for the popcorn tubs is more expensive. So the profit margins at theaters which rely on concession sales for as much as 45% of their revenue are desperate to make up the difference.) Also, major theaters in cities are starting to charge the same for children as adults. The result is that Indy 4's grosses fattened while filmgoers' finances thinned. No wonder the public feels increasingly ripped off at the cineplex.
Here's the Top 10 chart as of Sunday AM:
1. Indiana Jones 4 (Paramount) -- 3-Day Wkd: $101M, 4-day holiday $126M, Cume: $151.1M
2. Chronicles of Narnia 2 (Disney) -- 3-Day Wkd: $23M, 4-day holiday $28.6M, Cume: $96.6M
3. Iron Man (Paramount) -- 3-Day Wkd: $20M, 4-day holiday $25.6M, Cume: $257.8M
4. What Happens In Vegas (Fox) -- 3-Day Wkd: $9M, 4-day holiday $11.1M, Cume: $56.3M
5. Speed Racer (Warner Bros) -- 3-Day Wkd: $3.9M, 4-day holiday $5.2M, Cume: $37.4M
6. Baby Mama (Universal) -- 3-Day Wkd: $3.3M, 4-day holiday $4.2M, Cume: $53M
7. Made Of Honor (Sony) -- 3-Day Wkd: $3.4M, 4-day holiday $4.2M, Cume: $39.8M
8. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Universal) -- 3-Day Wkd: $1.6M, 4-day holiday $2.1M, Cume: $58.7M
9. Harold and Kumar 2 (Warner Bros) -- 3-Day Wkd: $915K, 4-day holiday $1.2M, Cume: $36.1M
10. The Visitor (Overture) -- 3-Day Wkd: $781K, 4-day holiday $917K, Cume: $4.5M
(Photo of Spanish tourists exiting an Indy 4 screening in Los Angeles by Jim Stevenson.)
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Nikki, I’m not really following your logic. If it made less that half of Revenge of the Sith’s opening day, how can it be expected to achieve anywhere near that film’s 5-day total? Even the “low” $142 million estimate looks absurdly generous to me.
Bob Loblaw (love the Arrested Development reference),
To put it simply Star Wars frontloads a hell of a lot more than Indiana Jones. If I recall correctly Sith drew well over $15 mil on midnight showings alone which speaks to what a presing Day One imperitive it had. It also attracted more young men than Indy (which tracks a bit older) who are the principle audience in a day one weekday release. Plus, let’s not kid ourselves, Star Wars has a much bigger geek factor than Indy which is the big cause for the big upfront Thursday money. Indy will play extremely well all weekend and will maintain great legs ending up comfortably over $300 million.
Considering the film is basically unwatchable and a disaster, I’m wondering how long it’s going to take word of mouth to kick in.
8:15 multiplex show in Austin, Texas and my screening was sold out. Seems to be selling out all the evening screenings here. Crowd seemed to enjoy the film.
No Way Indy is touching 150 million over the long weekend.
And it won’t be touching 300 million in it’s entire run.
Raiders was very good.Last Crusade and Doom were fine.
Times have changed, Indy mania has thinned considerably.
I just don’t understand this obsessive talk about how much a movie will make.
“It made 20 mil on the first day…..no no it mad 22 mil,….hmmm the record stands on 25 mil…..well then it must be a flop then???
If people are so interested in these numbers,why not just wait for monday when the actual numbers are released.
It’s so pointless.
It is sad to say it, but this is not a good film. The first 20 minutes show great promise…but shortly after that, the film falls apart. There are too many characters in the film…specifically too many good guys. John Hurt’s character was not needed and Karen Allen could have easily been used to deliver the story exposition that Hurt’s character, I suspect, a fill in for Sean Connery, attempts to deposit. Amid a low point in the mayhem, we hear a tale about lost Spanish Soldiers who’s fate is discovered by Hurt’s character, a lost archeologist…unimportant story details which cause the film to drag, and should have been cut from the movie. And then there is the double agent–I won’t identify him for those who haven’t seen the movie, but he gets in the way–once was fine, but by about the 6th time it was entirely too much!!!
As for the story, McGuffin after McGuffin…it was all over the place. This should have been a great film about someone stealing the Ark of The Covenant from the Americans and Indy having to find it again…in order to use it against a great evil. But no, we just got a movie that repeatedly referenced the best moments of Raiders…and the worst moments of it’s sequels…and time after time, these scenes were copied…but not approved upon…no, they were greatly diminished!!!
Next, CGI effects were used to animate photo-realistic Ground Hogs and Monkies…for comedy slap-stick antics which played like cartoons. The tone of the film was off…as scenes like that, and Shia Labeouf’s Tarzan vine swinging sequence seemed out of place, something better suited for a immature child themed film…and don’t make me mention the awful waterfall sequence.
Karen Allen was under used here, and strangely Cate Blanchett was the only shinning moment in the film…in fact, she stole every scene that she was in, and I am not even a fan of her’s, or at least, I wasn’t until I saw this movie. The camera loves her. She is smart and over sexy at every turn…and that is a good, and even great, thing. I think I fell in love with her. Talk about being gorgeous, charismatic and dominating!!! A love triangle between Blanchett’s character and that of Indy and his lady love as played by Allen, would have raised the proceedings, but alas, that was not to be.
Unfortunately, one could sense that numerous writers pieced the film’s script together as it was often disjointed, sloppy and embarrassing to watch. There was almost zero character development and no real emotionally engaging points for the characters. The audience knew everyone would survive, leaving the impression that the characters were never in any real danger. There were no real high stakes for the characters and that is the film’s main failing.
The critics were generally favorable but it’s taken all of 24 hours for the backlash to officially become ingrained in the net community. Certain key creative decisions regarding content and execution are being second guessed into oblivion and Lucas is being targeted as the primary scapegoat whom everyone’s eager to hang out to dry because of his perceived past story transgressions with the prequels. Having seen the movie myself yesterday evening I have to admit a lot of the outrage is not undeserved: it’s unquestionably the weakest of the series and seems to have been made primarily to make a buck quickly because there’s no sense of vitality to the storytelling that the three key players (SS/GL/HF) allegedly agonized over until it met their rigid demands. I’m sensing that Spielberg and Ford, eager to put an end to their mutual blockbuster drought, were tired of waiting until the stars aligned perfectly because of the age factor so they cobbled this thing together using spare story parts from previous proposed versions that got nixed and the final result consequently suffered from a lack of real focus or cohesive direction. It may be serviceable summer adventure escapism but sadly it doesn’t pass muster when compared with the set standard of what should’ve been a definitive trilogy of closure and finality.
I was at a 12:01 showing. A 300 seat theater was at about 260, and today shows were running at about 95% capacity daytime, 100% after 4pm on three screens. Those kind of numbers mirrored Ironman locally. Considering the long weekend, based on past performances in this same theater-plex, I would see 140 mill over the weekend as very doable, provided the word of mouth factor doesn’t kick in fast. Its a holiday weekend, word of mouth badpress usually rears its ugly head on weekend number 2 with dropoffs in the neighborhood of 70% over opening. General consensus was that IJ4 was “exactly” what they expected, but hoped for spectacular. Personally, I hated the opening scene. There was way too much cheese in the first 5 min.
Anyone who believes that Indy 4 won’t make money is an idiot.
Unwatchable?
Ridiculous.
The movie is easily as good as Last Crusade.
One thing to consider when trying to figure the number is that the Thursday opening might be expected to be smaller than it might be in a non-holiday weekend as a fraction of total ticket sales this weekend. While many were ready to go out for opening night, many others don’t start their long weekend until work is done on Friday and weren’t about to catch a flick Thursday night.
So let’s not count out a possible run up to 150 mil yet. I shouldn’t expect Thursday to be more than a sixth of that total for a holiday weekend.
“Considering the film is basically unwatchable”???
Have you actually seen the movie? It is a very solid film. I need to preface that by saying that if you enjoy Indiana Jones movies, you will enjoy this one.
If you didn’t see the first 3, 4 will leave you scratching your head.
Is it far fetched? You betcha, what indy film wasn’t?
I’ve waited many years for this movie as I did phantom menace. I left indy 4 a happy man, I left phantom menace thinking what have they done??
Comment by Socratores — May 22, 2008 @ 10:38 pm
Hope you see the fun in all this. It is things like this that rocks our boats, guesstimation on the BO potential of a movie. Some do get carried away and throwing ‘fur-ball’ at each other’s posting but it is all in the name of good fun
25M is a good start for a old franchise. The only way is up hereonwards
Oh! One more thing, I read the reviews and loads of them are saying how old Harrison is in this movie. He is old, he has aged, just like ALL OF US. What we’re expecting? A botox-filled young Indiana? Sheesh! Or maybe the the kind of CGI-effects you get in X-Men 3 with Dr X and Magnito in the opening scene digitally ‘younged’ on screen? How creepy is that?
I agree the numbers are pointless, especially since Nikki reports kids being charged adult prices in some places, inflated prices etc. Why not just tally up the number of tickets sold regardless of revenue, otherwise you have this endless “money=popular/good” argument.
The Geek audience for Star Wars movies is definitely more front loaded. That made the midnight showings much more heavily attended. I desperately wanted to see Indy last night (as did my two teenage daughters and my wife), but with school and work today, we put off our trip to the cinema until the weekend. I think the more adult skewing Indy will have a spectacular weekend. It’s more family oriented than Star Wars, has the action to bring in the boys, the nostalgia and Harrison for the geezers, and has a not-so-secret-weapon in Shia who will draw teenage girls (who might not care as much for a Spiderman or Star Wars film). This is a rare Summer Film that can hit all demographics, so do not underestimate it.
They didn’t tinker with the elements that worked in the first three films, and that’s exactly what people wanted. Doesn’t matter if it’s the least of the four, or if it’s the best.
This movie will be a phenominal success because there’s nothing else quite like it out there, and because it’s appeal isn’t limited to people who have to see a movie in it’s opening weekend or they don’t bother. It’ll play strong through the 4th.
Ignoring what the movie critics say, people want to be entertained and they’ll go see this movie. The only thing that will hurt it is if the viewing public agree with the critics and word of mouth dampers enthusiasm to see it. Chance are that won’t happen even though George LucASS can’t write to save his life. Lucky for him he has such a huge following that he could pen another Star Wars movie of Yoda humping Jabba The Hut’s leg for 2 hours and the Star Wars fans would eat it up and say it’s a great movie.
With about three good movies put out every year nowadays, going to the movies is like digging for your Crackerjack prize. Who knows what you’ll get. With outrageous ticket prices I not only wait past opening weekend, I wait for the little red envelope in my mailbox.
I took my family to the theater last night to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find there were no lines that formed hours prior to the movie start time and the theaters were pretty much empty. However, the movie was horrible when compared to other Indiana Jones’ movies. First off, could there be any more cliches in the story line? The writer went a little overboard…. Now Indy meets aliens????WTF??? I expect this movie will do well, as you have already noted, but will not surpass any major benchmarks set by the other films you mentioned. Especially when word gets out that the movie sucked! But, to each his own. You may love it!
This movie sucked.
the real ?
Did people use their $600 tax rebate to see this movie?
Imagine if there were no extra money to see the film? … What would it all mean?
