"The adventure continues..."
Set during the Cold War, the Soviets—led by sword-wielding Irina Spalko—are in search of a crystal skull which has supernatural powers related to a mystical Lost City of Gold. Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young man whose friend—and Indy's colleague—Professor Oxley has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts.
Harrison Ford
Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett
Irina Spalko
Karen Allen
Marion Ravenwood
Shia LaBeouf
Mutt Williams
Ray Winstone
George 'Mac' McHale
John Hurt
Professor Harold Oxley
Jim Broadbent
Dean Charles Stanforth
Igor Jijikine
Antonin Dovchenko
Dimitri Diatchenko
Russian Suit
Set during the Cold War, the Soviets—led by sword-wielding Irina Spalko—are in search of a crystal skull which has supernatural powers related to a mystical Lost City of Gold. Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young man whose friend—and Indy's colleague—Professor Oxley has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts.
Life in the old dog yet. Indiana Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls. So here it is, the fourth instalment of the Indiana Jones series is finally here, one of the most talked about, most anticipated, and most yearned for films is here to hopefully entertain the fans and maybe garner some new ones in the process?? Does it deliver? Well to me it most certainly does, as adventure yarns go, this is a ripper, and although the plot gets lost within the outlandish ideals, the film still emerges as one of the betert popcorn blockbusters of the year. All the chief ingredients that have made the franchise so beloved are crammed in by way of crowd pleasing necessity, and it damn well works, outrageous action sequences perk us up at frequent intervals, deftly self aware comic moments are many, and crucially, the film remains loyal to the heroic good against evil spirit of the franchise. We begin in the Nevada Desert in 1957, and it's through this 50s setting that we come to accept the ageing of the main protagonist, he is after all a mere mortal, a man with a whip and a bit of guts. The 50s was a time of paranoia, spies and dubious cover ups were all the rage, this shines through from the outset here, and putting an aged Indiana Jones in this time frame is nothing short of genius. But enough of the politics, we as fans just want to be entertained, and we are well served here, spooky chambers, mysterious civilisations, tricksy maps, unfathomable codes, creepy crawlies, peril at every turn, and stuntery abound, oh yes it's all here. However, the purists will hate the use of CGI in this, and for sure it does grate during one over extended sequence, but just like it didn't stop Stephen Sommers' The Mummy being a riot, it doesn't harm this picture either, we are after all talking about a popcorn actioner here. Surely going into a film of this type one immediately suspends disbelief? I mean I'm personally going into the cinema to escape for a couple of hours, and Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is just what the doctor ordered, with a lollipop to follow for good behaviour. The cast are a mixed bunch, Ford easily carries off the role as the older Indiana Jones, very aware and with tongue firmly in cheek, he surely has rammed all the pre-negative vibes down the throats of the doom mongers. Shia LaBeouf fits into the series with no problems at all, spunky and witty, he adds the young sparkle needed to off set the aged nature of our hero, and he gets a quite delightful entrance to boot. Ray Winstone is an odd casting choice because his character is very underwritten, if you are going to utilise the big Englishman then give him the reins to take, he's gruff and watchable but it remains a case of wasting talent. Karen Allen joyfully reappears as Marion, and the film takes a significant leap upwards once she arrives, however the character is reduced to playing fourth fiddle in the ensuring shenanigans, and as much as the interplay with Indy still sparkles, you can't help hankering for much more from our Marion. Cate Blanchet is sparky as Irina Spalko but although as our chief villain of the piece she's tough, sexy, and not to be messed with, it's a turn that is never quite fully formed. John Hurt does the best he can with what little the role calls for, whilst Jim Broadbent barely gets time to fill the considerable boots left by Denholm Elliott's Marcus Brody. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will divide fans and newcomers alike, but I honestly say without nostalgia rearing its head, that this film is a joy ride to be judged on its own merit. It's difficult to understand some of the venom aimed at this latest instalment, it's not like anything has really changed with the formula, Indiana Jones has always been about fun, nothing more and nothing less, just remember why you fell in love with the franchise in the first place and you will see the makers here have given the fans what they wanted. Perhaps the advent of time and the new technology available has a hindrance value for sure, but although Indy 4 obviously isn't quite the impacting franchise jolt that Bond got with "Casino Royale", it's sure as hell shown "Die Hard 4" how it should have be done. 8/10
Good watch, could watch again, and can recommend. I'm always confused on when this movie is supposed to happen, and too many people get caught up in the involvement of Shia Lebouf to think too hard about it. This movie catches a lot of flak for Shia and half a dozen other things, but compared to the original 3 movies, the concepts of a crystal skull aren't any more weird. While people forget that aspects of the first 3 artifacts are real, the crystal skulls are a real thing that is actively being investigated. Because it's caught up in all the "alien conspiracy" communities I think the movie absorbed some of the ridicule of those people. The story itself is well structured, Cate Blanchett and Karen Allen are welcome are awesome additions to the story, and despite the "sci-fi" element from an alien skull, the movie keeps to a archaeological theme by investigating an ancient temple site. While I'm not going to re-watch this, please ignore the negative hype and give this a try if you like a good action adventure story.
