Raiders of the Lost Ark – We are merely passing through history, this is history

One of the greatest adventure movies ever made RotLA is thrilling from beginning to end. It is hard to overstate the cultural impact this film had and if you were picking films that defined a genre this would probably be it. There are so many iconic moments but even if you look at the opening scene of Indy trying to get an idol – the slow cautious grasp of the idol, the betrayal of his companions and, of course, the boulder. And that’s the first ten minutes. There are the Nazis, the snakes, the face-melting, the wonderful dialogue. The scene where Indy steals the ark from the Nazi truck is one of the greatest action sequences of all time, which follows another iconic scene, Indy fighting the Nazi around the plane. One other thing to note – some people criticise the film because Indy doesn’t actually have too much of an impact, if he had stayed out of it the Nazis would have found the ark, opened it, and been consumed by the Ark’s power. Indy did nothing. RotLA is not a computer game, it is a film telling a story and doesn’t simply need to be Indy punching his way through the entire German army.

The Temple of Doom – Fortune and Glory

A prequel to RotLA, ToD is certainly more mixed in quality. It has another great opening scene, this time adding a musical number. In this film Indy is far more the dodgy tomb-robber than in the chronologically later films, selling priceless Chinese relics to criminals in exchange for a diamond. After escaping China Indy and his companions – kid sidekick Short Round (and congratulations to Ke Huy Quan for his Oscar) and Willie Scott, a singer caught up in Indy’s adventures. This film has the villains be an Indian death cult who are searching for stones of great power to conquer the world with their leader a man who literally rips out people’s hearts. While this film is less iconic than RofLA nobody has ever walked on – or even just seen – a rope bridge and not think about the rope bridge scene in ToD, and that’s whether you’re crossing a canyon or at a park.

The Last Crusade – He chose…poorly

Another great opening scene, seeing kid Indy trifling with people stealing relics and with a gold star for efficiency in explaining the origins of his fear of snakes, bullwhip and hat. After that we are back to the Nazis, this time seeking the holy grail, the subject that was an obsession with Indy’s father who has gone missing in the search for it. Again, there are so many memorable moments in this film – X Marks The Spot, throwing a Nazi off a blimp, meeting Hitler, it goes on and on. There are more phenomenal action scenes with Indy saving his father from inside a tank being the high point. TLC also continues with the rather effective body horror that features in the trilogy with the villain Donovan rapidly ageing and collapsing into dust rivalling the heart-ripping antic of ToD or the face-melting from RofLA for sheer visceral punch.

The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull – Nuking the Fridge

This is not a good film but let’s focus on the positive. Aside from hiding in a fridge to protect himself from an atomic bomb the opening scene is quite fun, with Indy being forced to hell Soviet spies steal an artefact…from the same warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant it put in at the end of RotLA, this is shown as while the Soviets are escaping a crate falls opens revealing the distinctive gilded corner of the Ark.

Switching from the traditional Nazis to the Soviets was an interesting move and Cate Blanchett made a good villain chewing the scenery, it was a shame that Ray Winstone and John Hurt were not used to their full potential…or anything near it. The bizarre storyline based on crystal skulls and their alien origins was baffling; given that the previous film had focussed on an icon as well known as the holy grail and so many potential storylines existed the choice of crystal skull is a true cinematic mystery.

It was nice to see Indiana Jones return but it has to be one of the most disappointing returns of an iconic character.

The Problems

It’s important to spend some time on the problems with these films. First, the racism, the film features a lot of people of colour shown in extremely problematic ways, with some tribal people often depicted as “savages”. The portrayal of India in ToD has stood out as one of the most problematic in the Indiana Jones films, and not even necessarily the cult aspect, but the banquet scene where all manner of outlandish and off-putting dishes are served.

Then there are the artefacts. Indy talks a lot about how many items belong in a museum and while this is usually in contrast to corrupt private collectors or actual Nazis, it seems very much to be his museum. These artefacts will be taken back to America and displayed there, taken from the culture and people to who they would rightfully belong to. It is an attitude of its time when few people had second thoughts about filling museums with accumulated treasures from around the world. In ToD Indy does return one of the stones to the village it was taken from, but his plan had been to take the others with him.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will almost certainly be a financial success and we can only hope it lives up to the best aspects of the old films.

