Indiana Jones Crystal Skull - a 15MaF revisit (2D and 3D)

Indiana jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a 15MaF revisit (2D and 3D)

First off, this is my edit of Skull based on 15MaF’s excellent version as a base plus one 1 partial addition from MMP. This cut has some of my own changes and I also plan to do a 3D version.

As a reminder to what 15MaF’s version is, see below a summary (obviously he has tons of changes (I think around 40), with below being some of them high level)…you can also look for his post. Really his version is amazing with his changes.

• Mutt is not indys son
• Limited if any CG gopher shots
• No shower scene
• No monkeys, tarzan swinging and a smack in the nuts for mutt
• No grab the rope joke
• 1 alien and it never really transverses to our dimension, but stays in the fringe of the two dimensions
• As temple falls apart more shutter FX and more apparent that the temple is being sucked into another dimension

MMP’s change:

• Placed back in the Quicksand scene but no “grab the rope” joke. I think MMP was the few edits that had it back in (can’t remember)

My additional edits for V1:

1. Added in the single CGI gopher in the beginning so you understand what the hill is from and you see them all scamper in the next shot anyway. Gone from rest of movie though (as we don’t need to it 3X). Could have went either way on this.
2. Added back in Wubble U’s line as that did not bother me as much as it did for others.
3. Added in the scene where they blow open the hangar doors only because I had already converted to 3D in the 3D version of this scene prior and did not care either way how they open the door. The blowing the circuit right then and there is fine with me.
4. Added back in “thought that was closer” as it never bothered me and fits Indy’s “It’s not the years it’s the mileage” motif.
5. Cut the scene short where he tries to take a drink out of the sink in the house that does not work, but then yet outside all the sprinklers (or is it the neighbor’s water works) which seemed like bad editing to me.
6. Cut Howdy Duty music and being broadcasted way out there on the TV as it is silly to an already silly scene and not sure why they needed a TV turned anyway. In a few seconds of shots TV is on still, just not with a kids a program (mostly static-added static in background slightly). The music was the annoying part for me.
7. Added in the chase where they hit the Brody statue, but fixed so the head does not wobble off cleanly. More of the car hitting the statue is shown. This obviously would have been a 1 piece metal statue and would not severe like that and only at the head. It cuts back when you see Mutt and Indy’s expression.

8. Added in more from the original leading up to quicksand scene since that was going to be there and so it shows them escaping to get that point.
9. In the quicksand scene, took out Indy saying “son” to Mutt when his back is turned and throwing the snake away. This required some FX work for his lips to not move as well. Mutt does not hear this line in the film anyway. This is to match 15MaF’s “Mutt” is not Indy’s son idea". Be interesting to see what the new movie says about this one as it is said it will explain why Mutt is not in the movie (hopefully no son references). I have not seen dial yet, so no comments/spoilers about that here yet please.
10. Added Mutt and the real “raiders” type monkey that stares him down when he first grabs the vine, but no CG monkeys (which looked nothing like that monkey or even real monkeys for that matter). When he looks up it cuts back to the action.
11. Removed all CG moving monkeys with AI removal techniques (pinkish purple brush in screen shot below) for a few quick scenes returned, showing that Mutt swung his way back, but kept shots where he is less in the air and more on a large branch (less silly air time), timed it so it seemed like his shortcut fit the pacing of the cliff scene when he comes back into the vehicle. Just felt hard to remove it completely and have a gap of him missing and then show up.
12. Very quick removal of vehicle shots to shorten it even more as far as timing when Mutt returns. I think the timing works now. It felt odd that he came out of nowhere in some fan edits. After digital removing most of the swinging, all CGI monkeys with an AI brush and major shortening, it works much better now IMO.
    
    
13. Added the whole 3 times it drops back. It’s not that bad and kind of adds some jones comedy. Did take out “put it in reverse” before they go over as I have to think Indy knows they cannot go backwards at that point. Always found that a bad line that didn’t work at all.