Here’s why it WILL be big. How many people do you think will be looking for “cheap” entertainment as the price of gas continues to go through the roof? I know I already am. I will take my two sons, ages 9 and 13 to see it….and that is about it for the Memorial weekend. There is no way I’m taking out the Yamaha Waverunners when it will run me about $140 for a days fun. Times are tough….a new economic dynamic needs to be realized.
This film is enjoyable, but for a surprising reason: the relationships. Watching Indy, Miriam and Mutt adventure together was more fun than the adventure itself.
I agree with Curious; once people hear from friends how bad it is (I’d give it a C- and that’s generous), a lot of them aren’t going to waste $7 or $8 on a ticket. The forums on Rotten Tomatoes are buzzing with how bad it is. I can’t believe the critics didn’t do their jobs and forewarn us.
And for the long haul, who’s going to watch it again?
The problem I see, which was the problem with the second in the series as well is the foundational premise of the story a Crystal Skull/ET??? Religious artifacts such as the Ark or the Cup of Crist really strikes a chord with people on an emotional level but this is more like Indy meets the X-Files. The Temple of Doom had this problem and I am surprised theses Hollywood giants don’t understand the power of Western Religious Symbology. People want to believe the bible tells a deeper truth about a past the truly existed and that stirs the imagination more than anything. We’ve had X-Files for a long time now so why go there???
Learn to read Bob
Mr. Wee Wee sez “You go girl and vote Obama!” Mr. Wee Wee likes Indy and Barrack in a Armani suit! You go girl!
It might be better not to compare it to any of the movies that Nikki came up with but to compare it the Star Wars: Episode I. SWEI, had a very long gap from the time Return of the Jedi came out and when SWEI came out. Same story family but two different eras. By comparing it to that, you may come up with better projections for what this 5 day run might be for IJ4. However, like Socratores stated, it is pointless trying to guess…just wait until Monday.
Don’t you just love the flame throwing commentators? Poor mouthing a Raiders’ film is just sour grapes from a grumpy person.
Not sure what movie you guys viewed, I thought it was great and teen has gone twice already.
Crystal Skulls will clearly not reach any kind of 5-day Memorial Day Weekend record, and I say great! When will Hollywood’s libtards realize we in the heartland are tired of sass-talking archaeologists who antagonize the United States Government? All that time spent traveling overseas – what’s the matter, Indy? America’s treasures not good enough for you? Here’s a thought, Hollyweird: make a movie where Indy signs up for an extended Afghanistan tour of duty. Sure, he’s killed his share of foreigners in the previous movie – but never for LIBERTY! He wants to find mythical artifacts? Fine, let him dig for WMDs in Syria!
Long live Indy, and steve bayzoe too!
I saw the movie last evening with my family and cannot fathom how one would deem the film “unwatchable”?
I thought it was a great adventure with a reasonably typical Indy story-line. The action is non-stop and everyone in my family enjoyed it: my wife (hardsell to be sure), and my 17 and 11 year old sons alike.
Is not a trip to the movies supposed to be a break from reality? I view this as a thrill-ride and it is successful as such. If you like the Indy-franchise at all– this movie will not let you down. “Curious”…your comments make me think you’re a stuffed shirt and I find you them most “curious”. Can’t please everyone of course.
Nikki: When is Hollywood gonna wake up and make you the head of a studio? Hmm. UA needs help. I think there’s a strong interest in Indy 4 across the board. The audience I saw it with was about 30% female, and most of them high school age. And many were not with dates; the row in front of me had eight young women, all friends, out to see–Shia LaBeouf. I don’t know what his reputation is on the Left Coast, but LaBeouf’s entrance on the motorcycle got big applause. The box office numbers might be critical for analysts and studio heads whose jobs depend on them, but the average moviegoer cares only about whether the pic “is any good.” I think the big test for “Crystal Skull” will come next week with the bow of “Sex and the City.” Fanboys might flock once again to the Spielberg flick, even at ten bucks a pop, but I expect SATC will do healthy business among women as this summer’s “The Devil Wears Prada.” Ultimately, “Skull” will do well in the next few weeks, but will be crowded out by “Dark Knight,” “Hancock” and “Kung Fu Panda.” “Panda” will be huge. “Get Smart” and “The Love Guru” look like this summer’s stool samples.
Saw “Indy & the Skull” at a sparsely attended screening, so perhaps my experience would have been better with a packed theater of paying filmgoers eager for a good ride, but my feeling is that this movie will be hard-pressed to pass $220 once word of its mediocrity gets out. This is a summer picture everyone will see once.
But only once. It’s like a reassuring dinner with old friends who you’ve not seen in years, so it’s fun to hang out with them as a special occasion. But times have changed, so have they and so have you, and there’s not any strong urge to repeat the experience.
Indy 4 starts with much promise, but quickly becomes boring and repetitive of both itself and the other pictures. The first half hour is far and away the best section, with the opening in Area 51 and the nuke blast escape. But it all too soon gets bogged down in exposition and increasingly over the top action sequences. I was willing to tag along (barely) for the motorcycle fight/escape, but the sword fight on the jeeps in the jungle, followed by the incredibly stupid Tarzan-like escape by Mutt was beyond the palatable. As the plot escalates, Indy becomes more and more a bystander instead of an instigator, and the effects are mere spectacle without emotional resonance. Not enough whip action, either.
Ford is still good in the role, however. It’s not his fault, and when he’s on the screen the movie managed to hold my attention. But he’s lost in the relentlessness of the last 45 minutes, and bogged down with all the characters tagging along. And the alien stuff felt shoehorned in.
It’s a servicable escape from reality for two hours, but nothing more. It’s certainly no “Die Hard 4,” which still stands as the best of the resuscitated heroes popcorn pictures from the past few years, and better than the first two “Star Wars” sequel/prequels, but that’s saying almost nothing.
Can we all start to talk about George Lucas and the creative kiss of death? The guy’s ratio of good to bad movies is becoming perilous. I’m not even talking about the Indy sequels or the Star Wars prequels. Remember “Willow”? “The Radioland Murders”?
Abhishek, your completely out of touch with what people are excited for, this is a genre(adventure films) that’s almost completely untouched, and people are longing for it, everyone involved is still well loved. And people still love indy, I don’t care how long it’s been. And honestly times have changed but that’s helped indy, people are more into the blockbuster films these days then just any old film coming out. Indy has been successfully painted as a blockbuster, it’s been well received by critics(79% on Rottentomatoes) it’s selling tickets weeks in advance playing on tons of screens, there is nothing stopping this film breaking 300 million.
I’ve been waiting for someone to make a comment like Socratores’! It is strange, isn’t it? I’m old enough to remember when the general public not only didn’t know box-office numbers, they didn’t care. It was considered boring. A film was either a ‘big hit’ or it wasn’t… that was the extent of most people’s interest. The figures themselves were hard to come by; well anything like that in the pre-internet days was. I don’t know that they were as closely guarded as, say, the Nielsen/Soundscan sales numbers are today, but you definitely had to know where to look and who to ask. Now the f****** newspapers print a detailed top ten list every Monday! I sometimes wonder if the average person really IS that interested.
Anyway, back to Indy. It’s probably true that the audience skews older and so it might be mildly disappointing in its opening weekend numbers, but it’s still going to make a lot of money; I’m thinking somewhere around $300 mil. Purely anecdotal evidence indicates to me that this is the one summer film that most qualifies as a ‘must-see.’
Indy is the Best! Can’t get enough Indy Jones!!!
Hmmmmmm, I wonder if they take into consideration the cost of a ticket for the Star Wars movies to the price they are today? Would be interesting how that would compare.
Socratores – Because the executive producers as well as the studio find these numbers increasingly important to their bottom line. By historically tracking Day 1/Week 1 opening numbers, the cash guys can sleep at night knowing that they invested over $100 MIL for a film to be produced. Trust me – if you had invested the kind of coin it takes to produce one of these summer blockbusters, you would be tracking numbers from day 1 out of every theater demographic in Kansas.
I saw the film yesterday morning. The bad press is ridiculous…the film plays fine for a PG-13, action-adventure film which is a fourth installment of a film franchise created almost 30 years ago. If you have watched any of the prior-three films more than once or twice, you’ll appreciate this installment.
Saw it yesterday. Im a HUGE indy fan and thought the storylined seemed rushed, the character development was paper thin, and the plot line was WAY over the top. Wasnt impressed with the music either. John Williams is getting played out. At one point I swear part of the music was the EXACT same as minority report. bring something new to the table, please.
I would be interested in seeing how it fares demonatrated in inflation dollars compared to the original Raiders. I thought it was a GREAT movie! My teenage daughter is calling it her favorite movie afer one viewing. I never thought I’d see a patch-wearing Johnny Depp take a backseat to a whip toting Harrison Ford… but there you have it.
The movie was terrible. A bigger disappointment than the Phantom Menace.
My husband and I, ages 52 and 50, have been huge Indy fans since the originals. We went to the first show yesterday and are probably going a second time later this weekend with friends. The film isn’t GREAT but it is FUN and that includes its campier elements. There could be a lot of us 45+ types that have been waiting for a movie to really be excited about that will help push the $$$ higher than expected. For a workday (we took the day off) the audience was filled with people our age or so.
I saw it last night. This was the stupidest movie I have ever seen. Lucas and Spielberg have lost their minds. It was like a cartoon. A ten year old could have made this movie. It was almost like they forgot they weren’t making the X-files or something.
Saw it at a sold out show last night – crowd cheered, laughed and applauded…. I think it will do just fine. The emphasis on first weekend gross is getting a little stupid… Star Wars I, II & III were awful, 3 of the worst films ever, a tribute to wooden acting and shallow plotting. But hey, teenage boys loved it. I think Indiana Jones will make us oldsters very happy…it was loads of fun, and that’s what we were looking for. This film will have great legs…like its star!
I’d agree with the first post, that 140 mill over five days may be a stretch. Based upon your Thurs figures, I’d guess 100-110 mill for the five day period. Remember Iron Man, Caspian are still out there…
You’re so right. all this pontification is a big jerk-off. The movie is a hit. who cares about whether it’s bigger then….? Some people are obsessive about nothing.
Bob, maybe you can answer why hollywood doesn’t widely publish actual number of tickets sold instead of gross receipts. Or maybe they do and all the media only report the gross receipts.
I think it’s completely irrelevant that a film grossed $X in 2002 can be compared to a film grossing $Y today. Prices have gone up, and the number of screens film X played on in opening weekend versus movie Y can create a big difference. Hollywood has always assumed the public is stupid and will eat whatever they’re fed so it’s not surprise that they try to create more buzz by showing big $$$ figures instead of the real truth behind the numbers.
That’s a lot of disappointed people. It makes you wonder about the Frank Darabont script and the others because what ended up on screen is a real piece of junk. Spielberg and especially Lucas are reminiscent of two washed-up ballplayers who don’t know when to call it quits and end up embarrassing themselves. The CGI-heavy, labored “Crystal Skull” is surprisingly quite dull. Easily the worst of the four.
retarded movie. there is not a single minute where you think Indy is even the slightest danger. And this piece of crap re-defines the assinine concept that bad guys have terrible aim when firing guns…my advice is skip this one
The latest “Indiana Jones” is a stinker that suddenly gives me more respect for those cheap Indy ripoffs Cannon Films did in the ’80s with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone — “King Solomon’s Mines” and “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold.” To be fair, though, “Crystal Skull” is better than “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold.”
