Official George Lucas Discussion Thread (Now w/ Civility..?)

[Fawst]

the dialouge is a step down from ANH

Anna that's a saying something, eh? There's a not a much a room down a there as it is, no?

Yah, you know your writing is bad when you refer to a character by the actor's name.

Hee hee, geek humor.

So yah, Lucas... He doesn't suck because he gave us this great fantasy universe. He does suck because he can't write or direct his way out of a paper fucking bag anymore.

I can think of only a few truly impressive moments throughout the PT, and I don't know that I can chalk them up to direction. First off, the three-way battle between Maul, Kenobi and Jin. That's mostly because of Maul. Second, the opening shot from ROTS, but that was ruined by marketing. "Buzz-droids!" or whatever the fuck they were called. NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS A CATCHY NAME. They could have had that entire sequence without ever including that name. Third, the intercut shots of Padme and Anakin looking across the city at each other, without really looking at each other. It was just a nice scene. Beyond that... nothing came close to being what I would call "good direction."

So, he half-sucks.

[Zarles]

C'mon, the Harryhausen monster fight in AOTC was teh awesomes.

[godzillasushi]

I'm probably the only one but I really liked the podrace in TPM. Not the part before "its working its working" or the part after "you did it ani" none of that stupid stuff. Just the race itself. Pretty fun to watch even if it totally didn't belong anywhere near a Star Wars movie.

[Zarles]

I liked it, too. The sound of Sebulba's podracer is fucking great. It sounds like an old car I used to have.

I wasn't as mortally offended by TPM as most people were. I didn't really expect it to have the same effect on me that the OT did, and I think that's why a good portion of people don't like it. Sure, there are problems all over it, but I think the reaction to it was just as much emotional as it was technical. You can all jump on me and call me a dum-dumhead now.

[bluebottle]

and the lightsaber battles in the PT are ridiculously awesome.

[TonyWilson]

and the lightsaber battles in the PT are ridiculously awesome.

True, but I cared a lot less about the outcomes.

[Lord Voldemoo]

and the lightsaber battles in the PT are ridiculously awesome.

No doubt there. I think the fight at the end of TPM is my favorite in all 6 films.

[darkjedijaina]

and the lightsaber battles in the PT are ridiculously awesome.

No doubt there. I think the fight at the end of TPM is my favorite in all 6 films.

mine too. is there a thread/poll for favorite lightsaber battle anywhere? i thought there was...

[TheBaxter]

and the lightsaber battles in the PT are ridiculously awesome.

No doubt there. I think the fight at the end of TPM is my favorite in all 6 films.

mine too. is there a thread/poll for favorite lightsaber battle anywhere? i thought there was...

no doubt, for stunts and effects the fights in the prequels dwarf anything from the OT. but for sheer drama, give me the luke/vader/emperor showdown from ROTJ any day.

[DennisMM]

Action, just action with no emotional weight. Let's hire Michael Bay to do Eps. VII-IX after George's dickey heart gives out.

[Seppuku]

I'd just like to point out that when I voted that George Lucas wasn't "teh suck" before the poll got changed, I sure as shit didn't mean by that that he was One of the All-Time Best.

[Lord Voldemoo]

I'd just like to point out that when I voted that George Lucas wasn't "teh suck" before the poll got changed, I sure as shit didn't mean by that that he was One of the All-Time Best.

ditto...

[TonyWilson]

Action, just action with no emotional weight. Let's hire Michael Bay to do Eps. VII-IX after George's dickey heart gives out.

The thing is, I don't think it is just action. There are reams of the most pant shittngly awful expositionary bullshit to wade through between the boring action. That was my point about bluebottle's post. Darth Maul looked and fought great but I didn't give a shit about Qui Gon Jinn or Obi Wan because the writing was so poor.

[Fawst]

Action, just action with no emotional weight. Let's hire Michael Bay to do Eps. VII-IX after George's dickey heart gives out.

The thing is, I don't think it is just action. There are reams of the most pant shittngly awful expositionary bullshit to wade through between the boring action. That was my point about bluebottle's post. Darth Maul looked and fought great but I didn't give a shit about Qui Gon Jinn or Obi Wan because the writing was so poor.

