For me, the last Indiana Jones film was “the Last Crusade”. “Crystal Skull” was pushing it. Although I did like the way Indy and Marion got married in the end.
I have a feeling this 5th entry is going to be the worst in the series and will help kill the franchise.
Setting aside the plot rumors, the trailer really doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. It's one thing to have dodgy CGI for some sort of fantastical element, but Indy On A Horse looked just wrong. And A Dude On A Horse is the sort of thing that you wouldn't tend to think of as needing CGI.
And Indy's line about not believing in magic... uuuuugh.
Maybe the story requires a tail gunner. Raiders of The Lost Ark needed a pusher aircraft for one of Indie's opponents to be mauled by -> hence bogus flying wing aircraft.
No twin-tail He 111 ever flew existed. Do not expect historical accuracy from Indiana Jones.
Somewhat off topic, but I thought I'd present a forgotten Harrison Ford portrayal of Indiana Jones, I'm probably one of the few people who remembers when this little cameo was announced...
Last weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2023.
I have mixed feelings about Dial of Destiny. The first half of the film started off awkward and uneven, but I enjoyed Indy, Helena, and Teddy’s adventures in the second half. But while I loved that the movie ended with Indy and Marion's reconciliation, I feel that there is something missing in the ending.
The biggest unanswered question of Dial of Destiny is whether Indy and Marion's family legacy would end with them, or if they actually have a secret grandchild who is the offspring of their deceased or missing son Mutt. My headcanon or theory is that during the Vietnam War, Mutt fathered a half-Vietnamese Amerasian child or bụi đời with a lover, but neither Mutt nor his parents would know about the kid before his death or disappearance in Vietnam. If Indiana Jones does get revisited with Expanded Universe materials set after Dial of Destiny, perhaps Indy and Marion meeting their long-lost grandchild could be a potential story.
Finally, I understand that Helena Shaw is a polarizing character in Dial of Destiny, but I actually do not hate her. I admit that I did not care for Helena in the first half, but she eventually grew on me in the second half. I believe that Helena was misused and underutilized by the film’s script which prevented Helena from reaching her potential as a fully-developed character. Nevertheless, I give props to actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge for working with what she was given as Helena Shaw.
Since Harrison Ford has announced that he is finished with Indiana Jones, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena Shaw could play a role in finding Indy and Marion’s grandchild. Despite the very distant possibility, I would not mind watching a Helena Shaw spin-off miniseries where she discovers Indy and Marion’s long-lost grandchild and helps their family become whole again.
What are your thoughts about Dial of Destiny? Is this the last we see of Indiana Jones, or do you think we will see Expanded Universe spin-off stories in the future? How do you think the Indiana Jones franchise should be revisited?
Happy MemorialDay 2024 to Mutt Williams and his fellow fallen and missing brothers-in-arms in the Vietnam War.
I am convinced that during the Vietnam War, Mutt fathered a half-Vietnamese Amerasian child or bụi đời with a lover, but neither Mutt nor his parents would know about the kid before his death or disappearance in Vietnam. If Indiana Jones does get revisited with Expanded Universe materials set after Dial of Destiny, perhaps Indy and Marion meeting their long-lost grandchild could be a potential story.
I would not mind watching a Helena Shaw spin-off miniseries where she discovers Indy and Marion’s long-lost grandchild and helps their family become whole again.
Indy 5 has been available for me to watch essentially for free and in hi-def for *months* and I haven't. The flagship "Star Trek" series is in its final season, freely available to me, and not only have I not watched a single episode of that season I've no desire to do so. There are multiple official "Star Wars" series available for me to freely watch, and I've not bothered and am largely uninterested.
If you'd told me 20 years ago that this would be the state of things, I would have had a damned hard time believing you, given how big a fan I was, how important these properties were to me. But they've been uglified.
