Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30th, 2023)

[Raiders March]

I'm more perplexed as to how Voller looks like he's barely aged at all in 24 years (aside from some grayer hair), while Indy looks absolutely ancient compared to his 1945 self...

The blood of Kali did it! Too much sauce

 

[jye4ever]

Didn’t Spielberg and Lucas predict the destruction of high budget movies via consecutive 200 million plus box office disasters?

We have arrived.

The irony is not lost lol

 

[Khev]

You know Indy never had his "Empire Strikes Back" but all things considered it's definitely the more consistently respectable franchise over Star Wars. Sure there's KOTCS but at least it never had an entire trilogy of KOTCS's, lol.

Though it definitely would have been fun to watch Mola Ram climb out of the river, decide he was going to lead his next cult with "loyalty and respect" and then slide around on the floor like a slimy newborn.

 

[davejames]

Yeah, too much CGI. Definitely one of the big strikes against it. Against most modern blockbusters, unfortunately, but especially disappointing for Indy.

I know it’s cliche to wax poetic about matte paintings and gigantic practical sets and animatronics and such, but…there really was just something to them. After Crystal Skull, who knows what the others would have looked like had full-on CGI been around when Spielberg did them.

I think even more than the look of the effects itself, it was maybe the inherent creative restrictions that practical effects placed on production that helped most? It reigned in the scope of the vision. Imaginations start running away on something and you had old-ILM tell you it was impossible and how much you’d be able to fit in. Now anything’s possible and it’s a matter of forcing these creatives to make big cuts.

Honestly the CGI didn't really jump out at me much until the end, at which point I think it felt kinda appropriate with what they were witnessing.

Unlike Indy 4 which was constantly in your face with CGI gophers and monkeys and atomic blasts and ridiculous jeep chases through a jungle that looked like something out of a cartoon...

 

[jye4ever]

You know Indy never had his "Empire Strikes Back" but all things considered it's definitely the more consistently respectable franchise over Star Wars. Sure there's KOTCS but at least it never had an entire trilogy of KOTCS's, lol.

Though it definitely would have been fun to watch Mola Ram climb out of the river, decide he was going to lead his next cult with "loyalty and respect" and then slide around on the floor like a slimy newborn.

It’s been awhile since i’ve created….so sorry Wor-Gar…

 

[Khev]

Holy freaking crap how did you whip that up so quickly. That actually looks way better than BOBF too.

 

[The Buffinator]

Holy freaking crap how did you whip that up so quickly. That actually looks way better than BOBF too.

And better than some of the CGI in DoD lol.

 

[jye4ever]

Oh man, oh man, oh man…

Wor-Gar gonna wanna have this framed lol

 

[jedibear]

Fast and dirty:

I really liked it. Much more than I thought I would. I can't believe it.

Mangold really delivered on an impossible task. The first 20 mins were great -- how I wish they made a few more adventures in the 80's. I wish they did a little more on the train -- I was hoping for a really great train fight sequence (like the one in Mission Impossible's trailer right before) -- but it never really panned out. And after that, even more impressive, the rest of the movie worked for me. As I was watching, just as I started getting impatient, they threw up an action sequence. So it was structured very well for the most part. The violence was pretty hard core for an Indy movie -- I loved it. And because of that, it did have a much more "grounded" feel (at least until the end). Mads was great as hoped. I love that he was this dark parallel to Indy, also wearing a satchel and even using Indy's original name, "Dr. Smith". I also love that Mads got to represent every previous villain -- sometimes wearing a black trenchcoat (Toht), wearing gray (Donovan), a white jacket and hat (Belloq), or Nazi uniform (Vogel). And yes, I even liked Fleabag for the most part. I really liked that she was treacherous in the beginning -- she was closer to Belloq then Indy.

The stuff that didn't work for me:
1) what the hell was all that CIA nonsense about?...
2) that crazy ending that went on way too long for a literal "punch" line...
4) the McGuffin. Just dumb. And uninteresting.
3) Sadly, old man Indy. I went with it, but as much as I enjoy Ford, he's just way too old to be "doing it again". I still hate that he made this film, despite that Mangold saves his ass in doing it. I think there's mention somewhere in the movie about "time" and "knowing when to quit"... but clearly that golden advice was not headed where it was needed the most.

There's a lot of ticky tacky stuff that wasn't great, but all in all, I liked it a lot better than Crystal Skull, and to be honest I really can't tell if I prefer this or Last Crusade at this point. I need to see this again to really know how it settles... but even 'maybe' considering it for #3 is HUGE!!!

Wow. Okay. I'm coming to the realization that I need to back out of here SLOWLY and not look back. There more reactions that are coming in are showing me that not only am I not the audience for this stuff anymore, I question if I saw the same movie.

It's just odd. While I read these posts and the movie has sunk in more, I find I'm loathing it even more than the night I saw it. I hope the next whatsit comes along soon and catches everyone's attention to move away from this (Cruise's upcoming stunt reel I'd guess). I hated what Kennedy's Lucasfilm has done to Star Wars. AND THIS IS WORSE.

