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There’s a photo of Mutt in a military uniform on a shelf in Indy’s apartment, it’s right next to a folded flag and a photo of Indy’s dad. It’s the scene where Indy is woken up by the hippies
@@krazykajeevie In fairness to me I originally was going to comment it was a nice follow up to the scene where his dad's pic is next to Marcus in 'Crystal Skull' but I forgot to add that!
Yep! I didn’t notice the folded flag, but I certainly did see the army photo of Mutt. I was immediately flooded with questions, akin to “Shia actually okayed that?!”.
@@TheRealBGregz same , and I was like ummm why go that route? Writers could of had be busy with his family, or go off on his own adventure by sending a letter to his dad. A lot of people and reviewers were surprised
As one who went into this pretty apprehensive, I personally was pleasantly surprised by this one. While this is a relatively low bar, I think its an improvement over Crystal Skull ( which I'll agree is not the bubonic plague people make it out to be), and actually succeeds at things that Crystal Skull did not. I'm also glad they did not simply "ignore/retcon" that film out of existence. I also think they did a believable job bringing the character into yet another era, and incorporated just the right amount of age jokes. The ending was very touching to me, as was Indy's time travel monologue. Overall a good film and a satisfactory send off for Ford!
One man's meat is another man's poison. I recall one review which panned the Hugh Jackman movie Van Helsing, but the factors he listed that he hated back-fired in my case because what he hated I loved. His intentionally bad review made me go see it, and I love it! Calvin may enjoy the last Indiana Jones movie, and I may hate it, and there's nothing wrong with either view.
The proof really is in the pudding. I've avoided movies because how they've seemed, and then when watched really enjoyed for reasons I never anticipated. Likewise I've watched a film, disliked it, and then later watched it again, and found myself actually enjoying it from things I never took on board before.
Some people like playing with dog shit it's just a matter of to each their own. Just because someone likes something dosen't automatically mean it isn't bad
I thought the film was a massive disappointment. Other than the opening in WWII, the rest of the film dragged and I was bored. I honestly thought Crystal Skull was better, and that film was pretty darn poor too.
The device/mcguffin of the movie is a real artifact that is considered an enigma in that it is seemingly a device that is not of its era. In the movie, they use not as a "time machine" but a locator for the time portal/fissure that occurs every in certain locations at a specific time. There are instances in history that indicate that this may be possible, and this as a plot device is more convincing to me than the one in the crystal skull.
There are a lot of subtle similarities between this film and NTTD in my opinion, and I’m surprised to feel it actually handled the ‘being the send off movie while having to clean up the 4th movie’s mess’ thing better here? (Spoiler) When the third act unfolded I felt they were going to push for an ending where Indy would die in the past, so when he was punched my theatre had the biggest giggle of the entire film, almost out of relief.
I have a feeling that his death was the original ending, but then they changed it after test screenings or whatever. I dunno, just the way they built it up felt a bit… hmmm…
@@samuelbarber6177 "Test screening"...or the polarising reaction to the ending of NTTD, released in 11 of '21, giving those with "Dial" plenty of ⏰ to course-correct!
Very NTTD vibes near the end with Indy wanting to stay in the past. The weird thing is that; A) I would have been fine having Indy and Archimedes chilling out for the rest of the film. You could have done something like the ending to The Two Popes where they just chill out and talk history. B)Its still a good thing that he remains in the present even after all of that. No Time To Die was more contrived in getting Bond to his demise, despite Dial Of Destiny literally bending time and space to get into a similar situation.
There was a picture of Mutt in the first "modern" sequence, pretty much the opening shot as it takes you through Indy's apartment. I remembered thinking "oh good, he still exists, they're just doing the Sean Connery thing from the last movie by just having a picture". But then a few scenes before Indy actually talks about him it dawned on me randomly that there was a folded flag next to his picture and I then had a pit in my stomach getting to that scene where Indy would speak of him. A bold move that I felt was the emotional crux of Indy and the Dial. And of course he's been around long enough to know it wouldn't be worth meddling with regardless of his deepest intentions, so I was glad they didn't go the direction of him trying to use it in the way he explains to Helena on the boat.