You just sparked a point in my mind. The problem isn't so much the exposition, as much as it's that the exposition was about shit we didn't care about. At ALL.

Darth Maul. The most interesting non-character this side of Boba Fett. We could have gotten a great story for him, but instead we get fucking Midichlorians.

The Clone Army. One of the bigger mysteries from the PT was the question of just who ordered that army? You could maybe argue that it was Palpatine, but there's not really a lot of evidence to support that. Instead of solving this mystery, what do we get? The ultra-shitty origin of Boba Fett. (Yes, I know I said we got exposition about shit we didn't care about, and I know that the majority of us like Boba Fett, but don't fucking TRY to tell me that you were in ANY way excited about this storyline. It ruined a great character. When I hear/see Fett in ESB, all I can think of is "Shoot him, dad! NOW!" in that insanely irritating raspy/whiney/ghey voice.)

Kashyyyk. What could have been one of the most badass setpieces of the trilogy turned into a fucking waste of time and energy, and instead just created an extremely cheap way to make yet another unnecessary connection to the OT (Chewie).

Force Ghosts. Shit, George, you fucking explained how the Force works by telling us that Jedi are really just infested with a shit ton of little bugs. You couldn't give us something better than "Qui-Gon has found a way to contact me from beyond death!"

I could go on, but why?

[Chilli]

Guys, why would you have wanted Darth Maul?

If they gave him story, Lucas would've fucked it up. If they gave him depth, he'd be another whiny character. Having him do as little as possible made him stand out, because he wasn't on screen enough to be annoying or be Lucased-up.

[godzillasushi]

Yea how about The Clone Wars being hinted at in A New Hope and even being the title of a movie. Yet we only had the 10 minutes or so of it before Yoda loses his mind and makes you forget about an entire war. Shame they didn't go in a different direction and instead include the missions from the clone wars. Or at least make that war bigger.

I'd rather have these scenes from the Clone Wars showing the universe falling apart. And the clones executing different attacks on the trade federation or whatever. You could have the same love-story. But there wouldn't be a gap between 2 and 3. No.....a 5 minute cartoon series does not make up for that hehe.

Maybe then the end of the movie would actually have been somewhere near the beginning and move on from there.

[monorail77]

I'm probably the only one but I really liked the podrace in TPM. Not the part before "its working its working" or the part after "you did it ani" none of that stupid stuff. Just the race itself. Pretty fun to watch even if it totally didn't belong anywhere near a Star Wars movie.

You're not the only one. I enjoyed the podrace a lot. Though it is probably the most frustrating moment in TPM for me thematically.

Leading up to the podrace, we get bits that suggest Anakin is impressively force sensitive. We're told this, but we don't see it. The podrace was a perfect moment for Ani's force powers to be unwittingly unleashed. At the point where one of his engines fails, I thought the moment cried out for a desperate use of the force in some way. It was a stress situation that could have caused Ani to suddenly use a blast of Force, kind've like Harry Potter making the glass vanish from the snake tank at the zoo before he knew he was a wizard. Instead, we got Ani flipping a switch a couple of times. Sad, wasted opportunity.

That said, I think TPM hold up real well. AOTC I recently re-watched with my 10 year old son and we were bored to tears.

[monorail77]

and the lightsaber battles in the PT are ridiculously awesome.

No doubt there. I think the fight at the end of TPM is my favorite in all 6 films.

ditto (or thirded, or whatever)

[thomasgaffney]

I'd just like to point out that when I voted that George Lucas wasn't "teh suck" before the poll got changed, I sure as shit didn't mean by that that he was One of the All-Time Best.

ditto...

Wading through the thread to get it into the Movie Reviews Forum, that seemed to be the consensus of the arguments. Either he is one of the best american filmmakers ever...Or he sucks.

[Chilli]

Aye. TPM is watchable fluff. Liam Neeson looked bored, but he gave it some semblance of Punky Power. Makes me wish he played Obi-Wan instead of Ewan. And that fight IS awesome.

Shame the ROTS ones have absolutely no soul or emotion.