Indy 5 has been available for me to watch essentially for free and in hi-def for *months* and I haven't. The flagship "Star Trek" series is in its final season, freely available to me, and not only have I not watched a single episode of that season I've no desire to do so. There are multiple official "Star Wars" series available for me to freely watch, and I've not bothered and am largely uninterested.
If you'd told me 20 years ago that this would be the state of things, I would have had a damned hard time believing you, given how big a fan I was, how important these properties were to me. But they've been uglified.
The human mind needs new ideas, new experiences and new challenges to continue to exist, the system refuses to provide more fuel for our imagination... something typical of a gerontocracy of presidents, actors and ideologues who should have retired last century.
I would not mind watching a Helena Shaw spin-off miniseries where she discovers Indy and Marion’s long-lost grandchild and helps their family become whole again.
A probably better idea: an Indy spin off featuring a mature Mutt. Got his degree, missed Nam (too old), goes on to follow in his fathers career footsteps. At some point he has a nightmare where he'd died in Nam and his dad had turned into a broken-down wreck, getting dragged around by some wretched grrrrlboss. Calls his dad who laughs at the unfortunate nightmare, then Mutt gets on about the business of having a successful franchise where, like his father before him, he's an imperfect yet admirable guy that the male audience members want to be like and the female viewers want to be with.
Indy himself probably doesn't appear in the movies, except as an off-screen source of advice for Mutt. Occasional references made to how Indy and Marian are still happily married and living the good life and how Indy is well-respected and, apart from perhaps having recently lost an eye during some heroic daring-do, is still in good shape physically and emotionally.
Here are my theories on Mutt Williams’ military service during the Vietnam War:
From the dress uniform worn by Mutt in his photograph in Dial of Destiny, some viewers believed that Mutt may have served in the UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.
According to Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide (2008) by James Luceno, Mutt Williams was born in July 1938. The Apollo 11 Moon Landing featured in Dial of Destiny took place on July 16-24, 1969. Thus, Mutt would have been around 30 YEARS OLD at the time of his death or disappearance in Vietnam. Depending on his education and training, Mutt could have been a non-commissioned officer with the rank of SERGEANT (E-5) or STAFF SERGEANT (E-6). Or he could have been a commissioned officer with the rank of SECOND LIEUTENANT (O-1), FIRST LIEUTENANT (O-2), or CAPTAIN (O-3). It is possible Mutt could have had some prior foreign language knowledge of Vietnamese and French which he would have learned from his father Indy before his deployment to Vietnam.
As a Marine, Mutt would have served in the time period between the landing of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Da Nang in March 1965 and the Apollo 11 Moon Landing of July 1969. He would have served in the I CORPS TACTICAL ZONE in the northern provinces of South Vietnam which included the cities of Quảng Trị, Huế, Da Nang, and Chu Lai. He would have served with either the 1st MARINE DIVISION around Da Nang or the 3rd MARINE DIVISION near the 17th Parallel Demilitarized Zone. He could have also been selected to serve in MARINE FORCE RECON. There is also the possibility that he could have served as a Marine Security Guard protecting the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.
Sadly, Mutt could have died or disappeared during the 1968TET OFFENSIVE which turned American public opinion against the Vietnam War. He could have fought in one of many battles of the Tet Offensive such as at Huế or Khe Sanh. It should be noted that the Tet Offensive occurred in three campaign phases: January thru March 1968; May thru June 1968; and August thru September 1968.
Finally, my favorite theory is that Mutt had a Vietnamese lover with whom he fathered a half-Vietnamese Amerasian child or bụi đời ("life of dust" or "dusty life"). Unfortunately, neither Mutt nor his parents would know about the kid before his death or disappearance in Vietnam. If Indiana Jones does get revisited with Expanded Universe spin-off stories set after Dial of Destiny, Indy and Marion meeting their long-lost grandchild who is the offspring of their son Mutt could be a potential story.
As a postscript, the VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL WALL which would have featured Mutt Williams’ name alongside his fellow fallen brothers-in-arms was opened to the public on November 13, 1982, more than one year after the theatrical release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
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