Indiana Jones Frachise

[Steve R.]

Finally saw "Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny". Before seeing the movie, I had serious reservations concerning the quality of the movie based on some pre-release reviews. In the end, the movie was an enjoyable experience with a happy ending.

The prior Indiana Jones movie, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was released in 2008 and took place in 1957, at the time that the US and the USSR were involved in a cold war. The "Dial of Destiny" was released in 2023. Since this movie was released 15 years after the prior movie, I was naively expecting the "Dial of Destiny" would be dealing with the hot political tensions of 1972, such as Vietnam and/or Cambodia. Instead the "Dial of Destiny" pulled-out, if you need a villain, make them a Nazis trope. Very disappointing and exceedingly unoriginal.

In many action movies, the man and woman insanely fall in love with each other over the course of the movie and promise to remain committed to each other for life. Unfortunately, by either the end of the movie or the first sequel, the couple break-up for some flimsy reason (usually with the woman being written-out of the script). The "Dial of Destiny" was aggressively heading in that direction. Fortunately, at the end of the movie Indiana and Marion made-up.

The movie unfortunately had a know-it-all child (young adult) as an unnecessary element. Which is a segue to the fact that many of the scenes in the "Dial of Destiny" were actually remakes of the prior movies. Each of these scenes was very predictable in its outcome. Still had fun watching.

Two odd points. Was the dial of destiny itself a rip-off of Asimov's psychohistory? It appeared that one of the henchmen in the "Dial of Destiny" was a rip-off of the "Jaws" character from the (old) James Bond movies?

Watching "Dial of Destiny" required a massive suspension of belief. (Wikipedia calls it suspension of disbelief)

In the end, it was still a fun exciting movie to watch.

 

[conception_native_0123]

I would never watch this movie due to Ford being over 80 now. that's a little much for me.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Suspension of disbelief is a necessary part of any kind of fiction, whether we are talking fantasy, science fiction, detective stories, spy thrillers, or just some gushy bodice-ripper romance. Anyone who creates fiction has to be aware of that requirement.

As an amateur writer, one of my most difficult tasks is to set up a situation and then don't stray from it. In my fantasy novels, a necessary part was the need to set up "rules of magic" before any of my characters could use that magic. Then I have to never allow myself to violate those rules. I have to make the scenes consistent with whatever religious beliefs are held by the story's members. I have to have people who behave like people. To me, that "suspension of disbelief" is a cooperative thing in that it is MY job to not overly strain your credulity. A push here, a touch there, but never any "shove believability right out the window" actions.

One of the problems often found in the early "pulp novels" of the fantasy and science fiction genre was their "looseness" verging on disregard for the rules not only of physics but of their own premise. For instance, the Skylark of Space series (E.E. "Doc" Smith) allowed such escalation as to rapidly exceed all sorts of physical limits. The Lensman series (same author) was no better. I've seen it called "credibility escalation" but that was an old term in a writer's magazine I was getting for a while. Might not be common any more.

That's one of the reasons that Star Trek (the original series) was better than many other sci-fi offerings. It was probably an accident that they got it right, but a "warp bubble" is exactly how Prof. Alcubierre has recently proposed to have legitimate faster-than-light travel. It also explains how the awkward nacelles on the NCC-1701 (U.S.S. Enterprise) don't break off when accelerating. They are the warp bubble generators, not the thrust generators, so they are fully enclosed in the bubble, regardless of whatever is moving the bubble as a whole. They played games with alternate dimensions a few times and had a couple of physics-stretchers. (For instance, a universal translator.) But most of the time until the 3rd season, they didn't overly stretch things to the breaking point.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I would never watch this movie due to Ford being over 80 now. that's a little much for me.

I couldn't agree more, it's unrealistic and just lazy sequel nonsense.

 

[conception_native_0123]

lazy sequel nonsense

speaking of this AB, doesn't it remind you of Stallone? The guy that just WON'T stop. That dude needs to retire too. He's notorious for wanting to make sequels for his memorable characters from his prime years. Last one I heard of was Tango and Cash. He wants to make a sequel, whereas the original was made in his prime years and he's now 77! Jesus.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I watched Stallone in a movie not long ago called "Good Samaritan" it was okay it wasn't a lazy sequel.

 

[moke123]

Watched it for the 3rd time last night. The first 2 times I kept getting distracted and couldn't follow the story line. It wasn't the best Indiana Jones movie but it was ok.

Karen Allen is a local. She has a store in Great Barrington where she sells her knitting and teaches acting at Simon's Rock.

 

[conception_native_0123]

Good Samaritan

that's a rarity for me. haven't seen it. but plan to. that's one of few Stallone movies I have not seen.

 

[Isaac]

I would never watch this movie due to Ford being over 80 now. that's a little much for me.

that's how I feel about rock and roll bands for SURE. seeing these 80 yr old guys get on a stage and pretend to be cool is ridiculous and nauseating. however ... when they make those movies about stallone and shwarzanigger getting back together - they're awesome

 

[conception_native_0123]

stallone and shwarzanigger

reminds me of the feud they had together in the 80s and 90s. I forget what the biggest point was though. I believe it was a debate over who had more muscle?

 

[Steve R.]

Since posting the (woke) issues concerning Disney and Indiana Jones have expanded to include Dr. Who and even Star Wars. (I've given-up watching the MCU movies.) Seems that Disney is corrupting numerous movie franchises. The basic issue it seems with a new Star Wars movie this is being planed is that the original movie franchise that was designed to appeal to young males has been turned over to a person who may be anti-male and wants to re-imagine the franchise from a woke female point of view.

Fox News Hosts Slam Stars Wars For Being Too Woke & ‘Feminist’: ‘That’s Why I’m A Trekkie’

Fox News hosts on Outnumbered bashed Disney for adding the first female and person of color director to lead a Stars Wars movie.

www.mediaite.com

Elon Musk Supports Disney Lawsuit Over Female ‘Star Wars’ Director

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk has a lot of opinions over what Disney should be doing, and now he's encouraging shareholder lawsuits.

insidethemagic.net

Next Star Wars Movie Will Be Even More Woke

hotair.com