Calvin is a big reason I never got into producing RU-vid videos. We're of similar age and I discovered his channel in early days. From that time, through to our maturing, his thoughts nearly always mirror mine - only better, and far more charming. This is not one of the exceptions. Felt very much the same about this film!
HA! Even now I’d encourage anyone to get into producing RU-vid videos if it’s something you’d have fun doing so if the bug every catches you again you should totally go for it! And I anticipate I’ll watch your videos and nod along with agreement entirely 😂
@@calvindyson there's that charm 🤣. And, I should put out, you've put a meticulous amount of hard work and care into this for years, so it's more than having the thoughts!
@@adotgif If you do decided to make YT videos, my advice would be to remember that some people cannot accept that a difference of opinion is not a personal insult to them, just an expression of your own opinion and personal preferences. Just keep that in mind and you'll be able to deal with the inevitable blow-back of "This is my favorite film/book/game, etc. How could you not agree with me about it?!!"
Calvin Dyson needs to take his rancid cultural-Marxist [indoctrinated] hands off of Indiana Jones. Dial of Destiny is pure woke/cultural-Marxist excrement.
I enjoyed the film overall. I didn’t care too much for Bridge’s character until the end. I also didn’t love that Indy was kind of the broken hero trope again but I will say all and all I really enjoyed this film as well.
I'm Gen X and minored in film in undergrad; based on your comment, perhaps I will see the film at my home theatre-- as a case study. You know, Society is aging rapidly, maybe the movie is actually targeting the Boomer generation not the traditional younger demographic. Maybe this movie is a very expensive experiment to see if they can make money off Boomers nostalgic enough to suport this movie (technically 80-year old Ford isn't even a Boomer, but he plays one in Dial, I believe (70).) Too bad, though. Dial of Destiny isn't tracking well at the box office. I doubt they break even on a $300 million bloated budget.
I think Indy had to be in a down place at the start. If he was happy with Marion and playing with grand kids it would be hard to pull him back into the action again when he's content in retirement. It also allows him to have a character journey [where he can get his happy ending at the end].
I loved it! Ford was great as usual. Mikkelsen was a perfect villain. Waller-Bridge's Helena is my favorite Indy "companion". I liked her story and character arc and how capable she was. (Didn't care for the "wombat" nickname. That was just odd). My only nit to pick is the length. I was aware while watching it that it was going on a bit long. I would have cut the boat/diving section. The pacing of that section was too slow and out of kilter with the rest of the film. It was the only part where I missed having Spielberg as the director. I get what they were going for but I don't think it worked. I loved how he could have stayed with Archimedes and that would have felt like a perfect ending, and how the ending they went with was also perfect (and brought tears to my eyes). I didn't notice the CGI. I thought the de-aging was great. I would watch a whole new set of Indy movies with Ford de-aged.
Very disappointed in this film. The first 20 min was great and felt like the old Indy, but then it was all downhill from there. It would have been a much better film if Phoebe Waller wasn’t in it. What a sad way to send off Harrison Ford.
The movie’s plot couldn’t have happened at all without Indiana Jones. It’s not Helena’s movie at all. It’s more his journey about finding his place than it is her journey about learning how to actually care about people and also history rather than profit from it.
Did the Aegean diving sequence, with the villains boat appearing alongside the heroes remind anyone of For Your Eyes Only? However in this case, the villains watch the heroes leave on their boat, rather Bond and Melena watch Walter Donovan leave on his boat.
