What was so bad about Indiana Jones 4

[Baby Tea]

OH HELL NO.
You are not defending the Episodes 1-3

Yeah, I am defending the Star Wars 'Prequels'.
All 6 have terrible acting and terrible stories. All of them.
But why rage against the newest ones?
They were written first. Lucas wrote them all, in order, a long time ago. The studios only wanted to make 4, 5, and 6. And the original 3 were released to terrible reviews. But they became popular, because they are fun movies.
I enjoy Episodes 1, 2, and 3.
I enjoy 4, 5, and 6.
They all have terrible acting, annoying characters (Seriously, Luke sometimes just makes me want to punch somebody. "But I was going to goto Tashi's station to pick up some power converters! WAH! Biggs is right! I'll never get out of here! WAAH! I'm ready to be a Jedi! WAAH!"), and a pretty poor story. But they are fun! It's a grand adventure!

No it was just a really bad made film that was so corny I just couldn't, oh it was just bad! Saying everyone making criticism is on the nostalgia train is as bad as me saying that you would except anything.

They are all corny films! Look at Temple of Doom, for Pete's sake, with Willy Scott and even Short Round! Totally corny characters, with corny lines, throughout the entire film. Everyone has corny lines! It's a corn-fest! That's because Indy is, again, a hark back to the old-school all-American heroes from the radio dramas and comic books. Over the top action, corny dialog, impossible stories and adventures. That's the epitome of Indy.
If you didn't like number 4 because it was 'corny', but you enjoyed 1, 2, and 3, then you're either blinded by nostalgia, or you never really 'got' Indy in the first place.

 

[Quickening666]

Aside from what everyone else has said, it was simply the fact that the cast were obviously delighted to be reunited and this came across on screen to the extent that there was no threat or tension in even the most "dramatic" of moments. Look at the scene when Marion is driving around in the truck before she sends it off a cliff edge and onto a tree... she is grinning the whole time. Remember the truck chase in Raiders? The rock crusher from Temple? The tank fight from Last Crusade? There is no such scene in Kingdom. All in all it plays like a ridiculous spoof of Indiana Jones and not an Indiana Jones film itself. The aliens are dumb yes, but the least of the films problems. Its just rubbish.

Whats worst of all is that Spielberg didn't even want to make the damn thing and certainly not with aliens but in the end gave in to Lucas. Now, everyone like to blame Lucas for everything but Spielberg has to shoulder the responsibility here too.
I saw a press conference with him after the films release and when asked if there would be more Indy films he shrugged and said "well if people want them we'll make them". Its like he has given up and he may as well have said "well if people honestly like that vaccuous trash then sure I'll churn out more".

 

[Laughing Man]

the story could've been so much more.... but nooooo, they just had to throw in aliens now, didn't they

TOOO every single person that said Aliens, may I suggest you go and rewatch the movie, you clearly are displaying a lack of attention. At no point in the entire movie was the word ALIENS mentioned. It wasn't even established that the creatures conformed to the premise known as ALIENS, i.e that they came from outer space or another planet. It was however established that they came from another dimension that they were in fact inter dimensional beings.

Everyone saw what they assumed was a 'spaceship' yet again it was never called a spaceship but it was described as a vessel for inter dimensional travel which is what it did at the end of the movie.

Yes it wasn't the best of the bunch, and let's face it neither was Temple Of Doom and the reasons why these two are the weakest are both the same

- A useless bordering on annoying younger hang on, Temple had Shortround and Crystal Skull had Le Beouf (who's character name escapes me for now.)
- The story in both of the films were based around non catholic / jewish legends.

Indy does the stories based on catholic and jewish 'legends' best, hence why Raiders of the Ark and Last Crusade were so good. They dealt with legends of which our culture is a great deal more familiar oh and they had Nazis in them, which is always cool.

 

[Alphavillain]

I think people were expecting something amazing, given the almost twenty years since Last Crysade. Personally, I didn't think it was so bad. The Indiana Jones films are popcorn films, nothing more, so I wasn't let down. It's all about expectations, old bean.

 

[Nazulu]

No it was just a really bad made film that was so corny I just couldn't, oh it was just bad! Saying everyone making criticism is on the nostalgia train is as bad as me saying that you would except anything.

