captainsolo said:
I had no idea the silent Blackmail was commercially available. Whoa. Definitely need one of the PAL sets now.
FanFiltration said:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Oh how I did not enjoy this film. I did like how it was moving along up until the Venice boat chase, but went down hill fast after that. The effects were atrocious. The Scottish disguise bit was so unlike the Indian Jones from the first two films. Turned into a joke, and some great character's are so under utilized. Marcus was so kewl in the first movie, but here he is just way too goofy. *frown*
Too disappointed to rate this one.
:) It's tired. It's made by people who no longer have the drive for making an Indy film. The script was re-edited numerous times, even while shooting. There are numerous moments completely improvised such as the entire tank sequence and motorcycle chase. The character of Elsa makes little to no sense. Donovan is a terrible, dull, lifeless ripoff of Belloq. Marcus and Sallah are ruined. The opening goes on far too long. The staging of the opening boat scene is putrid. The challenge of the things Indy has to go through at the end is not built up very well and this undermines the danger that should be building tension.
"You've made me catch a sniffle!"
Good points: Sean, Sean, Sean, Sean a thousand times over. He has the time of his life with Jones Sr. and that gleam in his eyes makes you lament his retirement.
The father-son interaction is priceless and the the best part of the film. "she talks in her sleep."
The way Harrison says: "Yes, sir."
The improved sound design. Aside from some of the smaller humorous moments, that's about it. Each time I see the movie again, I like it less and become more frustrated with it. The father-son dynamic is interesting and dramatic yes, but there is so little around that single speck of gold that that speck can be outweighed by the bad. I might like it better on Laser when I find one.
It's really a three star film, trying but never succeeding to win you over. But I still to this day cannot understand how so many prefer this to the fantastic Temple of Doom.
I think this film is simply more fun and light-hearted than the previous two, yet still serious enough to find enjoyable (whereas Crystal Skull is so much "fun" that I never enjoy it that much). When I was younger, this was my favorite. In my teens I started to enjoy Raiders more, and now it is my favorite. I still prefer Crusade to Temple, but that's partly due to the similarities to the first film, i.e. the Judeo-Christian theme, the baddies, the reused characters. However, I see very much where you both are coming from, and the interesting characters of Marcus and Salah are not utilized to their full potential, instead made to look too idiotic.
The father-son dynamic is fun, and is probably the best point for the film. Some of the effects are weak, I agree, but I never saw them as outside of what is appropriate for the time (of course I was 7 when the film came out).
I will agree that the Temple of Doom gets a lot of unneeded flack. The female character is weak and there are things that could easily be found offensive and racist to Indians. Nevertheless, I still enjoy it. I really like Shortround, I find it very exciting at times (again, my favorite climactic scene of all Indy films), and other qualities I can't put my finger on. However, my biggest beef with the film is that I don't believe in Indiana Jones as a gung-ho archaeologist and professor. I see him as a secret agent or superhero. He's called Dr. Jones, but he does not really utilized such skills as well as he should. As I aged, I also started to get more of a disjointed character in this film and the two that sandwhich it, and for that reason I enjoy it less than the others.