In fact it did, especially when we had the view from underwater to the surface. And btw, when Indy said he had an old friend in Greece, I was wondering if he was talking about Kristatos 😅
I differ from your overall opinion of the film, Calvin, for reasons that you touched upon. Don't get me wrong, Dial of Destiny has some good moments (I'd give it 3 out of 5) but this movie is very much sad tired old man Indy. It might have worked for Logan but Indy is a totally different character who appeals to audiences for different reasons. This probably effects me as much as it does because Indy is my second favourite movie hero after Bond. The sequel Star Wars trilogy took the trio of heroes from the original trilogy and made their lives after ROTJ miserable. For all its faults, at least KOTCS gave Indy a happy ending with Marion. But then DOD undoes that happy ending to make Indy miserable again. The problem is that Indy remains miserable for most of the film. He has little agency in the film and was often dragged along by Helena or having being kidnapped by the villains. Undoing Indy's happy ending from KOTCS and making him a sad sack for most of the film in aid of a cliched character arc just seems like cheap screenwriting basic box-ticking instead of giving fans what we actually want to see in an Indy movie. I also think it is incredibly cheap and stereotypical that older heroes are now sadder versions of their younger selves (again, see Star Wars). Ford is 80 but I believe Indy was born in 1899 so he is actually playing a 70 year old. Not sure how old Henry Jones was supposed to be in The Last Crusade. Connery was 59 at the time and I think he was playing him older. But nevertheless, Henry still had that sense of adventure, still having fun and enjoying the escapades. His elderly age didn't dull that excitement. To be fair, I think I read it was Ford's idea to bring the character down that road and I can understand that from an actor's viewpoint. And I also think that Ford gives an excellent and often heartfelt performance especially on that boat scene. But this new aspect of Indy's twilight years has come at the expense of his sense of fun and adventure that endeared audiences to the character in the first place. Now that I know what to expect, I'm curious to see the movie again to see if my opinion improves.
But what else were they supposed to do when Harrison Ford is 80 years old? He needs to be a position where he's restless and needs to have one last adventure. If he was happy in retirement it would be hard to buy why he's throwing himself into the fray one last time.
@@jamesatkinsonja There are many ways a script could have him coming out of happy retirement for one last adventure. In Mission Impossible 3, Ethan is retired from field work and is happily engaged, but he goes back into the field to rescue a former colleague. The same could have been the case for Indy. Or perhaps there is an antiquity that had alluded Indy his whole life and he finds a new clue about its whereabouts. But this kind of goes back to my core point - elderly age doesn't equate to a loss of a sense of adventure.
I liked Dial of Destiny overall, but my one major complaint would be the cinematography of the action. During action scenes, the shots are just way too close, making it difficult to get a sense of what exactly is going on. The older films had plenty of wide shots during action scenes, but Dial of Destiny barely did at all, and I think that hurt the film. That's my only major complaint though, otherwise I am happy with this movie. Edit: I also wasn't too keen on the CGI Indy face. It just looked off to me.
I really enjoyed this movie. People always say the last two movies are too unrealistic, but aren't they all in different ways? After seeing all 5 movies I think this is my ranking of them (From best to worst); 1. The last crusade 2. Raiders of the lost ark 3. The dial of destiny 4/5. Temple of doom & Kingdom of the crystal skull.
@@tmmartinesq.6216 He said in an interview with Esquire last year that not only was that ending part of his version but he was in favour of it being in the final film [to quote the article 'he's seen No Time to Die and liked it's finale']. As he said in the article his version was going to have Bond taking on the Russian Government but Eon 'lost confidence in it'. Writer John Hodge said in an interview with the Guardian that Eon wanted his script re-written but he and Boyle came as a pair, hence they both left and the idea was scrapped.
