Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Covenant Edition

So like seemingly everyone, I hated KOTCS too, and to be blunt, this edit definitely improved my enjoyment of it. All the little, obnoxious, obviously late George Lucas-written moments are removed, and the movie definitely like a somewhat fitting and appropriate sequel to the original three.

The technical aspect of this edit was really perfect. The video quality was tremendous for 720p (I would've guessed it was 1080p), and the sound and video editing was completely on point.

However, I ended up watching this in conjunction with Q2's KOTCS edit, and I did find this version cut out a little bit too much of the first act. So much so, I kept rewinding, wondering why Indy was doing this, or why he was at a particular location. The movie still works to a degree, but when compared to Q2's, I found the latter to be much easier to follow and improved my enjoyment of the story even more -- unfortunately for me, the video quality of Q2's isn't nearly as good as this one.

Whilst I was too young to see the originals in theatres, I grew up with them on home video and they were my go to films, second behind the Superman series when I was looking for fun and adventure. I actually enjoyed Indiana Jones 4 when I first saw in the theatre. However on repeated viewings of the Crystal Skull I realised it was the experience of seeing Indy on the big screen that I enjoyed rather than the movie itself.

Could Indiana Jones 4 be saved? TM2YC's fan edit of the Crystal Skull seemed like a good place to start.

With 30 minutes cut this isn't a conservative edit. TM2YC felt the middle of the film had too much exposition, as a result extensive cuts are made. However I always found the drawn out action towards the end to be the real downer.

Despite a cool transition from the warehouse scene to Indy on the train I felt too much set-up was missing and that we arrived at the third act too quickly.

That said there's plenty to like in this edit. Most of what fans would call offensive has been removed, though I would have liked to see no monkeys and Jeep sword fighting and the post credits wedding scene felt a little tacked on.

Picture quality is great with improved colour design and less overblown saturation and the editing was pretty much faultless. Overall a very solid fan edit.

All I can say is wow! Outstanding edit here. After watching this movie in theatre, I never would have thought I could rate this as being close to as good as Raiders. The pacing, the action now, the humor, THIS is now a Indiana Jones movie. Never in a million years would I think I could have a blast with this movie. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart for improving this turd and actually making it a very fun movie. Far too many cuts to mention, I loved them all. People watch it!

Enjoyment: Original: D+
Enjoyment: Covenant Edition: A-

some things are be left alone, and the Indiana jones trilogy is perhaps the best example. after a long period the fourth film for me like many was a disappointment. though my own personal expectations weren't too high after seeing what George Lucas did with the star wars prequels. and so as with the star wars prequels many faneditors have tired to give the fourth Indiana jones film a make over

TM2YC edit is solid attempt in trying to improve the film, gone is the nuke town to which coined the phrase 'nuke the fridge'. to be honest i didn't mind this sequence it gave us a iconic image of indy standing near the mushroom cloud and is no more plausible to other events that have taken place within the series. that being said the removal here is done well and moves the story along at a quicker pace.

one of the main issues with the original film was the character of mac and his continued flipping from one side to the other. this character is poorly written and i don't feel it's a good performance from the normally solid ray winstone. the editing is done really well though his character has little to do towards the end of the film. it is also obvious that it's his hand that pointing the gun at the end but a editor can only work with what he has.

the only thing that stood out as being awkward was the car/cliff jump. the editing here seemed to imply that the cliff wasn't so high and wasn't that great a risk. also the pit/snake scene perhaps should have been left alone. it's a terrible scene to begin with and only serves to remind us of Indiana's fever of snakes. i feel with some edits perhaps editors try and change to much and sometimes some things should just be left alone (no matter how bad they maybe)

but looking at the cut-list there are a lot of changes made all of which are done to a very high standard. overall i enjoyed this version more than the original but it's still a average film within a excellent film series.

Like most - KoTCS - I try to make believe it doesn't exist. There's no fourth film in my world. I'd watched a couple edits and they were still full of issues I hated. So I noted the film was on last night and thought, isn't there a new edit out there? Which is getting the hightest ratings?

Turns out it's TM2YC.

Had high hopes for this edit and I have to say, overall, this is a great improvement over the original film. Massive sequence removals just go to prove that they weren't needed at all. (I've always hated Boomtown) - but the removals of interrogation and university were the most bold and totally not missed.

I completely forgot about the goafers. Didn't even notice!

Edit wise, I noticed nothing abrupt or jarring. Picture is good. There may have been a few audio transitions that were a little notable, but then I'm looking for those things.

The film does feel a little short now and moves at quickened pace, perhaps a little faster than the first three Indy films. There's no pondering moments or pause for reflection, but then that wasn't the editors intention. I enjoyed it, but it won't get more than an 8, as I don't like the story that much. I will say that I though the ending was a little abrupt and of course because it's not standard for post credits sequences in Indy films - I didn't know it was there. (BTW - why does Jim Broadbent get a credit???)

If you're looking for an edit of this 4th installment of Indy that you won't hate - you can't go wrong here. Well done.