[Evil Hobbit]

I was 13 when TPM was released and I loved it so much! The podrace really changed my bicycle life. I think Lucas biggest power is his ability to speak to produce pure entertainment. Combined with Spielbergs storytelling skills it's greatness. Same reason the Empire Strikes Back is a better story/film. If you look at a New Hope, it realy isn't that great. The real story is told in Empire. Which had a different director.

[Vegeta]

I just finished reading the thread and this is a really interesting discussion that you all have going on. Here's my two cents:

As far as Star Wars goes, I went sour on Lucas when he retooled the original films in 97. The whole pasteing on as much crap as ILM could muster just really turned me off. I know Lucas claims it was how he "really" invisioned the films, but I suspect it was more $$$.$$ driven and about marketing the soon to be released Phantom Menace. Now I certainly can't knock a guy for making a buck, but why mess with something that ain't broke. What actually pisses me off is now you have to buy the "reinvisioned" franchise, like he is ashamed of the original theatrical cuts or something.
When it comes to the prequels it seems like Lucas forgot the most important part about the previous three films:
1. Characters you care about
2. Make it fun (even if there are dark story lines)
With the prequels you already know what ends up happening and who is eventually involved, so it's hard to care about any of the characters. Then the aftermentioned shoehorning of storyline just gets eyerolling (Aineken built C3PO, R2D2 can fly, midichlorians... ect. ). The worst part is that there is almost too much FX in them. Most of the fight scenes are so overdone that nothing looks remotely real. Almost makes me yearn for the fight over the Sarlac pit in ROTJ.


As far as Indiana Jones goes, I have high hopes but the title alone makes me cringe. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? What the hell is that? That's what was wrong with Temple of Doom, it didn't jive with any reality. There's a crazy Indian Cult that Indy happens upon under this castle that can magically remove hearts from people... what? At least in Raiders and Crusade they are looking for real archilogical items (though some can argue they're fiticious). The Arc of the Covenant, the Cup of Christ... at least can provoke some thought or at least you can see why people would seek them. A Crystal Skull... does it have any actual historical significance? Did this kingdom actually ever exist?
And lastly, please tell me that there isn't an Asian kid named Shortround for no apparent reason!

[Chairman Kaga]

As far as Star Wars goes, I went sour on Lucas when he retooled the original films in 97. The whole pasteing on as much crap as ILM could muster just really turned me off. I know Lucas claims it was how he "really" invisioned the films, but I suspect it was more $$$.$$ driven and about marketing the soon to be released Phantom Menace. Now I certainly can't knock a guy for making a buck, but why mess with something that ain't broke. What actually pisses me off is now you have to buy the "reinvisioned" franchise, like he is ashamed of the original theatrical cuts or something.

I've been told changes weren't made just to "update" things he wanted to change but also because the original negatives had degraded under Fox. So while cleaning them up he came up with some of the additional material to wedge in there.
You can buy the original versions without buying the '97 edits.

[Vegeta]

As far as Star Wars goes, I went sour on Lucas when he retooled the original films in 97. The whole pasteing on as much crap as ILM could muster just really turned me off. I know Lucas claims it was how he "really" invisioned the films, but I suspect it was more $$$.$$ driven and about marketing the soon to be released Phantom Menace. Now I certainly can't knock a guy for making a buck, but why mess with something that ain't broke. What actually pisses me off is now you have to buy the "reinvisioned" franchise, like he is ashamed of the original theatrical cuts or something.

I've been told changes weren't made just to "update" things he wanted to change but also because the original negatives had degraded under Fox. So while cleaning them up he came up with some of the additional material to wedge in there.
You can buy the original versions without buying the '97 edits.

I stand corrected. I know for a while there you couldn't. Myself I would perfer them as I saw them when I was a kid.

[Lord Voldemoo]

You can buy the original versions without buying the '97 edits.

Yup, and they're on sale cheap right now, or at least ANH and ROTJ are. Apparently you get what you pay for, I don't own these but it sounds like the transfer and sound really sucks. You get the Special Editions too...so if you don't have them already on DVD (unthinkable) this isn't a horrible buy, I guess.