I love your videos. However, the film left me depressed and I was personally saddened after the first 20 minutes. I felt it was a film about disrespect and destruction of a hero. I remember riding my bike to the movies when Raiders came out and seeing each other movie over the decades. I am not a fan of PWB, but I can see where she has talent. She would make a wonderful Joan Crawford in a bio flick. Nevertheless, I felt that her character was poorly written and undercut Indy. Also, the child sidekick was just unneeded. I am still heartbroken by this film and its failure to recapture my heart.
disrespect and destruction of a hero? he got old, his son died and his wife left him. life chewed him up, as it does everyone else. did helen's character really undercut Indy? how??? because she was clever, fast, fearless - and a bit neurotic? she was not written as a character to boost the male ego and make him look good. she was her own person, flawed and all. I see the internet is in a meltdown about this, and it makes me giggle. all the tough guys suddenly feel disrespected by the fact that there is a woman in a movie they can not handle. sweet.
@@miam1074 Respectfully, I think you are right: The Indy character in Dial of Destiny didn't boost my male ego at all. I think instead of Indy being beatdown by life, I would have had still kept the tragedies, but I would have made him more philosophical based upon his father's character, his lifelong search of ancient artifacts and understanding his own person history, in line with understanding world history. In think that PWB's character was too one dimensional and could have been given the grit of Katherine Hepburn in Lion in Winter, toughness of Ripley in the Alien series and humor of Roslind Russell in Mame. The script failed PWB and her talents. There was no sense of partnership between Indy and PWB's character and this lack of balance undercut both actors' performances in my mind. If the scriptwriters had drawn upon the energy of the African Queen and Boggey's and Heburn's dynamic, I think it would have translated better. Thank you for your thoughts. I did feel depressed by the whole thing. Just like I did when I saw Crystal Skull but differently as a man turning nearly 60. For me, the magic that I experienced with Raiders and Last Crusade just were not there and the lack of the magic of good literature (whether poem, book or film) left me wanting.
@@kenlawson3336Personally [and people are free to disagree] I actually like how PWB's character did have an arc in the film. She starts off as selfish and mercenary [happy to manipulate Indy and sell objects to the highest bidder] to caring about Indy [including helping him reunited with Marion at the end]. I think only having Indy+ Helena [with her sidekick as support] was a good move, given Indy 4 had a gang around him, which helped the focus on the characters.
I totally agree. And though I agree that the relics that he was going after belonged in a museum, I thought it was funny that she was going after them to sell them on the black market!
@kenlawson3336 - As am I. Producer Phoebe Waller Bridge (hereinafter abbreviated as PWB) wrote this film to specifically disrespect and deconstruct Indy, because she wants to take over the Indy franchise. PWB should be given a one-way ticket back to The UK. We will keep Harry.
For me the moment I teared up was when Indy met Arkhimedes. There was something epic and moving about Indy meeting a figure from history. As a whole that time travel sequence bordered on ridiculous, but I still enjoyed the sense of wonder when you weren't sure which time they were going to pop into. All in all I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.
Pleasantly surprised by the movie 💀💀💀 You do realise that Phoebe Waller-Bridge or whatever her dumb name is, kinda sucks really bad at acting and is extremely annoying, arrogant and makes no common sense for a side character. Wtf
I keep hearing people call the time travel and the last act of this film ridiculous and stupid. Fair enough if you feel that way I suppose... But to those people I would ask have you seen the other four films? Is time Travel more ridiculous than the god of Abraham melting Nazis faces off for daring to open the Ark of the Covenant? Is it more ridiculous than a cult leader employing Voodoo to rip people's still beating hearts out of their chests? Is it more ridiculous than a knight of the crusades spending seven centuries alone in one small room surviving on nothing but water from the cup of christ? Is it more ridiculous than interdimensional beings uplifting the Aztecs and hiding their flying saucer underneath one of the pyramids? The time travel and the ending of this film seems completely on brand to me.
@@savagestarlight7311You're forgetting that Christians genuinely believe the artifacts from the first and third films are real and have those powers. It's not ridiculous if you're a Bible-belter.
@@swishfish8858 This is true... The Bible is definitely ridiculous... A global flood? Two (seven depending on the verse) of every single kind of animal on earth all surviving on a single wooden boat?! Talking snakes and magical fruit?! A hippie coming back to life after being dead three days?? The list goes on and on... That book is one never ending fairy tale and the god depicted within it's pages is a vengeful genocidal monster. Yet people seem to think they're a god of love and compassion for some reason...