Also Read: Harrison Ford: Nerf Herder or the Grave Robber?

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Spielberg’s Bio

Steven Allan Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on 18th December 1946. From a young age, Spielberg loved to make home movies with his father’s camera and go to the cinema. After several relocations and his parent’s divorce Spielberg began studying English at California State University. Having been rejected from Southern California’s film school.

While studying, he produced Amblin’. This short impressed Universal’s vice-president Sidney Sheinberg and he offered Spielberg a TV directing job. After directing several TV projects he directed the TV movie Duel. Which attained cinema distribution overseas and widespread critical acclaim. Spielberg then made his feature debut with Sugarland Express. Which marked his first collaboration with composer John Williams. His next film, Jaws, was the first film to gross over $100 million, was the highest-grossing film ever at the time and was Spielberg’s first film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Close Encounters of the Third Kind followed and earned Spielberg his first Best Director nomination.

In the 80s Spielberg continued directing hit movies. He also founded Amblin Entertainment with Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy in 1981. The company produced many of Spielberg’s movies as well as many other classic films. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Spielberg also began making adult-focused stories. Such as The Colour Purple, Schindler’s List (which won the best picture oscar) and Saving Private Ryan, among others. The prior two won him Best Director Oscars. Additionally, in 1993 his film Jurassic Park revolutionised CGI implementation in movies. And he created DreamWorks Pictures in 1994 with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.

2001 saw Spielberg release A.I. Artificial Intelligence in tribute to his friend Stanley Kubrick. And, at the time of writing, since 2002 he has directed 14 critically acclaimed films in varying genres. All this work has made him the most financially successful director of all time.

 Spielberg’s Style

Several recurring themes and cinematic techniques have become trademarks of Spielberg’s filmography. His stories often showcase ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. And often focuses on how parents, affect their children and sometimes themselves. These elements make his films feel more grounded and relatable.

Spielberg also loves moving his camera. Whether it’s a smooth dolly shot, shaky cam or sweeping long takes Spielberg’s films use active cameras to make the audience feel more involved. Spielberg also uses the camera to express a character’s perspective. Either directly, through POV shots, or through perspective shots designed to elicit a feeling in the audience similar to what the characters are feeling. His films also often have reflections as a thematic/dramatic element and feature bright colours and light to draw the audience’s attention to a specific point and emphasise something mysterious.

Spielberg’s Best

So what are Spielberg’s best films?

Duel

A tight thriller with effective simple characterisation and masterfully tense direction.

Jaws

A horror masterpiece elevated by John Williams’ terrifying score, brilliant camerawork, and Roy Scheider’s, Richard Dreyfuss’ and Robert Shaw’s fantastic performances.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Harrison Ford is a perfect hero, the plot is fun, the score iconic and it features some of cinema’s best moments.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

A touching story, great child performances, brilliant effects and a beautiful score. E.T. is cinematic magic.

Catch Me If You Can

A brilliant character study and the perfect amalgamation of escapist fantasy and grounded adult storytelling.

Also Read: Quentin Tarantino Directing A Star Trek Film? Here’s What It Would’ve Been Like

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And Another Thing…

The main problem with the fourth entry is finding the right story. Many franchises will instead opt for a prequel, spin-off or even a full reboot, rather than a fourth chapter. A reboot is often the preferred option if the last instalment wasn’t well received. After the poor reception to Spider-Man 3, director Sam Raimi was more determined than ever to make the next entry as good as it could be. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite crack it in time to meet the release date set by Sony, leading them to reboot the franchise instead.

Another popular option is the legacy sequel or a “rebootquel”. Often arriving a few years after the original trilogy has ended, these types of sequels often introduce new characters, interacting with the old guard who eventually “pass the torch” onto the next generation. These sometimes lead to other trilogies of their own such as the Jurassic World series (even if the original characters didn’t meet until the third film). Alternatively, the fourth film can be used to shake up the existing formula if things are beginning to grow stale. Fast & Furious took this approach, focusing on heists rather than street racing, and transforming the franchise into the behemoth it is today, at a time when the studio was considering making any sequels direct to DVD.

