George Lucas = comedian

[jake_fink]

At the risk of putting one more Indiana Jones thread into a forum already chock full of Indiana Jones threads here's a little article that made me laugh, then cry, then laugh again:

Indy 5...Minus the Indy??

I want just one little taste of whatever George Lucas is smoking. The sorry part is that fans of his.. ahem... work will line right up to see it.

 

[Nick D]

I can see it working out.

I'm sure he saw the Star Wars prequels working out, too. Maybe he still thinks they did.

 

[Feraud]

Lucas is a kook.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

That, or he's pulling everyone's leg...

Original material. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Lucas is a kook.

Lucas is a successful, multi-millionaire, movie producer who sells movies that people watch at theatres, on DVD, and on TV. I'd like to be a "kook" like that! Perhaps we all could stand to be a little George Lucas kookie! lol

-dixon cannon

 

[Dr Doran]

Not to get eggs thrown at me on a forum like this, but am I the only one who thought the Indy movies were kind of lame?

I appreciate the interest the films brought to archaeology, but there was so little real acting, feelings, drama of any sort other than chases and fights .... and the overuse of the theme song in the first one (which I recently viewed again after a hiatus of about 10-20 years) was really lame.

 

[flat-top]

This doesn't shock me at all, and "Mutt Williams and the......" just doesn't have the right ring to it!

 

[jake_fink]

Not to get eggs thrown at me on a forum like this, but am I the only one who thought the Indy movies were kind of lame?

I appreciate the interest the films brought to archaeology, but there was so little real acting, feelings, drama of any sort other than chases and fights .... and the overuse of the theme song in the first one (which I recently viewed again after a hiatus of about 10-20 years) was really lame.

Not at all. Two of the three are much, much worse than merely quite lame.

 

[Maguire]

Not to get eggs thrown at me on a forum like this, but am I the only one who thought the Indy movies were kind of lame?

I appreciate the interest the films brought to archaeology, but there was so little real acting, feelings, drama of any sort other than chases and fights .... and the overuse of the theme song in the first one (which I recently viewed again after a hiatus of about 10-20 years) was really lame.

When i first saw these as a kid i thought they were amazing/great. But yeah, when i watched the DVDs a few months ago for the first time i realized how shallow they were. they are entertaining sure, but once you hit a certain age they really lose their glamor. Last Crusade is a rehash of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom was frankly not a good movie in comparison to the other two. I'll be seeing the new one if only for nostalgia sake.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Originally posted by Maguire:
When i first saw these as a kid i thought they were amazing/great. But yeah, when i watched the DVDs a few months ago for the first time i realized how shallow they were. they are entertaining sure, but once you hit a certain age they really lose their glamor. Last Crusade is a rehash of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom was frankly not a good movie in comparison to the other two. I'll be seeing the new one if only for nostalgia sake.

Piping up as one who's only recently watched the Indy movies (trust me, I would not have been associating fedoras with Indiana Jones), I have to say that I enjoyed them. Sure, they're not exactly epic films, but they're fun stories. Maybe I'm just easily entertained.

Still, I can see your point. Some movies just have to be watched when young to be fully appreciated. When I was a kid, I loved certain movies. I'll use Robin Hood and The Jungle Book as examples. When Jungle Book came out on DVD, it was an entirely different experience to watch it as an adult. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the same. Perhaps the solution is to watch these movies with a bunch of kids to recapture the nostalgia? lol

 

[JupitersDarling]

No. No. That's not true! That's impossible! NOOOOO GEORGE!!!!!



:eusa_doh:

I'll just keep praying he doesn't retcon anything in the old films (yes, I still enjoy them. Except Temple of Doom, which is only interesting for the secret caverns and dinner party with monkey brains). I shudder to think what the indy version of the "Han shot first" shirts would be....

 

[Maguire]

No. No. That's not true! That's impossible! NOOOOO GEORGE!!!!!



:eusa_doh:

I'll just keep praying he doesn't retcon anything in the old films (yes, I still enjoy them. Except Temple of Doom, which is only interesting for the secret caverns and dinner party with monkey brains). I shudder to think what the indy version of the "Han shot first" shirts would be....

