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Lucas, Ford to Start Filming New Indiana Jones Film
Alchemist253 writes "George Lucas has announced that the script for the long-rumored fourth Indiana Jones film has been finalized and is to begin filming this year, with Harrison Ford once again in front of the camera. From the article: 'In a statement, the 64-year-old Ford said he was ready for another turn as the globe-trotting archaeologist. "I'm delighted to be back in business with my old friends," he said. "I don't know if the pants still fit, but I know the hat will."' All three of the earlier movies were shot in the 80s. How well do you think this character is going to translate into a movie made today?
*Decks a Nazi out*
*CRACK*
"Shit! My back went again!"
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
The originals were all done in the pulp-action adventure style that was popularized fifty and sixty years ago - I doubt that it'll somehow be less attractive now than it was when the genre was only thirty years old.
Also, all three may have been shot in the eighties, but they took place in the forties, so it's not like we're going to see an Indiana Jones trying to come to terms with teh Intarwebs.
On the other hand, twenty-some odd years later... hey, an Indiana Jones that took place in the sixties might have real potential.
Another great set of films to have its legacy tarnished by trying to cash in on it one... last... time...
Hopefully 2007 ushers in a year in which remakes, sequels, and adaptations give way to original and creative stories and ways to tell them.
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I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
Does anybody else remember when Indiana Jones's hat was deposited in some Hollywood museum (under glass) and they made a press conference about how there would never be another one? Apparently Lucas doesn't. Presumably he was holding out for the script that allowed him to shoot the entire movie in CG except for Harrison Ford.
I read the internet for the articles.
not enough CG characters.
That'll make Indiana Jones Jr. old enough for something like Indiana Jones and the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
HCUUA: Sign the confession!
Jones Jr.: Gimme the whip!
HCUUA: No time to argue. Sign the confession, we give you the whip.
Jones Jr.: (signs the confession) Gimme the whip!
HCUUA: Adios, señor. (guards grab Indiana Jones Jr.)
Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.
Uh, fraid not.
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"All three of the earlier movies were shot in the 80s. How well do you think this character is going to translate into a movie made today?"
Most of us who saw the originals are still alive today. Why wouldn't the characters translate well? The 80's were NOT that long ago. Sheesh!
From TFA...
"George, Harrison and I are all very excited," Spielberg said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
I thought George Harrison has passed away? Or are they bringing him back as well as Indy? Just amazing what those boys at ILM can do...
The one that was adopted:
Indiana Jones and the Annoying Alien from Naboo
JJ: "Meesa no liiiike Nazzzzziiis!!"
IJ: *crack* "Oh, my back!" *crack*
JJ: "Aaaaaggghh!!! Meesa no like bull whip!!!!"
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Well the knight who was guarding the grail also aged despite drinking from the grail regularly (one would imagine). The grail seems to severely slow down aging, but perhaps only through frequent use (the knight did say something about staying in the temple being the price and limitation of the grail's power) My guess would be that they'll set it forward quite a few years and make up Ford and Connery to look a bit younger. iirc, in the old "Young Indiana Jones" tv series you saw a very very old Indiana Jones in a few segments. Maybe that's how they internally explained how he could be as old as he was and yet more active than someone of his very advanced age might normally be.
Anything that keeps Lucas from writing scripts deserves our support.
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
"Indiana Jones and the Metamucil Drink"
All three of the earlier movies were shot in the 80s. How well do you think this character is going to translate into a movie made today?
Depends on who has the most influence on the movie: if Spielberg then I think it'll be a fun romp, if Lucas then I'm afraid it'll turn into a moralistic pile o' crap (see "Star Wars Prequels").
Lucas has already said he's tried to reedit the earlier movies to make Indy more "heroic" (I believe that he wanted to edit or remove the "Indy pulls his guns on the sword wielding baddies and shots 'em dead on the spot" scene from the first film a'la "Greedo shoots first". Spielberg wouldn't allow him).
From Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Panama Hat: This is the second time I've had to reclaim my property from you.
Indiana Jones: That belongs in a museum.
Panama Hat: So do you.
> Any magic he allegedly had 'back in the day'
Yeah. Allegedly. In truth, what has lucas ever done that wasn't hokie and childish? The original Star Wars was actually pretty good, but Lucas deserves little credit for that. He lucked out in a major way with Harrison Ford, and Harrison Ford saved Star Wars. Try to imagine the movie with just whiny little Luke Skywalker. It just doesn't work.
Case in point, there is a video on youtube of behind the scenes footage from Empire Strikes Back. There is a great scene in Empire where Solo is being lowered in the carbonite pit and Leia shouts to him, "I love you!" Han looks up at her and say, "I know"
What a great scene! Well guess what, Lucas originally wrote it this way:
Leia: I love you
Han: I love you too.
