Title: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Frank Marshall, George Lucas, and Kathleen Kennedy
Editing: Michael Kahn
Composer: John Williams
Starring:
- Harrison Ford as Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr.
- Shia LaBeouf as Henry "Mut Williams" Jones III
- Cate Blanchett as Irina Spalko
- Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood

Plot and Critical Review: In 1957, Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko and a convoy of Soviet agents posing as U.S. soldiers infiltrate a military base in the Nevada desert. They force Indiana Jones to lead them to a crate in "Hangar 51", which holds the remains of an extraterrestrial creature that crashed ten years before in Roswell, New Mexico. Indiana attempts to escape but is foiled by his partner George 'Mac' Mchale, who reveals that he is working with the Soviets. After a fight and an elaborate vehicle chase through the warehouse, Indiana escapes on a rocket sled into the desert, where he stumbles upon a nuclear test town and survives a nuclear explosion, by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. While being debriefed, Indiana discovers he is under FBI investigation because of Mac's Soviet ties. Indiana returns to Marshall College, where he is offered an indefinite leave of absence to avoid being fired because of the investigation. At a train station, Indiana is stopped by greaser Mutt Williams and told that his old colleague, Harold Oxley, disappeared after discovering a crystal skull near the Nazca lines in Peru. Indiana and Mutt go to a local diner, where they discuss the legend of how a crystal skull was stolen from the mythical city of Akator (called El Dorado by the Conquistadors), created by the Ugha tribe at the behest of their gods, and that whoever returns the skull to the city's temple will gain its power. Mutt passes Indiana a letter from Oxley, which contains a riddle written in a dead Latin-American language. Soviet agents approach them, and a chase commences on the college grounds. Indiana realizes that the Soviets were trailing Mutt to get him to decode Oxley's letter.


In Peru, Indiana and Mutt discover that Oxley was locked in a church-operated psychiatric hospital until the Soviets kidnapped him. In Oxley's former cell, Indiana discovers clues to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who went missing in the 1500s while seeking Akator. Indiana finds the crystal skull that Oxley hid in Orellana's grave. The Soviets capture Indiana and Mutt and take them to their camp in Brazil where they are holding Oxley, and Mutt's mother – who turns out to be Indiana's old love, Marion Ravenwood. Indiana learns that the Soviets believe the skull, which magnetically attracts even non-ferrous objects, is from an extraterrestrial life-form and holds great psychic power; Oxley has suffered a mental breakdown due to over-exposure to the skull's powers. Spalko reveals the specimen stolen from Hangar 51 also has a crystal skull; Spalko believes that returning the skull to Akator will give the Soviets control of the skull's psychic power for use in warfare. As the four attempt to escape from the Soviets, Marion reveals that Mutt's real name is Henry Jones III and that he is Indiana's son. They finally escape, leading to a lengthy vehicle chase involving a sword fight between Mutt and Spalko, Mutt swinging on vines with monkeys, and a swarm of killer siafu ants. Escaping on an amphibious vehicle and surviving an attack by Ugha warriors defending the temple, Indiana, Mutt, Marion, Oxley, and Mac arrive at the Temple of Akator, a Mayan-style pyramid in the Amazon rainforest. Claiming that he is a CIA double agent working against the Soviets, Mac enters the temple with Indiana and the group, but he is actually leaving a trail of homing devices for Spalko to follow.

The group enters the temple (finding among other things, a chamber containing artifacts from nearly every period in ancient history) and Indiana uses the skull to open the door to a chamber tomb, where thirteen crystal skeletons, one missing a skull, are seated on thrones. After the Soviets arrive and again reveal Mac's complicity, Spalko places the skull onto the skeleton. It begins communicating to the group through Oxley using an ancient Mayan dialect. Indiana translates this to mean that the aliens want to reward them with a "big gift". Spalko approaches and demands to "know everything". The beings grant her request and begin to transfer their collective knowledge into her mind. As a portal to another dimension appears over the room, Oxley regains his sanity and explains that the aliens are interdimensional beings who taught the Ugha warriors their advanced technology, such as agriculture and irrigation. Indiana, Mutt, Marion, and Oxley escape from the temple, but Mac and the soldiers are sucked into the portal. The skeletons form into a single alien which continues to feed Spalko with knowledge; however, the collective knowledge of the thirteen beings is too much for Spalko. Her brain and body ignite and disintegrate – her scattered essence absorbed into the portal as well. The temple crumbles, and a flying saucer rises from the debris and disappears as the Amazon river floods the valley. After they return home, Indiana is reinstated and made an associate dean at Marshall College, and he and Marion are finally married.