Temple of doom had the most obnoxious female lead ever.. i couldn't stand her. I was hoping she'd get bumped off early on but alas..

plus no Pat Roach.. Pat Roach scenes are always needed in Indy movies. You'll recognize him as the stereotypical Huge henchman that beats the daylights out of indy at least once per film (although in Raiders of the Lost Arch i believe its twice if not more). He died unfortunately, in 99. For me, some of the most memorable scenes were indiana getting into a fight with pat roach and getting pummelled.

 

[thunderw21]

I thought this might happen.

Why introduce a young new character only to kill him off?

 

[A.R. McVintage]

plus no Pat Roach.. Pat Roach scenes are always needed in Indy movies. You'll recognize him as the stereotypical Huge henchman that beats the daylights out of indy at least once per film (although in Raiders of the Lost Arch i believe its twice if not more). He died unfortunately, in 99. For me, some of the most memorable scenes were indiana getting into a fight with pat roach and getting pummelled.

Pat Roach was in Temple. He's the huge Thuggee guard who beats the tar out of Indy and gets rolled under a rock crusher at the end.

All the Temple hate is amusing. Considering it's the closest to the 'Boy's Own Adventure' movies of the time (most of it's a virtual remake of Gunga Din) and that it at least tried something new with the character compared to Last Crusade ( a poor man's Raiders with a lot of, "Haha, James Bond's acting the buffoon!" humor and a love stemming more from liking Connery than it actually being a great movie) that's really sad.

 

[The Wingnut]

If you watch any Indy movie without a little tounge-in-cheek eye-rolling, you're taking it too seriously. It really does poke fun at all the adventure fiction of the prewar era.

Problem is, just as with Star Wars, it's become a universe unto itself with a downright rabid fanbase. Not only that, but the image of Harrison Ford in a fedora and leather jacket is now iconic pop culture and has overwhelmed far more accurate and serious representations of the sort of heroic adventurer of the prewar era, to the point that the unschooled will see what IJ was orginally lampooning and think it's a ripoff of IJ itself.

Want proof? I did tech inspection at a wacky budget race called The 24 Hours of Lemons last week. I played it up and dressed in a whimsical desert tan uniform I put together out of my closet. Everyone called me Indiana Jones. Never mind that not a stitch of what I was wearing matched the character, that's what I was because that's all the public knows.

I can't wear any sort of brimmed hat in public without getting a Indy comment anymore. Fine for the Indy fan, frustrating and annoying for those who recognize IJ for what it is / was...just another fun popcorn film.

I loved Raiders, wore out my Last Crusade tape, and enjoyed Temple(and never really saw it as a bad film, just not as good as the other two). I'm finding it hard to get excited about the latest one, and the next, provided there is one, I probably won't even watch until it's off the silver screen. The series would have been fine at three...but George sees an opportunity to wring more money from his fans and grab up younger generations, which he's perfectly entitled to do. Considering his motivation, it's not surprising that he's deviating from the standard the first few films set. Got to keep it fresh.

I just wish Fate of Atlantis had been produced 10 years ago as a final installment instead of the 'too corny, too late' we're getting now.

 

[Dr Doran]

If you watch any Indy movie without a little tounge-in-cheek eye-rolling, you're taking it too seriously. It really does poke fun at all the adventure fiction of the prewar era.

That is very fair.

 

[MagistrateChris]

Back in the day, I wrote a research paper on George Lucas. I drew his name out of a hat. Anyways, while researching him, his life, etc. I came across article talking about Raiders. He and Speilberg met up on vacation somewhere, and talked about how they both enjoyed the Saturday Serials when they were kids. Raiders was written by the two, working together, to relive their childhood memories. That's why all of the characters are so much larger than life...like the evil henchman in all black, even in the desert. The use of music was meant to recapture that feeling of the old serials as well.

 

[MagistrateChris]

Back in the day, I wrote a research paper on George Lucas. I drew his name out of a hat. Anyways, while researching him, his life, etc. I came across article talking about Raiders. He and Speilberg met up on vacation somewhere, and talked about how they both enjoyed the Saturday Serials when they were kids. Raiders was written by the two, working together, to relive their childhood memories. That's why all of the characters are so much larger than life...like the evil henchman in all black, even in the desert. The use of music was meant to recapture that feeling of the old serials as well.

That said, I love Raiders, like Crusade, and hate Temple. As for the new one...time will tell.