I felt this moment as a parallel to his father meeting the Grail Knight, however Indy doesn't have a reason, i.e. a son, to go back. Helena steps in and helps him let go the way she can.
I’d honestly prefer a younger recast Indiana Jones. Grumpy and old Indiana Jones is not why I love the character. The movie wasn’t bad it was just unnecessary… We have a recast Bond every few years and I feel Indiana Jones could benefit for that as well ? Indiana Jones is a character that has so many stories to tell.
Geezus! Indy was grumpy AF in Skull and now people are saying he's even grumpier in DOD? LMAO!! There is a way for extremely super senior actors to continue in stories if anyone would just care to take a page outta the Sean Connery playbook. At any rate, with all of Indy's adventures and hot-blooded libido, it shocks that he doesn't have other kids out there that look and sound just like him i.e. Arnold Schwarzenegger IRL with Joseph Baena. One of those Indy kids could take over the franchise...Just saying, screenwriters. Haha😂
Indy is an idealist ['it belongs in a museum'] but isn't naïve as he's aware he's in a cynical world and does have his grumpy side [particularly with Willy in Doom 'I'm willing to let you tag along'] and is happy to play dirty if necessary [such as shooting the swordsman in Raiders rather than fighting him]. His relationship with his father is also fractious and complicated.
I'm here with you Calvin... Ive always been both a huge Indy and Bond fan, there's a ton of overlap, but... Man, I walked put of my theater crying, not only because I was emotional, but also because it was so good. Im going to have to see ut again, it was a lovely addition to the franchise.
I loved this so much. I thought they went a bit too far with making Helena unlikable before her redemption arc and thought that the New York bits went on for a bit too long, but after they got to Morocco the movie hooked me and did not let go. I left the cinema grinning like a small child. I may or may not have listened to the main theme on repeat during the drive home.
It's completely unearned and hardly redeems her. All she did was exploit everyone, lie, backstab and be a greedy selfish despicble unempathetric human being, until she does a 180 in tomb of archimedes. Her stupid decisions lead to death of Indy's friends and coworkers, have him framed for murder, because she let Voller's men to him and left him for dead. Then we learn she exploited that rahim gangster character who seemingly loved her, just so she could sell artifacts on black market using his hotel, she almost got him shot in the head during the chase. Then she constantly mocks and insults Indy and is stupidly judgemental of him. Without Indy should wouldnt even have a way to get the graphikos, then she ignores the fact his friends gets killed, and het stupid decision to offer and read the graphikos cipher could've easily lead to Indy getting shot dead instantly by Voller as he wouldnt deem him useful anymore. Despite her being such an awful and abrasive character i still enjoyed the movie IN SPITE of how awful she is. It's both on writing and performance.
Saw the film myself yesterday, after marathoning the previous four films over the course of the week. I found it to be a bit flawed in places, but I did have a decent time overall and Ford is terrific. Definitely curious to see it again, just to see how it plays on multiple viewings. As far as a ranking goes right now , favourite to least: 'The Last Crusade' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' 'The Temple of Doom' 'The Dial of Destiny' 'The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'
I did the same thing. I binged through the series as well, and I’m so glad I did. Personally my ranking would be: 1. Raiders of the Lost Ark 2. Temple of Doom 3. Last Crusade 4. Dial of Destiny 5. Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls
Exact same ranking at the moment, but eager to see how it works on small screen and does it hold multiple watching. Big screen it kind of looked too cgi:y at times :( but not in the way like crystal skull :D
The fact that they killed off mutt and divorced Indy and Marion’s marriage made me hate the film since I love crystal skull. To me this movie is just fan fiction because they took away the ending of the previous film. It really sucked for me.
