dog428 said:
I think the whip issues have been resolved by allowing Ford to carry an actual whip and then going green-screen for any scene in which the whip is used in a "potentially dangerous" manner.
I think the expectations for this film are a little off. This movie wasn't pushed through in a short time, so the script wasn't rushed. Many are comparing the whole IJ4 saga to the one surrounding Superman Returns. The problems, in both cases, had nothing to do with the quality of the production or the script. There were just quite a few unfortunate and unexpected hurdles along the way that held up production.
Those who have read the script pretty much agree that this film has the potential to be the best of the series. And if the number of Oscars spread among the crew is any indication, the production should be very, very good.
My main problem has nothing to do with any "development hell". It didn't have that.
(And with all due respect, dog: you're incorrect about the situation with Superman Returns. That went through so many bad permutations, including a JJ Abrams script that was absolutely horrendous, execs trying to get Superman to wear different outfits like Batman so they copuld eel action figures, etc. Check out the wikipedia entry on it; it's a good synopsis of all the stuff that came out in the years since Warner Bros. first tried to get it going again. I thought Returns was OK, but considering the disaster it could have been . . whew.)
As for Indy . . . . Your action star, Harrison Ford, is 63 years old. Many say Mucas completely lost it with the lagtest Star wars (I am not one of those people). Spielberg isn't the same filmmaker he was when he made the Indiana Jones films, having fallen into a pattern of pretty, wrap-it-all-up-with-a-big-red-bow endings.
When I was a kid, I was like many others in that I wanted to BE Indiana Jones. Two years ago a local theater played the films on friday and saturday at midnight, one each week, five bucks a pop. I was absolutely giddy watching them on the bg screen again, especially the original. y only beef with the DVDs is that Spielberg owes us an audio commentary, not just pretty words on a short documentary glossing over the fact he was very married while nailing Kate Capshaw on the Temple of Doom set.
And I would beg Mucas, Spielberg and Ford, three guys who collectively provided some of my most beloved entertainment in my youth, to stop this project. I understand the labor of love this is for them, but there is simply no backstory that hasn't been told, no gaps to fill in.
I wish they would leave it lie. And I'll be there with bells on for the midnight show.
