Of the 11 films he directed that have been released since Schindler's List, all but 2 have been turds. That makes my inner 14-year-old self very sad.

IgG4: Nobody says "nuke the fridge", nobody.

You know the phrase, "Nuke the TV dinner"? That was me.

I actually thought the nuking of the fridge was the most watchable part of that awful film.

thomps: AqueousBoy: Of the 11 films he directed that have been released since Schindler's List, all but 2 have been turds. That makes my inner 14-year-old self very sad.

yeah, but when i was 14 i liked some really sh*tty movies.

Hmm, good point.

impaler: Speaking of which, is Shia LaBeouf some illegitimate son of some powerful Hollywood executive, who is being black-mailed?

I hear he gives really good head.

A real treat is watching the interview with Spielberg on dvd/blu ray of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - which he basically kept saying, "Hey, this isn't my fault - no really it isn't!"

impaler: the notion of Shia LaBeouf as an action hero

Speaking of which, is Shia LaBeouf some illegitimate son of some powerful Hollywood executive, who is being black-mailed?

Worse (barely), his family is a bunch of filthy gypsies.

/Look it up

IgG4: Nobody says "nuke the fridge", nobody.

I don't even like saying "jumping the shark".

I like the idea behind having a phrase to pinpoint the exact moment a series becomes derailed, but thinks it should be based on a ill-conceived change to the series as a whole rather than a single bad episode. Yes, it was stupid when Fonzie "jumped the shark", as was pretty much the entirety of the "Happy Days goes to Hawaii" two-parter. But for me, the downfall of Happy Days was not just some stupid random moment, but when they brought on a new character, Chachi, that was a transparent, cynical attempt at foisting a "younger, cooler Fonzie" on the audience. After Fonzie jumped the shark, I could aways hope the next episode is better. After they brought on Chachi and it was clear that he was there to stay (until the "Joanie Loves Chachi" spinoff), the series as a whole became a lot less enjoyable to me.

However, if in these threads I describe a series as having "brought on Chachi", nobody would know what I was talking about and I would have to 'splain myself each and every time. So I hold my nose and say "jumped the shark".

/wasn't bothered by the nuked fridge either
//or the MacGuffin
///sidelining Marion Ravenwood and making Mutt Williams the secondary character was the dealbreaker for me with that Indy movie

tallguywithglasseson: still defends worst scene in 'Indiana Jones 4'

That wasn't even close to being the worst scene in that movie.

Really? Really?! I mean, that scene was not only stupid, it was completely unnecessary. They could have edited out that entire scene and nothing would have been lost, because that damn bomb was never mentioned again in the entire movie. Never, they never told us that Indy was getting super powers, or was developing cancer of the entire body.

It was never... ever mentioned again. They just put him in a lead lined refrigerator, and made us watch as he was thrown across a desert landscape like a bouncy ball only to roll out completely unscathed to stare heroically at the mushroom cloud that incinerated everything around him

And yet somehow, you can tell me with a straight face that that scene is better than the ants, or the aliens? >=(

AqueousBoy: Of the 11 films he directed that have been released since Schindler's List, all but 2 have been turds. That makes my inner 14-year-old self very sad.

It is tough to come back to doing serious movies after doing major groundbreaking comedy like Shindler's List. :(

For the biggest guy in hollywood, Spielberg really cowtows to what he feels public perception is. Not cool throwing George Lucas under the bus. And he got all whiny apologetic about the walkie talkie thing in ET....

The guy doesn't have a backbone.

MayoSlather: I actually thought the nuking of the fridge was the most watchable part of that awful film.

I'll even go further, and say that the fridge is very much in-mythos, given that in the first movie he clung to the outside of a submerged U-boat for something like 400 miles and in the second that he bounced out of a flying airplane and down a mountainside in an inflatable raft.

T.rex: Not cool throwing George Lucas under the bus.

In other news, saying "Don't blame George" is now throwing him under the bus.

Mugato: There's nothing inherently wrong with aliens. Since they were worshiped as gods, the skull is still a religious artifact like the others.

Everyone loves to bash Lucas but all he did was write the story. He didn't even write the screenplay. The director is ultimately responsible for what's on the screen.

I love watching you kiss George Lucas' ass. You've refined it into an art form. In my mind's eye I see you as the "tauntaun kid" from Robot Chicken.

tallguywithglasseson: Better than the entire jungle chase sequence. Especially the swinging-on-vines parts.

Better than every scene that had Shia LaBouef in it.

Better than LaBouef getting hit in the nuts? Because nothing is better than jokes about guys getting hit in the nuts.

Oh, fark it. That entire movie was a steaming bucket of rancid vulture vomit.

AqueousBoy: Of the 11 films he directed that have been released since Schindler's List, all but 2 have been turds. That makes my inner 14-year-old self very sad.

Saving Private Ryan
Munich
Minority Report
Catch Me if you Can

All great movies.

AI and War of the Worlds were both flawed, but not to the point where they could be labeled as turds.

Amistad wasn't bad, but the script was crazy uneven.