A New Hope

Empire

Jedi

on the video/sound for the original versions:

What do you lose by watching the 1983 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Jedi, however, on a widescreen TV will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference.

[Chairman Kaga]

You can buy the original versions without buying the '97 edits.

Yup, and they're on sale cheap right now, or at least ANH and ROTJ are. Apparently you get what you pay for, I don't own these but it sounds like the transfer and sound really sucks. You get the Special Editions too...so if you don't have them already on DVD (unthinkable) this isn't a horribly buy, I guess.

A New Hope

Empire

Jedi

The transfers aren't really bad at all but they aren't as good as the '97 versions since they are from the analog Laserdisc masters instead of a rescanning of the negatives.

[Vegeta]

You can buy the original versions without buying the '97 edits.

Yup, and they're on sale cheap right now, or at least ANH and ROTJ are. Apparently you get what you pay for, I don't own these but it sounds like the transfer and sound really sucks. You get the Special Editions too...so if you don't have them already on DVD (unthinkable) this isn't a horrible buy, I guess.

A New Hope

Empire

Jedi

Ah...

Plus, these 2-Disc DVD's will feature a bonus disc that includes, for the first time ever on DVD, the original films as seen in theaters in 1977, 1980 and 1983.

[Lord Voldemoo]

The transfers aren't really bad at all but they aren't as good as the '97 versions since they are from the analog Laserdisc masters instead of a rescanning of the negatives.

What about the non-anamorphic picture? Is it horrendous on a widescreen tv?

What do you lose by watching the 1983 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Jedi, however, on a widescreen TV will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference.

[Fievel]

I'm so happy I have my bootleg OT DVDs in my collection (bought way before any hint of an official DVD release). Not only are they decent transfers from Laser Disc, but they also have some great bonus features - Trailers, Behind-The-Scenes docs, toy commercials, etc.

[Lady Sheridan]

The transfers aren't really bad at all but they aren't as good as the '97 versions since they are from the analog Laserdisc masters instead of a rescanning of the negatives.

What about the non-anamorphic picture? Is it horrendous on a widescreen tv?

It's not bad at all. We have a HD flatscreen and they looked surprisingly good, I was expecting the picture quality to be much worse.

I do wish the sound had been tweaked, though, it doesn't really kick in the surround sound. But they are still worth the money, I think, until the inevitable remastered-original theatrical cut, with 2,000 hours of behind the scenes footage box set comes out.

[Chairman Kaga]

The transfers aren't really bad at all but they aren't as good as the '97 versions since they are from the analog Laserdisc masters instead of a rescanning of the negatives.

What about the non-anamorphic picture? Is it horrendous on a widescreen tv?

It's not bad at all. We have a HD flatscreen and they looked surprisingly good, I was expecting the picture quality to be much worse.

I do wish the sound had been tweaked, though, it doesn't really kick in the surround sound. But they are still worth the money, I think, until the inevitable remastered-original theatrical cut, with 2,000 hours of behind the scenes footage box set comes out.

I wouldn't be surprised ina future release if they using somekind of branching tech to skip the new stuff or change to earlier versions etc.

[Lord Voldemoo]

The transfers aren't really bad at all but they aren't as good as the '97 versions since they are from the analog Laserdisc masters instead of a rescanning of the negatives.

What about the non-anamorphic picture? Is it horrendous on a widescreen tv?

It's not bad at all. We have a HD flatscreen and they looked surprisingly good, I was expecting the picture quality to be much worse.

I do wish the sound had been tweaked, though, it doesn't really kick in the surround sound. But they are still worth the money, I think, until the inevitable remastered-original theatrical cut, with 2,000 hours of behind the scenes footage box set comes out.

cool, I might actually pick these up then...pretty damned cheap right now.

[Chairman Kaga]

For those who just can't somach the changes I would go with them. Aside from Greedo in the new one and the godawful new Ewok song that replaces the godawful old one I like the new scenes.

[Lord Voldemoo]

For those who just can't somach the changes I would go with them. Aside from Greedo in the new one and the godawful new Ewok song that replaces the godawful old one I like the new scenes.

I hate the godawful new song in Jabba's palace too, but for the most part I like the new scenes/effects as well.