I have reached out to 15MaF to see about reposting this (sharing via PM), but have not heard back. Originally felt weird posting an edit with just 13 changes (even though I think they are significant), but now that I am considering a version 2 with many more edits, I think it is getting more of a unique edit. Still do want to make it clear the credit goes out to 15MaF were due, because like I said, it basically 80% of his version as a base. I think those edits took some serious hours to do especially his or her color correcting and attention to detail.

All, I have made additional major changes to my original KOTSC (in a new V2 version-see new edits below)

-Re-edited the introduction of Indy so he, (the main character) is presented first and Mac is second. This is for franchise consistency where we usually see him right away and not some other guy - This is really how it should be in hero movies in general and this was a really good observation from an editor on Youtube.

-Added back “Not as easy as it used to be” and put hands down line as after watching it I did not mind it and hits on the getting older motif.

-Removed the Flying Fridge sequence and Nuke survival. This is a BIG one…Ok. So I tried to watch it over and over again, but could not live with it or felt it was something I had to sit through and wait for it to end. Even after all these years, it is still out of place. I did some edits in the base as well to have them not mentioning the fridge and surviving it.

-To stick with the theme of every other Indy movie having the main artifact from the last movie easter egg (making it every movie that does a call back in my versions), I have added the grail leap of faith painting in the background of Indy’s home office when he is talking to Charles.

-Removed an extra repeated shot of the male prisoner in the insane asylum when Mut walks by, it was almost the same shot twice and did not match the timing of Mutt walking by and looking back at the man when it is shown twice.

-Removed an extra “Help” joke line from Indy to Oxley (of the total 5 that are repeating like an old comedy skit.) Only 1 " Help go now and it’s to help Mutt not go get help, which would not make any sense as the only other ones out there are the Russians .

-Returned some of the quick sand discussion about Mutt being Indy’s son to keep canon with DOD. Honestly at this point it does not matter if he is Indy’s real or step-son since Indy Marries Marion at the end. Added it back to please those that did want Indy to of have a biological relation with Mutt. Personally, I felt that the “real son” relationship in KOTCS was weak and and not developed out at all. In Dial, Mutt is just gone (or rather killed off)…anyway. It’s only a quick mention here.

-Another tie-in returns to Mutt being Indy’s son when in the truck. Here Mutt learns the truth, but the scene is edited shorter as in the theatrical, it kept going on with some very odd dialogue…removed the “You bet I am” line and mutt talking about the staying in school. In the theatrical he hears he is Indy’s son, but than kind of keeps talking which was odd. Edit just to clean things up a bit for this scene.

-When Indy and Marion are in the driver’s seat of the truck and Indy explains what they are going to do next (Indy usually makes it up as he goes along). There was a lot of extra dialogue here and have changed to him just saying “Grab the wheel” when she comes up. In the original, it felt like he was giving a scripted play by play of what they will do next which felt very off.

-Shortened the fight scene with the big guy, where a total of 23 punches are exchanged and 3 hits with a log/branch. It’s very long keeps going and going with them punching each other over and over. It’s like a loop. This one is again courtesy of an editor on Youtube.

-Edited so the tree does not hold the amphibious vehicle in a controlled catch so much (catches it and slows it down as they exit into the water)

-Shortened between the 2nd and 3rd water fall by just a few seconds as it had some dead time.

-Added the R2D2 and C3PO easter egg carving on the Inter-dimensional being’s throne. This is a real easter egg, but not really visible on 4K or HD version or easy to pick out and it is still only a second in my version but I did want to add it in. It is right when the temple starts crumbling and the closest shot of a chair and you see a piece of debris fall by the skeletons left foot. The carving is on the far right. Many have said the star wars reference of Skull was Indy saying I have a bad feeling about this, but I felt this one was better and needed to be there as the other are “visual” eggs.

-Changed the ending saucer scene to where you barely see the saucer for a second. It is almost as if you are not sure what you see before it disappears, which I think makes the interdimensional beings less “saucer men” and makes it so Indy still can say that he has “seen things he can’t explain” as opposed to being so much in your face with crystal clear CG.