“movie theaters are raising ticket prices by a dollar or two this summer because popcorn is more expensive”
What’s wrong with this statement? If popcorn is more expensive… then raise the price of popcorn? Not everyone buys popcorn at the theatere? Still scratching my head on this one.
Saw Indy last night and, granted, I’m out of the kiddy demo, but it was a bore…charmless and belabored. It takes more than action sequences to make a movie. I found it as hollow as cotton candy, but not quite as exciting. Harrison looked tired…Karen Allen looked like his mother. Oy.
What ever happened to the days when we critiqued a movie based on it’s content and not its money making power.
Saw it at the Arclight in Hollywood. The theater was full (even at the 11:05pm showing) but saying there was a smattering of applause at the end would be generous. Harrison looks old. The opening is actually boring rather than thrilling. Events seem to occur for no reason except to keep the story going. And the scales of action to dialogue have tilted precipitously towards talking. And talking. And more talking. What action is there is constituted mainly of variations of set-ups we’ve seen in the earlier Indy movies.
I’m exactly the audience for this film and as much as I wanted to love it I couldn’t bring myself to find anything enjoyable. Except maybe the ants that make a cameo near the end of the film. And that’s not saying much.
Enough of this box office minutae! Stop setting these impossibly high standards. It’s like we have to know how much money the thing’s gonna make during its entire run after the first night! It’s absurd!
ATTN: HOLLYWOOD – THE OPENING WEEKEND RECORD DOES NOT HAVE TO BE BROKEN EVERY YEAR!!!
I went to the 12:01 am showing on Thursday. It was sold out, and people were dressed in costumes from all the ROLA movies. It was fun – the audience participation was a hoot. I love going to midnight premiers. We did the same last year with Pirates 3 and half the audience was dressed in pirate gear.
Sure Indy #4 isn’t as good as the original. “Doom” was absolutely horrendous and unwatchable. This one was brainless fun. We went with 10 people and had a blast. I will probably see it again since I did doze off for part of it, despite a venti mocha from Starbucks. I don’t think it will break any records, but we had a good time, enjoyed the movie, and we’re going to stay home for a while after seeing this, “Ironman”, “Speed Racer” and “Prince Caspian” all in the last 2 weeks. We’re broke!
Out of curiousity what would it take for a movie of this magnitude to break even. Is 150 million needed to make a large profit??????
I love the Indiana Jones
franchise….a web page like this brings out all the wannabe critics, eh?
Burton
m51.com
Ahmen Curious
saw the movie last night & the theater was FULL… crowd cheered and clapped… what does that tell you?
Is it any good though? Who can tell until the lines go down. The remaining communists in Russia seem upset that the movie acknowledges the existence of the KGB. They are also upset that it would be silly for the athiest anti-superstition party to run around with crystal skulls. But they don’t need this movie to make soviets look bad. During the time when they posed the most military and existential threat to America, they were going through progroms to exterminate anyone who believed in just about any religion but communism. With a history like that, this movie makes them look good.
If you’re not interested in the box office estimates then why did you bother reading this story?
We agree with Socratores
Everything in this country seems to have a sports-like competition, everyone’s fixated on numbers instead of the value of the matter at hand.
This is true for movies – fixation on numbers instead of the movie. This has been true for the Presidential election process – it’s like a big sports competition with the media feeding off numbers.
The movie will make a lot of money, but it’s got to be turned into a competition – which opening day weekend was best, etc.
This is why there are so many crappy movies. They’re all geared towards this mentality.
“Then again, that’s not taking into account how movie theaters are raising ticket prices by a dollar or two this summer because popcorn is more expensive.”
Thanks for the laugh.
I agree with Socratores. People have nothing better to do than stare at numbers and make judgments based on that. I still remember the first three films, and I think they were all great. I’m sure I’ll like this one too. I’m not expecting it to be the absolute best movie I’ve ever seen, but I’m sure I will be entertained.
I’ll wait ’til the second or third weekend to make sure that the remake is not “Indiana Jones and the Geritol of Doom”
I think it’s reasonable to assume that the economy will keep a LOT of potential viewers from spending big bucks to see this one.
I loved Star Wars and Indie…but I just don’t have the cash to splurge right now on anything I cannot eat or put in my gas tank.
I’ll just have to wait until this one hits broadcast TV. Yea, I had to get rid of satellite…it’s that bad right now!
Gee Socratores, never played an office box-office betting pool, have you?
Yeah, they happen. Really.
And if it’s all so pointless, why are you reading this crap and then taking the time to comment on it?
Sheesh!
if this blogger is as representative as he implies, the money will come:http://spencertroxell.blogspot.com/2008/05/indiana-jones.html
I intend to see the film no matter what the president Firefly says!
What is that bitter taste in my mouth? It is from how much this movie sucked!!!!!!!! Pathetic effects and storyline. I think I would have had more fun drilling a hole in my head!
When are they going to start using attendance, not dollar amounts to judge a film’s popularity.
As to amount that the film grosses, that is just a gross, and can we see the breakdown of what the film returns to the studio, if that is so important, and the costs for prints, distribution, ads.
I have been informed that a print costs approximate $3000 each, so just the print costs for 4000+ screens is over $12 Million and that doesn’t include transportation/shipping costs.
But bottom line, is why is the box office collections such a big story.
Saw it opening night, was hugely disappointed. This was a National Treasure film, not Indiana Jones. And this is coming from someone who liked the new
Star Wars films.
It stunk.
This movie was like the “space balls” of Indiana Jones. It was a complete joke.
“Rambo IV,” even though the studio chopped it down to barely 80 minutes, is a much better sequel than this boring fourth Indy installment.
Costco shoppers can buy pairs of unrestricted passes to Edwards/Regal movie theaters for $15. That’s $7.50/ticket, which is what I paid to see the Wednesday midnight showing of Indy at my local gigaplex. There mayalso be discount movie passes available through employers, credit unions, or the Auto Club….
Get some back for your buck….
The complaints of “there isn’t enough character development”, “it dragged when there wasn’t action”, “there’s too much action” seem pretty inconsistent to me and make me wonder who here has really seen it. You do recognize this is Indiana Jones and not There Will be Blood, right? It fits in well with the rest of the sequels from the series (unlike Star Wars) and doesn’t feel like anyone involved forgot how to make an Indy film.
Saw the film yesterday and enjoyed the hell out of it. For me to even GO to see a film in the theater is something. For me to possibly see one TWICE is just madness for me. I’m looking forward to seeing it again on Monday with friends.
As far as box office goes: No one is going to be embarrassed by the receipts in the long run. It not “Make $800 million it’s first weekend or bust.”
It must be nice to wake up in the morning and just enjoy being miserable. Lighten up and enjoy a good, fun film that makes you enjoy going to the movies again.
this movie was complete trash. my opinion doesn’t really matter cuz you’ll watch it anyway. that being said, this movie will do well this weekend. it’ll make good money this weekend and fall off everyone’s radar pretty quick. indiana has a huge name… people will see it. unfortunately, the movie isn’t any good. the mummy movies were better than this one. i was shocked and saddened when i left the midnight show.
a number of us started a support group in the parking lot for disappointed with the movie people. i suggest you join one too. it helps to come to terms with the fact that this wasn’t a good movie. because we all wanted it to be.
I saw it Wednesday night (I’m a 24yo Male) and its ok I guess. A little cheesy to be honest. And it is NOTHING like Last Crusade. That film was a masterpiece. Crystal Skull is what it is: a marketing gimmick. Nothing more. Labouf surprised in a good way. I was ready to hate him in it, but he was good despite the film bosses apparent demand that he be cast in a James Dean kind of light. I mean really, they didn’t even try to hide what they were doing. Over all I give it a C+ (and I’m being generous since I work in showbiz and am a member of SAG).
I saw the movie last night and the theater was about half full. I must tell you, not a lot of belly laughs from the audience. After it was over, I think everyone felt like it was sort of an obligation or right of passage to see this film. I didn’t hear anyone say they wanted to see it again (like I heard after Iron Man).
I found the movie to be too predictable from beginning to end. The story elements were inconsistent. After the big motorcycle chase scene (one of the few parts of the film I actually enjoyed), Indy and and Mudd are back at Indy’s house – what gives?? Did the bad guys give up that easily?
It just seems like the bad guys and the good guys got off a bit too easy during this film. For example, when Indy finds the skull the bad guys are waiting for them at the exit.
I also thought that the beginning of the film was hard to believe at multiple levels. So, the nation’s most important military secrets are held at a base guarded by 5 people…just makes no sense.
Aren’t anonymous posts great? People proclaiming the movie “unwatchable” – gee no agenda there. Others saying its the greatest movie of all time. More agendas. Why do Americans who have no investment in the movie studios, or who do not work for a studio,care what the box office is? Why do papers report about it obsessively? Publicists seem to make up the numbers anyway. If a movie has a high box office, is that supposed to validate your enjoyment of the film. If they are going to track anything, why not seats sold? And who cares what a site like “Rotten Tomatoes” says? How many uniques does a site like that even have. Its like those political commentators on TV 24 hours a day talking about Clinton and Obama. They’re just talking to themselves.
….and one more thing. If corn prices are up, why not raise popcorn prices? Why should I have to pay extra for a ticket because some morbidly obese person wants to sit a trashcan sized tub of junk food during a movie. Can’t they go two hours without stuffing their face?
Should have used the NOAH’S ARK script. I agree that the religious connection is the most intriguing. A crystal skull? Why not something everyone has heard about and would like to think exists. Noah’s Ark. It is fact that the russians sent a team to find the arc. Enough of the nazi thing… this plot could have had it all and more. The visual scenes would have been mind blowing on a big screen.
They really missed the “boat” on this plot.
It’s the summer of The Dark Knight, which will crush all the competiton. I don’t give two s***s about this latest Indy film, and I won’t be seeing it. Will probably top out in the $110-125 mil range
by Monday evening.
James – LMFAO about the comparison to King Solomon’s Mines, but seriously. This string is supposed to be discussing the PROFITABILITY of the film, not the STORY-LINE. BUT – Since we are all talking about it:
I have gone back and watched the first three films after yesterday morning. There is no way that anyone can dis this installment based on a plot that “seems like things happen to keep the action going”. Are you kidding me? The first one had that component of movement in the script. The only reasonable argument is the X-files direction that the film veered off into, BUT – it is 20 years later and the first sequence makes it completely plausible for the plot to revolve around an X-files storyline. Don’t forget, this film is set 20 years after any of the first trilogy. Plus we have George Lucas involved.
I’m not one to rush out to see films, I usually wait for them to arrive in my mailbox, but this film meant more to me…I saw the first one (9 years old) 22 times in the theater. I was satisfied that it delivered an action packed story that had me laughing at times, but always interested. Was it like Raiders? Hell no – I was a 9 year old kid and Raiders was a ground-breaking action film in 1981. You can never top a film being released during a certain time in history. Apocolypse Now in the late 70’s, Touch of Evil in 1959 and Independance Day in the early 90’s.
If you like the past Indy movies, you’ll like this one. Now, I am taking the UNDER on $140 MIL this weekend, but think that it will clear $ 100 MIL easily.