Still...i must own the originals on DVD as well...i can't help myself.

GODS DAMN YOU GEORGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

[Bob Samonkey]

Yeah both the new song additions were teh suck

[monorail77]

The transfers aren't really bad at all but they aren't as good as the '97 versions since they are from the analog Laserdisc masters instead of a rescanning of the negatives.

What about the non-anamorphic picture? Is it horrendous on a widescreen tv?

What do you lose by watching the 1983 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Jedi, however, on a widescreen TV will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference.

Yes. they're truly horrible. I bought them and took them back. The store was kind enough to let me do that, I got lucky. Don't waste your time. Unless you don't already have the previous OT DVD release. In that case MAYBE get them. But you'll be missing the decent documentary "Empire of Dreams" and other pretty decent bonus materials that came with the first OT DVD box set.

[unikrunk]

For those who just can't somach the changes I would go with them. Aside from Greedo in the new one and the godawful new Ewok song that replaces the godawful old one I like the new scenes.

Sensors are set to 'Agree', Captain.

Would it have cost that much to replace the Ewok 'Carebear' design with the concept piece that had them looking like porcupines with bird legs?

The only good Ewok...

[Lord Voldemoo]

The transfers aren't really bad at all but they aren't as good as the '97 versions since they are from the analog Laserdisc masters instead of a rescanning of the negatives.

What about the non-anamorphic picture? Is it horrendous on a widescreen tv?

What do you lose by watching the 1983 version? Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound, for one thing (only 2.0 Surround here), and digital cleanup. But for home-theater owners, the biggest frustration will be from the non-anamorphic picture. On a widescreen TV, an anamorphically enhanced (16x9) picture at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio will fill the screen with the exception of small black bars on the top and bottom. The original edition of Jedi, however, on a widescreen TV will have large black bars on the top, the bottom, and the sides unless you stretch the picture (and distort it in the process, especially considering the substandard picture quality). If you're watching on a standard square-shaped (4:3) TV, though, you won't notice a difference.

Yes. they're truly horrible. I bought them and took them back. The store was kind enough to let me do that, I got lucky. Don't waste your time. Unless you don't already have the previous OT DVD release. In that case MAYBE get them. But you'll be missing the decent documentary "Empire of Dreams" and other pretty decent bonus materials that came with the first OT DVD box set.

I have the OT DVD set (special editions), so this would mostly be just rounding out the collection...until George figures out a new way to package it.

HAHAHAHA

[monorail77]

DON'T DO IT, MOO!

I was EXACTLY like you. I thought "Aw, what the hell, I'm a big fan. I really should have this. Its pretty cheap. Why not?"

I felt...violated. Its just not worth it, man. You KNOW this will be released in a better version soon-ish. Just wait. Wait, man, WAIT!!!!!!!!

Or not. I really have no stake in this.

[DennisMM]

Dolby 5.1 Digital? I laugh at your high-tech toys! When I was a kid, theater speakers were pieces of sheet metal hooked directly to cables the size of your wrist! And most of the projector bulbs were half-dead! We built muscle watching movies back then!

[Lord Voldemoo]

DON'T DO IT, MOO!

I was EXACTLY like you. I thought "Aw, what the hell, I'm a big fan. I really should have this. Its pretty cheap. Why not?"

I felt...violated. Its just not worth it, man. You KNOW this will be released in a better version soon-ish. Just wait. Wait, man, WAIT!!!!!!!!

Or not. I really have no stake in this.

I need some sort of chastity belt to keep my from buying this shit...

[bluebottle]

DON'T DO IT, MOO!

I was EXACTLY like you. I thought "Aw, what the hell, I'm a big fan. I really should have this. Its pretty cheap. Why not?"

I felt...violated. Its just not worth it, man. You KNOW this will be released in a better version soon-ish. Just wait. Wait, man, WAIT!!!!!!!!

Or not. I really have no stake in this.

I need some sort of chastity belt to keep my from buying this shit...

i call mine my girlfriend.

[Lord Voldemoo]

DON'T DO IT, MOO!

I was EXACTLY like you. I thought "Aw, what the hell, I'm a big fan. I really should have this. Its pretty cheap. Why not?"