Given Harrison Ford and Shia fell out he was never going to be in this film [he was ruled out a long time ago] so they either could ignore him or use him in to aid Indy's character. If Indy was content with Marion with grandkids he'd have no reason to risk it all again so they needed to separate them [and the ending means they fit that within Indy 4 rather than having Marion die off screen].
@@linseyem92 But that ties into the Marion point-if Indy had grandkids he has less reason to want to get back in action at 80 while Mutt dying serving his country in a conflict which seems to be making little progress is a shock to his values [given he served in WW2]. Given the bad blood between Shia and Ford/Spielberg I was half expecting the character not to be mentioned at all honestly. There does seem to be a reluctance to re-cast in the same continuity now unless its absolutely necessary [such as Rachel in the Dark Knight]. Creed is a valid example but that was forced by circumstances as the film was made shortly after the death of Sage Stallone [who played the character in part 5] so out of respect to Sly killing him off wasn't an option and it does tie into Creed being a sort of surrogate son to Rocky.
@@jamesatkinsonja i only found out recently about the whole conflict between Ford,Spielberg & LaBeouf, so I can sort of understand to an extent but at the same time it kind of made KOTCS pointless because the whole premise of that movie in my eyes was Indy who was fully aware that he wasn’t getting any younger in the beginning of KOTCS thought he was all alone and at the point in life where “life stops giving you things & starts taking them away” & by finding out he had a kid with Marion gave him a new lease for life & a family. I just felt like he deserved better in that sense. I’m one of the few who actually likes KOTCS and even though I can see why people don’t like it, enjoy the movie for what it is a fun movie. Also I would like to ask didn’t Indy have a daughter in the young Indiana jones chronicles? And grandkids? I’m pretty sure he did but now I’m doubting myself.
I liked it alot, but it's more somber tone was a tad off putting at times and I felt that PWB's character Helena wasn't written quite as well as she could have been, but again, I liked it overall quite a bit.
I wish they would have added a narly death for the main villain as all the classic Indy Films have an iconic practical and brutal kill, like Toht's melting head, the tearing out of the heart in Temple Of Doom, The agings in the Last Crusade or even the Russian Geezer who gets eaten alive by ants in Crystal Skull. The opening was definitely the best part for me because they kept the old title font which was nice and that German Soldier getting brutally ran over by the car ressembled that classic violence in the original movies. Just my opinion though.
The start was brilliant, very much vintage Indy, can't go wrong. The ending was...for my money, genius. It helps that I do like my time travel but I like the way they wound up doing it. I'm glad Voller's plan didn't work with them going back to 1939 because...what the hell is an older Indy going to do in 1939? Put him in 3rd century BC alongside a bunch of Nazis...gave the climax that much more of an edge and given that I found the midsection of the film fairly dull with an older Indy seemingly just going through the motions...hell did it need that edge. You had no idea how things were going to play out, what was stopping the Romans from killing the lot of them? What was stopping Indy from just seeing out his days hanging out with Archimedes? There would have been worse ways for him to go. That climax allows it to pull away from Crystal Skull in the ratings but it still nowhere near the original trilogy. 7.5/10.
I thought it was a decent movie. Poignant in places, harking back to past adventures and the villain was great. It's almost asif we are introduced to an Indiana Jones who is broken. He's a grumpy man who's seen his share of sunrises, lost a son and his wife. So for him to want to stay in the past kinda made sense. It wasn't so much about finding treasure or stopping the bad guys it felt more like finding himself again and an adventure that nearly found him living in the past but with the knowledge of today would've been a happy retirement place for him. Eventually Marion and Indy found each other again and a purpose. What was great when the film was over was people gathering outside the cinema saying that wasn't too bad and better than the 4th one. It was also great to hear people humming and singing the theme as we walked away from the cinema. A nice end and for me it's the 3rd best I the series behind Last Crusade and Raiders
Calvin, Thank you for an honest review. I enjoyed the movie, except for the final scene, which was obviously a re-shoot and wasn't connected to the rest of the movie. One big plus, the earlier New York scenes accurately captured the sense of the 1960's. I grew up in New York in the 1960's and the subway scenes brought back my experiences on the New York City subway. My mother graduated from Hunter College (There actually is a Hunter College.) I sat in on one class, and classroom and office scenes resembled he school. I also enjoyed the street scenes with a Con Edison truck, a Cadillac convertible, and a 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 taxi. The 1967 Ford Galaxie 500's and Cadillac convertibles were everywhere in the late 1960's. Finally, the Grand Union shopping bag was accurate. Grand Union was one of the most popular supermarkets in New York City.
