George Lucas has stepped down from on high to speak some words to his adoring fans about the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
He says, “When you do a movie like this, a sequel that’s very, very anticipated, people anticipate ultimately that it’s going to be the Second Coming. And it’s not. It’s just a movie. Just like the other movies. You probably have fond memories of the other movies. But if you went back and looked at them, they might not hold up the same way your memory holds up.” Really? Sure, I’ll give you Speed 2: Cruise Control, but Raiders of the Lost Ark holds up quite well, IMO. He continues, “We came back to do (Indy) because we wanted to have fun. It’s not going to make much money for us in the end. We all have some money. … It would make a lot of money if you weren’t rich. But we’re not doing it for the money.”
This can go two ways my friends:
1. The movie sucks and Lucas knows it.
So George sees the final edit and shakes his head. “Only thing that could make this worse is JarJar… I better address the nation.” And then releases this statement to bring us out of our adrenaline soaked haze of anticipation so that he doesn’t have to endure another letter writing campaign by the rabid fanboys.
2. The Movie is going to be great, but not as great as everyone has built their hopes up to be.
Lucas likely blames the superhype of the prequels to its failures. I actually think this too. I for one, enjoyed the Star Wars prequels, and though they had their flaws, I felt they stayed true to the franchise (mostly) and a lot of people might have enjoyed it more if they were expecting them to suck. Would we have forgiven Darth Flannel if he had warned us about JarJar? Probably not, but the gesture would have been nice.
I am voting for #2.
Setting the expectations low guarantees success. This is why I don’t buy my wife flowers. Ever. Then when I finally do, she will think she is the luckiest girl on the planet. (I gotta work harder – I’m not hot) I try my best to treat movies the same way.
If I get too excited about them, they will only let me down.
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George Lucas entertains. That’s it! He makes movies that entertain us, at any age. He is a decent person and I will go see any George Lucas movie. I have taken my children and grandchildren to see his movies without any hesitation. George, thanks for the memories…now That’s Entertainment!
@HISDIVINESHADOW
No, I never saw the cartoon. I guess if I did I might be more hyped for this movie. I find that the story is way too “out there.” I’ll wait and see what TMB says about it when it comes out.
TMB=super cool
I agree with you about last crusade darren …
definitely the weakest of the indy films. I actually can’t stand it and will never see it again. It was indiana jones lite. Connery tries his best to ruin the film singlehandedly with his overacting and almost succeeds but he can’t beat speilberg who seemed to be trying to bore everyone to death with labored fights scenes and boring action.
Temple is fucking awesome but Raiders is the king of course.
and I don’t know about rodneys theory that more people may have liked the prequels if they expected them to suck because after phantom menace I did expect the second 2 to suck.
and they did. clones is the worst though. woah boyu..attack of the clones is one of the worst films ever made. completely pointless and void of any entertainment. just unfettered garbage.
I do not see how anyone can think the prequels stuck true to the originals…aside from a few tacked on moments at the end of revenge of the sith that were only put there to prey upon our nostalgia for the older and infinitely better films the prequels all felt as if they were from a galaxy far far away from the original films. They don’t even feel close.
There are no interesting characters in the prequels…the acting is shithouse on every level and they are an embarrassment to everyone involved. they do not exist to me. If they were not connected to star wars and were just a series of sci fi films well there wouldn’t be a series because after the first one there would have been no sequels because phantom menace without being a star wars film would have bombed and been dismissed as an overblown special effects empty spectacle with terrible performances and no one would have gone to see it.
you see the originals have heart. they have an adventurers spirit and each frame is filled with energy and excitement. thee is something about those films that crackle on the screen. the prequels are the exact opposite. dreary, empty and lifeless.
Well Darren I’ll try to find a link.
But I have it on good source that the Jokers NOT the main villian. Even though it sure looks that way.
Harvey Dents character arc is the main story with the Joker doing stuff outside that story. Also the Riddler is in the film toward the end and more than likly be in the sequel.
Actually I’m glad Lucas has said what he said. I was extremely disappointed with The Last Crusade, and it took awhile for Temple Of Doom to get going, at least for me. I’m not saying they were horrid, just…they are nowhere near as entertaining as Raiders…that’s all.