They are all corny films! Look at Temple of Doom, for Pete's sake, with Willy Scott and even Short Round! Totally corny characters, with corny lines, throughout the entire film. Everyone has corny lines! It's a corn-fest! That's because Indy is, again, a hark back to the old-school all-American heroes from the radio dramas and comic books. Over the top action, corny dialog, impossible stories and adventures. That's the epitome of Indy.
If you didn't like number 4 because it was 'corny', but you enjoyed 1, 2, and 3, then you're either blinded by nostalgia, or you never really 'got' Indy in the first place.

No they are not, the 4th 'thing' is just plain stupid. And when I say corny, I mean that they turned what was meant to be a family film into a childish show with a terrible storyline and bad acting. The old Indy films were fun and funny while this seemed like they didn't even try.

And don't ever tell me I am blinded by nostalgia, EVER!

 

[Smokescreen]

OH HELL NO.
You are not defending the Episodes 1-3

Yeah, I am defending the Star Wars 'Prequels'.
All 6 have terrible acting and terrible stories. All of them.
But why rage against the newest ones?

Quite simply this: Lucas had 20 years to improve on the story and the clout to have the actors perform decently. The bar had been raised and Lucas ignored what had been done to give audiences a shitty lightshow pimping out ILM.

That's why.

As for the 4th Indy film, I was OK with it until the very end when, as the aliens fly away Indy says: "Knowledge. Knowledge was their gift." and you might as well see that fucking The More You Know star + rainbow.

In the previous movies I'd never gotten the impression that I was being talked down to; Indy is, amongst other things, smart and part of the character's appeal for me was that he didn't treat the people around him like they were fucking idiots (unless they were.)

That line was Indy treating the audience like idiots and it ruined what was otherwise a fun, inoffensive movie.

 

[Ekonk]

Because it nuked the fridge.

 

[zerzxes]

Ignoring the part with the monkies I liked the movie!

 

[Dr Ampersand]

The fridge thing I recall someone explaining that the fake town wouldn't have been hit directly and that fridges at that time were lead lined. Coupled with the Indy film's over the top-ness and it makes sense and was a nice scene.

However I didn't like how the interdimentional beings were added so quickly. Also the father-son relationship, while different from that of The Last Crusade, wasn't as good as it lacked that oomph. Do I recall Harrison Ford taking down a plane with birds in the film or explaining how his son isn't stupid enough to bring the diary to the castle? The Russians were played in the right direction but still they didn't seem as great a foe as the previous villains since they needed him so soon in the film.

Though it wasn't a bad film on it's on, it was quite good, but holding it up to the other 3 it isn't as good as I'd like it to be.

 

[silentsentinel]

Some medical containers are designed to withstand nuclear blasts... but I'm pretty sure that was a run-of-the-mill fridge.

 

[Treblaine]

The fridge scene did not kill it for me... it was Shia la Beouf and how he was basiclaly the Jar Jar Binks of the movie. That and the script was pretty naff and indy just had too many characters hanging along with him that added very little.

Ultimately it just didn't feel like an Indiana Jones movie most of the time.

Yeah it had it's moments but overall, it doesn't live up to any of the original trilogy.

 

[Nazulu]

Some medical containers are designed to withstand nuclear blasts... but I'm pretty sure that was a run-of-the-mill fridge.

And don't forget, out of every object in the town, it was only the fridge Indy was in that flew out without being blown into pieces.

 

[se7ensenses]

How about when they go over the triple water fall and the old man nevers drops the skull, BUT have him fall into a knee deep "kiddie pool" and its gone. Playing Tarzan to catch up with the jeep was cheezy, the sword fight in between the jeeps was equally bad. But blindly driving over a cliff to land perfectly on a damn tree growing out of the side of it and having it gently lower them into the river. While the recoil of the tree whacks the nazis off the cliff. The "Nuke the Fridge" scene goes w/o saying.

 

[RomanLegacy]

People seem to always be hating on this movie for a couple of minnute long sequences. Don't expect them to hate the movie because of logic: expect them to hate it because of ALIENS, two bad CGI scenes, and a fucking monkey joke that appears for about two minnuets, and a fridge stunt that everyone seems to think is a betrayal of their ethical codes.