Stop for a moment and let the deep, penetrating suckiness of those two lines seep into your being. George Lucas, sitting at his typewriter, no doubt in his underwear, actually typed that, and actually thought it was a good idea. He typed that crap, then he sat back and looked at what he had done and said, "hell yeah, I'm a bloody genius."
Fortunately, when it came time to film that scene, Irvin Kershner was calling the shots and Lucas was (presumably) in a crypt somewhere. Harrison Ford looked at the script and said, "this sucks" and Kershner agreed and they changed it. And we all remember Empire Strikes Back as a great movie.
Well, it is a great movie, but no thanks to Lucas.
If only we had known the truth, then maybe we wouldn't have been so shocked some years later when we were treated to Lucas' drivel in the form of such brain-numbing lines as "omfg sand is the suxor it gets in my eye LOL!!!11" and my personal favorite, "Noooo!!!!"
God, I hate George Lucas.
Perish the thought! I can see it now: Indiana Jones (Ford) united with his illegitimate son (Justin Timberlake) go after the Lost Chalice of Talent. K-Fed leads the cast of bad/worse guys in pursuit. Working title: "Indiana Jones 4: The Audience is Doomed!"
I'll take CGI over that, thank you very much.
River Phoenix signing up as Indy's son? He did a good job in the last movie. Is he even available?
...and they are in peril.
Also, all three may have been shot in the eighties, but they took place in the forties,
The open sequence in Raiders says "Peru, 1936."
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
that this was a sign of the coming of Duke Nukem Forever?
"Indiana Jones and the Prostate of Doom"
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He was talking about patriots rising up against tyrants, not some invading army coming in and slaughtering both.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
That's what your mother said, Trebek!
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All three of the earlier movies were shot in the 80s.
Oh, man. I read this and thought "that can't be right!" - then I looked it up and now I just feel old.
Clear, Dark Skies
There are plenty of new ideas around. Thousands, millions of them. You can bet your bottom dollar that Hollywood is absolutely crammed to bursting with smart, dynamic writers with amazingly edgy, groundbreaking, intelligent film scripts, any one of which could, if made, become an iconic classic, a milestone in modern cinema, a fixture of pop culture to come. You have your ideas, I'm sure. I know I do too. There is no shortage of ideas.
The problem is the, studios don't care about movies. They don't care about creating new icons. They care about money. And nothing else. And when you want to make money, you don't take risks, you make safe movies. Cash cows. Sequels to existing successful movies are by far the most reliable of these. Even most original movies you will find slot neatly into pre-existing genre templates. There's the teen comedy movie, the action movie, the romantic comedy, the animated kids' movie, and so on, and so on. It's all numbers.
The other problem is the viewing audience. They don't want to see new things. While there is less money at stake, they, too, want a safe movie. They go to movie theaters to see something they are pretty sure will entertain them. Out-there, avant-garde movies do not appeal to the general public - at least, not to the most profitable movie-going demographics. Therefore making a stunningly imaginative new movie is risky - it's a risk for punters to see it, which makes it a risk for studios to make it, which is why they are so rarely made.
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Harrison Ford looked at the script and said, "this sucks" and Kershner agreed and they changed it.
If only it had been such an intentional alteration. In fact, the scene had so many takes that Ford had heard "I love you" so many times he finally replied "I know" half jokingly. They thought it fit Solo's character better and stuck with that line. The whole movie had to be re-edited at great expense because the first version was terrible. To get the movie we ended up with many of the scenes go right until the last frame of film that was shot to get them to work.
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
So this means that Titanic 2 will be better than Titanic 1????
how long until
This movie has been in the works for easily 10 years. There have been dozens of scripts by multiple writers that have been repetitively rejected.
In order to preserve the original trilogy as one of the best in American film history, only a damn good script would make it past Ford/Lucas/Spielberg.
Personally? I can hardly wait another year and a half for it. A fourth movie is long overdue.
Also, movies are a global market. An explosion translates far better into a foriegn language than subtle dialog. Special effect blockbusters do much better overseas than a witty drama (much of which can be lost in the translation).
That being said, there are more indie movies available now that there ever were... you just have to see them on cable, or on netflix, or whatever.
One of the memorable fight scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark came about in a similar way. During the chase through Cairo, Indy was supposed to have a long fight with a swordsman. Harrison Ford was sick the day they were going to shoot the scene, and asked Spielberg if they could shorten the scene. The result: The guy flashes his swords around, and Indy just pulls out his gun and shoots him. A classic Indy moment that wasn't in the script.