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Indy verses Aslan

Posted on Monday 26 May 2008 by Greg @ 8:13 am
Filed under: Rants

To be honest I can’t afford to see movies like I used to back in the day. A date night with my wife can be an expensive proposition and not because she has got extravagent tastes (she married me after all) but because of all of the extras:

Dinner before the movie can range from $35-$65 depending on whether we are at Applebees or Outback. The actual movie tickets can cost almost $20 if we go primetime. Popcorn, Drinks, Milk Duds are about $17ish. Add to that babysitting fees and fuel costs and you are spending over $100 for a night at the movies…cha ching!

But over the last two weekends I did something I rarely do. I double dipped on back-to-back opening movie weekends. Last weekend it was Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. This weekend it was Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I really enjoyed Chronicles. It was a good follow up to the first movie. It had spiritual points that I can use for the Dare 2 Share Invincible conference tour next year. I was tuned in from the opening scene through the final scene. But, and I hesitate to make this declaration, I hated Indiana Jones.

There I said it.

Don’t get me wrong, Harrison Ford did a great job in reprising his role as the combative and compelling archaeologist. Shia LaBeouf did a fine job as a whippersnapper whip snapper in the making. And the villain, Cate Blanchett, was very good at being vey bad. But the real villains in this movie were not the old school Communists of Russia but the lame writers of the movie screenplay. Indy should have hunted them down instead of the Crystal Skull and given them a good shalacking.

Please don’t misinterpret. I am a HUGE Indiana Jones fan. I really wanted this movie to be great. In the first thirty minutes of the movie I thought that it could be. The next thirty minutes made me start to doubt. Doubt turned into resignation over the next 1,800 seconds. The last cringe-inducing, please-don’t-go-there segment made me want to reach through the screen, grab Spielberg by the lapel and ask him, “Why? Why? Why?” The director of E.T. should go home, sit in front of his old school typewriter (the one he typed the screenplay of Jaws with) and bring back a plot worthy of his considerable talents.

If you watched Indiana Jones and liked it then good for you. My wife and I didn’t. Aslan’s roar beats Indy’s whip paws down in our humble opinion.

(Insert cheesy spiritual metaphor here)

17 Comments for 'Indy verses Aslan'

On May 26, 2008 @ 9:24 am Kelsey said:

haha, I haven’t seen either, but I found out that it took Harrison (I think it was) 6 weeks of whip training to learn how to use a whip, isn’t that CRAZY?????? And the main girl character (blonde chick) found out she was pregnant during the filming of the movie.
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On May 26, 2008 @ 9:37 am Adam said:

Man, I agree. Isn’t it sad? I posted an open letter to Mr. Lucas on my blog.
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On May 26, 2008 @ 10:24 am Brian said:

Thanks for the heads up. I was considering taking Kim to see it tonight, but after reading your review of the movie I think we’ll see something else.
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On May 26, 2008 @ 10:34 am Barbara said:

My husband and I, both Indiana Jones fans, were also very disappointed by this movie. I agree, the beginning of the movie was good, but my husband and I just sat there staring blankly at the screen after the end. What a letdown!
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On May 26, 2008 @ 10:44 am Ron said:

You’d think that George Lucas, Steven Spieldberg, and Harrison Ford would have combined to put out one of the best movies ever made. They missed the mark by a long shot. The special effects drove the plot. In a good movie, the plot drives the special effects. (Wasn’t that ant seen gross?) Maybe they knew they’d make money off of loyal Indiana Jones fans by putting anything out there. After seeing the movie, I’m not feeling so loyal. And what’s with the alien thing? I thought that was weak…
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On May 26, 2008 @ 11:46 am Alex said:

“Dinner before the movie can range from $35-$65 depending on whether we are at Applebees or Outback. The actual movie tickets can cost almost $20 if we go primetime. Popcorn, Drinks, Milk Duds are about $17ish. Add to that babysitting fees and fuel costs and you are spending over $100 for a night at the movies…cha ching!”

Greg! You can go to the movies without all of the extras! lol
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On May 26, 2008 @ 4:16 pm Becky said:

I have not seen Indiana Jones yet.I really want to see the Narnia and Ironman.Anyways I probably won’t because I leave tommrow on a two month adventure.
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On May 26, 2008 @ 4:35 pm nephewl89 said:

I saw Prince Caspian last Sunday with my youth group, I though it was good, but just good. I thought that it could have been a lot better, it really did not give C.S Lewis credit. They put in a little to much drama (the tension between Peter and Caspian and the half romance with Susan. Now its been a while sense I have read the book but I don’t remember anything like that)and it really detracted from the actual message Lewis was trying to get across. The book is so much better than the movie, I suggest you save yourself $7.50 and read the book instead.
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On May 26, 2008 @ 7:04 pm Rachael H. said:

