Review Detail
8.9 26 10
(Updated: September 02, 2012)
Overall rating
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
7.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
7.0
Enjoyment
8.0
Just watched this last night and thought it was a huge improvement over the original film. I'm rather notorious for absolutely despising the original Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and none of the other fanedits have really done it for me. This one was the closest I've come to actually enjoying this movie.
I have a slight love/hate relationship with your replacing the music with the music from Raiders. One one hand, it feels nice and nostalgic to see Indy at it again with familiar tunes. On the other hand, it makes me recall the scenes the music is originally from, which can be even more of a reminder of how this movie does not live up to the originals.
I thought your edit of the Warehouse sequence was note perfect, and by far the best version of that scene I've encountered. I very much enjoyed the pace, the tone, and the way it played out. Much, much better.
There are a few times where I feel you may have edited the movie beyond what the material will allow, and they stuck out for me. For instance, removing the snake from the quicksand scene. It's great that it's gone, but it isn't really gone, it's just awkwardly cut around. Same thing goes for the truck chase later in the film. Mutt seems to appear and disappear from the particular cars, teleporting around, and the geography of the sequence becomes jumbled. Not really a deal breaker, and I don't think there was much else you could've done to accomplish your goals, but it did stick out.
My only other constructive criticism would be that sometimes the new music does not seem properly mixed with the sound effects. I'm sure that has something to do with your removal of the original music, but it's still there.
Overall though, this is the best version of Indy IV that currently exists. It runs at a brisk 90 minutes, much of the silliness of the original has been removed, and most importantly, it actually feels like an Indiana Jones movie.
I have a slight love/hate relationship with your replacing the music with the music from Raiders. One one hand, it feels nice and nostalgic to see Indy at it again with familiar tunes. On the other hand, it makes me recall the scenes the music is originally from, which can be even more of a reminder of how this movie does not live up to the originals.
I thought your edit of the Warehouse sequence was note perfect, and by far the best version of that scene I've encountered. I very much enjoyed the pace, the tone, and the way it played out. Much, much better.
There are a few times where I feel you may have edited the movie beyond what the material will allow, and they stuck out for me. For instance, removing the snake from the quicksand scene. It's great that it's gone, but it isn't really gone, it's just awkwardly cut around. Same thing goes for the truck chase later in the film. Mutt seems to appear and disappear from the particular cars, teleporting around, and the geography of the sequence becomes jumbled. Not really a deal breaker, and I don't think there was much else you could've done to accomplish your goals, but it did stick out.
My only other constructive criticism would be that sometimes the new music does not seem properly mixed with the sound effects. I'm sure that has something to do with your removal of the original music, but it's still there.
Overall though, this is the best version of Indy IV that currently exists. It runs at a brisk 90 minutes, much of the silliness of the original has been removed, and most importantly, it actually feels like an Indiana Jones movie.
S