Absolutely 5 out of 10 solidly put together but not a Indy Film at all nor a send off. He's a character who deserves a happy ending .they knocked him down without giving him a chance to punch back up
Oh! Also! There is imagery of Mutt! There’s a picture in his war uniform at the start in Indy’s kitchen! Plus, you can faintly hear on the news report before he’s rescued by Sallah that “Dr Jones is currently in the middle of a separation from his wife after loosing their son”
As a friend of mine put it, three movies, a coaster for your drinks while you watch the three moves and, well, a miscarriage (to steal from the co-stars' tv show). That said, I begrudge no-one enjoying anything they want to enjoy.
@calvindyson There is a black and white photo of Mutt (Shia) in Indy's NY apartment. But, despite your great review, I didn't enjoy this film at all. I wish they'd left it as a trilogy with Indiana and Co riding into the sunset. But the fact they repeated the exact same character beats for Indy as they did for Han in the Star Wars sequels was sloppy writing (separated from wife, son gone, miserable life etc)
After having some time to process the film, I think it’s a satisfying conclusion. I have some gripes with it, but I had a blast from start to finish and I’m thankful that we got one last adventure
Another Bond connection: one of the “Dial of Destiny” writers - Jez Butterworth - also co-wrote “Spectre”; he and his brother (and DoD co-writer) John-Henry also adapted “Edge of Tomorrow”. And Mangold is very much a Western fan, from his “Cop Land” (brilliant Stallone performance) to his “3:10 to Yuma” remake, and even here where the Western motifs gel well with Indy’s sensibilities (the final shot especially)
I loved it too . A great send-off as far as I was concerned. His age is well-handled, more specifically his 'time of life' in terms of career and personal circumstances. But what I really like is the confidence of this film - Crystal Skull (which I also like good enough) *felt* conscious that it could fail as a new Indy film after so long with Ford being much older, whereas Dial of Destiny just feels like it knows its end goal and seems completely confident that even though the stakes are higher with this one, it will make its end goal and stick the landing. Which is why it fully leans into the craziness of the climax and I LOVED it, but can obviously see how it will be divisive.
My feed is nothing but people lambasting it right now and it's made me wonder if people actually hate the movie or if they're following a trend. And I'll bet you they'll be a ton of comments telling others that we're shills for liking this movie because, god forbid, we're allowed to have different opinions on the internet.
