YOUNG INDIANA JONES: The Movie?

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AndyDursin
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YOUNG INDIANA JONES: The Movie?

#1 Post by AndyDursin »

Apparently Lucas is thinking of dusting off YOUNG INDIANA JONES -- as a feature film, to coincide with the possibility (if it ever gets done) of INDY 4 and the upcoming DVD release of the old Young Indy series:

http://www.moviehole.net/news/6026.html

Hopefully the prospective film will be better than the old show, which was earnest and very well-produced, but also tedious and dry. A bit more action and good casting could make it work (I'm being cautiously optimstic, though EPISODE III gave me hope that Lucas' next project will actually be pretty good).

John Johnson
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#2 Post by John Johnson »

There's some new info concerning George Lucas and his plans for the tv series over at www.syfyportal.com

Carlson2005

#3 Post by Carlson2005 »

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

mkaroly
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Re: YOUNG INDIANA JONES: The Movie?

#4 Post by mkaroly »

AndyDursin wrote:Apparently Lucas is thinking of dusting off YOUNG INDIANA JONES -- as a feature film, to coincide with the possibility (if it ever gets done) of INDY 4 and the upcoming DVD release of the old Young Indy series:
Hopefully the prospective film will be better than the old show, which was earnest and very well-produced, but also tedious and dry. A bit more action and good casting could make it work (I'm being cautiously optimstic, though EPISODE III gave me hope that Lucas' next project will actually be pretty good).
I may be the only one out there who thinks this, but do we really need an INDY 4? I finally got to see STAR WARS III (busy summer)- not impressed. While it was an improvement over the other two, the film's "pivot point" was so poorly written that the film descended into camp....especially with the Darth bit at the end. The part of the story addressing why Anakin went tot he Dark Side was poorly developed and just didn't have the operatic OOMPH that it could have in the hands of someone more capable of getting to the core of character emotions.

That being said, I do not share your cautious optimism for anything with Lucas' name on it at this time Andy....and I would hope that he allows Spielberg to "do his thing" with INDY 4- the less involvement Lucas has, the better the film could be. Though after WOTW, who knows?? I would hate to see INDY 4 tank and be sub-par after ending the trilogy with LAST CRUSADE (which I found highly entertaining). :)

Never really liked YOUNG INDIANA JONES stuff- the last thing we need is a market flooded with George Lucas projects (I smell another STAR TREK type overload here...esp. if Lucas does those STAR WARS TV shows as well)- just my thoughts.

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AndyDursin
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#5 Post by AndyDursin »

While I strongly disagree with you on EPISODE III, Michael, following WAR OF THE WORLDS -- why would an INDY IV be much better left in Spielberg's hands?

I'm already less-than-excited about the prospects of watching an INDIANA JONES movie with Janusz Kaminski doing the cinematography. It'll be great to watch an Indy film drained of nearly all its color and watching light pouring in from all angles, throwing whole portions of the frame out of focus. :roll:

Seriously, WHY does he keep working with this guy? Kaminski is one of the most overrated DP's I've ever seen.

There's one moment in WOTW where Cruise is talking to Miranda Otto at the beginning of the film -- in one shot everything is in focus. In the next, for no reason whatsoever, there's sunlight in the background and everything is OUT of focus. Then they cut back and everything is in focus again. WHY?? :shock:

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#6 Post by mkaroly »

AndyDursin wrote:While I strongly disagree with you on EPISODE III, Michael, following WAR OF THE WORLDS -- why would an INDY IV be much better left in Spielberg's hands?
I think Spielberg has a better track record. Lucas has spent his entire life on one series of films- STAR WARS . Yes, he made THX-1138 and AMERICAN GRAFFITI, but essentially he is nothing but STAR WARS (film-wise, excluding his contributions with THX and all that stuff). I just think INDY 4 has a better chance with less involvement from Lucas because Spielberg is the better filmmaker on all counts. That's not to say he is perfect- far from it. But overall Spielberg has proven to be the better filmmaker in my opinion.

