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

This is an exemplary fan edit. Although perhaps some movies might be converted into a far more successful narrative, such a feat is not possible when it comes to movies more fundamentally problematic. But when it comes to bringing a movie in a franchise back to the quality of it's predecessors, well, I can't imagine much more that could be done than Bring me to your cinema's work on this cut.

The movies overdone saturation has been removed. And although it was quite noticable for me and at first felt strange, it was nothing once I got used to it. And it certainly helps make the movie feel more like an actual sequel to the 80's originals.

The best part of this edit is the cuts. They are so seamless that I must have missed 90% of them.
So seamless, I even forgot that the failed whip jump at the start was even cut.

But the attempt to remove the cg gopher at the start didn't work for me. The matte felt too out of place, and not realistic. I would rather have had the silly gopher than something that took me out of the movie.

The First cuts I noticed were some dialogue cuts, with no issues. Then came the actual excising of whole scenes. The first of which I noticed was the removal of the atomic bomb scenes and interrogation. Indy now simply stumbles on civilization, shining in the distance. Then he is seen on a train.

This. is. perfect. In the original movie we were confused by the train segment. Why was indy there? How could mutt find him? Besides that, the terrible, terrible acting of the FBI people is now gone, thank heavens. And altough his dialogue with mac still references it, Indy is no longer directly stated to be some war hero. (which is overdoing it, and pushing Indy even further into mary sue territory)

Now, it makes perfect sense! He's on a train back to wherever the college is, where he works. Sure, Mutt must have employed some detective work in finding out he was there at that time, and there's no difference in the logic in this between the versions, but I can accept it in any case.

The pacing of the movie was excellent. I never thought that a part dragged on too long.

I also like that Take me to your cinema also doesn't dislike Mutt as much as some fans, and we don't lose the fencing scene which I admittedly always enjoyed.

Lastly, there's the removal of the live alien on screen, at the end of the movie. I was looking forward to seeing the changes, because I didn't realize any way in which it could be done and still look professional. But it was just perfect. This scene cemented the fact that this is my go-to version of this movie.

Although I must say, I downloaded the .iso dvd version, and expected more quality than what I received. It looked much more like an .avi. Still, perhaps that is more of an issue to others than to me.

In the end I must say that this could probably have salvaged the movie, in the eyes of the fans. If it had been the version we saw.

I didn't think it was possible, but editor TM2YC has created a version of Indy 4 that I actually enjoyed and look forward to watching again. I absolutely hated the theatrical version of the film, and while njvc's edit "Raiders of the Lost Skull" (a very good edit in it's own right) made the experience much less painful, it wasn't quite enough. I never expected to watch another version of KOTCS, and then I read TM2YC's intention and cut list for this one. Wow. The editor makes some bold and competently argued assertions, and, I'm delighted to say, every one of them was spot on. At last, this feels like an Indiana Jones movie!

By removing much of the old age humor, Dr. Jones retains his heroic persona; he no longer feels like a lovable has-been just trying to keep up. The removal of the huge chunks of exposition throughout the film is actually helpful in three different ways: 1. It improves the pacing considerably. 2. It streamlines the narrative, making it less convoluted. 3. By removing many of the scenes where Dr. Jones is seen merely walking around in daylight, you don't notice his bow-legged, stooped old man posture as much (I'm not trying to be cruel here; it happens to all of us eventually. Watch the deleted scenes compilation and you'll see what I mean). Not seeing this allows for easier suspension of disbelief when the stunts start happening; you don't have this crazy disconnect between the two images. Also helping the action feel more believable (and thus more in line with the other films), is the serious trimming away of many shots that either look phony/cartoony or make the scale of the danger look ridiculous. Essentially, it no longer looks like huge swaths of the movie were shot on a soundstage against a green screen. Well, the trimming gets us halfway there; the other half of that essential fix was achieved by recoloring and desaturating the picture. This alone, giving the film a more grounded appearance, bringing it more in line with the rest of the franchise, makes KOTCS 25% less depressing. Of course, the most egregious stuff has been removed as well (atomic bombs, gophers, flying saucers), with a truncated Mutt vine-swinging scene that is far less upsetting.

Is it a good movie now? No, not really. It is a lot more fun, though. I equate it with Jurassic Park 3; a minor entry in a major franchise. It's a let-down, of course, but it's not offensive. It merely feels like a smaller film. It zips along, hitting its beats, and then it's over in an hour and a half. There are a couple of little things that still bothered me, but I don't see how they could have been done better, so I'm not docking much. The only one really worth mentioning here is that it really does feel like something is missing between the rocket sled and the train station. The single shot from the excised "doom town" sequence is an inventive way to bridge these two scenes, but it still feels rather abrupt. Otherwise, this is a superb edit that turns an unwatchable epic into a fun little adventure movie. I give it my highest recommendation.

A classic example in which "less is more". You brought Indy back to its original roots. Gone are the ridiculous CGI effects. Gone is the pointless Cold war subplot. By removing the over the top sci fi elements in the end you have indeed produced a worth while finale that reminded me of the Ark finale in the original Raiders of the lost Ark. I do agree with Pkmatrix that the transition to the train station and Mutt's intro seems a bit rushed but upon a second viewing it didn't bother me much. Excellent Visual and Audio editing. This edit is highly recommended for what it accomplishes... it feels more in tune with the other Indiana films' atmosphere and pacing and removes the Computer Gaming CGI nightmare-look that I hated so much on my initial viewing when it premiered on theaters. Kudos for a job well done.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has always been one of those movies where I've not followed the popular opinion, since I never HATED the movie but was merely disappointed by it. IMO, the biggest flaw with the Theatrical cut was that while a great idea for an adventure movie, it just didn't feel like the sort of adventure Indy would actually be on. Topping it off, Indy felt more like a sidekick in his own movie! You spent a good chunk of the time wondering why he was there at all. So, needless to say, I've been waiting a long time for a fanedit that really thoroughly addressed the problems with this movie.

IMO, the Covenant Edition is that fanedit.

The movie is now brisk and exciting! It not only feels like an Indiana Jones movie now, Indy is now unquestionably the hero and the protagonist just as much as in previous films. The over-the-top goofiness is gone, the annoying McCarthy/Cold War subplot is gone, and the straight Sci-Fi elements have been HEAVILY redacted. Overall, this is a GREAT cut of this movie and has permanently replaced the Theatrical cut in my collection

Now, I do have some issues with this cut, but in general I think they're nitpicks:

- The most minor one first, and something that won't be a problem for anyone else, but I never like when editors alter the title of the movie's title card. Again, super minor.

- I'll need to look at it again, but movie feels like it starts VERY abruptly. Looking at the cut list, I think this is because you cut the CGI gopher at the start and, as a result, the Elvis song cuts in wrong. It feels like something is missing. Again, maybe I'm wrong and you did do this, but I'd recommend at least keeping the audio for that shot and playing it behind the Paramount logo.

- I love how you tie up the Nevada sequence! That said, it again feels VERY abrupt transitioning from there to the train platform and Mutt's introduction. We don't get any sort of establishment for Indy back in the city at all. Perhaps it works on multiple viewings, but the first impression is that we need something there.

Otherwise, great job! ^_^

Overall a very good edit of KOTCS. I know this is one of TM2YC's first edits and he did a marvelous job. Edits are seamless and PQ/AQ are very good. Not much I can add to the other reviews. I do think a little too much was cut but that's a personal preference.