I saw BOTH of those. Only one for a midnight showing though. I partly agree with you on Indy.I think it was written while the writers were on strike. Ugh! I think it was the lamest ending ever. The acting was awesome and Forde was as amazing as ever. LeBeouf is showing much promise on taking over as the new Indy, but lets hope the next is a little better than the last.
Narnia was as awesome as ever! Some people think it was better than the first, I personally think it is a tie. The guys have really grown up and grown into their characters. I was impressed with how close they stuck to the original old school Narnia’s. The next in the series are showing great promise!! As I was watching it I pointed out to myself the spiritual meanings through out the movie. It will definitely be a good tool in the next d2s! So sad I won’t be able to come!!=(

Much love and God Bless!
~Rachael =D
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On May 26, 2008 @ 10:26 pm Jason said:

Loved Caspian enough the first time to see it again instead of checking out Indy. Yea, twice in as many weekends. Loved the spiritual themes…definitely leaves alot ot consider and discuss.
One point of clarification in your Indy reference…the bad guys in the first 3 were the German Nazis, not the Russian Communists. At least now I know you aren’t perfect.
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On May 27, 2008 @ 8:35 am Janna - Laurel UMC Montana said:

I agree Greg (although after going to see Indy and Iron Man I had to put Prince Caspian in the holding pen).
All I have to say … if it is true that Shia LeBeouf is being groomed for a new breed of Indiana Jones movies, I hope that Spielberg and Lucas (or was it Lucas and Spielberg) take a second to think how much damage they did with their “Alien Resurrection” theme. I actually spent most of the movie thinking to myself: “Haven’t I seen this already? Oh yeah…The Mummy, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, National Treasure.”
There was absolutely no personality to go with the plot. Just pomp and circumstance.
It was like a long and painful processional with a race to the alter (OOPS: POSSIBLE SPOILER!).
Even Indy seemed to have lost his spark; he always seemed to exude confidence and lady-getting appeal. I just didn’t feel it this time.
The movie got out at 12:00 a.m., but I promptly went home and popped Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in my dvd player and spent the wee hours of the morning licking my wounds.
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On May 27, 2008 @ 12:37 pm Paul Loeffler said:

I haven’t seen Caspian yet. With four boys, we’re waiting for the DVD for the same financial reasons you listed (though Milk Duds are disgusting). My wife and I celebrated our anniversary with the new Indy movie… and considered most of it a waste of our celebration and state income tax return money. I’m in total agreement with how you listed the timing - “In the first thirty minutes of the movie I thought that it could be. The next thirty minutes made me start to doubt…” etc. The part that made me laugh the most was Indy and Mary’s argument about why they didn’t get married. My wife and I discussed afterwards how the writers/producers touched on “God-stuff” (quick scene with the Ark of the Covenant, etc.)while focusing on aliens, and what kind of message they were trying to communicate. I hope they get their story writing back to snuff, or I’m really going to miss the next two… literally.
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On May 27, 2008 @ 1:07 pm Theresa said:

Wii drawing! How exciting [I hope I’m supposed to post this here]
So one day when I went to the Dare to Share confrence (it was last summer) I did the cell phone challenge. I called my friend and he didn’t pick up. But he called me back a half an hour later (approximately) then… I shared what I thought about what happens when you died but he just said I don’t know. I shared what I believed in… but he didn’t accept yet. I’m still praying that he will! But I’m sure that phone call opened up some doors to the concept of there being a God. He’s really unstable about religious things, so this was a good way to get his mind running in the right direction… I think.
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On May 27, 2008 @ 4:48 pm luvlotssmileyface said:

Hey! i wanted to get into the Wii drawing but like Theresa i dont know if this is the right place. But oh well. Last year when I went to D2S i took the cell phone challenge and called one of the only friends i had at the moment. My friend had never really been to church or talked to anyone about God. I had no idea where she stood in her walk with God. I talked to her for only two min. but through that talk i got her to talk to her mom about the Bible and she started going to youth group with me. She still goes to youth group with me and she asks me questions about creation and Christ. I try to answer all of her questions and I use SOUL FUEL to help me. Recently she has been going through tough times and the only way that I knew how to help is by me praying for her. She has been not wanting to go to youth group because some of the people there intimidate her but I think i have convinced her to come. She has become one of my closest friends and her questions have helped me to remember to read my Bible and to pray often.
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On May 29, 2008 @ 3:08 pm Twenty Items of Interest (v.19) « Caffeinated Thoughts said:

[…] No kudos for Indiana Jones…. just read over on Greg Stier’s blog some harsh, but likely well deserved, criticism of Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I […]
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On June 3, 2008 @ 1:32 pm RoyalPriest said:

In my book Aslan always is better.
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On June 10, 2008 @ 11:17 am straightupcowgirl said:

I have not seen Indiana Jones yet…
But i don’t see how ANY movie can compare with Prince Caspian.
Best movie Iv’ seen in a very long time.
Good enough to see again(I saw it twice in the theater:).
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Indy verses Aslan

Posted on Monday 26 May 2008 by Greg @ 8:13 am
Filed under: Rants

17 Comments for 'Indy verses Aslan'

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Indy verses Aslan

Posted on Monday 26 May 2008 by Greg @ 8:13 am Filed under: Rants

17 Comments for 'Indy verses Aslan'

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Posted on Monday 26 May 2008 by Greg @ 8:13 am
Filed under: Rants