Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Recut by 15MaF

All I can say is thankyou for creating a much better experience than I had with the original! Very, very well done!

15MaF has clearly put in a lot of work here, and I'm not sure I'm familiar enough with the film to appreciate it (so apologies if I misinterpret changes). I have seen Crystal Skull a few times over the years in different forms, but it's been a little while and I've probably only seen the theatrical cut twice. I can't say I've ever been a fan but I mostly chose to watch this version as a refresher before seeing The Dial of Destiny, thinking it might be a better option than the theatrical. For sure, there are aspects I remember disliking that are gone. I also think there are some rather odd things that presumably can only have come from cuts. Mac being practically mute in the opening is a bit strange, and Marion seems to have barely any dialogue. On that level, the narrative takes a small hit.

Visual editing is very good. What was done with the countdown timer looked seamless to me. The opening removal of the prairie dogs is also very well done. The ending with the aliens is a superior presentation - a bit more subtle. Aspects come across slightly fanedity, but overall I think it holds up well and is an improvement over the alternative.

Audio editing is largely good. There were several moments, mainly at the beginning, where I noticed cuts. They aren't jarring, they just feel off/less smooth than ideal. It was normally noticing something was slightly off that reminded me of what was cut and brought certain absent moments back to memory. But I think sometimes it's a rhythm thing - the pace of the cuts. You get into the flow of the film's editing style, and cuts can be smooth but not always in line with what your brain expects. Much like when a beat is slightly pushed or pulled in a piece of music.

Enjoyment: honestly, this is a less offensive watch than some options, but the film also comes across as mediocre. Polishing a turd, as they say. You can tell that character moments have been trimmed down in order to achieve something that's a bit less silly, but it kind of exposes just how underwhelming everything else is. I think if you already like the film and feel it would benefit from a few nips and tucks, then this is probably a good option. As for me, I'm not sure there's any version of this film that's going to be for me. In fact, at this point, I'm not sure I need to see the film again.

Fully expecting this year’s Indy 5 to be typical modern garbage from Team Kennedy at Disney Minus, I wanted to revisit this one and see if any talented editor managed to salvage it. But that would be asking too much. No editing can fix the PS3 cut scenes: primarily the extended chase scene (although the vine-swinging is thankfully cut as much as possible), and the ridiculous green screen ending. Improve, but not fix. Too many bad ideas and sequences are hard baked into the film. Too many bad performances (Ford stops phoning it in so much later on but the villainess chokes on the scenery and not in a good way.) Somehow the flick is too formulaic too.

If you’re struggling to pick a version to watch, I heartily recommend this one. I actually initially chose Race with the Devil but as soon as I saw the CGI gopher at the start of that version of the film I switched over to this edit. My thinking being that any editor who would leave that stupidity in the film would likely make other bad decisions. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m happy I went with 15MAF. I can’t imagine this movie can be fixed further than it is fixed here without rewrites and reshoots.

Something I noticed that I’m not sure is new to this edit or not but a couple times the score sounded very Star Trek.

Anyway, thank you 15MAF! Stellar job. I watched this on a really good 4k tv and it looked perfect. Soon I’ll watch the 4K disc and see how it compares. Wish me luck.

This was a pleasant surprise. I stumbled upon this edit after reading the review by Destined Spaghetti and it intrigued me. Some thing on display here are very impressive. The tubes, Indy shooting the gun himself and the ending are all top tier editing skills on display.

Overall I'd say this Indy edit is a huge improvement over the original, which I would probably give a 6 or 7 in narrative and enjoyment. It was great fun and definitely worth your time.

Here are some more in depth thoughts:

- The lack of muzzle flashes never really bothered me, because I don't think Indiana Jones is the epicentre of realism. But it does make the scene look better in comparison!

- When indy says 'You're not from around here, are ya' it feels weird to me without the 'are ya' part. I think Irina's pause is too long for such a simple question.

- When Irina gives Indy a gentle slap is something I think feels a bit visually choppy with Indy's face suddenly at a different angle. It's an improvement, but not quite perfect.

- Indy shooting the guard in the foot was brilliant. Absolutely genius.

