Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Famed archaeologist/adventurer Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

David Koepp (screenplay), George Lucas (story),

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett	...	Irina Spalko
Karen Allen	...	Marion Ravenwood
Shia LaBeouf	...	Mutt Williams
Ray Winstone	...	'Mac' George Michale
John Hurt	...	Professor Oxley
Jim Broadbent	...	Dean Charles Stanforth
Igor Jijikine	...	Dovchenko
Dimitri Diatchenko	...	Russian Suit
Ilia Volok	...	Russian Suit
Emmanuel Todorov	...	Russian Soldier
Pasha D. Lychnikoff	...	Russian Soldier
Andrew Divoff	...	Russian Soldier
Venya Manzyuk	...	Russian Soldier (as Veniamin Manzyuk)
Alan Dale	...	General Ross

Storyline

During the Cold War, Soviet agents watch Professor Henry Jones when a young man brings him a coded message from an aged, demented colleague, Henry Oxley. Led by the brilliant Irina Spalko, the Soviets tail Jones and the young man, Mutt, to Peru. With Oxley's code, they find a legendary skull made of a single piece of quartz. If Jones can deliver the skull to its rightful place, all may be well; but if Irina takes it to its origin, she'll gain powers that could endanger the West. Aging professor and young buck join forces with a woman from Jones's past to face the dangers of the jungle, Russia, and the supernatural.

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Plot Keywords:

soviet | skull | professor | power | artifact | 

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Taglines:

In May, the adventure continues.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

22 May 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fourth Installment of the Indiana Jones Adventures

Filming Locations:

Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$185,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£12,227,799 (UK) (23 May 2008)

Gross:

$317,011,114 (USA) (10 October 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Frank Marshall stated that the film would be shot the same way as the previous three - with stunt men, and using CGI only when necessary. Before the film entered production Steven Spielberg corroborated these claims, but during filming the decision was made to employ more CGI than had originally been anticipated (Spielberg estimated at the time that about 30% of VFX would have to be CGI).

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Goofs

If the Crystal Skull were solid quartz, as explained early in the film, the characters wouldn't be able to hold or throw it easily with one hand. However, the skull isn't quartz. That's just an expression.

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Quotes

Col. Dr. Irina Spalko: Do svidanya, Dr. Jones.

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Crazy Credits

The movie begins with the Lucasfilm logo, followed by the 1954 Paramount "VistaVision" logo (with the text "PARAMOUNT" instead of "A PARAMOUNT PICTURE" and "A Viacom Company" instead of "A Gulf+Western Company" below "PARAMOUNT"). Gulf+Western became Paramount Communications in 1989, then merged with Viacom in 1994. The Paramount logo then dissolves into a gopher mound. (The static version of the current Paramount logo is seen at the end of the movie.)

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Connections

Referenced in SMS Diary: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Little Bitty Pretty One"
Written by Bobby Day (as Robert Byrd)
Performed by Bobby Day
Courtesy of Lynn Adajian
By Arrangement with Nola Leone/Ace Music Services, LLC

User Reviews

Implausible action scenes kill this movie

All I can really conclude about this movie is that it was just okay. I can forgive the ludicrous plot, the cheesy "family" dynamic of the film, the fact that Harrison Ford is old (which is really nowhere near the worst part of this). I don't even really mind Shia LaBeouf's presence. But many of the stunts and the action scenes are so implausible that it renders all of the action scenes implausible. For example, Shia LaBoeuf sword-fighting (!) spread-eagled on two moving vehicles; a boat going over not one, not two, but three waterfalls with absolutely no one getting a scratch (I mean, what are we watching here, The A-Team?); and the "if the film hasn't jumped the shark yet it certainly has now" moment--Shia LaBoeuf swinging through the jungle a la Tarzan. It was ridiculous. And because these parts are (forgive my overuse of the word) implausible, it highlights the fact that the rest of it doesn't work, either. After seeing a number of old series trying to come back for another run (Rocky Balboa, Rambo, the Star Wars Prequels) I have concluded that when filmmakers attempt to cash in on a once-popular series, artistically the best they can hope for is to break even. Sometimes there really is nowhere to go but down. I wanted to love this, but the most charitable thing I can say is that it was just okay. Very disappointing.