I felt...violated. Its just not worth it, man. You KNOW this will be released in a better version soon-ish. Just wait. Wait, man, WAIT!!!!!!!!

Or not. I really have no stake in this.

I need some sort of chastity belt to keep my from buying this shit...

i call mine my girlfriend.

yeah i need one of those!

[wonkabar]

I went ahead and got them cuz they came with the free Dark Horse/Marvel comic adaptation (at Wal-Mart when they first came out). And the gold-widescreen cases/artwork matched my PT cases.

Luckily, my local used record-store that also trades DVDs took the original release SW DVDs... minus Empire of Dreams and the box.

[monorail77]

Moo, you should buy one of those fantastic SW books that came out last year instead like:

The Making of Star Wars

or

The Star Wars Vault

Those books look tits. Spend your money wisely.

[Vegeta]

Does anyone remember the name of the Star Wars Prequel Apologists Documentary that aired on History Channel last year? As I recall it had tons of fanboys (like Kevin Smith) and historians (for some reason) explaining why Ainekan was reallly a great character in the prequels and why fans shouldn't complain about how the story went (basically).

[Lord Voldemoo]

Does anyone remember the name of the Star Wars Prequel Apologists Documentary that aired on History Channel last year? As I recall it had tons of fanboys (like Kevin Smith) and historians (for some reason) explaining why Ainekan was reallly a great character in the prequels and why fans shouldn't complain about how the story went (basically).

was it this one?

The Legacy Revealed

I remember I saw it, but I don't really remember it...

[Vegeta]

Does anyone remember the name of the Star Wars Prequel Apologists Documentary that aired on History Channel last year? As I recall it had tons of fanboys (like Kevin Smith) and historians (for some reason) explaining why Ainekan was reallly a great character in the prequels and why fans shouldn't complain about how the story went (basically).

was it this one?

The Legacy Revealed

I remember I saw it, but I don't really remember it...

That had to be it... I just remember historians talking about how it seems realistic that Ainekan would be the whiny, pain in the ass that he was.

[RogueScribner]

As far as Indiana Jones goes, I have high hopes but the title alone makes me cringe. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? What the hell is that? That's what was wrong with Temple of Doom, it didn't jive with any reality. There's a crazy Indian Cult that Indy happens upon under this castle that can magically remove hearts from people... what? At least in Raiders and Crusade they are looking for real archilogical items (though some can argue they're fiticious). The Arc of the Covenant, the Cup of Christ... at least can provoke some thought or at least you can see why people would seek them. A Crystal Skull... does it have any actual historical significance? Did this kingdom actually ever exist?
And lastly, please tell me that there isn't an Asian kid named Shortround for no apparent reason!

Crystal skulls are a real historical artifact, though much mystery surrounds them.

Link #1

Link #2

Link #3


Crystal skulls sounded familiar to me when the title was announced, so I did some digging a while back and predicted the twist Lucas mentioned in the VF article. It all makes some sort of sense, anyway.

[Vegeta]

As far as Indiana Jones goes, I have high hopes but the title alone makes me cringe. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? What the hell is that? That's what was wrong with Temple of Doom, it didn't jive with any reality. There's a crazy Indian Cult that Indy happens upon under this castle that can magically remove hearts from people... what? At least in Raiders and Crusade they are looking for real archilogical items (though some can argue they're fiticious). The Arc of the Covenant, the Cup of Christ... at least can provoke some thought or at least you can see why people would seek them. A Crystal Skull... does it have any actual historical significance? Did this kingdom actually ever exist?
And lastly, please tell me that there isn't an Asian kid named Shortround for no apparent reason!

Crystal skulls are a real historical artifact, though much mystery surrounds them.

Link #1

Link #2

Link #3


Crystal skulls sounded familiar to me when the title was announced, so I did some digging a while back and predicted the twist Lucas mentioned in the VF article. It all makes some sort of sense, anyway.

Thanks for the links, Rogue! Still don't know what to think, sounds like swapping Indians for Mayans. As long as their not magically ripping hearts out it should be better than Temple of Doom (which I pretend doesn't exist).