One Last Ride

Of course, for some franchises, each entry is its own adventure, with little to no ongoing story. Making fourth entries in the Mission Impossible or Star Trek series is in theory simpler, as each film is often mostly standalone. However, this is not always easier. As seen with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was released 19 years after the third entry, finding a story can still be a problem. The extended wait can also lead to dissapointment from fans as they build up unrealistic expectations. Especially when it turns out to be more of the same.

An extended hiatus of the franchise often leads to a rethink. Actors get older and the industry moves on, meaning that any new entries can’t just do the same thing again. The Matrix Resurrections, has a slightly meta approach, acknowledging that audiences want to be amazed like they were with the original but that doing the same thing is boring and unfulfilling. Instead, the film tries to do something different, while it achieved mixed results, it is certainly not a rehash of the previous three. It acts as a look back on the franchise as well as an update. Toy Story 4 acts as an epilogue to the franchise, closing out Woody’s story and introducing new characters. Shrek Forever After offers an ending where Shrek looks at how much he has grown since the first film. Being trapped in an alternate reality where he was never born, and a look at a different outcome for the characters. While not the best in the franchise, it was a step up from the third entry, and a fitting ending.

Epilogue

Fourth films offer a chance to reboot an ailing series, offer a closing chapter to beloved characters, or even make up for a disappointing third film. However, there is a danger that the film is just a retread, or steers too far from what was great about the series in the first place. It’s important for any fourth instalment to look at what works and what doesn’t about the series, and think about the journey of the characters. A fourth entry is always risky, but can be exactly what the series needs.

Also Read: Top 5 Movies That Don’t Need a Sequel, Reboot or Remake

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With such a huge success on his hands, it’s not much of a suprise to find that Star Wars dominated Lucas’ life and career. When Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 Billion in 2012, Lucas effectivly retired from filmmaking. Although it may be his most well know and influential work, Lucas was involved in several other projects and has actively changed filmmaking as we know it.

THX 1138

Lucas’ first feature film, based on his award-winning short film, was a dystopian sci-fi about a world where the population takes emotion suppressing drugs. On its initial release in 1971, it received mixed reviews and a poor box office reception. However, since the success of Star Wars and the director’s cut (with CGI additions of course) the film has gained a cult following. There are several references to the film throughout other projects Lucas was involved in, such as the cell block Princess Leia is in.

American Graffiti

Lucas’ second feature had much better reception and is held in high standards today. It currently features in the list of “1001 Movies to Watch Before you Die“. Lucas and his friend, Francis Ford Coppola, had to fight the studios to get a theatrical release after they demanded cuts and planned it to be a TV movie. It is notable for its heavy use of licensed music, and including a full list of cast and crew in its end credits, which are both common practice now. It also featured a young Ron Howard and a breakout role for Harrison Ford. Although it was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, it did not win any.

Indiana Jones

Arguably his second most popular work, and again featuring Harrison Ford, Lucas is a writer on the first three entries in the series, and an Executive Producer on the fourth. Famously pitching the script to Spielberg while on holiday to escape the madness of Star Wars. Lucas wrote a detailed timeline of Jones’ adventures. Some of which were used for The Adventures Of Young Indiana Jones, a tv series which he wrote and produced.

Lucasfilm

Although the company is mostly associated with Star Wars, they have produced or been involved with films outside of the franchise. Most notably Indiana Jones. However, they have also produced several independent films, such as Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, Willow (Lucas has a “story by” credit) and another children’s animated classic The Land Before Time. While these were relatively successful, or have gone on to be, they also produced some flops, such Radioland Murders (another “story by” credit) and the infamous Howard the Duck. The last film the company released before being acquired by Disney was Red Tails, which Lucas served as an Executive Producer on, and even directed some footage, as it was a passion project for him.

Industrial Light & Magic

Outside of actually making films, one of the biggest contributions to cinema Lucas has made was the foundation of Industrial Light & Magic. Initially, just a small team that worked on the original Star Wars, it quickly expanded and has now worked on over 300 films, including Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Transformers and the Avengers films. The company has won 16 Best Visual Effects Oscars and 40 additional nominations. ILM are also responsible for creating the Photoshop software before it was sold to Adobe. The studio has created groundbreaking special effects and continues to do so

As his friend Francis Ford Coppola lamented, Star Wars took over Lucas’ career, for better or worse. Although it may have prevented him from directing more films, he still had a very active and interesting career as a producer and ideas man and helped lead the way for visual effects.

