Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: The Spence Edit

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9.5 (16)
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9.5
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9.9(16)
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9.7(16)
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9.6(16)
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9.1(16)
Enjoyment
 
9.1(16)
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Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
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10.0
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10.0
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10.0
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10.0
As I have stated before when I review I don't go into all the techie stuff because I am not that well versed in editing etc. I look at Fanedits for enjoyment and how much they entertain me. For me when I saw this at the theatre when it was originally released it was a snoozer for me. And as usual the "fan" part of fanedit wins again. I enjoyed everything about this edit and I do wish this is what I saw at the theatre. After being away from the fanedit scene for about a year this was a welcome return for me. On a scale of 5 popcorns , 5 being best this is a 5. Thanks for the work and share

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Yes
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Digital
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Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This is about as good an edit as could be accomplished with this film given the limitations imposed by the script and casting. Well worth checking out

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Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
B
Top 100 Reviewer 55 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Honestly, not nearly as bad as anybody remembers it. With the weight of lofty expectations, the fourth one was a disappointment, but I was impressed at how kind time has been to this film.

There’s still a lot of traditional Indy in this film, elements like villains, fun bickering, the pulp-like action that still uses a lot of practical effects (very welcome in a day where EVERYTHING is CGI), the quips, and a wonderful sense of awe, wonder, and pacing.

Admittedly, this version, from seasoned faneditor Spence, did cut out a solid 11 minutes to help with the pace and remove some of the most silly egregious elements.

Spence doesn’t try to rectify the story as such, an impossible task since it’s the core of the film, but he does make surgical cuts and changes to keep the film feel like more of a true sequel.

Spence is a master at the craft, 99% of the edits are seamless, you can hardly tell the changes. The film feels faster and there’s a true sense of urgency throughout like a real Indy sequel.

The fanedit allows the film’s positive qualities to stand out more, the action is a really fun romp and the two chase setpieces end up being wonderful (the one opening with the warehouse and late 2nd act jeep chase in the jungle), the banter and relationship between Marion and Indy is wonderful as well. And even though a lot of people hate Shia’s performance, there’s a lot of fun in seeing Indy in the father role a direct correlation and flipping of roles to the Last Crusade, which is a lot of fun here. If you still hate Shia’s performance, that’s on you. I got a kick out of it this time around with the role reversal. It’s fun seeing allusions not only to previous Indy films but also to Lucas’s American Graffitti.

You can’t fix the movie entirely, the nuking of the fridge will always be there (even if it's much much better this time around), the ending will always be the ending, and the plot will always be about aliens and sci-fi elements. What Spence does do is he cleans enhances the positives and numbs the negatives as much as he can and it's truly a revelation that this is so good. This version is the go to version of the film here forth and is actually worth rewatching.

Film Rating: 2
Fanedit Rating: 3

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Yes
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Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
This is a fantastic edit of a movie which gave very little enjoy from the offset. Spence has taken out a lot of the flab from this movie and it's incredible to see how what's left is so much tighter. This doesn't change the central problem that Indy as a character is about historical magic, not futuristic sci-fi and that the introduction of Mutt and re-introduction of Ravenwood weighs down the story as well as Indy himself. If you accept that, then you can focus on what Spence has achieved here: The gophers and monkeys aren't excised entirely, but you don't resent them when they do briefly pop up. The edits feels entirely seamless and you mostly feel a sigh of relief when the movie is over instead of groans and agony. TLDR review? Spence has polished a turd. Bravo, sir!

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S
2 reviews
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(Updated: February 16, 2023)
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
I've seen a lot of Indy 4 cuts. Sometimes I have a lot to say, but other times the edit does what it needs to and functions too smoothly to have much to say. Which at the end of the day is the minimum that every edit should reach.

My thoughts:

- The opening Paramount/mountain fade shot is done pretty well. But it does linger a long enough for me to wonder why I'm looking at it. I can see little things floating around in the open air around the mountain which I think is a nicer touch than just still image of the sky or backdrop.

- You kept the rocket sled gofers! Noooo!
- The timing of Indy's line delivery of "knife to a gun fight" is so much better.
- Cutting Oxley dancing around the Soviet jungle campfire. Why? I fail to see how this really achieves anything aside from shaving a few seconds off the run time. Not really condemning this choice, I just don't see what it contributes.
- Lots of little nips and tucks through out the rest of the film were appropriate.

Overall, this was a pretty conservative, light touch, edit. Better than the original cut for sure. For me personally though I would have preferred a heavier hand in the edit room but this does the job quite well and should be watched over the theatrical cut.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Owner's reply February 19, 2023

Thanks for the kind review!

I chose to keep the gophers during the sled scene because I couldn't smoothly get rid of the shot of Indy seeing the gopher when he gets out of the fridge, so I figured keeping them would add some context as to why there's a gopher there.

I personally wanted to minimize the silliness of Oxley's situation as much as possible, as he had clearly been driven insane by the skull. It felt odd to play that for laughs constantly, and the dance by the first was a bit much, to me anyway.

Not arguing at all and they're valid points, I just like to give context as to why I made the decisions I made. Thanks again!

D
Top 1000 Reviewer 4 reviews
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