This fan edit was a delight. Does it truly turn KotCS into a genuinely worthy successor to Last Crusade? No, not really… And part of the problem is that Last Crusade is just such a perfect ending that nothing short of a miracle would have resulted in a film that would be the perfect follow-up. But this edit does make it a much more watchable version of the film and a fun adventure in its own right especially since I enjoy the happy ending.
I started watching CS fanedits because after watching Dial of Destiny (which I didn’t like whatsoever; whole other story) I decided to give KotCS another shot and while it was still VERY bad in a LOT of places, I realized that if I compared both films with all of the stuff I disliked cut out, I was left with at least a fun adventure film with KotCS and… I’m not really sure what with DoD.
Just considering the released/theatrical/official KotCS – the first half was already much stronger overall IMO. The 50s vibes, the hangar discovery/fight, the G-Men interrogation, Indy at school, meeting Mutt & the Greaser vs Jocks, the city chase… all of that to me felt like great Indy action-adventure in a new era. The latter half of the film at once veers closer to the original trilogy and feels even further: it mostly loses any and all 50s flair other than Greaser-Mutt & Commies since it’s in an area totally reminiscent of classic Indy… and yet, it features more egregious and over-the-top barfed up CGI effects in the jungle chase, Mutt’s terrible swordfight to splits to getting hit in the nuts repeatedly, the absurd CG monkey swinging, the ants, the triple waterfall sequence, the “interdimensional” alien closeups, etc. All just one after the other. This edit proves that the first half is stronger yet still manages to pull the latter half closer to the first which is a great feat.
FIRST HALF
Right off the bat, the opening is fantastic. I like the “making a molehill out of a mountain” transition sans gopher/prairie dog created by 15 MaF – actually all of the small visual edits made by 15 MaF are utilized well here but /their/ fan edit removed a few more things than I’d have liked that weren’t really part of the problem IMO (i.e. the “you don’t 'Im!!!” or “damn, thought that was closer” which feels all fairly standard Indy to me) and so I’m glad MMP preserved a lot more of the smaller interactions.
This entire portion of the film focuses primarily on minor minor MINOR edits to just strengthen the otherwise already pretty solid chunk. It’s cleaner, it’s nicer. The first big (ish) edit is removing the alien corpse hand which is nice to not just immediately “show the goods” so to speak.
By far the biggest edit of the first half is the removal of the nuke town which is a mixed bag for me. I, like many, thought the sequence was absolutely dumb when I watched it, but I do like how that town adds to the 50s vibe, especially since we lose most of that in the second half. I think I’d have preferred a way of keeping it but toning down the unbelievability factor, but the editing does a fantastic job of switching over to the military base regardless.
SECOND HALF
This edit streamlines the entire back half which not only makes it flow a bit quicker, but also removes a lot of the unbearably bad sequences. This is made up of far more significant or big cuts. Most of the Indy/Marion reunion is preserved, but the alien corpse is once again cut for the better. The whole snake bit, which in general is kind of bad and an absurd way of handling the snakes joke, is still improved with the removal of Indy needing(?) them t call it a rope, then them calling it a rope, then him grabbing hold of it. THAT is just beyond mind boggingly dumb so the most egregious aspect was removed.
The jungle chase is probably the choppiest and most “fan edit-y” section like someone else said. For instance, after Mutt is swept away, they say that Spalko is getting away but due to all the cuts, the next shot shows the two cars have swapped with Indy’s now in the lead at the cliffside – if that’s how it is in the film as well, I don’t recall it being as obvious. I also find the total removal of the sword fight a bit of a bummer… Mutt mentions fencing earlier on, he clearly gets the sword in the edit still, AND the edit still makes a point of showing Spalko unsheath her sword… so it feels like we should have at least seen Mutt and Spalko lock swords for a second before pushing on. That being said, the removal of the splits, most of the sword fight, AND the monkey swinging is just… it makes that sequence so much more Indiana Jones, y’know? Even with the elements cut that I’d have liked kept some way, this version is far superior because it doesn’t have those in-your-face terrible moments. The chase is now exciting and feels more real as a result.
The ants were surprisingly preserved nearly 1:1 – if there were any edits, they were very minor and I didn’t notice them. I’m not a fan of the ants and if I did my own edit, I’d have likely tried to skip over them with them pretty much driving over the cliff quickly. I think. And that’s why I’m torn – removing the ants entirely would also cut out Indy’s fist fight with the henchman and that’s such a classic Indy bit… I just can’t stand the ants concept or visuals really. I guess I’d prefer it best if we cut most of the closeups of the ants or Spalko squishing them with her knees for instance and keep mostly to Indy and his fight but it is what it is.
Waterfalls: I think the idea is funny and works as well as ToD’s raft fall… but the execution and the triple nature of it is just a bit wonky. I think the biggest issue for me is the way they get into the water with Marion landing in a CGI tree, driving off, and the clearly CGI tree then swinging up and knocking the Commies down. Maybe that could have been edited a bit? I don’t know.
Then whole temple sequence is fine, but the true triumph of this edit is the ending. It preserves the over-the-top “Hoist with his own petard” death of Spalko bursting with flames from her eyes and then disintegrating but completely removes the weird skeleton movement, the skeletons coalescing into that terrible CGI alien, and all of the UFO taking off (the spinning room is already evocative of a spinning saucer in a more subtle way!). The only change I’d have made is to cut Mac’s death scene which never made any sense to me and just felt supremely weird. “I’ll be fine…” and then falling into the swirling death abyss? Why? He never had any sorta redemption where I should feel bad for him, none of his actions seemed to suggest he’d be willing to die, literally the last thing he does is save his own skin before foolishly sticking around to get more treasure. I guess I wish he either got swept up on his own or Indy tries to save him, but we omit his weird comment(s) and he gets dragged away.
I’m glad the little bit with Indy calling Mutt “Junior” is preserved, the randpa comment, AND the wedding. All things some edits remove or heavily alter that I personally don’t think need to be whatsoever.
Overall, Mutt is DEFINITELY more likable with his outbursts either toned down or cut and the Indy-Marion romance is strengthened by the omission of the random “honey” type comments.
In summary, I can’t imagine rewatching the theatrical cut of KotCS again. This version preserves most of the film as it originally was but removes the most egregious aspects, thus turning it into an immediately more exciting adventure with far less eyeroll-inducing moments. I HIGHLY recommend it as an alternative to the original. But if you truly despise Mutt as Indy’s son or the jokes, it might not be for you. I, for one, am glad it didn’t edit out all the humor like a lot of edits seem to do.