Of course, with Skull, there’s that whole Darabont contreversy, the years of stops and starts…it will do well. The oddball thing is that it is stealing a lot of thunder away from The third Mummy film -has anyone else noticed this? I have-and I could not be more happier.
Accept no substitutes.
*****
Now on to subject “B”.
Riddler isn’t in The Dark Knight., Divine Shadow. The Riddler was speculated on by fans when Anthony Micheal Hall joined the cast and he said he’ll play “an antagonist who gives Batman problems” but the part was never named until about four months ago.
He plays a TV reporter.
Two-Face is expected to show up at film’s end; he is not the main villian nor a supporting one. There’s even a slight chance Two-Face might be an anti-hero.
Joker is the main heavy. Scarecrow has a minor part, and that’s really it. There was some speculation on Deathstroke, as that character showed up in a recentToyfair. I personally feel DS was party to the JLA thing and not the Bat franchise.
Well Kevin I mentioned S3 because everyone said that it had too many villians and that’s what killed it.
Check that on Joker. I’ve read that he’s not the sole focus of Batman. Harvey Dent is. And yes the Riddler is in the film towards the end. I predict he’s going to seal up a nice cliffhanger ending.
Ransom, Speed Racer is a take off of a Japanese animation tv show from the 70’s.
It sounds like you’ve never seen the cartoon.
But let me tell ya that its set in a fantasy world not the real world.
This allows for all kinds of cool racetracks and visuals.
I have forgotton most of the players names but there is this crime boss guy that wants Speed to use his talents for crime.
Speed says no so the crim boss trys to have him killed in a race. But the Mysterious Racer X shows up and saves Speed. He then takes Speed to some secret group that rebuilds his car “the Mach 5” and upgrades it to have all kinds of high tech weapons and countermeasures.
He then with the help of Racer X (who is Speeds lost brother) take down the crime boss and win the big race.
Simple concept, it was ripped off by Knight Rider years later…
I fully expect Speed Racer to be the Biggest film of the year when you factor in all the kids that are going to absolutly love it.
The actor that plays Speed is really awesome as well. Great cast!! This film can’t loose.
@HisDivineShadow:
I dont think we can equate The Dark Knight with Spiderman 3. SM3 was terrible on its own and no other movie will change that.
The Dark Knight has alot of characters but its not stufing itself with villains ater the script was already written.
The Joker is the main villain and just wreaks havoc in the film. Two-Face doesnt come around until the last act, and I havent heard anything at all about Riddler ever being in Nolans story.
I agree with you about Iron Man, Im curious about Speed Racer but still unsure.
Am I the only one that thinks Speed Racer looks stupid? As far as I’m concerned it shouldn’t be grouped in the same category at TDK, Iron Man and Indy 4.
What’s it even about anyway? Cars that can fly and stick to vertical walls? Really? I’m sorry but the clips that I’ve seen look really cheesy.
I’d be very surprised if Speed Racer actually had a good story.
I think Indy 4 is going to be HUGE no matter what Lucas thinks. He clearly has lost touch with reality.
The Dark Knight will be also be HUGE and will put to rest all the critics that ragged on Spider-Man 3 for having too many vilians. TDK will have Joker, Two-Face and the Riddler towards the end. Not to mention some corrupt Gothom cops.
Then again Iron Man is going to be HUGE as well. Not to mention Speed Racer!!!
I think its more of Lucas being gun-shy after the beating hes taken over the prequels. This seems like some kind of pre-emptive damage control if its not well recieved.
What this film has going for it is Spielberg. As long as the script is halfway decent, he can make the most of it.
BTW I still (and have) believe that in the long run The Dark Knight will bring in more than Indiana Jones. I know its crazy but I just have this feeling.
nbakid2000
“I think it will suck.
That being said, I’m expecting to be blown away by more awesome than I think will happen.”
Never wiser words have been spoken.
I actually really really enjoy Episode II despite its flaws. I’ve seen it many times, as opposed to only a few for Episode I and only once or twice for Episode III.
