The Thunder Child Science Fiction and Fantasy Web Magazine and Sourcebooks

Art

Authors

Books

Games

Magazines

Movies

Radio Drama

Television

Theatre

Science Faction

Vertlieb's Views

"Stand By For Mars!"

Vertlieb's Views

Vertlieb's Views Commentary on movies past and present by Steve Vertlieb Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Steven Spielberg's much anticipated production of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the event of the summer, a rip roaring, affectionate and heroic piece of Americana guaranteed to tug at the heart strings of every red-blooded, emotional youngster in attendance. As a cultural phenomenon, the Indiana Jones films established a rich new criteria by which other adventure films would be judged. While Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade found a reverent niche in the hearts and minds of youthful filmgoers, it had been nineteen years since Harrison Ford last donned the famous hat and brandished his determined whip. Steven Spielberg had long since graduated from the Saturday Matinee, becoming established as a more mature director, with such Oscar honored films as Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Munich, and The Color Purple. While each of these established artists had successfully moved on from the early years of Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford had for years expressed a desire to return to the character "before George Lucas had grown too old to do it." Therein lay the problem inherent in any attempt to update the series. Harrison Ford had grown a bit long in the tooth to play the iconic hero, but an Indiana Jones without its original star was a preposterous proposition. Both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had always maintained that they would never commence production on another Indiana Jones film unless the script was right and, over the evolution of many years, scripts came and went without the slightest nod of approval from either producer or director. When it was finally announced by Lucas Film that an effective script had at last been secured by the production company, assurances from all concerned blithely sought to persuade everyone within hearing that this was, at last, the script that everyone had been waiting for. It had long been assumed that Sean Connery would ultimately return to the franchise as Henry Jones, Sr., the role and performance he had so joyously created in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989. His retirement from show business did little to dissuade Lucas, Spielberg, and even Harrison Ford, who begged him to come out of retirement for one time only in order to reprise his role as the elder Jones boy. Obviously tempted by the offer, and agonizing over his decision, Connery finally remained adamant and declined the offer of another opportunity to play his beloved role just one last time. The loss of Sean Connery proved a major obstacle in the selling of a new Indiana Jones film, but George Lucas presented a brave face, remaining outwardly confident that his first Indiana Jones film in nearly twenty years could gain box office supremacy without the reclusive Connery. Filming began in characteristic secrecy and little was known about the story line, other than the obvious fact that no amount of pretense or makeup could disguise the fact that Harrison Ford had reached the Medicare generation. None of the film makers held onto the illusion that time had somehow stood still just for them, and so it was announced that the setting for the new film would, indeed, be twenty years later than the last, smack in the middle of the Eisenhower, cold war generation in which fear of Communism and Atom bombs assaulted American sensibilities, and Science Fiction had dominated both films and literature. After an interminable and exhausting wait of nearly a year's duration, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has opened to decidedly and predictably mixed reviews, both praising and panning the film either as a glorious return to exhilarating film going, or a tired journey by an over the hill hero searching for his own "Last Crusade." There is justification in both theories and it may require more than a single screening to fully appreciate the pleasure of this latest saga in the sacred Indiana Jones franchise. Although the actor wears both the hat and the persona like a comfortable blanket, his first appearance as Indy is something of a shock. The youthful demeanor is gone to be sure, replaced by the wistful memory of a man grimly uncomfortable with old age. His appearance, as well as the cautious reflection cast in our own, uncompromising mirrors, is a bit of a jolt. Have we really grown so old? Still, the wise cracking bravado of this classic character remains intact--a little tired, a little grizzled, a trifle world weary, and yet the little boy within his heart remains as cocky, irreverant, and ultimately courageous as ever. He is still the man with the whip. Russians have replaced Nazis as the principle threat to human safety, but the search for mysticism and supernatural dominion of the Earth remains as dangerous as before. If spiritual artifacts such as The Ark of the Covenant and The Holy Grail have been replaced by Crystal Skulls hidden deep in the jungles of the Amazon, they are nestled quite miraculously in the Chariots of the Gods. The flying saucer craze of the 1950s is more than adequately represented here with allusions to Area 51, and potentially unearthly inhabitants discovered and investigated in secret goverment labs. Nigel