James – LMFAO about the comparison to King Solomon’s Mines, but seriously. This string is supposed to be discussing the PROFITABILITY of the film, not the STORY-LINE. BUT – Since we are all talking about it:
I have gone back and watched the first three films after yesterday morning. There is no way that anyone can dis this installment based on a plot that “seems like things happen to keep the action going”. Are you kidding me? The first one had that component of movement in the script. The only reasonable argument is the X-files direction that the film veered off into, BUT – it is 20 years later and the first sequence makes it completely plausible for the plot to revolve around an X-files storyline. Don’t forget, this film is set 20 years after any of the first trilogy. Plus we have George Lucas involved.
I’m not one to rush out to see films, I usually wait for them to arrive in my mailbox, but this film meant more to me…I saw the first one (9 years old) 22 times in the theater. I was satisfied that it delivered an action packed story that had me laughing at times, but always interested. Was it like Raiders? Hell no – I was a 9 year old kid and Raiders was a ground-breaking action film in 1981. You can never top a film being released during a certain time in history. Apocolypse Now in the late 70’s, Touch of Evil in 1959 and Independance Day in the early 90’s. One more point – Each of the installments used the same chase sequence elements of the first film to recreate a similar action sequence. I’ll say this…the jungle drive was a better rendition of Raider’s chance sequence for the Ark in the German transport than Doom’s roller-coaster coal-mine sequence.
If you like the past Indy movies, you’ll like this one. Now, I am taking the UNDER on $140 MIL.
And to those of you who will say, “This guy has time to sit around and watch all four movies in a day and a half!” – Realtor…the market sucks lately. I’m still scratching my head on the pop-corn price thing. WEIRD.
This movie was a huge letdown… wait until it comes out on pay per view; it certainly doesn’t merit to be purchased as seeing it once is good enough. One a scale of 1-5: 2 maybe a 3 at best.
Why do Obama-bots always have to inject their candidate into every unrelated discussion like the guy above?
Sheesh, you people are like Hare Krishnas bugging people at the airport. Stop trying to convert everyone to your cult, especially when it’s not the time or place.
Anyway, the reason people read these posts is because Nikki often has insightful commentary in between the hyper-obsession with numbers. We agree with the commenter above who said publicists and tv talking heads are just talking to themselves 24/7.
Big kudos that they didn’t make Indy’s love interest some 20-year-old.
It is sooo creepy and pathetic when they do that.
I caught the 7:00 thursday evening showing. What surprised me (but maybe shouldn’t have) was that although the theatre was about 90% full, all but about 10 people were 30-40 something couples. Almost no teens, only a few younger kids with parents.
As for the movie itself, I thought it was an acceptable action flick. Not the best in the Indy series but not the worst either. Harrison Ford has held up surprisingly well and remained convincing as Indiana Jones. Shia Labufe was ok, but not spectacular. The girls, Karen Allen and Kate Blanchett stole the show. The story was descent, but it seemed like the ending was kind of rushed and predictable. Unlike previous Indy movies, people will correctly figure out how this one is going to end about 1/2 way through.
“Should have used the NOAH’S ARK script. I agree that the religious connection is the most intriguing. A crystal skull? Why not something everyone has heard about and would like to think exists. Noah’s Ark. It is fact that the russians sent a team to find the arc. Enough of the nazi thing… this plot could have had it all and more. The visual scenes would have been mind blowing on a big screen.
They really missed the “boat” on this plot.”
How right you are.
It’ll make a ton of money. Let’s just leave it at that.
People, people, people!!! It’s just a MOVIE! It was never intended to be a factual documentary or some type of dissection of society, religion, communism, or any other hot-button you may have. It’s ENTERTAINMENT! If you like Indy, go see it. If you want to take some other person’s opinion on how good or bad the movie is, that’s entirely up to you. Personally, I enjoyed it because I went looking for fun at the movies, nothing else. Buy a ticket and go expecting to have fun, and you’ll have it. Go to the movie acting like a critic, and you’ll miss the enjoyment. Just my .02 – Richard4106
My wife and I saw the movie on Thursday night, 7:00pm show. The theatre was half full but they had four running. My wife was sooo excited to see this final chapter she was humming Johh Williams’ score in the car all the way there. We both left the theatre disappointed for the reasons already mentioned above. Hollywood did not need to make this film. It was a sad finish to a strong trio of films (although #2 was not that great either). Honestly, the best part of the film to me was the scene where Indiana’s shadow on the car door shows the profile of him placing his hat on his head. After that scene, I felt let down. Oh well, I have not been expecting much from hollywood over the past few years, so this was not a great surprise.
I want to see this movie no matter what anyone says and matter what the critics say. Why? Because I’m just looking for a movie that’s fun and doesn’t try to indoctrinate me with politics. I don’t care about cliches or his age or anything else. I just want to be entertained instead of be told how much to hate George W. Bush. Thanks.
Funny, all my friends who have seen it loved it. I plan to go next weekend when the crowds thin out. Since I and all of my friends are over 30, many over 40 and 50, we probably just don’t have any taste in movies.
The Indiana Jones franchise hinges on how Christian it is.
The first one was totally Old Testament–dealing with something every Sunday School kid knows (”Didn’t you go to Sunday School?”) It also had a useful woman sidekick though Indy had boyish charm and was more interested in artifacts than girls.
Temple of Doom lost its way and went into Far East zombie pull-beating-hearts-from-living-people and monkey brains for dinner stuff. Definitely not Biblical. And the girl was less than useless. And Indy went from boyish charm to playboy. Not the right character. Movie was totally fouled up.
The third one went back to Christian roots and chased after the Grail. And the Nazis were back. The girl was strong, but on the wrong side and misguided. Both Indy and his dad morally disappointed the audience. Movie did okay.
Now this Skull stuff. Is Indy Indy or is he some silly playboy? Is the story familiar or just weird?
Well, the weekend take will be $7.50 less than what it could have been. I walked out half way through and got my money back. (And I’m a big Indy fan.)
On the bright side, at least “Crystal Skull” is better than “Allan Quatermain at the Lost City of Gold” (1987), but I’d still have to give an ever-so-slight edge to “King Solomon’s Mines” (1985).
Amusing how people criticize a popcorn movie as if it were fine art.
When it hits the cheap show $2.50 is when I’ll see it. Movies are NOT worth the $7-$10+ they are ripping the public off for. I will definitely see it.
Last Crusade was horrible!!! This movies was great. People I think had trouble with the story is all. I thought it was a great idea. I mean people are talking about this being as bad as Star Wars episode 1! Indy would never be able to live up to the hype of a 19 year hiatus.
For everyone that feels Indy 4 was too cheesy or lame, I would advise you to watch some old Republic serials. These are the films Indy was built upon and pays tribute to–and I would say does a very fine job at it.
The money ceiling descends from its being a flick one wouldn’t see more than once. The Media Messiah distillation above is outstanding.
Spielberg and Lucas are pathetic storytellers.
For many years now I’ve noticed folks simply getting up and LEAVING the theater during their flicks. These BOZOS should be forced to watch Casablanca 100 times or maybe the Bourne Trilogy a 100 times before serving us this crap. They don’t seem to have a clue. Harrison Ford and Blanchett are great of course. But the story is a joke. Gotta have a story.
I saw the movie yesterday and thought the movie sucked in comparison to the other films. It seemed like I was watching the X-Files starring Indiana Jones. The film had great potential and I believe it will make money at the box office for the opening weekend only due to the fact that it has such a large following from the previous films. So much could have been done with how the legend of the skull is developed. Area 51 should have been left for a sci-fi film. I can’t believe that with such a big secret, there were only 2 or 3 guards protecting that place and apparently everyone else was on holiday. I also agree with someone else’s comment. The characters don’t mesh well at all. I felt like I could watch the movie the whole way through but was very disappointed. The CG animals were ok cause they didn’t get too crazy and it did spark a little humour at points. It was way over board with the Tarzan stuff though. Believing a guy swinging from vines which happened to be perfectly aligned to the cliff in a rainforest in the middle of the Amazon not to mention catching up with speeding vehicles. I could go on and on. I don’t hate giving away the storyline only cause it will save some of you some money if you don’t watch this film. Save your money and buy and ice cream cone or something for your kids. Wait for it to come out on DVD but don’t give the film industry the satisfaction they seek for putting out a film this bad. What happened to all the archeology. People were inspired to become archeologists from the previous films. I don’t feel that way with this one. But hey, this is just my opinion, some of you may like the film.
Hi everybody,
this is Natt, the spanish girl in the photo with the indy, thanks a lot to jim stevenson to take that picture of us , and publishing it.
we just saw the indy film,when he took that picture, and were completely excited with the movie, it’s amazing!!
we just came from spain (santander , in the north), to see grand canyon, san francisco, and of course be here in usa, in los angeles for the skull indy premiere.
for me it’s an amazing movie, except the ending. but it was marvelous seeing indy again, Harrison Ford it’s great, the best one.
a lot of action, fun, and villains.
the movie’s so funny, the time pass very fast.
thanks again Jim.
best regards.
Has anyone questioned the reasoning behind raising ticket prices to offset the higher cost of corn? Why didn’t they simply raise the price of popcorn? That’s where theater owner’s make their money (until the studio/theater split shifts to their favor) as I understand it.
It is a great movie – jet powered, atomic, ‘out of this world’, full of 50s references like the rebel on the motorbike. BUT, its rather middle aged too, the ‘duck and cover’ Cold War era references lost on any under 50.
The mechanics of older slower Indy and older faded girlfriend reunited is itself like watching your grandparents on the sofa holding hands.
Seems Speilberg is saying everyone has grown old and its time to settle down before the twilight years set it.
I’m guessing this is one that Mum and Dad are gonna have to drag the kids to, and sit around afterwards at dinner sounding knowledgeable explaining the backstory while the kids tune out with ipod and Grand Theft Auto,
Lost Ark was a classic. Last Crusade was just about perfect. This movie was a piece of garbage that will stink as far as whatever planet the aliens in it were from.
This movie has no moral or point. None of the characters grows, they just move from one event to another. The period-aspect is credibly-established with Soviet enemies, and then we are pounded over the head with some inaccurate and unlikely references to McCarthyism and a totally unnecessary nuclear detonation. Every chase scene extends way too-long and the heroes rely on wild improbabilities or magic to survive, rather than skill or intelligence. There is no “big reveal,” as everything is revealed in the first five minutes.
This movie could have been great. It could have even kept the same basic storyline, if it had focused on either aliens OR psychic-skulls,and not both. However, either GL or SS totally failed to do so.
Lucas, Spielberg, between the Star Wars prequels, War of the Worlds, and this most-recent travesty, you guys owe me $50, and you owe your audiences an apology. Find a scriptwriter before you do your next movie.
A watered-down “National Treasure”. Boring and predictable. Major disaster after word of mouth takes over the hype. Ford needs Geritol and a bottle of oxygen, not to mention retirement and social security.
Just saw the film with my wife and 11 year old son. 11 year old liked it; wife and I hated it. The plot is all over the place, too many scenes where the heroes should die and its like they are in a computer game — they fall one hundred feet over a waterfall and they emerge without a scratch. Ford is too damn old (even if he is tapping Calista what’s her name). We were just asked to suspend disbelief too many times — made the film very boring. And there were just too many rip-off’s of other films — Starman, Independence Day, ET. Don’t waste your money — buy a good BluRay movie instead.
WORSE MOVIE I’VE SEEN THIS YEAR!!!
The movie Indiana Jones and The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was mostly unwatchable and a disaster!
It was one of the worse movies / boring /
that I’ve seen this year. The scenes were so unreal and unbelievable!
