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

15mf accomplishes the goal of fixing and improving the movie into a decent movie but goes beyond in editing some of the effects such as changing the paramount logo in beginning to make it more faithful to the previous movies which looks better than even some of the obvious green-screen effects in the movie. A worthy replacement of the original movie? Of course but as good as the original trilogy? unfortunately no but it does make a lot of references to it's predecessors so it is best to treat it as something of throwback/reunion kind of movie with a cool homage to 1950's sci-fi which is fitting to the trilogy since each movies do have different motifs in each adventures. There is some very choppy scenes and awkward-looking shots due to the excessive editing which is justified but has a few quiet pauses in a few scenes and one scenes where Marion scream is abruptly cut short instead of fading out.
While the original movie fails as a worthy follow-up where this one succeeds at it.

A fine edit that's definitely superior to the theatrical release... and yet I wonder if it'll be enough for most people? On watching, I thought this was a very conservative edit, as there were so many elements still included that bothered me. Yes, the prairie dogs and monkeys are removed, as are most of the references to Indy's age. But the fridge scene was still too much for me, and without the age comments, I realized that Indy is as effective of an action hero here as he ever was in his 30s! I couldn't help it...the old bitterness crept up and it just made it hard for me to enjoy the film.

Some technical thoughts: while it looks good and sounds good, I had a couple "blink and you missed it" editing moments. When Indy refuses to help the Russians find the artifact, then suddenly he's helping them. When Indy is cornered and outgunned in the warehouse, then suddenly he's escaping. And the rather blurry and confusing effects in the finale with Blanchett. All of these are where edits were made, so I understand it's difficult to make them flow smoothly, but perhaps a wipe or an insert would help so people like me don't have to rewind because they glanced at their popcorn?

When I looked at the cutlist here after watching the film, I realized this is not near as conservative an edit as I thought. I agree with everything that's been removed, and most of it was done quite smoothly. I understand why some bits were left in (like the refrigerator) as they are mentioned later and hard to cut around. Personally, the effort to leave them in but shortened just didn't work for me sometimes. (In fact, I enjoyed the film a lot less than when I saw it in the theater, and here's why: https://letterboxd.com/nottheacademy/film/indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/) I think I would need a much more aggressive edit to truly enjoy this film... I just didn't know it until I watched this one.

Though I personally didn't love this edit, I think it succeeds admirably at everything it's trying to do. It's very professionally done, and an easier watch than the original film. I can definitely recommend it for people who thought the theatrical version was uneven and flawed but basically good.

Overview - The original was a film I really wanted to like. Set during 1950’s added several political elements, and explained Indy’s age. Mutt is no Brando, however, and John Hurt shamelessly overacts. The film has an interesting balance of action and humor, and, for lack of a better word, cheesiness.

Video - 1920 X 796p AVC. The cuts are excellent. The look is breathtaking, especially some of the darker sequences. There are more details in this version than are in my DVD.

Audio - 689 kbps 5.1 AC3. No subs. Although the score often threatens to overwhelm other elements, the dialogue is clear throughout. There was a point during the temple escape where I cocked my head at the music, the sound mix seemed noticeably altered.

Narrative - The adventure romp has numerous trims here and there. Some I caught, more were later, often quite later. The jungle chase is every way better. That is me. I have less patience with endless fighting and running, which I generally fast forward through. Those are studio padding in lieu of a proper script. Anyway, 15MAF’s edit is intelligent and coherent.

Enjoyment - Yes, quite a bit. This is my Indy film, next in line after Raiders. The previous sequels, not so much.

The elephant. This is a big ass file. 14 GB. That size will place beyond the reach of members who have limited bandwidth. For me, much as I like this edit – and I do – I cannot burn to DVD. It’s too large. Hopefully, a smaller encode will one day be available. Just a suggestion.

I really had no desire to go back and watch the original theatrical cut after seeing it. There was too much in it that, to me, didn't fit with the style and narrative of the other films. Well, with 15MaF's edit, Geriatric Jones has found some new youthful vigor.

15MaF has done some pretty miraculous things with the movie. First of all, the edits are seamless. The attention to detail was obvious. The additional effects really improved some of the scenes where something felt off.

There were some scenes in the beginning half of the film where Harrison Ford's dialog felt like it wasn't quite lip synch'ed, almost like some ADR that didn't quite line up in post. I also had my fingers-crossed that somehow 15MaF had figured out how to magically remove the scenes with the ants towards the end. As I was watching it, I was struggling to figure out how that could be done. That's not on 15MaF. I am sure a lot of thought went into what to include and not include.

While it will never be my favorite of the series, I can now say that I will be watching this, 15MaF version, again in the future. Thank you!

Great work!

Like many others I decided to marathon these bad boys once again but chose to do it the fanedit way.

I'm appalled now that I have grown to dislike the Indiana OT, but impressed that this edit didn't leave the same sour aftertaste.
Against all odds, I now consider this to be my favorite movie of the bunch.

I'm not particularly sure if its the edit's merit, but I think Indy is much more of a character this time around.
I mean, after a fresh binge-watch I was having trouble seeing him as a good guy, since he has always been a cynical gung-ho with an itchy trigger finger, a bonafide tomb raider that has no problem with putting in body bags anyone who stands in his way of feeding respectable museums in God-fearing countries.
Here he's much more of a scholar that knows his way around and surprisingly uses his brains more than his fists.
What I do know it's the edit's merit, is that freaking Mutt is much more tolerable and even likeable now.

Everything is seamless and the bloat is long gone thank you very much. Yes, "enjoyably unrealistic adventures" is definitely the formula, so even if the good guys evade gunfire like they weren't even there and make fools of trained military men, the fact that the signature slapstick with drastic tone changes from previous movies is nowhere to be found gives way for a much more palatable and straightforward treasure hunt that, this time, doesn't revel (too much) on period politics and repetitive cowboy action.

I did feel some frames were a bit janky at some spots, but nothing that distracting.

And like others have said, the attention to detail really shows during the edit.

Thanks!