DVD
REVIEW:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2 Disc Special Edition
10/19/08
SYNOPSIS:
Indiana Jones is back in a new globe-trotting adventure, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford as Indy, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" features an outstanding cast, including Oscar(R) winner Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Oscar(R) winner Jim Broadbent and Shia LaBeouf. Frank Marshall is the film's producer. George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy are the executive producers. The screenplay is by David Koepp
from a story by George Lucas.
REVIEW: When the news came out that George Lucas and Steven
Spielberg were teaming up again for another Indiana Jones,
fans from around the world exploded of excitement knowing
that the ultimate action adventure hero was coming back, but
at
the same time there was sense of worry that the new film
would not meet the standards of previous installments
of the franchise. I'm just here to tell you that nineteen
years after " The Last Crusade" Indiana Jones is back in
"The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Bringing back the
mystery,
the action, the adventure and comedy that will show movie
goers the excitement of a true action adventure
film.
Going into the film, like many Indiana Jones fans there were
some things that I was looking forward to see in this new chapter of
franchise. What would be the feeling watching the film?
Would I believe I'm watching an Indiana Jones movie? Those
question were answered 20 minutes into the movie. It was very
relaxing to see that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did
not try to deviate from what has made Indiana Jones an
iconic action adventure hero.
In terms of special effects like it was expected they have
evolved. The old stun scenes are gone and the used of CGI is
more evident in this new installment, This innovative technology
gave Lucas and Spielberg the ability to create more
impressive
scenes. Don't get me wrong I don't want to diminished the
special effects from the previous films, but it was nice to
see an Indiana Jones movie made with use of new computer technology. The
signature of Lucas can be easily appreciated in some of the
scenes. Like the car chase scene around the cliff of the
mountain. So don't expect to see to many regular stuns like
the old days.
The approach taking by
Lucas and Spielberg when it came to the character creation
and casting for the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was just
what the fans were hoping and that we haven't seeing since
"Raiders of the Lost Ark". Bringing back Karen Allen
character was something that was missing in "The Last
Crusade" and Temple of Doom". She was part of what gave
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" special flavor, But the ice on the
cake was Cate Blanchett
who played in my opinion the best villain of the franchise.
It was amazing to see her transformed into a Russian
leader. The only worry that I had with the casting was the
idea of having Shia LaBeouf
in the film as Indiana sidekick. I didn't want to see
another annoying "Temple of Doom" Short Round, but since the
beginning is very clear that he it is not.
This 2 Disc Edition of the
film is loaded with special features, with the bests of all
being the "Pre-Production" and "Production Diary"
featurettes. Some people will be disappointed because of the
lack of commentaries.
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English,
Spanish and French
5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish
French - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The
Return of a Legend—The evolution of the new film and
a tribute to the legendary hero and his creators. A really
good featurette (17:37)
Pre-Production—Follows Steven Spielberg as he
creates animatic sequences, Shia LaBeouf as he learns to
swordfight and captures the reunion of filmmakers and cast
on the soundstage. (11:47)
Production Diary: Making Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull—Join filmmakers, cast and crew for a complete
look at the making of the film. This a is a six part
featurette with a running time of 1hr and 20mins total. The
featurette is divided in the following sections.
Shooting Begins: New Mexico: The production team takes
the audience behind the first days of shooting (14:18)
Back To School: New Haven , Connecticut The
production team talk about how was gong back to Connecticut
to shoot the film.(10:16)
Welcome to the Jungle: Hilo , Hawaii : A good behind
the scenes about the jungle scenes of the film, includes
comments from the production team, cast and stunt
coordinators (6:24)
On-Set Action: Frank Marshall talks about shooting
On-Set back in California. Another good behind the scenes
piece here. (27:21)
Exploring Akator Steven Spielberg and the production
team talk about what is Akator and how it was created.
(14:24)
Wrapping Up! The cast talk about the ending of the
film (7:27)
Warrior Makeup: The makeup team talk about the
Warriors makeup. (5:27)
The Crystal Skulls Steven Spielberg, George
Lucas and Harrison Ford talk about the myth of the Crystal
Skull and how it was created for the film (10:13)
Iconic Props: Spielberg and the cast talk
about the creation of Iconic scenes for the Indian Jones
series. (10:04)
The Effects of Indy: The Special effects team
talk about creation of the effects for the film (22:44)
Adventures in Post Production: The production team talk
about the Post production including why the film was not
shot in digital (12:47)
Closing: Team Indy: In this short featurette
Steven Spielberg talk about the closing of the film the its
meaning to him (3:45)
Pre-Visualization Sequences: This is like a computer CGI
visualization of sequences on how some of the key action
scenes are going to look for the shooting of the film.
It includes the Area 51 Escape, Jungle Chase and the Ants
Attack action scenes (15:05)
Galleries
Production Photographs
Portraits
Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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BONUS
FEATURES |
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