Meh for Indy IV and The Terminal.

tallguywithglasseson: Also, anyone who thinks Crystal Skull somehow ruined or tainted the franchise has never seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

I don't remember there being a movie by that name. I'm sure that the only two Indiana Jones movies ever made were "Raiders of The Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade".

tallguywithglasseson: Also, anyone who thinks Crystal Skull somehow ruined or tainted the franchise has never seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

WE'RE NOT SINKING! WE'RE CRASHING!!

I went on either a first or second date with a girl to see Chrystal Skull and we both agreed, if you ignore the ridiculous parts (too many to list) but had zero expectations, it was an okay Indiana Jones flick. We were there to see the character Indiana Jones being older, and we were both content with the film. We agreed that much of the substance was crap but the characterization of Indy was still there. That was all we really cared about.

I know it's overall, a terrible movie, but I'd still like to see one last one... especially since they've cut out the "Old Indy" parts on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. I want Indy to go out in either quiet, safe, retirement; or go out in a blaze of old age revival.

Ed Grubermann: tallguywithglasseson: Also, anyone who thinks Crystal Skull somehow ruined or tainted the franchise has never seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

I don't remember there being a movie by that name. I'm sure that the only two Indiana Jones movies ever made were "Raiders of The Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade".

They were going to make a third but that got canceled. I doubt they will ever make another Harrison Ford is too old, and with George Lucas dead, what is the point?

Mugato: There's nothing inherently wrong with aliens. Since they were worshiped as gods, the skull is still a religious artifact like the others.

Everyone loves to bash Lucas but all he did was write the story. He didn't even write the screenplay. The director is ultimately responsible for what's on the screen.


You're right, there's nothing inherently wrong with aliens. There's something inherently wrong with the movie though. My biggest disagreement with TFA is that the fridge scene might not be the worst scene, just because the whole farking movie was so bad it's hard to decide on one scene to be the worst.

It was unbelievable in a much sloppier way that the other Indiana Jones movies, beginning to end. The MacGuffin was an overused, all-purpose deus ex machina - the fact that it had something to do with an alien was the least of its problems.

Ed Grubermann: tallguywithglasseson: Also, anyone who thinks Crystal Skull somehow ruined or tainted the franchise has never seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

I don't remember there being a movie by that name. I'm sure that the only two Indiana Jones movies ever made were "Raiders of The Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade".

i agree. there were only 2 indiana jones movies. i dont know why people keep making shiat up.

and there was only one matrix movie. anyone who says different is a lying sack of shiat.

Mulchpuppy: AqueousBoy: Of the 11 films he directed that have been released since Schindler's List, all but 2 have been turds. That makes my inner 14-year-old self very sad.

Saving Private Ryan
Munich
Minority Report
Catch Me if you Can

All great movies.

AI and War of the Worlds were both flawed, but not to the point where they could be labeled as turds.

Amistad wasn't bad, but the script was crazy uneven.

Meh for Indy IV and The Terminal.

Yeah, I know I'm in the minority for this, but I thought Munich was awful. I found Catch Me If You Can to be quite boring. HAAAAATED both AI and War of the Worlds. I have to admit, never got around to seeing Amistad. Indy IV was not good - not as a film on it's own or as an Indy film. Terminal was bad. Bad bad. Like, really bad.

I also hated 1941. To the point where I get infuriated just thinking about it. But then you've got Jaws, Close Encounters, ET, the first 3 Indy movies, Jurassic Park and Schindler's List - those are all phenomenal. Brilliant. Some of the best movies ever made. I get so upset thinking about Spielberg because he was like a god to me when I was a teenager. That's why, when I don't like his stuff, it pains me.

thomps: cretinbob: IgG4: Nobody says "nuke the fridge", nobody.

orly (new window)

/does anyone say orly anymore? what ever happened to that incredulous pear thing? my socks hurt.

Wasn't the pear thing LOLWUT and not orly?

/heh

Chthonic Echoes: MayoSlather: I actually thought the nuking of the fridge was the most watchable part of that awful film.

I'll even go further, and say that the fridge is very much in-mythos, given that in the first movie he clung to the outside of a submerged U-boat for something like 400 miles and in the second that he bounced out of a flying airplane and down a mountainside in an inflatable raft.

I'll agree with the 'in mythos' comment, but point out that WWII era subs only submerged for attack or escape. They couldn't stay under very long like nuclear subs can (and do).
Those old subs sailed faster on the surface. Good thing, too, because that's where the air is for the big diesel motors they had.

Still, Indy had to sit on the top of the sub for some amount of time (could have been days) with little to protect him from the elements.

/meh nit-picky sub talk is meh

I am perhaps one of the few who did not feel fazed by the fridge nuking scene because I read the Saucer Men script beforehand, and, knowing how every single other Indiana Jones sequel had scenes lifted off of prior unused scripts, was actually kinda expecting it.

For example, the Monkey King script for Indy 3 had several scenes that were later used for Lost Crusade, such as the canal chase and the tank chase. Link (new window) Temple of Doom used some scenes from a draft of Raiders Link (new window)

My opinion of the movie is that, eh, it's not that bad. Not the best of the series, of course, but there's worse movies out there. Saw it again on tv recently and it was a bit better than I remembered, and at least it was good for an afternoon diversion. But that's just my personal opinion and I know alot of people disagree.