# Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Bluray Review



## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

http://images.blu-ray.com/movies/covers/1136_medium.jpgI was a little late renting this Bluray but had been eager to since it came out in theaters back in the summer. I didn't manage to get out the the theater to see it either. I have one in my basement and I prefer it over the expensive alternative.

As a child I was a huge fan of *Raiders of the Lost Ark* and *The Temple of Doom* (Chilled monkey brains anyone?). As a teenager I loved The Last Crusade. All three are etched in my mind and are definitly amongst my top 20 favorite movies of all time. So now comes the latest *The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull*. Does it ingrain the same lasting impression? Does it take Indiana Jones into the new millennium?[img]http://photos.ifmagazine.com/graphics/Unsorted/indianajones-crystalskull-shia-ford-allen.jpg[/img]

In The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (TKOTCS), we see an aged version of Indiana Jones. The presence he generally brings to the screen is generated from his previous roles. In the prequels Harrison Ford had his younger adventurous flair. In the latest installment of the franchise he looks worn out as an adventurer. Mind you for a 66 year old man he's not looking too bad. It's just that most 66 year old aren't swinging their fists and jumping around. As an action hero he is not as believable in this film.

The movie's plot line and overall story was not up to snuff in my opinion. They step away from the religious artifact theme and away from the Germans being the bad guys. I guess it's supposed to be 20 years after The Last Crusade so most of the Nazis would be dead, in prison or in hiding. As a Spielberg film this would be a step back for him. The special effects are top notch, but other aspects of the film are lacking. I would expect more from the screen writer David Koepp as most of his other works are decent. Then again he was working off of George Lucas' story so that might have limited him. 

In my opinion Karen Allen was the equivalent of Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace. Well that might be overstating it a bit, but her performance in the movie is one more reason why TKOTCS would not be in my top 20.

Did they do a good job of bringing the franchise into the next millennium? I think the character development of Mutt played by Shia LaBeouf was lacking to have him take over based on this film alone. Then again that is one of Lucas' weak points in most of his films. He relies on star power and coolness factors to make his non primary characters. I could see a 6th Jones movie in the series passing the reigns over though. I could see Harrison playing the intellectual "stay at home" while Shia goes out adventuring (sort of like National Treasure's Cage and Voight). That would mean a lot more character development in #5. IT did pull in a fair amount world wide (ranks 25th on IMDB) so another sequel could be profitable.

Well that's enough bashing the movie. The picture quality is very good on the Bluray version. The colors pop out at you in most scenes and the film doesn't show too much grain. The movie offers a very sharp, clean and detailed image for the most part. There are many scenes that could be used to show off some great high definition picture quality. The visual effects are great and look very good in high resolution.

The audio quality is good, but not extraordinary. I would have expected some more oomph from a few scenes, especially during the A-Bomb scene (The graphics are stunning though). I think I would have to turn my sub up a notch as the low end seemed a little weak. If I compare it to a similar explosion in the movie Next with Nicolas Cage it pales in comparison (in that one I can feel the air moving from my sub 10' away). The climax of the movie shows off some very nice visuals and the audio is very nice in this part. 



Overall::4stars:
Story::3.5stars:
PQ::4.5stars:
 Audio::4stars:


Side Note: 
What was neat on the disc was the THX Amazing Life intro. I had not seen this and in HD video and the audio and animation is a treat.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I just couldn't get myself around the end of the movie. The science fiction got a bit carried away and really ruined it for me. But the A-Bomb part was funny.


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

*Spoiler* 



Spielberg seems to like aliens. He's made quite a few movies that have them (ie: Close Encounters, ET, AI, War Of The Worlds, Men In Black). What I didn't understand was why the aliens killed Cate Blanchett. Did they just know that she was evil? I didn't understand how the skull could have been separated from it's owner because when it was reunited it made it come back to life. Ray Winstone's death in the end was just too cheesy also. How many times have we seen the greedy gold hungry bad guy die because of their greed. Why did he say to Indy (with a cheesy smile on his face) that he would be alright?




I was thoroughly disappointed with the movie and especially the script that supposedly took 10 years to perfect.


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## Toolatecrew (Jul 10, 2008)

I'm glad you reviewed the BR becuase I saw the movie when it was in theatres and I'd neve be able to drag myself through it again to tell what the BR was like. Terrible movie.


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