I’m in a minority here, but I thought “Temple of Doom” was the best of the series. I liked the fact that it was darker and edgier. Like “Raiders,” but even more so, it had a genuine sense of danger and menace — something sorely missing from the overly jokey “Last Crusade” and the uninspired “Crystal Skull.”
Enjoyed the fiftiesque military feel in the rocket sled and a-bomb scenes but the rest of the movie had a tired and predictable feel to it.
The previews were even more depressing, an obese cartoon panda, the hulk AGAIN (is Norton getting desperate for work?), another Pixar formula film about robots in love. God help us. Are there no original ideas left in Hollywood. The Bering Sea crab fishermen are better entertainment.
Nuclear detonation? Aliens? A little over the top. Zero believability. I was trying to hang in there. The ending left me, WTF? It’s over, like that? You have got to be kidding me.
But go see it, some cool FX and Harrison Ford is good.
Kids thought it was cool.
At least Jarjar Binks didn’t show up as a cameo, it was that bad.
all these people who seem to hate the movie. what were you expecting, the second coming? it was a fun movie. GREAT action. fun to see a favorite character in his element again. Mutt is a great addition. i thought it great how he took on a dog’s name, after all ‘Indianna’ as we found out in Last Crusade was the dog. It requires some suspension of disbelief, but what movie doesn’t?
get over it and enjoy the movie
I was excited to go see this movie at 12:01 Wednesday night as (I waited and waited for the day to come) I am a huge Indiana Jones Fan. The minute I saw the gopher, something kind of moved inside me. When Indiana threw the up the gun powder in the air in the warehouse, it happened again. When he got inside the refrigerator I thought I was in a fun house? This crap continues through out the film?? Needless to say I was very disappointed, as I loved each of the other Indy films. This had nothing to do with not understanding something? or not getting it!? It was just very bad. I really wanted to like it, I rooted for Indy all the way to the end -but then the movie ended the theater was dead silent.
I saw it Friday night and loved it, there was applause when it was over.
A much older Indiana Jones did the job right & I enjoyed the humor.
The movie is NOT fun, that’s the problem. And if it’s not fun, it’s hard to ignore the ridiculous plot events and mind-numbing explanations. This film is a complete disappointment on all levels. Want my 10.50 back!
I get a kick out of the “It’s a terrible movie” crowd. Seems bashing Indy 4 is what all the cool kids are doing these days.
It’s a freakin’ Indiana Jones movie, not Citizen Kane. It is supposed to be over the top and implausible. The whole Indy idea was based on the action serials from the early days of movies. It isn’t supposed to be a serious action movie. So when you talk about how outrageous the refrigerator scene is or the whole alien thing, remember,Indy also found the Ark of the Covenant, battled a guy who could remover your beating heart with his bare hand and met an immortal Templar. You found these things more believable? Just chill, if you liked the movie then it was worth the price of the ticket. If you didn’t then it sucks to be you. I’m certain you will see much worse movies in your life time.
I enjoyed the movie. It wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t stellar, but it was an enjoyable film. My kids liked it. Overall everyone rated it #3 out of the 4 Indy films made. I am still not sure exactly what happened at the end — bad editing there I guess. I hope they make another one and get back into the full swing of things. Indy is one of my favorites.
this movie was sooo awful it was actually sort of depressing.
it was akin to realizing that people you admire may be past their prime
you can go on other mesage boards and websites to read up on details on why it sucked
it was soulless, lazy, and cynical moviemaking. not since the matrix sequels was i actually angry that i spent money on an undeserving movie—this piece of shit was truly awful..AWFUL
are you sure Spielberg directed this and not one of those cgi monkeys?
I took my daughters to see it and I have to say that I was largely disappointed. We spent a week building up to the movie. I showed the girls the first three and they really liked them. They got the “funny” parts and appreciated the adventure. There are funny parts and adventure in the new movie, but all in all, it was rather hack.
I haven’t seen this movie (movie, not film!)yet because of my wife’s and my work schedule. We ARE going to see it next weekend. Why? Because the Raider movies are fun! The hero is supposed to survive impossible situations, they’re supposed to find vines perfectly placed swinging, our disbelief is supposed to be suspended, because movies are entertainment. Films are “art” and must be suffered through. For the 30 bucks that two tickets, popcorn and a coke are gonna cost me, entertain me. That’s what I want from Hollywood.
The thing I hate the most about the internet is that it gives little turds in their mamma’s basement a platform to expound as if they hat even one whit of what they are talking about. The film is not “unwatchable” and anyone who says it is is an asshole.
Ford is wonderful, the kid is better than expected, Karen Allen is still hot for a GMILF and Cate Blanchette is playing a villain that’s a cross between Natascha and Peter Pan – in a hot sexy weird way.
This film will clean up and if kids don’t like it, fuck em, what do they know? They like “The Hills.”
Man, WHAT A DISAPPOINTING MOVIE THIS WAS!
This was the worst, most unbelievable, thrown-together, poorly written, piece of trash (when one considers the Indiana Jones series).
It felt like “Star Trek” 40 years later.
I found myself either wandering off or knodding off during the entire Indy movie.
The character development was poor, the writting was lousy, and the situations amatuerish and unbelievable.
Karen Allen was poorly written in and used basically as a prop in a weak backstory.
The only redeeming character was that of Cate Blanchett, who held up her character as best she could under the poorly written screenplay she was held to.
Overall, out of 10 stars, this Indy deserves a 6.5.
2 Thumbs Way Down, Horrible Plot.
Why do all you naysayers and bombthrowers even go to the show…rambling on about character development, plot lines, believability etc…hell, it’s an Indiana Jones movie!! Quit analyzing so much and just enjoy the show.
It’s.
A.
MOVIE.
Step away from your computers, disconnect from your idealized and probably fuzzy childhood memories, plug in and invest in being adults and worry about things that actually matter.
Who cares if it lived up to YOUR expectations. These movies aren’t made for us anymore. They’re made for kids that will grow to be us, loving a memory too much.
I felt the same way after seeing Star Wars 1. I felt like Spielberg and Lucas Sold out.
Indiana Jones the 4th is just what the doctor ordered! The country is in a recession, gas is out of sight and the mood makes for a long hot summer. This film is a continued tribute to the Hollywood of the fifties and sixties. The storyline connected to a great many of the Speilberg/Lucas films and was fun. From the start of the movie you go on a A ride and time flies. Old friends fill the screen and the range of human emotions are felt thought the film. This isn’t a deep thinker or a movie with a political agenda – it’s just fun. I watched it with my wife and grandson, we had a blast, he was as fun to watch as the movie. I hope the movie does great at the box office and Spielberg/Lucas/Ford and company continue to weave their majic. For a little while the country’s ills disappeared and it was just entertainly fun.
I took my son to see the Crystal Skull and I was somewhat disapointed. The story was very lackluster. I can’t believe that in 18 years since Last Crusade that this story is the best that Lucas and Spielberg came up with. The move starts out good but becomes a mess after the first 15mins. Karen Allen was a very welcome sight. Shia should not have been cast. He doesn’t fit in…
Raiders was a great movie. Temple of doom was so-so. Last Crusade was very good. Crystal Skull was so-so.
Lets hope there will be a Indy 5 to rebound the series.
Some people seem to relish the fact that they dislike the new Indy. What is this, an ‘I told you so’ moment? You’d think it was ‘Speed Racer’ or something.
It looks like it makes the Indiana Jones freaks happy, so in that sense it’s comment/critic proof. Who do you think you’re going to convince? And what movie are YOU waiting for?
I totally enjoyed the film as did my wife and kids. We were thoroughly entertained despite the cost of theatre popcorn and drinks busting my wallet for the evening (just kidding…sort of)….a rarity in seeing the fims of the past few years which just have not been good (with the exception of some animated films). No amount of analysis by the people “in the know” will change the enjoyment we experienced. It’s a great and fun film, people. Just go with that attitude and enjoy it for what it’s worth…finally some fun entertainment!!
Nikki,
I know that using it makes you feel all warm and tingly inside, like you’re really special, but “actioner” is not a word.
In other news, if the theaters are claiming that the ticket prices are up due to popcorn’s price and the price of paper used for the buckets, why is popcorn charged for separately from tickets? It would seem that you are confusing two separate items as one. In reality, the theaters are charging more for a ticket because they can, simple as that.
Personally, I will not go to a movie in a theater anymore, because of the huge number of others behaving badly there. People carrying on conversations during the movie, talking to each other in a loud voice instead of a whisper; taking cellular calls with the same loud voices; the bright, distracting cell phone screens while they text their friends all through the movie; leaving or dumping their trash on the floor, etc., etc. If they want to socialize, they need to go to the mall.
I WOULD see a movie in a theater whose management reminded attendees of their responsibility to fellow moviegoers, and after a single warning, promptly escorted out anyone disrupting the movie experience for others (the theater manager actually threw out loud, disruptive people when I was young).
Until this happens, though, I will sit at home with my 61″ flatscreen and my Netflix rentals, and ENJOY my movie watching. Maybe someday the theater owners/managers will get the message…but probably not.
This was the stupidest movie I’ve ever seen. People are seeing it because they liked the first three, but this movie is worse than the last 3 Star Wars episodes. George Lucas and Spielberg are senile. They’re incapable of making a good movie anymore.
My wife and I were disapointed in this movie. It started well then went flat. They could have left Marion and Henry III out of most of, or all of the picture and just went with the rest. I can see why Connery bowed out with any excuse. I think that it was felt that the movie must be made, and that time was short to make it. They waited 15 yrs to get a script and tried 2 more years of rewrite to get it to work. It does not work. Our evening show in Dublin, Oh was not old out, may have been 3/4 full, and there was not alot of cheerful banter you normally hear when a good movie ends. I am sure there are many who disagree with me, but the movie just seemed forced. May if the fact that he was a well decorated OSS hero had to be thrown in, they should have made that movie instead.
Just saw the pick … in case anyones cares at this point, this is actually pretty good! I think i went in expecting the worst and came out both pleased and exhilarated.
No, this isnt Raiders … but its damn good entertainment.
Err..
Is this a ‘movie review’ board or discussion about a movie’s BO potential?
I see postings from grandad, granny, father, mother, son, uncle, son-in laws, distant cousin, step-distant uncle, cats, camels, all pouring their reviews about the movie they just watched.
Gosh! Are we not here to talk about a movie’s BO potential and not reading how you drove 500miles to watch Indi 4 and came out disappointed. Save that for your personal blog.
You guys took out the fun of this column. C’mon now. Lets stick to the topic, which is what do you think of the movie of the week posted by Nikki BO’s potential.
Thank you
White Americans will watch another “Indiana Jones” film which follows the exploits of a celebrated grave-robber and destroyer of indigenous cultures. These films consistency portray people of colour in an insensitive fashion and are filled with historical inaccuracies. The white man stole knowledge from Africa and destroyed the great library at Alexandria to hide his crimes. Now he makes films celebrating this kind of thievery.
Went last night to see #4. Overall some of the effects were good. The movie slightly tied in some of the past movies. I’d say it was worth seeing but not as good as the first three. The missing elements were the Indy’s babe (instead you get aged woman), the pace of the move was often slow, the action was minimal and the ending is something your girl will be saying aww and you will sneer and feel like throwing up if you get what I mean. I even told my girl not to bother buying number 4 for my collection.
