Riddles of the Lost Gods
User reviews
Enjoyment: Original: D+
Enjoyment: Riddle of the Gods: B+
User Review
Well that was a surprise. You know, I've seen this movie enough times via edits to where I thought I knew what I liked in the film, and what SHOULD have been kept, but this edit proved that I don't know crap. Because while I was waiting for what I thought were the stronger parts of the film to come, they never did and I realized I didn't really miss them all that much....especially in such a lean cut of this movie. Even the stuff that was horribly annoying in the other cuts wasn't annoying here...and that's pretty crazy.
My only complaint is that maybe the beginning stolen from The Fountain could have been trimmed a bit... maybe only show the guy holding the dagger up to the sky and stop there, and pan down into the present. I dunno. Something just felt a little off about it. Other than that, I got nothing but praise.
And that ending...my god that ending. I almost stood up and applauded. I couldn't imagine it was fixable...seriously, amazing!
What more could I want? HD....give me this brilliant cut in HD!!!!
User Review
There is one thing that has been bothering me about both edits, and it seems to me, as an outsider, an easy fix. I'm talking about the awful quicksand scene. njvc managed to "remove" the embarrassing snake aspect, and you removed the reveal of Indy's son, but why not cut the whole pointless scene? Moronic character Mutt instigates a pointless escape that goes nowhere and they are recaptured immediately. Why not go from Indy looking at the map with Cate Blanchett, describing where they should be going and fade into the trucks cutting through the jungle?
That would wipe out the stupid snake scene and the reveal about Mutt.
Of course this would only work in a cut such as yours, where you are removing Indy's parentage. (Which I applaud!)
The way you edited the scene inside the back of the truck was perfect. And I was fine with the last line dubbed in of "you're not my dad". I loved it in fact. It was the point of the whole cut. No, Indy wouldn't have a whiny annoying son like you. lol.
The final shot did feel a little like the end of a sitcom, but I am not sure what anyone can do there.
Overall, fantastic. Truly, you took a movie I hated, with a character I loved, and repaired it. Even with the aliens/ufo nonsense, you made this movie, to me, on par with Temple of Doom for sure.
User Review
Glad you liked this edit. I appreciate the review.
About the sand pit scene: In fact I liked this scene, that's why it's still in this edit. I like the "professor's speach during a dangerous moment". What I did not like was the pacing of some lines (so I cut some lines) and a shot of Indy being pulled by with the snake that looked not right (that I also partialy removed. Or Entirely, can't remember). In short: it's the same scene but rearranged. And since my edit is mainly about making Mutt not Indy's son, I thought it was fun to keep THE scene when the audience knows he is Indy's son in the original (and this edit is already a bit too short for my taste so this is now a nice little scene that does not bother me and it gives more screen time with Indy and Marion.
These are my reasons for keeping that scene.
About the "stare at the Skull" moment: I wanted to link that scene with my opening scene and with the end. So it's not the same goal than NJVC's edit. You can prefer NJVC's edit of course, but I guess his edit of this scene in my edit would not work as good (for the goal of my edit) and vice versa.
User Review
I like Orellana getting to the top and looking up at the "interdimensional portal" and I like the idea of your transition from that moment to the modern day of 1957. That said, it is pulled off a little oddly. It goes from the portal in the sky to a start/point in space, which pans down through the darkness and into a bright and beautiful day at the entrance to the Hangar 51 base. Again, not a bad idea and not horribly achieved. I do think that if there was more of a gradient between the black of space and the blue sky, it would have been more of a smoother transition.
At the base, Indy is pulled out first, then Mac. I'm neutral to the order in which they are removed from the car. Continuity error fixed!
We then get to the dialog swaps. Spalko: "Where do you think I'm from?" Indy: "Mars". Might have worked if Ford's line delivery was more appropriate to its new placement, but it stands out pretty hard. Then you get Spalko saying: "No last words Dr. Jones?" to which Indy responds: "You got it pal" (then drops gun) which does not work at all.
I did enjoy how you made Indy's miscalculation of his whip swing onto Spalko's jeep and his crashing into the truck behind him, result in knocking out the passenger of the truck rather than Indy punching him out.
Great repurposing of the line "you are of great interest to the bureau" to a different Indy reaction and then leading into him getting fired to packing to leave to getting on the train. Very lean, very efficient. Exactly what needed to be retained for moving the plot forward logically.
Cutting the KGB car chase was a bit of a loss due to just how much of this film is exposition delivered in boring two shots with nothing to really break up all the info dumping. But Iove the edit of indy receiving Oxley's letter in the diner and then cutting from one letter close up to the next letter close up at Indy's house. Simple, invisible, and visually symmetric. Worse than death, the scenes in between were never alive!
From the plane arriving in Peru and cutting straight to the graverobbing after Indy and Mutt's market conversation felt a little rushed. I'm not sad to see the film transition in this way, but it felt like they knew exactly where to go. Like they knew something we didn't and assumed we did. Because up until this point we have learned about the unfolding plot simultaneously with the characters. I also love how the reverse shot of the graveyard works just as well.
The sanitorium dialog was used really well at the arrival to the cemetery though. Its dark and the new dialog fits pretty spot on. It did sound like it was recorded in a different room though, and needs a little more reverb applied to make it fit.
Once we get to the Soviet jungle encampment, having Marion be threatened right off the bat is probably the most intelligent idea made in this cut. Now rather than Indy just doing what he is told and staring into the skull, his reason for doing so is Marion. Way better.
Indy's staring contest with the skull: this all looked great. But I couldn't help but be pulled out of the scene with the very obvious slowed down "return....return" line that was inserted here. It was just a little too on the nose for me. I think you could even keep this in the film if you just lowered the volume/tweaked it a little more so as to not stand out so much.
Something I REALLY loved was Indy + the gang getting chased by the natives in the cave entrance to the pyramid crater and how the noise of the commotion made it out of the waterfall entrance for Spalko and her cronies to hear and have their attention drawn up towards the cave entrance. Great idea and great implementation.
Nips and tucks in the jungle chase were appreciated. Spalko landing on the ant hill before Indy is way more plausable. No driving the jeep into the tree. Love it. As well as the fx shot of the jeep falling through where the tree used to be. Angels do exist.
Nips and tucks in the pyramid crater. Love how you reversed the wide shot of the crater to match the next shot where they reach the top.
Spalko's lines about "turning you into us" coming back to haunt her as she was killed/transported was a nice touch. Again I think it was a little clunky in implementation, but it worked really well regardless.
Interdimensional portal transition to Indy and the Gang being jetisoned out of the pyramid was great too.
Then we get the Avenger's beam and portal opening in the sky. Great idea and pulled off really nicely. Parts of it do come off pretty abrupt when you cut from the pyramid debris starting to rise to giant boulders floating around and then dropping back down again. I feel like you already showed the top of the saucer so having a quick shot of the inbetween elevation to make the difference between the shots a little more feasable, wouldn't be too horrendous.
Then we get to Mutt's last line of dialog on the mountain top. No matter how much I wish that was the actual dialog he spoke in the theatrical cut, it's poor implementation wrenches you out of the smoothly going experience. Ending on the freeze frame was also a little off putting.
Conclusion: This a short but sweet cut and if anyone is looking for the least painful way to watch Indy 4 but also know what was cut, and therefore remember the context of certain scenes, this one provides a remixed and quick to the point ride. This is definitely better than the theatrical cut, in fact aside from a few spots here and there, I think this is one of the best cuts out there.