I am also working in tandem on the 3D version of KOTCS (of this version 2), for those that want it and can play this full color full HD format, It will be after my Raiders release though.
This will be my final version of this film, at least for a while.
I feel this has tightened things up quite a bit and has made the film much more enjoyable.

Again, A major call out to 15MaF as this is still 60% of his fixes, which had I would say 50+ edits not mentioned here. We really owe him credit for taking charge on this one and making all this possible because Crystal Skull has certainly needed the most work.

If you still want the Fridge and the others stuff I removed, Version 1 link should still work, but I think this version now fits the series.

Hello, would like to watch it, have opened conversation in private.

This is now completed as 2D version (will go back later after Raiders and do the 3D)

I have watched this one as well. Overall, a massive improvement over the original.

• Eliminating the entire clear scene was the correct decision. However, at about the 17:32 mark you left Indiana telling the FBI he survived a nuclear blast. Other than that, the removal was completely smooth. I could not tell that something was missing.

• The opening of the credits look like they were rendered in 3D as I was seeing double on my 2D television.

• All the other edits, including those by 15MaF really made this movie much improved than what it originally was. I also think restoring Mutt as Indy’s son was the correct decision even though the whole father-son relationship was very sloppy in this one compared to what we got in The Last Crusade.

Overall, the edit made this movie much more tolerable. However, there are things that an edit cannot fix about this movie. For example, the motivations by the Soviets over the skull were unclear. Did they want psychic mind control or knowledge? Marion went from despising Indy to madly in love in about 2 seconds, and this recycled their similar love-hate plot from Raiders anyway. The main villain was defeated by aliens because she was overwhelmed with their knowledge?

honestabe said:

I have watched this one as well. Overall, a massive improvement over the original.

• Eliminating the entire clear scene was the correct decision. However, at about the 17:32 mark you left Indiana telling the FBI he survived a nuclear blast. Other than that, the removal was completely smooth. I could not tell that something was missing.

For others, Note there is a version 6 for this correcting the “Indy mention of surviving a nuclear blast” because in my edit their is no blast/extra detour from the plot scene. What I did was do some editing to let him listen to the guys offscreen and the dialogue moves on without the mention. Thanks to honestabe for finding and calling that out.

kg1977 said:

honestabe said:

I have watched this one as well. Overall, a massive improvement over the original.

• Eliminating the entire clear scene was the correct decision. However, at about the 17:32 mark you left Indiana telling the FBI he survived a nuclear blast. Other than that, the removal was completely smooth. I could not tell that something was missing.

For others, Note there is a version 6 for this correcting the “Indy mention of surviving a nuclear blast” because in my edit their is no blast/extra detour from the plot scene. What I did was do some editing to let him listen to the guys offscreen and the dialogue moves on without the mention. Thanks to honestabe for finding and calling that out.

For my edit I removed Indy’s mouth movements in this scene so I could just remove the audio instead. Painstaking work, having to manually track his lips to keep them closed, but it’s seamless.

Feel free to steal if you want to.

Boobafett2 said:

kg1977 said:

honestabe said:

I have watched this one as well. Overall, a massive improvement over the original.

• Eliminating the entire clear scene was the correct decision. However, at about the 17:32 mark you left Indiana telling the FBI he survived a nuclear blast. Other than that, the removal was completely smooth. I could not tell that something was missing.

For others, Note there is a version 6 for this correcting the “Indy mention of surviving a nuclear blast” because in my edit their is no blast/extra detour from the plot scene. What I did was do some editing to let him listen to the guys offscreen and the dialogue moves on without the mention. Thanks to honestabe for finding and calling that out.

For my edit I removed Indy’s mouth movements in this scene so I could just remove the audio instead. Painstaking work, having to manually track his lips to keep them closed, but it’s seamless.

Feel free to steal if you want to.

Yea I may be interested send me a PM with link unless already have. I assume you did a closed mouth and tracked it slightly…yea often I decide if worth it to do as alot of this is “painstaking” when it comes to tweaking with mouths and stuff. Great idea/suggestion…cheers

Please send me the link to your latest version of this edit. (2D)
Thanks!