So yes you probably should see it but after almost 20 years I expected a heck of alot more from an Indy film. 3/5 rating
__________________
drew said, “it was soulless, lazy, and cynical moviemaking.”
Philip said, “The previews were even more depressing, an obese cartoon panda, the hulk AGAIN (is Norton getting desperate for work?), another Pixar formula film about robots in love. God help us. Are there no original ideas left in Hollywood.”
You guys have described the problem with nearly every big-budget Hollywood film over the last dozen or so years. I used to appreciate movies more (even when I was a kid) when they were aimed at adults and people with half a brain. Almost everything today mindlessly panders to the kid audience. The first two Indy films (which were great) didn’t pander, but I guess that was still at a time before budgets spiraled out of control and everybody became obsessed with box-office numbers. Furthermore, filmmakers dependence on computers to make special effects has only made the situation worse.
My family and I loved the new Indy film. We have not seen a movie in a theater all year and we could not wait to see this sequel. Nice balance of CGI and live action. Although, Mr. Ford is looking all of his 65 years. Hopefully, they will make another sequel before he gets to old to pull it off.
You wrote about some movie theatres charging the same ticket price for children as they do adults.
Have you heard about any theatres discontinuing the “bargain” matinees??
Actually, they will likely raise ticket prices and popcorn prices to offset the rise in corn prices. The ticket price increase will cover the sales they lose from an avoidable expense (popcorn) once people stop eating it altogeher due to the high cost.
May I say, having seen all of the previous films, I was glad to see they had the guts in today’s society to allow a family to happen….
In today’s screwed up world everyone is afraid of age and Mom and Dad and Son, so for those of you who are a family, take the kids and enjoy the film….
Sure, it’s a weekend serial, but this is a great end if it is to be the end, and I appreciate the acceptance of Indy’s age, something Hollywood is so scared of…they didn’t hide from it, they showed that age can mean experience….
And they didn’t shove some teeny bopper with T&A to jiggle up the screen, they gave us Karen Alan, being her age, and reminding us all that pretty girls often grow up to be pretty women….
My hat is off to Messrs S and L for having the guts and the vision to let adults come to the party and show their worth….I, for one, do not care for the brittany crowd of nothings tuirned into stars by hype and executives who want to make a buck….let’s hope the pendullum is coming back to adults with real talent…
When Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, my family and I saw it three times during the summer. Same was true with the original Star Wars. For the latest Indy, once was definitely enough. It just won’t draw repeat viewers.
I am a huge Indy fan and I enjoyed the film. The theater was packed with a very long line on Thursday evening, and most of the audience was made up of people old enough to remember “Raiders”. Kind of like the Human League concert I attended a few years ago.
People seem to forget that all of the Indiana Jones films have elements of camp. They’re an adventure serial, and that’s what fans expect.
And it was infinitely better than “Temple of Doom”, since there was no shrieking involved. Thank GOD.
(That scene in the diner had way too much going on with the extras’ business, though.)
“Anyone who believes that Indy 4 won’t make money is an idiot.”
Who exactly said it wouldn’t make money? I smell a straw man.
Indy seems to be an odd thing, it’s looking like the OPPOSITE of a critic proof film. It’s a summer popcorn movie with generally positive (although most of those are lukewarm positive) critical reviews. But I’ve already heard a ton of grumbling from regular people who saw it. This morning on the weekly radio movie reviews, there were a number of people who called in extremely disappointed, they said the movie was a joyless mess and just a kids movie that was way too dumb for adults.
This thing will make plenty of cash but likely won’t set any records at all (which doesn’t surprise me). I said it before release and I’m even more convinced of it now: Iron Man will probably end up making more although this will probably open a bit bigger due to the holiday.
Big (but not record breaking) opening, big drop for the second weekend. I think the big question right now is how much bigger saturday will be than friday, and then how much sunday holds up. I suspect if word of mouth really gets out fast we may see the weekend fade to the end.
Seeing this movie was like going to Disneyland on a cold rainy day during the off season. Most of the good rides are shut down for refurbishment but you’re able to spend time on Small World and the Tiki Room. Yes, you’re at Disneyland but really, what’s the point?
The real villains in this film are the screenwriters and Lucas and Spielberg. You would think the latter, at least, in the wake of their less then stellar films such as Howard the Duck, Phantom Menace and 1941, would have had the common sense to realize this script was a DUD. At least if they wanted an alien slant, they could have held off a bit instead of showing us an alien corpse in the first 10 minutes of the film and then an obviously alien skull 50 minutes after that. Honestly, I expected Jar Jar Binks to make a cameo at the end with the following dialouge: “Meeesum…sorry…you summm…paid forsum thissumm crap”.
I think the critics have been too kind to this film by giving it the “Obama treatment”. Oh Steven and George are back at it again….the world is an awesome place to live.
My wife and I left saying that, in retrospect, it would have been better to buy the monetary value of 4 gallons of gas because that would probably driving around the suburbs of Chicago on a Friday night would probably have been about as enjoyable as this movie. Honestly, this movie had about as much thought, quality and magic as a made for t.v. “Sci Fi” channel production.
Saw it with daughters whose love for the series and Indy border on obsession, they liked it fine but get that it probably is the weakest of the 4. But the 1,000+ postings on this site tell me there might be some interest in this movie…time will tell. I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse. CLB is the weak link from my POV, but I don’t think they signed him to interest 45 year old white men like myself!
I personally like the movie. Did not like Cate Blanchett and think they underused Karen Allen. I was glad they had Indy and Mary in it as she was missing from the 2nd and 3rd.
I LOVED that they had INDY show his age LOVED IT. I was so glad they did not try and make him appear like a younger man.
I think people also need to realized that this was supposed to take place in the 1950’s and if they look back at history the storyline fits right in.
ALso I loved how they added the monkey, and the praire dogs, KIDS LOVED IT.. FINALLY a movie you can take your kids to and ENJOY IT, who cares what young men teens think, this movie WAS NOT FOR THEM.
It was for people of my generation who grew up with INDY, and our kids, OUR kids who will have a new HERO in their lives. ANd heros for our kids is REALLY lacking.
LOVED LOVED LOVED this movie.
I wasn’t impressed with this movie at all.
Sorry Harrison
I have not seen it yet. Can’t wait! Only thing I can say is “its Indiana Jones for crying out loud”. It will be good. If nothing else, Temple of Doom set the bar so low it can’t possibly miss.
who complains about the ticket prices?
and popcorn is cheap…you get a bucket
full that lasts at least a 1/4 into the movie.
why bring those two complaints?
For the price of a ticket, you get an enjoyable
movie experience watching a big screen with the
occasional childish antics of children surrounding
you.(depending on the movie)
I guess you can’t take what the internet community says as what everybody says. It seems to be full of people who no one would listen to before the internet and now they have a place to vent…since I’m one of them, here ya go:
I came out of the movie on the midnight show feeling very “meh”. Not mad, and not happy, jst very “whatever”. My problem, as is with lots of movies I get way over-hyped for is I was so worried about it being bad, that I just couldn’t relax and enjoy it. So I gave it another chance the next day, and it really is a great film. It’s Indy in almost every way. It had a few odd things but 97% of it id just great.
One last thing about the prairie dogs…IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL!!!! It isn’t like they talk to anyone…they are simply there for maybe 4 seconds out of the whole film and yes…they are funny. If you walk out of the theater and are only thinking about the prairie dogs then you’re an idiot and just trying to find things to complain about.
I thought the movie was awesome. I was worth the $10 to see it.
Remember in Raiders, 5 minutes in, Indy tells Doctor Octopus to stay out of the light? And he puts his hand up and the spikes shoot out? Remember? Did no one question how some ancient civilization created motion detectors?? No you didn’t..as silly as it is, it didn’t matter, it’s supposed to be over the top. These movies are full of unbelievable things including the 4th one…and I loved it all (mostly…lets not mention monkeys). It’s what Indy is. It’s not the best one, but it fits in just fine with the others, and it gets better with each viewing. I don’t get the hate for the prairie dogs either…the had all of 4 seconds of screen time, and they were funny. They didn’t do anything that normal prairie dogs don’t do. You people make it sound like they were dressed in ewok costumes and helping Indy save the day…a bunch of whiners. Lighten up already.
I hate it. I love it.
BUT WE ALL SAW IT DIDN’T WE?
That’s the power of movies… you all secretly enjoyed it even if you hated it because it reminded you or what you loved in the first place regardless.
was really waiting for this film to come, what a waste of film walked out on it don’t waste your money please
I really don’t get all the hostility toward “Temple of Doom” except for maybe wimps who decry all screen violence with any degree of intensity. “Temple of Doom” is an adventure masterpiece, especially when compared to the incredibly dull “Crystal Skull.”
“I think the critics have been too kind to this film by giving it the “Obama treatment”
Too many of today’s “critics” are either mere shills for the industry, fanboys/fangirls with no reference point before 1990 or milquetoast reporters afraid to tell it like it is. A lot of idiot editors at newspapers and magazines are afraid if too many reviews get too negative.
i dont get why everyone is insulting the first star wars movie!! it was amazing!! i love all of the star wars and all of the indy jones movies! if you are taking this too seriously then dont bother reading other peoples opinions!!!
“It’s.
A.
MOVIE.”
Yes, and a bad one.
“Step away from your computers, disconnect from your idealized and probably fuzzy childhood memories, plug in and invest in being adults and worry about things that actually matter.
Who cares if it lived up to YOUR expectations. ”
We spectators do? It was a joke compared to other Indiana Jones’ movies. Nothing more to add, but it lacked any entertainment value except for a couple of laughs. Don’t go and see it, because there are far better movies you can see on DVD.
Movies can be good, you know, also you don’t HAVE to buy a ticket for them.
Ehhhh. Silly and stupid from beginning to end. Talk about jumping the shark.
Ayyyyyyyyyyeee……
This movie might do well the first weekend, but is definitely not the second time. It was a boring movie, the storyline was insane, and what is with all that alien crap??? Okay, paid the six bucks to see it. But I will not pay another six to see it again. And, I will not rent it either. Save your money!!!!!!!!
i didnt see and will not see it.
the only movie i have enjoyed from lucas in the last 15 yrs was the sw prequel part 3, which was excellent. the other two were very flawed.
with speilberg its been S private ryan and schindler’s list.
other than that, both of these directors generate absolutely no reason or motivation for me to see one of their films.
for those interested, at metacritic its at 67% professional review rating and 5.6 out of 10 for movie goers rating. of course at rotten tomatoes it should be given the academy award with a 79% review rating from movie critics, although there is a pretty good slugfest going on in the forumns about the film’s quality. But its a good film because it will be #1 for the holiday. Isnt that right?
go figure.
so much for truth and objectivity in reporting to the people.
must be nice…
I wonder if people just don’t get the concept. I’ll say it, I’ve always felt as though “Temple of Doom” was easily the best Indy flick, because it so well adapted the genre Indy was drawing on; 1930s/40s serialized adventures.. Watch some of them sometime, whether you watch MST3k’d or straight, adventures like “The Amazing Invisible Man” “The Plot of the Moonmen” or even films in the genre, like “Jungle Goddess” “Rocketship XM”.
I always felt as though Indy was at it’s best when it pays homage to that background and reminds us what captured the imagination of those kids, the serial, unbelievable adventure with a sly nod to the audience that just says “play along”.