"Hey guys, have you seen those lightsabers in the original trilogy? God I hate starwars so much."

There is a legitimate reason to hate that movie, whenever shia lebuff opens his mouth.

 

[QuickDEMOL1SHER]

You want a list?

Here it goes:

The fridge thing didn't work because there was no magic involved and it was so obviously impossible.
Another one of those stupid impossible things was Mutt doing the monkey thing not only LOOKED retarded, but he becomes Tarzan by looking at a monkey for a couple of minutes.

Aliens are just so NOT Indy, he after artifacts not alien shit.

It introduced all these characters like Mack and the crazy guy and it seems like the movie expects us to know them already.

The psychic thing was just so corny and before you say all the other Indy movies were corny, I have an answer.

The old Indy's are CLASSICS! That means that they can be corny and still be good. In THIS day and age, a movie can't be like that or it's just stupid.

Russians? Really? That was just irritating.

Not only does Indy almost NEVER use his whip, his age really shoes. He's lost his comedic appeal, all his stunts are SGI and everything about him just feels OLD.

In addition to that the whole Mutt character was such a lame sidekick. I like Shia Labeouf, but his performance was terrible.

Also, like Three Eyed Cyclops said, watch the south park episode.

It sucked. Deal with it.

 

[are.you.the.god.its.me.vader]

It just felt wrong...most probably the spacecraft rising up from the pyramid thing.

Give me mad voodoo-heart-rippy-out preists anyday.

 

[Zeraki]

Nuked The Fridge
Shia Labeouf
CGI Monkeys
They killed off Sean Connery's character!

I didn't really like Temple of Doom either, Raiders and Last Crusade are the movies in the series I love, and personally I think they are the epitome of what makes the series good. Kingdom of The Crystal Skull just felt really forced. It could have been good, and they could have done the alien thing a little differently(or not at all). I actually like the idea of involving aliens in the movie, if they have the Ark of The Covenant and the Holy Grail in the series, why not throw in aliens? I just didn't like how they went about it.

 

[HentMas]

The movie makes its own merits, sure the ending was fucking stupid but i think in the Indiana Jones franchize it was good, i mean, does anyone remember raiders of the lost ark?? ghosts come out and kill all the nazis! and for the time it was amazing!!!

i just think that they tryed to adapt it to the times and failed, the over the top things that happened where well within the limits of its predecesors (the fight between the greesers and the football players, the atomic bomb and the fridge made of lead, even the skull shaped like that could make sense in the myth), but it just seemed kind of fake (cg fake?? i cant put my finger in it), and the aliens where just plain stupid, thats what the movie killed it for me, if they had not put a frikken alien it would had being much more good, i mean, i dont know, probably just the start sequence for the alien computer and after the bad biatch tryes to touch it a self destruct sequence activates?? damn, anything but a frikken alien in the flesh that looked more fake than Jar Jar (and then the space ship looked awfull too).

 

[Dimbo_Sama]

I like Indy 4 a lot. I thought it was well written, well crafted, well acted and a good pastiche of 50's b-movie sci-fi.

Seriously people, how are trans-dimensional aliens any more rediculous than the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, just because these things are from classic literature doesn't give it any more creedence than aliens.

Also the fact that it did tie in well with the whole Crystal Skull thing, which if you read about these things, is supposed to be alien in origin.

But the second you tell me, that a man can hide in a fridge, get thrown at hundreds of miles an hour, and be perfectly fine afterwords... it's way more silly than anything that has ever happened in cinema ever. It's even worse than Zilla.

and I didn't like Shia LeBeauf but he seems to be made to play annoying, whining characters.

EDIT: James Rolfe said it best, it's not as good as Raiders or Last Crusade but it's up there with Temple of Doom

 

[j0frenzy]

I find the number of people complaining about the aliens rather funny and a bit absurd. Religious magic artifacts are fine, but space is off limits.
Truth be told, I liked it for what it was, a ridiculous action movie. It is entertaining, but not sophisticated, which is pretty much how the other two that I have seen all the way through always felt (I cannot stand Temple of Doom for some reason).