Kneale covered similar terrain in his far more provocative, and adventurous Quatermass and the Pit. The story by George Lucas never attempts to delve below the surface of such superficial conjecture, preferring merely to touch on the possibilities, rather than rise above them. Indiana Jones returns to familiar ground, after an adventurous confrontation and battle with KGB agents within the secret military warehouse housing the Ark of the Covenant, and a near-death encounter with a nuclear test blast in which he approximates a "duck and cover" exercise inside a lead lined refrigerator. Soon it's back to Yale University, however, where the esteemed, if occasionally reckless, Dr. Jones continues to teach classes in Archaeology to enthusiastic students. After his unfortunate escapades in the secret military warehouse, in an atmosphere in which Mccarthyism and paranoia prevail, Jones becomes a subject "of interest" to the FBI, and leaves academia in search of adventure. A young boy (Shia LaBeouf), laughably reminiscent of Ed "Kookie" Burns on 77 Sunset Strip, appears on his door step at the request of his mother, a woman somehow related to Indy's past, named Marian. The mysterious woman is, of course, Marian Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indiana's first love, last encountered in the originating film in the series, Raiders of the Lost Ark. In a nostalgic turn, Jones is reunited with his lost love. Both have moved on, but neither has ever entirely forgotten the romantic idyll of first romance. As we have grown old with Indy and Marian, it is understandably comforting to see them together once more. Life has come full circle and, as the past merges with the present, memories of happier and healthier times appear safe and unusually reassuring. Indy, together with his irreverent young companion, begin a quest to rescue Indy's boyhood friend, "Ox," who has been kidnapped by Russian agents. Professor Oxley seemingly holds the key to the discovery of the Crystal Skull, but has been rendered witless by its gaze. John Hurt, a fine, distinguished actor has, himself, been rendered witless by a script that inexplicably leaves him mute and more than a little daffy. The scenes involving Professor Oxley are consequently uncomfortable and somewhat embarrassing, throwing the middle portion of the film into a thematic quandary. Happily, this disquieting interlude becomes less troubling once the action picks up once more. As Indy and his companions escape into the jungles of the Amazon, a wild and woolly chase ensues, a roller coaster ride reminiscent of the final sequence in the frenetic Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Duels in careening jeeps, swarms of ravenous Soldier Ants, and a "One, Two, Three" punch across watery cliffs and menacing rapids lead our intrepid explorers to the underground habitat of the inter-dimensional Crystal Skulls, and the re-unification of their species. Industrial Light and Magic creates a spectacle of destruction as the spectral Kingdom, occupying mystical time and space, succumbs to its own evolving cycle of existence, while the intrepid explorers find safety and redemption in a watery rescue reminiscent of the fiery climax from Journey To The Center of the Earth (1959). Steven Spielberg is determined to give his audience their money's worth during the apocalyptic climax of his expensive cinematic expanse. John Williams, known affectionately as "America's Composer," offers a fresh new take on familiar themes as memorable as the title character himself. Williams, at age seventy five, has become a national treasure. Yet, with all of the technology that George Lucas has at his gilded finger tips, it is Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones who both saves, and brings this picture to life. No longer in his prime either as a performer or as a man, Ford still manages to bring unparalleled humanity, humility, and humor to a part he was born to play and, as his own years mercifully evaporate beneath the tender scrutiny of the camera's eye, time indeed stands still once more. In the end, it isn't about the millions of dollars spent on special effects or the thread bare story line written by the series creator. It isn't about hype, and it isn't about box office. In this fragile world and crumbling civilization, it is at last about the graceful pre-eminence and coming of age of an aging survivor, an eloquent actor and characterization who lovingly refuses to be categorized or relegated to the scrap heap of film history by a youth market preoccupied with sex, depravity, and inane bathroom humor. As Baby Boomers reach Social Security, losing their collective identity in statistical red tape, it remains a joyous tribute to the spirit rekindled in each one of us as we reach, longingly, into heroic memory and resurrect a vital component of the warriors we once were, gently recalling that wondrous memory in the magical twilight of a darkened movie theater. There is an Indiana Jones alive, still, within each one of us. It is the stuff that life and dreams are made of...a candle burning ever radiantly within our hearts and souls, restoring our lives to the romance, and brilliant vitality of youth and, if for no other reason, the triumphant return of Indiana Jones is ample cause for celebration. Click on the icons for new features in The Thunder Child. Radiation Theater: 1950s Sci Fi Movies Discussion Boards The Sand Rock Sentinel: Ripped From the Headlines of 1950s Sci Fi Films

Learn more or Buy Now Learn more or Buy Now Learn more or Buy Now Learn more or Buy Now