I’ve seen this now, and was really worried based on some of the above, that I would be dissappointed and find that this goes too camp. But in fact, this plays it almost exactly in the spirit of 1950s serials – from cute plays at the Duck & Cover movies; scenes re-done that mirror teen angst films of the era, and scenes that are spot on in being damn near tone perfect for the portrayal of communism in 1950s films..
This film had all of the right zany nods to where it came from; the right pedigree. Just as the 1950s serials turned to tells of “Captain Cody” “RocketShip” and the like, I knew that Indy would fall that way too.. and, in an almost dead on take, the end, and it’s de facto take on communism by the aliens is a HILARIOUS reminder of a film almost identical to it.
I think a lot of people will be dissappointed because they want Raiders. Tough, don’t see it again, or whatever. But any comparison to say, “National Treasure” etc. is laughable; in almost every element, this film succeeded and did not drag in comparison.
Saw it last night. A few people “boo’d” the screen. I also noticed a guy fell asleep mid-way through.
The movie was very boring. Not as good as the first three. The editing was terrible. Wait for DVD Rental….
From the sound of these reviews, we’ll wait for the DVD, if then. Just relooked at Temple of Doom last night and my daughter, who had not seen it before, and I found that it went on and on… especially the mine car chase. Sounds like this one needed to be shortened too.
I saw this movie today with my children. We all thought it was an excellent movie overall. It was humorous, good action, plenty of surprises, and fun.
I’m not a film critic so I don’t get into stupid analysis of how this or that scene could have fit better, etc, ad nauseum. I go to a movie to have fun and take a break from reality.
This certainly accomplished that.
Go see it for the fun of it.
Besides, it made the commies in Russia mad, and they want to boycott it.
Saw it today. It was good–not great–but good. Like many others, I saw the first one as a teenager and went back to see it a few more times. Even bought the hat. I came to this one hoping for some of that original thrill. I had to keep checking my ticket stub to see if I had accidentally bought a ticket for National Treasure 2.
Karen Allen is still lovely but Kate Blanchett stole the show.
Media Messiah,
Just for the record, it’s MacGuffin and not McGuffin.
the person who called the overly gushing reviews the “Obama treatment” is hilarious – that is so true
Kyle -
You mean the “Obama treatment” like the wall-to-wall coverage CNN and Fox gave Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as if Wright somehow reflected Obama’s views? Try calling it the McCain treatment. It took the mainstream media MONTHS to wake up to the far more extreme hate speech John Hagee and Rod Parsley spewed well before McCain went out and actively sought their endorsements. McCain either did not know the outrageous things these two said (ranging from calling Catholicism is a “whore” to America being founded to destroy the false religion of Islam to God sending Hitler against the Jews so the Jews would be forced to go to Israel), or he did know and sought their endorsements anyway. It was either gross incompetence or blatant pandering on McCain’s part, and a lapdog media that couldn’t be bothered to fake a growl until it had been prodded into embarrassment by Keith Olbermann and Amy Goodman, and savvy bloggers and YouTube posters.
And now to the topic at hand. You think the critics are being too kind to the new Indy flick. FYI, per Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of the top critics were kind to the movie, while 79% of the “T-Meter” critics like the flick. Most of the “top” critics are paid critics for major newspapers and magazines, while the T-Meter critics include a lot of self-styled types who’ve clawed their way to their current status by gaining notoriety over the Internet. So not only are you incorrect, sir, in your Obama analogy, but you are also incorrect on the facts. If the old-school professional critics were being overly kind to the film, it would stand to reason their reviews would run more favorably than those of the more self-styled critics. As this isn’t the case, consider yourself schooled.
To pay me for imparting this wisdom to you, choose an independent film festival near where you live and kick them a reasonable donation. As far as I’m concerned, you can even take advantage of the tax deduction if the Fest is a non-profit.
Thank you.
I saw it too. Glad it wasn’t about christians. We get enough of that stuff all the time. I’m sick of it.
Movie gets a “c-”
I just got back from the Crystal Skull. It was one of the WORST movies I have ever seen. It make Temple of Doom look like Casablanca.
DON’T go to this movie.
I see this Indy film as going astray from the original basis of Indy films, which was a very earthy religious experience.
The first three movies are all about religion. While this new Indy is based on the pseudo religion of UFO’s and spacemen, it’s silly.
Raiders: Indiana searches for the arc of the covenant.Temple of Doom: Indy falls to earth, and acts as a saviour sent by God(Shiva) to the Hindu people.Last Crusade: Indy searches,finds, and drinks from the holy grail. – These three films are great. And my personal favorite is Temple of Doom. All those who say it’s the worst, need to watch again, everything about it is really amazing to say the least. I like how Indy is a machismo sexist(1930’s male) in Temple of Doom towards the blonde, and the chinese kid is like a son to Indy. There is great chemistry between characters in TOD. The fact that Indy is seen as a gift from God in TOD is what really makes him larger than life. The cinematography, the dialogue are GREAT! 1980s gave us ubelievable films.
Loved the “Rat Rod” in the first ten minutes of the film. Yeah, all the characters ARE bigger than real life. But, what the hell (whoops! I can say that, can’t I?), it’s a “Saturday Adventure Flick” and NOT a docudrama.
Lighten up and enjoy! Besides, if the “Ruskies” are boycotting Indy 4, then it’s even MORE compelling to watch it.
This movie was a bomb. I love all the Indiana Jones movies but had to admit this one was the pitts. In the beginning we were treated to something that looked promising but sadly, we were let down. They should have ended with “Last Crusade.”
Wow!!! $150 MILLION in a 5-day weekend. For…nothing more than useless entertainment.
ALERT CONGRESS!!! A “WINDFALL PROFIT TAX” on Hollywood and the “entertainment” business!
Or, is $10 (2 1/2 gallons of gas), for two hours of unproductive nothingness reasonable?
I am sorry, but I didn’t really like the film that much. I thought the movie had some pretty good visuals, but I thought the story, was kind of dumb. I think George Lucas probably wrote the dialog or he was a major influence in it. I encourage people to see it,but i would not pay to watch it again.
You can quickly compare movie attendance in different eras, look up the average price of a ticket and divide that into the total gross.
Skulls was not bad at all. Naturally it will be compared to the first three, if it had been the first and only of the series the criticism wouldn’t nearly be so harsh.
I thought the movie was good. I think a lot of people were expecting to be a thrilled by this movie as they were years ago by the other movies.
People love to hate
The movie BLEW!!!! Aliens….Friken Aliens!?!?!?!?! What the He#@!!!!
good movie, bad ending
The critics who are saying this is a bad movie will be the same ones trying to convince me that JOE DIRT and Super Troopers was a great movie and that the Backstreet Boys didn’t make any money. That is my $0.02 worth.
Interesting, this blog seems to attract a lot of film industry people and wannabes. The general feeling I’m left with, after reading all the posts, is… rent the film by Mike Judge, “Idiocracy” – it’s a feature film, but I have a feeling that in the future it will be perceived as a documentary…
Worst movie I’ve seen this year.
I’ll NEVER watch it again. Not worth my time.
It was boring.
I’d rather watch The Rifleman reruns a hundred times than to watch this skull movie again!
Harrison looked OLD !
Apparently the same thing that happened to judging a politician on their message and not their money making power.
mheister,
the only thing I’ve been schooled about is what an imbecile you are. Even 63% positive is way too generous for a piece of dreck like “Crystal Skull.” Too many critics have lowered their standards because Hollywood has been lowering their for years now. Oh, yeah, and one more thing: The McCain preacher apologized and McCain rejected his endorsement the other day. The Rev. Wright never has apologized and Obama has never truly disowned him. You’re the one who needs schooled in your left-wing fantasy world.
To me, coming to a conclusion about Indy 4 happened rather easily.
As part of a double feature, I watched “Indy” first and “Iron Man” for the second flick. Coming out of the “Indy” movie, I felt reasonably satisfied. It entertained me for 2 hours. Not a great movie, but certainly not horrible as some are suggesting here.
Now, perspective happened after watching “Iron Man” That movie was light years better than “Indy” If you want a greaty action flick, see “Iron Man” If you want an average action flick, see “Indy.”
David Koepp’s screenwriting credit scared me at the beginning.
The CGI Prairie Dog at the opening was ridiculous.
It was a kitchen sink full of story elements.
However, I loved Ford.
And I loved the Technicolor look of the film, too. I was amazed at the way the film’s quality approximated so many old films like Flynn’s ROBIN HOOD and the best of Hitchcock’s 50’s thrillers. Spielberg went overboard on set design and film stock quality. I, for one, loved it.
But David Koepp… how come he didn’t realize that Aristotle said that PLOT is the most important element in drama? What happened to the interesting idea that the KGB wanted mind control techniques? That would have been a great film. How aliens got involved with that storyline — ridiculous.
Stalin was into mind control before he died And if Koepp had done his homework he would have realized how Anti Semitic Stalin was and used that to Nazify the Russkies. That Alien crap — just crap. But I loved the attempt — loved the look and feel — loved the ride — loved the clothes, the period details — though at some points I did find myself thinking — this will make for good special effects on an Indiana Jones theme park ride.
Basically the main plot was lost among all the lesser storylines. Nice try but next time Steven, stay away from your bevy of rich hack writers. I know I know — you’ve all been laughing your way to the bank for years. But next time, remember your audience and give us a great story.
I haven’t seen the movie but I would say that it is making a lot of money and is so-so with popcorn. If you are a self generator of fun you probably wouldn’t be there so the movie skews towards passive retards who wouldn’t know fun if it felt them up. Those who go and are fun themsleves will find fun in it…although some movies are so bad that fun people have to leave to stay happy. Other people have fun making fun of other people and things…so I say go for it and may the force be with you.
Count me among the disappointed with Indy 4.
It’ll certainly make money, but it won’t be well regarded in the long run. After the classic trilogy it’s a shame this film was even made.
A fun movie but still ranks as #4 in the series. But it is in the same ballpark as Crusade. Nothing can ever or will ever touch Raiders.
A few scenes were too much to take (sword fight on the hood of the moving cars, Tarzan Shia, waterfalls) but the man-eating ants were awesome.
3 stars out of 5.
after reading many reviews, i’m not going to see the film. rarely have i seen such venom spit out about a movie. it must really be bad. so, save your money, i say, and spend it on a nice lunch.
Some watch the movie to escape and take a break from the real world…
Some watch the movie in order to take it apart and critize those who made it…
Some watch the movie in order to pay homage…
I’ll wait (two weeks, I’m guessing) for it to come out on DVD at Blockbuster…
Some one pass the popcorn…
HE IS OLD YOU ASSHAT!!! The movie was great. It was fantastic finally seeing Indy say and do different things.
Just saw the film tonight. While the story did not “flow” as well as some of the previous Indiana Jones movies – overall I thought it was a very entertaining and engaging film. I think some of the harshest critics may just be too young to “get it”. For baby boomers who watched bad sci-fi 50’s movies growing up, (and bad 50’s movies of other types), maybe of the cliches in the movie (giant man-eating ants, space aliens, “ruskies”) are all referenced in FUN, and I think reasonably effectively. Sure, the story is perhaps a bit less “believable” than some of the other Indy flix, but if you went to see any of these films – including the current release – expecting to see a “serious” film – then you miss the point of the series to begin with.
