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

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.

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.