Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 adventure film. It is the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Released nineteen years after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the film acknowledges its star Harrison Ford’s age by setting itself in 1957. It pays tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the era, pitting Indiana Jones against Soviet agents – led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) – for a psychic alien crystal skull. Indiana is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and their son Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.
The film languished in development hell because Spielberg and Ford disagreed over Lucas’ original concept, which featured a more overt focus on aliens. Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts, before David Koepp’s script satisfied all three men. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, and took place in various locations: New Mexico; New Haven, Connecticut; Hawaii; Fresno, California; and on soundstages in Los Angeles. To keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe’s style from the previous films.
Marketing relied heavily on the public’s nostalgia for the series, with products taking inspiration from all four films. Anticipation for the film was heightened by secrecy, which resulted in a legal dispute over an extra violating his non-disclosure agreement and the arrest of another man for stealing a computer containing various documents related to the production. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released worldwide on May 22, 2008, and was a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing film of 2008. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, but fan reaction was mixed.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Produced by: Frank Marshall, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy
Written by
Screenplay: David Koepp
Story: George Lucas, Jeff Nathanson
Starring: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, Igor Jijikine
Music by: John Williams
Cinematography: Janusz Kamiński
Editing by: Michael Kahn
Studio: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release date: May 22, 2008
Running time: 123 min.
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $185 million
Gross revenue: $786,636,033[1]
Preceded by: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Plot
In 1957, Indiana Jones and his long-time partner George “Mac” McHale are kidnapped by a group of Soviet agents led by the psychic Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a government warehouse in Nevada and force Indiana to find a crate containing the remains of an extraterrestrial life form that crashed ten years prior in Roswell, New Mexico. After finding the crate, Mac double-crosses Indiana, having been bought off by the Soviets. Indiana manages to escape into the desert, where he stumbles upon a nuclear test town and survives a nuclear explosion by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. He is later found and debriefed by the FBI because of Mac’s Soviet ties. Shortly after returning to Marshall College, Indiana is offered an indefinite leave of absence to avoid being fired because of the incident.
At a train station, Indiana is stopped by greaser Mutt Williams, who tells him that his old colleague Harold Oxley was kidnapped after discovering a crystal skull in Peru. Indiana proceeds to tell Mutt the legend of a skull found in the mystical city of Akator, in which whoever returns the skull to the city would be given control over its supernatural powers. Mutt gives Indiana a letter from his mother, who was also kidnapped, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient Latin American language, which leads them to the Nazca Lines in Peru. There they discover that Oxley was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital, having suffered a mental breakdown from the powers of the skull, until he was kidnapped by the Soviets. In Oxley’s cell, they find clues that lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who went missing in the 16th century while searching for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Indiana reasoning that Oxley had hidden it there after finding it.
Shortly afterward, Indiana and Mutt are captured by the Soviets and taken to their camp in Brazil, where they find Oxley and Mutt’s mother, who turns out to be Indiana’s old love, Marion Ravenwood, and reveals that Mutt is Indiana’s son. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an extraterrestrial life form and holds great psychic power, and reveals that the specimen stolen from the warehouse also has a crystal skull. She also believes that returning the skull to Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare. Indiana, Marion, Mutt and Oxley manage escape from the Soviets into the Amazon, where Mac claims that he is actually a CIA double agent working against the Soviets and joins the group.
The five reach the temple of Akator where they survive an attack by the Ugha warriors defending the temple. As they enter the temple, Mac, who is actually still loyal to the Soviets, secretly leaves a trail of homing devices for the Soviets to follow. The five enter a chamber containing thirteen alien crystal skeletons, one missing a skull, seated on thrones in a circle. After the Soviets arrive and again reveal Mac’s complicity, Spalko places the skull onto the headless skeleton. The aliens begin communicating to the group through Oxley in an ancient Mayan dialect, promising to reward them a “big gift.” Spalko approaches and demands to “know everything.” The aliens grant her request and transfer their collective knowledge into her mind, activating a portal to another dimension. Indiana, Marion, Mutt and the now-sane Oxley escape the temple, while Mac and the other Soviets are sucked into the portal; the skeletons, meanwhile, form a single alien which overwhelms Spalko with its knowledge, causing her brain to ignite and her body to disintegrate, her scattered essence absorbed into the portal. The temple crumbles, and a flying saucer rises from the debris and disappears to the “space between spaces.” After they return home, Indiana is reinstated and made an associate dean at Marshall College, and he and Marion are married. (http://en.wikipedia.org/)
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