If there are two men who are familiar with the difficulties in producing sequels in a series of films, they are Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. They've both received the high praises and bitter criticisms of films that were exceptional and those that "just didn't make it." This Indiana film rode the fine line between those two critiques. While some fans loved the "old school" feel of the stunt-based effects and the classic Indiana lines and gimmicks, others criticized Spielberg and Lucas for not taking the series to the next level with the technology available to them. Many scrutinized the "over-the-top" nature of the film. The term "nuked the fridge" was adopted in light of Indiana's altogether unlikely escape from a nuclear blast. I tend to think that fans were being too judgmental as the first three films all involved elements that were clearly far beyond reality. Lighting bolts from the Ark? Dark priests removing beating hearts? The holy grail?! It has been the nature of Indiana films to present situations which were over the top. No doubt the first three films caused so much hype and expectation about the fourth that some were unable to see the film for what it was; a classic Indiana Jones movie directed in the style of an old sci-fi B-movie.

While it received no attention from the Academy the film won a score of lesser-known and more sci-fi/fantasy-driven awards. Even though it didn't bring home Oscar the film grossed over 750 million dollars and is presently rated as the 23rd highest grossing film of all time. Composer John Williams commented that composing the score for this film was "...like sitting down and finishing a letter that you started 25 years ago." Many agreed in feeling that this film represented the end of a particular style of movie-making, one that pushed the limits of cinematic development forward leaps and bounds in its prime. We give our thanks to Steven Spielberg and George Lucas for their diligence and creativity.

My Rating: 7/10

The "Reel Revelation": "Any Last Words?"

In the course of this wonderful film there are two instances of mortal danger in which different characters offer up "last words." The first is when Indiana stands before the guns of two dozen Soviet soldiers and offers up the "I Like Ike!" remark. The second is when Indiana and Marion wander into a dry sand pit (not quicksand, as Indiana would say) and Marion tells Indiana that Mutt is Jones' son. What a time to drop that load of truth, eh?! In movies it makes plenty of sense to save the important stuff until the very end; until death is near and nothing but the honesty remains. This makes for dramatically fulfilling scenes that reach beyond the screen. But what works in movies doesn't always play out in real life so well. While your last words may very well be important, don't wait until the end to say what you need to say today.

No doubt you've been in a situation which demanded your honesty, a situation which commanded you to say the most important thing in a most important moment. The moment came, your heart raced, your lips opened, you drew a deep breath and...and you said nothing. The moment passed and you realized that you had missed the mark. Oops. Your hesitation was justified however, as it is rarely easy to gather the courage necessary to say the most difficult (and consequently most important) thing. Here's a list of some of the things you might have a hard time voicing:
- "I love you."
- "You never knew this, but I was the one who..."
- "I'm sorry for when I..."
- "What happened was a mistake..."
- "I can't believe what you said to me..."
- "I don't think I can do this anymore..."
- "Luke, I am your father."

No doubt this is a tiny sampling of the many things you've had a difficult time mustering the courage to say. If you read any of those and thought to yourself "Yes, I know how that is!" then you are not alone.

Why do people wait until the last moment? I don't just mean death, of course. By "last moment" I mean the final moment at which the possible seems...possible! We've all seen the love-stricken young man confess his love to a woman the night before she gets married. What is that about?! She's getting married the next day, remember...what does he have to lose? There is a certain curious comfort that comes when you feel like you have nothing to lose and can say whatever you please. While that sense of confidence may enable you to do many things, you must not wait for it to come before you'll say what needs saying today.

The ministry of the Gospel is a ministry of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the spreading of Truth. We cannot wait to ask God for forgiveness; we must confess our sins and receive God's forgiving grace today! While it is not always easy to approach God and tell him all the things we've done wrong it is necessary that we be forthcoming with our trespasses. If we can approach the Lord of Lords then surely we can approach one another and say the most difficult thing now, while the time is right, and before we lose the opportunity to give voice to thoughts that ought not wait until tomorrow.

See you tomorrow - E.T.