WOTW was not edited well, which is surprising for a Spielberg film. I don't mind Kaminski's work, but I've read enough of the posts to understand why people don't like his work, and that's cool. It's a good point. But I would take Spielberg and Kaminski over Lucas and whoever any day. That's a personal preference, as these STAR WARS prequels pretty much ruined any respect I had for Lucas to begin with. I just want George to stay out of it (which is impossible since the INDY series was his idea to begin with). He has good ideas but falls way short of the mark on bringing those ideas to some "mature" realization- at least where the actual directing part comes in.

Good try on STAR WARS- but overall the prequels were extremely disappointing to me. If they make INDY 4 I don't want the series to end on a bad note.

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#7 Post by AndyDursin »

Valid points all Michael. My point wasn't to try and compare Spielberg's career with Lucas. They clearly went on far different tangents decades ago. I respectfully disagree with you about Kaminski and the prequels -- I didn't like "Clones" but I loved "Sith" and found "Phantom Menace" entertaining and very rich from a visual element. I wouldn't trade in the cinematography of that film for the hack work that Kaminski puts out in a million years. WOTW looked like someone spit on the lens -- I kept wanting to use some Windex and clean off the screen! :)

That said, as far as INDY 4 goes, for me it ought to be what the old movies were: a COLLABORATION between Lucas and Spielberg. Apparently Spielberg helped out with some of EPISODE III, and it showed in my eyes, because the film worked like gangbusters. I hope the combination of the two again will produce a bona-fide classic, the likes of which neither filmmaker has really produced since the "good o'l days" of the '80s. 8)

Carlson2005

#8 Post by Carlson2005 »

I must admit, I think they should give it a miss - I really can't see any reason to go back to that well. And the prospect of the film being shot on the same crappy 'I can't believe it's not butter' cheap video tape system Lucas uses to save money just makes it seem that much less appealing. It reeks of pension fund filmmaking to me, much as I love Raiders.

mkaroly
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#9 Post by mkaroly »

AndyDursin wrote:WOTW looked like someone spit on the lens -- I kept wanting to use some Windex and clean off the screen! :)
That said, as far as INDY 4 goes, for me it ought to be what the old movies were: a COLLABORATION between Lucas and Spielberg. Apparently Spielberg helped out with some of EPISODE III,
LOL- I like the Windex comment- hey, when you're right, you're right!

Good point on the COLLABORATION between Lucas and Spielberg- I guess I have doubts as to whose ego will win out in the end with more say in how the movie gets made and how it looks, etc. My fear is that it will be too much Lucas and not enough Spielberg. And how much would Harrison Ford really be in this movie (and not his stunt double) if it's made? I have these nightmares of Ford running in one frame and then for the next several we get back side shorts of a stunt double with Ford's face CGI'd on the body.....or if Lucas had his way he'd just do a CGI Ford, use his voice, and pretend Ford never aged. :)

Anyway- if the script is good, who knows? If they get Douglas Slocombe back (to remain consistent with the other three films), then maybe we have a winner. The script REALY needs to be good though-

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AndyDursin
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#10 Post by AndyDursin »

The script REALY needs to be good though-
Well supposedly that's why it wasn't made 5, 10 years ago. They've been through one writer after another. Apparently they've found "it" -- it being Jeff Nathanson's script -- and it's good enough to possibly film early next year. We'll see -- until it's official, who knows!

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Edmund Kattak
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#11 Post by Edmund Kattak »

AndyDursin wrote:
The script REALY needs to be good though-
Well supposedly that's why it wasn't made 5, 10 years ago. They've been through one writer after another. Apparently they've found "it" -- it being Jeff Nathanson's script -- and it's good enough to possibly film early next year. We'll see -- until it's official, who knows!
I seriously think that if Lucas has his say in the matter, Spielberg will not be able to use Kaminski on INDY 4. I think George's egotism and visual sensibility will prevail and we will see INDY 4 a la Revenge of the Sith visual aesthetic.

By the way, Andy, aside from the film itself, what did you think of the cinematography on THE TERMINAL? I did find it a bit less annoying than some Spielberg films post SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
Indeed,
Ed

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