OK, so I’m 60ish & my dtr is in her 30s. We saw and loved Indy 1 & 3, but when we saw 2 on opening day, we had to cover our eyes. Many people walked out on 2, sickened and demanding their money back. There was a TV news crew interviewing people in the parking lot as we exited; apparently they expected controversy about the film. After Raiders, the audience expected 2 to be a film you could take the kids to, scarey but not the stuff of nightmares. Remember when chldren and pre-teens had no access to gore on the nightly news or broadcast TV shows, and rarely in the theaters?
So anyway, for old times’ sake we saw 4 together on Thursday and had a blast. It was great entertainment; we’re still recounting all the inside jokes and ‘tips of the hat’ that were paid to the prehistoric weekly serialized movies. We expected to be entertained, and got exactly what we had hoped for. Two thumbs up. Yeah, HF is older, but so are we. Life is like that – and btw, the Baby Boomers have more money than the Gen-X.
The film was great! The alien stuff was a little strange…. What I did love and hope it continues was the camera angles and the stunts. I don’t watch a lot of movies or TV but I thought both were great! Honestly, I was expecting to take my children to the show, let them enjoy the movie while I caught some Zs. I was so spell bound. I didn’t care that I was sleep deprived b/c the movie was that good and Harrison Ford even at age 65 is still gorgeous!
Oh yeah, and it really bothered me how the entire movie was shot inside a studio, or alot of different sets. Why cant they film stuff in real places anymore? Why is it all about the special effects and cheesy dialogue? Why is there no real emotion or feeling of connection between the characters that the audience can sense? All of this and more the other Indy films possessed. What in the h*ll has happened to George Lucas and Steven Spielberg?! Are they scientologist or something with this ‘interdimensional beings’, and UFO garbage? The Chinese kid in Temple of Doom was far more endearing than this cheesey Indiana wannabe bastard named Mutt! How can this bastard named Mutt be the next Indiana Jones?! As far as I am concerned the legacy of Indiana Jones has been forever tarnished by this horrible creation.I hope Mutt has a tragic motorcycle accident so that he is erased from the entire Indiana Jones universe. Why? Why have Spielberg and Lucas allowed this to happen?… They obviously just dont care and want some money.
Great fun! what else are you there? Because your a critic? SHUT UP!What more could you ask for? Its not like Harrison Ford needs the money! I like Him, and I have met/seen him in real life>> hes very cool! I think that this movie shows that sometimes we the audience are not the only ones these guys make movies for, they make them for themselves-they are like– we like it, we dont care what you think! Its our F@#(+_)* movie~~~!!. In an age where people think reality TV is good enough, and you tube is entertainment, this is instant Kharma, it smacks you right in the face. It begs for your comment, you cant say you werent thinking it, I’d rather be dead than red! HA HA!
The movie was just ok. Harrison did fine. Still a fan. But too many unbelievable plot points including surviving a nuclear blast, swinging through trees like Tarzan, falling down waterfalls bigger than Niagra without a scratch, Indy’s old friend screwing him over time after time, etc. GREAT scene with Indy and a snake though!
cant touch this, dun dun dun dun , dun dun , dun dun! Cant touch this!–
Put down the the popcorn, and watch the movie. The books are certainly different– the Rollins book is far different! How did that happen? Kate, can read your mind, Indy is still going to find the treasure, and Lucas and Spielburg are always going to mess with your mind! Be grateful they went easy on us, I have a feeling they could have seriously made it far scarier! And you know, thank you for not using religion, to finish this — finally something no one can really explain, how can you argue it? I was waiting for a Mulder to walk in, that would have been so funny, its good to laugh, and just let it be. I’m Going to see again–!
Horrible movie. One of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Hollywood has so clearly lost its way when a cast and crew of this magnitude is assembled and delivers a pile of junk like this. I’m a big Indy fan and while I was not expecting much, I could not believe how awful it was. I could not wait for it to end, but it just kept on going and going. I just can’t get over how top professionals in this industry can put a movie together this bad. CGI is ruining movie-making by making completely unbelievable stunts. And when I see half the reviewers say they like it, it becomes understandable why Hollywood keeps making them so bad, because their audience is also “Lost.” If I had made this movie I would be embarassed and would beg them to leave my name off of it.
Saw the film on Saturday.
It’s better than “Temple of Doom”.
“…Why have Spielberg and Lucas allowed this to happen?… They obviously just dont care and want some money…”
OMG, I just realized that yet another South Park episode has come true.
Amazing stuff here…
Call The Police!!!
This just in: Indy 4 is a MOVIE….an old time adventure film from Saturday Morning movies of the 50’s
Thank God most folks pay no attention to the doom and gloomers who write here……But I did read a comment by someone who actually said Because of what they read here they were not going to see the film…..
What a weak minded soul indeed…..Think for yourself or you will miss a lot of life….
Dear mheister …. McCain neither attended Hagee or Parsley’s churches nor called them “his pastor”. None of their statements were antiamerican. Nice try attempting to demagogue the issue like a true leftist liar.
As for the movie? Good clean fun. Deep? No. Believable? No. Enjoyable? Yeah. Probably 3rd best out of the 4… Will gross very big.
I saw the movie yesterday and thought it was good and very entertaining. I don’t need extensive character development in a movie of this caliber; nor do I need to believe what happens. It’s a fun movie and it helped me escape , for a couple of hours, the pressures of life. I highly recommend going to see it and I don’t understand all of the negative talk. I look forward to owning it on DVD in the future!
Somebody put these guys in a home, they no longer have any business making movies. I’m just glad I didn’t actually have to pay to see the alleged movie.
We attended a 1/3 full theatre on Sunday evening. My 2o year old sons thought it was like a cartoon and since one was from South America, he and we knew the whole setting was a joke. We’re on the Amazon, and then going over the falls at Iguacu? That’s like being on the Mississippi and then going over Niagara Falls (three times!!!). What a joke. No character development at all. I was happy to see Karen Allen finally show up – too little – too late. Cate stole the movie in every scene – why didn’t they develop something between her and Ford? Aliens – Tarzan swinging through the vines – fake monkies and ground hogs – it was just rediculous from start to finish. Why was everyone wearing Marshall jackets when the film was obviously being filmed it appeared at Yale in the early scenes. I say bring back Indy now as a 115 year old who mysteriously is not aging as fast as he should (due no doubt to excessive exposure to alien skulls). Title the movie, “Indian Jones and the Fountain of Youth” where Indy, Allen and Shia try to escape from a retirement home and are linked up with the now 130 year old members of the Coccoon cast who come back to Earth to save them. With our new huge plasma home entertainment center, I have a far better experience in my family room with better sound, picture, comfort and guess what, a “pause” button, without feeling totally ripped off by ticket prices, concessions prices, etc. I won’t be back anytime soon to be dissapointed at my local multi-plex. At least when I go to see a 3-6 month old film at the discount place and pay $2.50 for the experience, I don’t feel like I was mugged if the movie is a bomb, like this one was.
People who are saying this movie is awful.. Unrealistic.. Just dont get the Indiana Jones movies. I did roll my eyes at a couple of scenes. Other than that it was entertaining. People dissappointed in the ending. Well its not real, its fiction. This is no different from any of the other Jones movies. Last I checked, people hadnt had there Heart Ripped from their chest and stayed alive to watch it beat. The movies are fun, and this one is fun as well. I hope they make another, and leave the monkeys out of it!
Coopered, you can’t really blame Koepp much for the debacle that is the script. There have been many many scripts over the past few years, and this one seems to be a copy/paste from the parts they liked from each one (and it shows). He didn’t come up with the aliens, that was from a previous draft and likely Lucas’s idea that he insisted on having in. After all, he is only credited with the screenplay, Lucas and Jeff Nathanson are credited with the story.
A few years back, Frank Darabont did a script and Ford and Spielberg loved it, but Lucas vetoed it. Shame they didn’t go with that version, it sounds like it was far better than what they ended up with.
Not a bad movie, I definitely wouldn’t say “unwatchable” but nothing more than a pretty good one. Action sequences are enough to make it worth seeing despite the fact that virtually everything else in the movie is really lame. The strongest praise I can give it is that it’s not as bad as I expected based on what I’ve heard…and it’s better than Transformers.
But that’s not saying much.
At the 7:30 screening last night it was barely half full. I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual numbers lag the estimates and it misses 100M weekend and 150M five day.
With the advantage of a monday holiday (for a boosted sunday), shouldn’t a sequel to one of the biggest franchises of all time be doing considerably better numbers than a comic book most people aren’t even familiar with? I’m curious to see if Indy actually beats Iron Man’s opening 3 day weekend – it is lagging on friday and saturday, we’ll see if the sunday is big enough to make up the difference.
I saw it yesterday – packed house with all age demographics. We had laugh out loud moments, spontaneous applause at the great moments and a standing ovation at the end. I loved it, it was classic Indy – totally unbelievable, and yet so darn entertaining. I am so happy Karen Allen came back, and the look in Indy’s eyes when he saw her after all those years was priceless. Great moments all – c’mon, it is just a movie. Go, enjoy it for mind escaping fun.
IJ4 was horrible. The action was so cheesy, I seriously considered walking out in the middle of the movie. The dialog was ridiculous. The first action sequence of the movie was just awful and it didn’t get any better. I am ashamed to have contributed to the pocketbooks of SS/GL/HF.
I have to laugh at the people complaining about a lack of realism in this movie. Seriously, you’re upset that the falls they went over don’t exist where the movie says they do? It’s like you’re being willfully stupid. These movies have never pretended to be realistic portrayals of actual archaeology and culture. Maybe the constant battling of Nazis and magic shoudl have been your first clue. They’re intentionally fantastical.
I thought it was pretty good. Ford isn’t a young man, and it showed at times, and there were some bad scenes, but the action and adventerous parts were very well done, and overall was very entertaining.
Kyle, you sir are mistaken on every level.
Washingtonian jones, if you bothered to read, it wasn’t mheister that called those terrible men McCain’s pastor(s), it was the oddball Kyle defending McCain who did as such. Instead, they were his “spiritual advisers”. Not because he cares a dime about them, but because they bring in the votes. McCain will whore himself to the highest bidder. Just look at anyone running his campaign. Every last one a lobbyist.
My wife and I really enjoyed the movie. I laughed out loud many times and enjoyed the aged Indy and Karen Allen returning. The story was weaker than the first and third movies but there was plenty of fun and excitement.
All the naysayers should try making a two-hour feature motion picture with a lot of action. I made one. Make your own movie and see how easy it is. Boy, consumers have gotten spoiled and cynical.
It ia a movie people , ENJKOYE IT !!
Life is hard enouhg, have something to talk about besides GAS prices. INDY ROCKS!!!!
IT’S AWFUL. Period. Just an awful movie. It pains me to say it.
Note to the filmmakers:
INDIANA JONES SHOULD NOT SMILE SO MUCH.
He’s a foolish old buffoon in this installment. Go back and watch the first one… this is not Indy.
AND SPECIAL NOTE TO DAVID KOEPP: The dialogue is very cliche. EARN YOUR MONEY. You’re embarrassing us.
Very entertaining film!! That’s what I go to see, and it delivered wonderfully!
I was torn when I first saw the film. I was enjoying the ride, but then things started bothering me. I came out of the movie smiling and excited, but then I felt short-changed, in a way.
Then again, I really enjoyed Speed Racer, too. And people have panned that one (and the audiences just weren’t there, to be honest). I’m always up for a popcorn flick. But then Shia started swinging from the trees and I gave up on the popcorn for a while. It was just a little too much to swallow.