The problem with this is that if it was watched in isolation it isn't a half-bad adventure movie. Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf keep the story moving along OK. Unfortunately, it will always be compared with the earlier prequels and it simply doesn't hold a candle to any of them. Karen Allen reprises her role from "Raiders" with some considerable joie-de-vivre but Ray Winstone and a ridiculously cast Cate Blanchett as the Ukrainian colonel just don't cut through as we race across the world to track down the origin of a mysterious crystal skull. The plot is almost irrelevant; this is just a vehicle for the star and a pretty charabanc one at that. Can think of a few good uses for the killer ants, though...
When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime.
When Travis, the mouthy son of a criminal, disappears in the Amazon in search of a treasured artifact, his father sends in Beck, who becomes Travis's rival for the affections of Mariana, a mysterious Brazilian woman. With his steely disposition, Beck is a man of few words -- but it takes him all the discipline he can muster to work with Travis to nab a tyrant who's after the same treasure.
After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees – and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
A young street-smart, Nathan Drake and his wisecracking partner Victor “Sully” Sullivan embark on a dangerous pursuit of “the greatest treasure never found” while also tracking clues that may lead to Nathan’s long-lost brother.
Finding himself in a new era, and approaching retirement, Indy wrestles with fitting into a world that seems to have outgrown him. But as the tentacles of an all-too-familiar evil return in the form of an old rival, Indy must don his hat and pick up his whip once more to make sure an ancient and powerful artifact doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
Modern treasure hunters, led by archaeologist Ben Gates, search for a chest of riches rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin during the Revolutionary War. The chest's whereabouts may lie in secret clues embedded in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and Gates is in a race to find the gold before his enemies do.
After retrieving the Crystal Skull in Utah, Flynn Carsen receives a map in the mail with the secret location of King Solomon's Mines. When the scroll is stolen, Judson explains the power of the Key of Solomon's book and assigns Flynn to retrieve the map. The map is useless without the legend piece to decipher it, which is located in Volubilis near the Roman ruins in Morocco. Flynn heads to Casablanca to the ruins where he is chased by a group of mercenaries leaded by General Samir. They too want to find the location of King Solomon's mines. Flynn teams-up with Professor Emily Davenport working in the dig and they escape from General Samir and his men. While traveling to Gedi, they save the local Jomo from death and the trio faces a dangerous journey through the wild Africa.
Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Capt. Jack Sparrow feels the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost sailors led by his old nemesis, the evil Capt. Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle. Jack's only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it, he must forge an uneasy alliance with a brilliant and beautiful astronomer and a headstrong young man in the British navy.
Jack Hunter, an adventurous treasure seeker, goes to Syria after his mentor and father figure Professor Fredrick Shaffer is killed. Professor Frederick Shaffer believed that the people of Ugarit, a town in Syria that existed during the Pharoah’s reign, had buried a treasure before they were wiped out by the Pharoahs. Jack Hunter is one of the few archaeologists in the world who can interpret Ugarit writings
A brother and sister's journey into the jungle to find their missing father.