I'm really glad you liked it Wor-Gar (and the rest of you) and that you've somehow spared yourselves the disappointment that has slammed me so much from seeing a beloved movie icon turned into a literal punchline and being okay with it. This movie was right down there with that insipid Kenobi series for me. My only consolation is that Disney is going to be punched in the financial face for this. And the irony isn't lost.

Have fun folks. See you on the other side.

 

[Mandible]

Wow. Okay. I'm coming to the realization that I need to back out of here SLOWLY and not look back. There more reactions that are coming in are showing me that not only am I not the audience for this stuff anymore, I question if I saw the same movie.

It's just odd. While I read these posts and the movie has sunk in more, I find I'm loathing it even more than the night I saw it. I hope the next whatsit comes along soon and catches everyone's attention to move away from this (Cruise's upcoming stunt reel I'd guess). I hated what Kennedy's Lucasfilm has done to Star Wars. AND THIS IS WORSE.

I'm really glad you liked it Wor-Gar (and the rest of you) and that you've somehow spared yourselves the disappointment that has slammed me so much from seeing a beloved movie icon turned into a literal punchline and being okay with it. This movie was right down there with that insipid Kenobi series for me. My only consolation is that Disney is going to be punched in the financial face for this. And the irony isn't lost.

Have fun folks. See you on the other side.

You're not in the boat alone - besides the massive love-fest going on in here, I'm struggling to find many places where people liked it. And the slim amount of friends that have seen it here there's a good 30/70 split of like/dislike. So this is definitely the place to be if you liked it.

(And I know the old RT has some high percentage, but so did TLJ and recently The Woman King had 99%? WTF? It was an okay film (if historically inaccurate), but 99%??? Really??? Most other places from cinemascore to imdb aren't as glowing for poor old DUD... and dropping each day).

At the end of the day, the box office speaks volumes; if there truly were a lot of people that loved it, word of mouth would turn the tide, but again, it ain't tracking that way.

 

[The Jerker]

I wouldn't worry. This thread will die off soon enough.

 

[jye4ever]

The more I think of this movie the more I’m obsessed with how much I loved it!

 

[greygoose]

Watched this last Friday. I liked it - much more than I thought I would.

 

[Sixth Scale Man]

I would love to see a HT Mads figure. It's possible, though entirely destined for Howard's collection.

Check this stunt mask out for nightmare fuel!
View attachment 647967

All I hear is “He’s got Asmus Gandalf eyes” sung by Kim Carnes

 

[Johnny Utah]

He looks like a life sized DX05

 

[Johnny1378]

Went to see this at the Drive In, last night. Kinda went in with low expectations because the reception online seemed pretty mixed at best. I was surprised by how much I liked it. I found it to have some mild pacing issues, but it felt like an Indiana Jones movie to me. Considering a lot of the online reviews had nearly scared me off seeing it during its theatrical run, I ended up really enjoying the film.

 

[Khev]

You're not in the boat alone - besides the massive love-fest going on in here, I'm struggling to find many places where people liked it.

Dude it has an 88% audience rating on rottentomatoes. 88%! That means that...*checks box office*...there's about 88 of us that enjoyed it, lol.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I'm struggling to find many places where people liked it.

It's true, I was with a couple people last night and both hated it. I haven't found anyone in real life who liked it other than myself. This place is The Matrix!

I really need to see this again, because it may be the TFA syndrome -- I liked The Force Awakens when I first saw it enough to see it a 2nd time in the theater. But it was in that 2nd viewing that I saw it for what it was. Could that be the case with Dial...?

 

[Wor-Gar]

I'd put Belloq in my top 3 over Mola Ram. Ram always seemed more of a Scooby Doo villain to me - a bit too over the top. Meanwhile Belloq was just nice and slimy. And while he didn't have the stomach for dishing out violence, he had no problem looking the other way if it served his purposes.

Yeah, you're right. I always consider the trio of villains in Raiders as almost one entity: Belloq, Toht and Dietrich. Hard for me to separate those three. So Toht ends up being the defining villain for me in that film.

My list of Top 3 really was meant as best villain in each film and in what order. For me, Mads pushes all the same buttons as Belloq did, but Mads is even nastier, so I put him in the Belloq slot.

 

[screamingmetal]

Something that I hadn't ever considered until hearing Indy mention it in DOD was the notion that drinking the blood of Kali and getting tortured via voodoo would have lasting, possibly even permanent effects on his mind and body that he was never fully able to shake. Yes I know it was a "callback" but with him being so quick to bring those events up while struggling with his climb I couldn't help but consider that as a valid possibility which I thought was cool. It's funny that he brought those things up and *not* surviving a literal nuclear explosion, lol. Mangold must really hate KOTCS.

I guess drinking from the Holy Grail is powerful enough to instantaneously heal a bullet wound but, can't do jack at healing the body from voodoo torture. You learn something new every day!