While the die hard fans have mixed reviews about the Star Wars prequels, I think that the general public received them well. I for one really liked Phantom when it first came out, espcecially the build up of the final lightsaber duel. The ending was sweet.
Looking back I can see the weaknesses of the film, but than can be said with almost any movie. I agree with DJ Machismo that if you examine the movies for their entertainment value alone, then they were pretty freakin great, especially when you compare them to some other movies.
Unfortunately, for me the prequels don’t have very much value in terms of re-watching. I saw the Ep. 1 a few times, but I haven’t even had the desire to re-watch the other two. I suppose that this is a problem with many fans who maybe liked the movies but were still disappointed.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable for fans to have high expectations. When Lucas trivializes his sequels or prequels as “just a movie”, I think he’s alienating his fans. I think that in a lot of people’s minds, after the prequels he went from a living legend and visionary to just a regular guy with faults. Maybe if he was more open to input from other people and was more in touch with fans then the prequels would have been better.
Maybe he’s just getting old. I think that it might be time to pass the torch to someone else who will deliver some really great sequels.
I’ve gotta go with Grave on this one. Most people I believe bitch and whine because they let their expectations get out of control. I love all 6 Star Wars films and think they are all great. Just take in the entertainment and thats it, get excited to see it but not over thinking exactly what will be in the movie.
I predict Indy 4 will be thoroughly entertaining and just a damn good ride.
Yeah, on the “it’s not going to make much money” – what, so he admits most people won’t see it because they’ll think it sucks?
I’m thinking this will be a good movie, not a Holy Grail or Ark but more of a Temple type of good. Which is okay with me, Temple was always my secret favorite.
I do think, however, that the anticipation, the hype, can affect a persons perception of a film. I was one of the biggest defenders of the first prequel. Until, that is, I saw the second one and realized what the first one ‘should’ have been. Now I can’t stand Phantom, but I still like the other two.
george lucas is full of it.
he makes toys.
nothing else.
I wasn’t that impressed by the trailer from the very beginning but I still have faith in Spielberg to make this an enjoyable film. Nothing mindblowing but solid and entertaining. That’s all I ask for.
So much for Indy 4 being the highest grossing film of 2008…yeah, right!
This isn’t George’s movie? Funny, could have sworn he was the hold up all these years as he didn’t like the stories presented in previous versions.
That’s a laugh! George didn’t like the story. And now he does. Am I the only one worried about that?
I have a bad feeling about this….
“It’s not going to make much money for us in the end.”
WTF????
So what it sounds like to me is Lucas saying “we need to all get a life”?
Thanks….Shatner allready did that.
I could totaly get a life with 10% of his cash.
Truthfully many of us either like George Lucas or dont at this point. I think its utter stupdity that just because it George Lucas that people are gonna right away have something to say about him and the film. Take Dan for example he does not like Lucas not because of his film but just because Lucas likes to use technology for film making. Ok even Speilberg used CG in his movies and he can thank some part of the to Lucas. Half of Speilberg movies couldnt be done without CG and effects from Lucas company. But thats way off track of the topic on the post. All Lucas is saying is that we shouldnt make a over dramatic image of what the movie will be other wise its gonna turn out like Phantom Menace and most ppl with think the film sucks cause its not what they expected.
Great point Dan,
Speilberg is old school and I really like that about him. All lucas seems interested in nowadays is breaking out the latest digital camera lens and teling us how its just a film nothing more. “Just another day at the movie factory” yaww ummm….
There can only be one thing to say about this. Either Lucas didn’t like the way the movie turned out because he’s not the director of the project or it’s just that his ego got so fucking huge during the Star Wars prequels that every film he sees is utter shit in his mind.
The difference between Spielberg and Lucas is that Lucas keeps on thinking TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY in all his films. Spielberg, while his films are mostly sentimental (Munich being the exception), he gives his films some humanity. Spielberg has even stated that he will never shoot on HD. Hell, Spielberg is the only big name director to still edit his films on a moviola (scissors and tape).
I see this website is getting inundated with advertising. Too bad, i liked it. With that said, i am betting the movie is not so great and with Shia LaBeouf, I am sure its sub par acting.