- The idea to have Indy screaming when stumbling in the fridge is amazing and something that would instantly improve that scene for any edit. It adds some lightweightedness to it to help you suspend disbelief. Smart! That said, I still think the explosion killing the russians in the car is visually very ugly and I wish it was cut. Then it would be the very best cut of the nuke sequence possible. ( in my own humble opinion )

- I didn't like that you kept the alien dissection in the camp. That scene is just a bad scene as is ruins every mystery surrounding the skull. The aliens are one thing, but showing them so soon and so close up robs the audience of their own imagination.

- When Spalko asks 'so dr Jones you will help us?' after pointing a gun at Marion, the overhead shot that follows shows Marion talking without any dialogue. I like the pause for dramatic effect the overhead shot gives, but Marion's mouth did take me out of the moment for a bit because I wasn't sure if I was having an audio problem.

- I really dislike the whole wedding dialogue in the truck. This is just a matter of opinion but I dislike it.

- 'They weren't you, honey' feels off because the music skips a beat because you removed the 'honey'. I agree with the decision to cut that word, but the audio makes it a noticeable cut.

- Wish you had cut Mac screaming 'Joneseyyyy' like a happy toddler during the jungle chase. It makes no sense, even IF he is a double agent lol.

- The monkeys cut is very creative and definitely miles better than the original. It's funny how all these different edits have come up with different solutions for this particular scene.

- The waterfall sequence was edited very nicely. Anyone that hates three waterfalls will be pleased.

- 'What are you, a Triple Agent?!' line is still there lol. I'm still not sure if I like it for how stupid it is or if I hate it for how stupid is it.

- Now for the part that intrigued me the most, The ending! The ending is terrific and creative. Visually unique and unlike any other edit out there. I would personally prefer the alien itself to still be removed completely and just show the (and this is an incredible idea from the editor I cannot stress this enough) staredown between Irina and the Skull close-up, which was a great callback to Indy and the Skull staring down!

Overall, a great edit to a not so great movie and definitely recommended for anyone who dislikes the original. Thank you.

No opening gofer! Muzzle flashes! No alien corpse in the warehouse! Love all these changes and. the technical proficiency necessary to pull them off.

Visually, everything looks great and the cuts are well done. My only real gripe is that there is a little frame rate stutter/frame loss when Indy "thinks he was closer" and he punches the truck passenger out of the truck. Not a big deal, but noticeable.

I absolutely love how you were able to give some agency to Indy by having him shoot that nameless russian in the foot ON PURPOSE. No doubt a lot of Indy's charm over the decades has been him making decisions on the fly and having a little bit of luck help him out, but this whole film relies too heavilly on this this convenience. So great idea and great implementation.

When Dovchenko tackles Indy onto the the glass porthole above the rocket sled, this was sped up and a welcome change to keep things moving.

Now the good stuff! The nixie tubes! So much more love than this film deserves or has received! A small but oh so welcome little correction.

The nuke scene: although I don't really think the color correction and additional effects were completely necessary, the lower trajectory and the addition of Indy's screams upon impact are an audio uniquity I find severely lacking in this film that are put to perfect use here. Softens the blow of this improperly implemented scene.

The scene in which Indy looks longingly at the pictures of Marcus and his Dad are so much more powerful in this version by the editing staple of showing and not telling. Great job here. Although the omitted lines do leave a gap in room tone that makes the alteration noticeable.

Mac sitting down in reverse in the Soviet encampment tent. Same thing. Looks great but the lack of room tone makes the cut apparent.

Everything else about this edit works well. Nothing really stands out as having been changed and therefore just glides along as best as this movie can all things considered.

I think that reverting Mutt from Indy's son, to just Marion's son, is a necessary change that not too many fan edits seem to want to make. I don't mind Mutt being his offspring, but it's not set up very well in the original film and it has the awkward and unearned attempt at the passing of the torch from our hero to some underdeveloped greaser stereotype. There aren't even any additional or deleted scenes that could be poorly implemented back into the film to help this. So it just works better letting that aspect fade away into the background.

Which brings me to the confrontation with the Aliens within the pyramid. AMAZING. I can't believe that this was all done with a little extra filmed footage and a still image of the final alien. The idea of Spalko's subjective experience and the finesse with which it has been pulled off is incredible work! I would have no problem saying that this is by far the best change to the ending of any cut out there.

From there it cuts straight to the wedding stuff. Having no forced happy couple moment atop the pyramid makes their nuptuals a little more passionless than they already are. But not a terrible idea.

Overall, this is definitely in my top three if not top two favorite cuts of this film. And I would highly recommend it.