Review Detail
8.9 26 10
(Updated: September 05, 2012)
Enjoyment
9.0
December 18, 2011
Did you know that there was an Indiana Jones movie hiding in the monstrosity that is Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? NJVC does an excellent job bringing out the good aspects of this film (turns out there actually are some when the garbage is removed) and ditching the silliness.
Utilizing the Raiders soundtrack was a huge improvement. Coupled with edits to the warehouse sequence, the entire mood was changed from being over the top to tense and entertaining. This was true for many other scenes, and I was surprised to find that halfway into the film I still cared about what was happening on screen. A first for Indy 4!
The nuke was skipped over very nicely, and painful but unavoidable scenes such as the rocket train, car chase, and jungle nonsense are handled exceptionally well. Marion, Mutt, and Spalko are no longer irritating, and the obvious faults in the story have been taken care of.
Some favorite parts were the editors changes to Indy’s vision or whatever you call it when looking at the skull and making the ending much, much better. Yes, you can’t get rid of the alien situation completely, but I think this is the best possible solution. I won’t give away the ending, but I was pleasantly surprised that it can be made this tolerable.
There were just a few areas where I was able to sense the presence of the editor, but knowing what was removed made these little things very forgivable. For instance, there is a hard cut in the cafe after Indy says he ‘knew a lot of Mary’s’ and moments like the when Spalko and her men are heading down the cliff on ropes to escape the now absent ants feel a bit odd. These are small problems and still much preferred to the theatrical cut.
Fantastic job on this edit; I think I finally have an Indy 4 that I can watch for the fun of it. Raiders of the Crystal Skull just feels like an Indy movie should, and despite the ‘inter-dimensional beings’ crap, it is now an entertaining Indiana Jones adventure. Thanks NJKC
Did you know that there was an Indiana Jones movie hiding in the monstrosity that is Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? NJVC does an excellent job bringing out the good aspects of this film (turns out there actually are some when the garbage is removed) and ditching the silliness.
Utilizing the Raiders soundtrack was a huge improvement. Coupled with edits to the warehouse sequence, the entire mood was changed from being over the top to tense and entertaining. This was true for many other scenes, and I was surprised to find that halfway into the film I still cared about what was happening on screen. A first for Indy 4!
The nuke was skipped over very nicely, and painful but unavoidable scenes such as the rocket train, car chase, and jungle nonsense are handled exceptionally well. Marion, Mutt, and Spalko are no longer irritating, and the obvious faults in the story have been taken care of.
Some favorite parts were the editors changes to Indy’s vision or whatever you call it when looking at the skull and making the ending much, much better. Yes, you can’t get rid of the alien situation completely, but I think this is the best possible solution. I won’t give away the ending, but I was pleasantly surprised that it can be made this tolerable.
There were just a few areas where I was able to sense the presence of the editor, but knowing what was removed made these little things very forgivable. For instance, there is a hard cut in the cafe after Indy says he ‘knew a lot of Mary’s’ and moments like the when Spalko and her men are heading down the cliff on ropes to escape the now absent ants feel a bit odd. These are small problems and still much preferred to the theatrical cut.
Fantastic job on this edit; I think I finally have an Indy 4 that I can watch for the fun of it. Raiders of the Crystal Skull just feels like an Indy movie should, and despite the ‘inter-dimensional beings’ crap, it is now an entertaining Indiana Jones adventure. Thanks NJKC
C