I will be the first to admit I hyped the first prequel before I saw it. I was way excited. But the second I laid eyes on JarJar, I knew there were problems. I mean, if you can make Ewan MacGregor a boring actor, wow. You’re achieving something. And that’s what that first movie did. Blue screen boredom. Not to mention the fact, episode IV had as its middle part the rescue of a princess from an immense space station, and then the escape from that space station. THAT’S exciting. Episode I? A stupid speeder race on Tatooine. Not quite the same stakes. But even given Lucas’ lukewarm comments about Indy, I’m still holding out hope that it’ll rock. God, I’m a sucker.
Boy what happened to Lucas?
The Star Wars prequels seemed to have drained the life out of him.
Btw
(I had no major probs with them I thought they were good).
^
I’m sure Harrison Ford wouldn’t be all shits and giggles ether over talking about Indy 4.
He seems to allways got that 5 mile (I’m bored) stare on his face during interviews.
I would love to hear Speilberg’s pov on this film.
He still has a strong drive to make landmark entertianing films.
I have no doubt that when the curtian goes down on this film the audience will be applauding.
From what I’ve seen so far this film is going to be great and I’m expecting that.
I’m sure I won’t be let down. I’m really diggin the alien artifact in this one.
It’s disheartening to hear a bit of negativity out of Lucas’s mouth about the movie. I mean it’s cool that they aren’t doing it for the money, but damn he seems so down on it.
I don’t think you can read too much into it. Given the poor reaction to Star Wars Ep 1 he could be just covering his ass in case people don’t like the new Indy. Also I don’t buy that the new Star Wars films were bad merely because they failed to meet the hype. They had a few good moments, but in general they were flat lifeless films with horrible writing and acting. If they were released first they would never have taken off as a franchise.
By the way, on the topic of fans over-hyping the sequels and not liking them – it’s Lucas’ fault they weren’t liked by a lot of people. He screwed them up. It had nothing to do with over-hyping.
I had NO hyping up of the sequels personally and while I generally liked them all, I HATED certain parts of them because of what Lucas did – in other words, I had no expectations for these movies and I was disappointed.
I think it will suck.
That being said, I’m expecting to be blown away by more awesome than I think will happen.
This isn’t HIS movie. Thank the fucking Christ.
George said the exact same thing before Episode 1 came out – It’s just a movie and dont expect too much – he ws right
anyways this is Steven Speilbergs baby too so will wait and see..
But forget all this talk wheres the new trailer they promised us would be out last week?
I think it’s a bit silly to take a quote from George Lucas and predict the movies quality. He’s so disconnected from his fanbase that he probably thinks we all sit playing Yoda Stories and sleep with our Jar Jar action figures.
I agree with old Rod on this one. I have said many time to Doug and John that the Star Wars prequels didnt suck because they were bad movies. They sucked (at least in their eyes) because it not what they were expecting. I like Vader, Obi-wan, Yoda and Papatine alot more than I had before in pervious movies cause I seen more of who they before the orginal movies. With the Indy movie Im not looking for the biggest blockbuster of the summer. Im looking for Indy4 to tell a good adventure story with the charm the pervious films had. In my opinion judging from the teaser that looks like what we will get. We can all complain and nit pick the movie afterwards but so what. The movie is what it is and nothing can be done about it. If you dont like it fine tell us why but, dont keep saying the movie sucks just because it didnt fill your childhood imagination.
I wouldn’t put to much into what he’s saying that just his personality from what I understand, I think he would say this regardless even if it was the best movie of all time and he knew it.
However that said I think he knows 2 things that the movie has the magic of the others but that there was no reason why this movie or any other Indy adventure could have been made some time ago.
this is why i wasnt to fond of them making another indy. for me, i liked that it felt “over” w/ them riding into the sunset, but people seem to put these movies into legendary status, and when it’s an ok movie, or it hits the same beats as the previous movies people get pissed cause they assume raiders or star wars were these flawless films.
nostalgia is ruining entertainment to me, theres all these people who wanna bring back things, as if it was the coolest shit ever, when it was just ok. sometimes it hits the mark (battlestar galatica), but most of the time it falls flat.