Also Read: The Mandalorian: A New Hope For Star Wars

The post George Lucas: Beyond Star Wars appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

SPOILER WARNING – It’s hard to imagine someone reading this who isn’t fully up to date but there will be spoilers for Star Wars and Indiana Jones films.

Han Solo

Han Solo is the lovable rogue of Star Wars. Luke Skywalker may have been the lead character but Han Solo was cooler, funnier and far more handsome. Introduced as little more than a dodgy freighter captain with a bad-ass best friend he becomes one of the heroes of a rebellion and wins the love of a princess (and senator, general and many other awesome things). I think for a lot of people Solo is the most identifiable character in Star Wars – he doesn’t have magic powers, he’s not a princess or emperor and he’s not an alien. He was an ordinary guy trying to make the best of living through a bad time but couldn’t just do nothing when confronted with evil.

Indiana Jones

Dr Henry “Indiana” Jones is a prominent archaeologist and professor known to be popular amongst his students. He is also a ravine-jumping, Nazi-punching, evil-defeating hero. I always loved the combination of intellectual and action-hero and while it has been done before and since nobody did it better than Indiana.

Iconic Moments

Both have a plethora of iconic moments, ranging from the funny to the brave to the romantic. Han Solo’s frantic conversation on the Death Star intercom trying to explain away a gun battle is hilarious but does it beat Indiana posing as a ticket inspector who promptly throws a Nazi off of a zeppelin?

The moment where Han shows up to save Luke at the end of A New Hope is the defining image of the hero riding in at the last minute to save the day. For romance, Han wins easily – he has a moment that is arguably the most well-known in all of Star Wars: Leia- “I love you”, Han- “I know.”

Indiana Jones has at least two of the greatest action sequences of all time – the first is in Raiders of the Lost Ark where he races after the truck carrying the Ark and takes it over. He jumped on vehicles, fought soldiers and at one point was hanging onto the front of the truck while the metal he was desperately holding onto snapped off. The second being Indiana rescuing his father from a tank in The Last Crusade which is another all-round amazing sequence.

Han Solo also has something Indiana doesn’t have (not yet anyway) – an iconic death. Being murdered by your own son while you try to reach any goodness still within him is brutal and heartbreaking. Han already seemed to feel like he had failed his son and there was no way he was going to try and fight him (I do love that just after Kylo Ren kills Han, Chewbacca shoots him, as he had no qualms about fighting him).

The Look

Both characters are instantly recognisable and have surely been used millions of times as cosplay and fancy dress. Han Solo’s simple black trousers, white shirt, black waistcoat is so good that when everyone else wore full camouflage on Endor he chose to wear his normal stuff with a camouflage coat. As for Indiana, again simple but it’s the hat that makes it and because of Indiana Jones, the fedora is officially the world’s coolest hat. What’s amazing about Indiana is not only the default treasure seeker outfit, he also has the default old-fashioned professor look too.

The Character

There are a lot of similarities between the two – both are charming risk-takers who like doing things their own way. Both started out as mainly being concerned for themselves but their innate goodness takes over. Both are people who fight the bad guys, even when they outnumbered and almost certain to lose. They differ in background – Indiana’s parents were both academics and had a better life than young Han Solo, who even before his past was filled in a bit more in Solo was safely assumed to be fairly tough. Indiana has a respectable side – as well as an adventurer he is an esteemed academic, while Han does become a general this is part of a rebellion and as The Force Awakens showed he fell back into his old and more questionable life.

The Winner Is…

Which is the more iconic role? And which did more for Ford’s career? It’s an incredibly tough choice but I’d have to go for Indiana Jones, the clinching argument is the film isn’t called Han Solo and the Return of the Jedi. In acting terms, the success of the Indiana Jones films rests entirely on Harrison Ford.

Also Read: Star Wars: Course Correction

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