If Dial of Destiny sounded in time travel, they should've had Indy go into an alternate universe featuring a much younger Indy, de-age the EF out of him and have that younger actor who actually looks and sounds like the younger Harrison Ford--the one from "Age of Adaline," not the poor bloke from "Solo.") That way, the franchise could continue with new adventures. P.S. I absolutely adore Mads Mikkelson because he elevates whatever he's in, but doubt he could even compel me to peek in on this sad movie. We'll see. . .😮
I am so glad, Calvin, to find a reviewer who wasn't reflexively prejudiced against this film. I only watched it because my ex boyfriend wanted to go, I had trepidations from what I had read. And then, as soon as it started I realized that I was going to have a good time. It definitely isn't as good as the first or third Indiana but I liked it more than the second and much more than the fourth. I thought they made all the right calls - you can't have an 80 year old behaving like a 40 year old, so how do you deal with that? And his side-kick, an insensitive, opinionated know-it-all who also happens to be a thief - she's got noting of her father's wisdom and all the superficial knowledge he gave her. I really loved that they had such different agendas and how, gradually over the movie, it was him who gave her the character arc of becoming a good person, a person grateful to be around her adopted family, a person who had found connectivity. And him, having to come out of the stupor so many older people find themselves in, that their glory days are behind them, their achievements unacknowledged in the superficial new world that has replaced theirs, that "damn it" moment when he realizes that she's stolen the device and intends to sell it on the criminal market - and off he goes reluctantly on the best adventure anyone can reasonably imagine an 80 year old embarking on. The only problem I had with his journey was the diving sequence which seemed just a tad too much even for this particular 80 year old. I found some of the chase sequences in the middle of the film a little dull. I am not in any way interested in CGI and Tom Cruise has made those things laughable. I was also disappointed with the CGI New York of 1969. You could actually see where the moving CGI stopped and a static picture took over. After Once Upon A Time In Hollywood this no longer feels acceptable. And I also found the teenage boy without any interest, such short change after the brilliant Short Change. But all the big decisions were perfect and the ending was deeply moving for me, like you, someone who loves the character and feels that it was better than I could have imagined. I do hope people give this movie a chance and have the fun time I had. One big point I'd like to make is that I feel that the whole concept of the Antikythera Device might be a bit much for most people, as too the siege of Syracuse. For someone familiar with both stories and deeply aware of how Archimedes aided in the city's ultimately unsuccessful defense, the moment the aircraft burst through the fissure in time, I knew exactly what was happening and I was absolutely thrilled. It had been signalled throughout. But I suspect for the majority of viewers (including you, if I understand your explanation) this is one of very few films from Hollywood which actually may be expecting a little too much from its audience instead of the routine over-exposition spoon-feeding of a lame plot. Regarding the Antikythera Device, its function was only discovered in 2021, it having been dredged up from the little island of Antikythera near Rhodes in 1970. It is amazing that they were able to work such a clever little elaboration on one of the most fantastical mechanical things ever built, in such a short timeframe. Bravo to the script writers.
Swimming and diving are easier than other stunts for old people. Look up Valerie Taylor, one of the most popular divers of all time. She’s been doing it for more than 60 years, and she was already an adult when she started. I interviewed her once. Google my name and hers and you’ll find it.
I enjoyed the film because I love this character, and that ending was perfect in my opinion. People have complicated relationships that end exactly like that...new beginning held together by history.
If I wanted complicated and real storyline I'd watch Eastenders. Indiana Jones was made to entertain and get you to forget about life for a couple of hours. This just depresses me. It seems to me Hollywood has forgotten about entertaining because they want to get the message into all their movies lately.
Imagine saving the world many times, but can’t share those details with the public. Knowing the truth can make you a grumpy old man, especially if the government has you gagged. And the 1969 setting was a perfect backdrop for a grumpy Dr, Henry Jones Jr...but I like tragic hero’s.
I thought the Helena punch out of Indy was disrespectful of the masculinity of the character. I mean, Indy fans kind of look at him as a combo of maybe Chuck Norris and Humphrey Bogart. Would you have a female literally knock out either of those guys? No. Of course not. It would be absurd. She also did it in such a stupid snarky way. What if the role were reversed and Indy knocked her out to save her, wouldn't that be a rather horrific plot device? That part was really disappointing to say the least!
I don't think it was what they were going for to be honest or thinking that deeply about it. It's worth noting that Indy was never a macho 'no feelings' hero given his complex relationship with his father [and he talks about losing his son earlier in this film] and when taking on heavies often takes a beating but he uses his wits to survive [such as backing the heavy into the propeller in Raiders]. Similarly, part of the initial appeal of Die Hard's John McClane was his vulnerability [given how beaten up he gets in the original die hard] and his flaws [trying to save his crumbing marriage] but that was lost as the sequels went on as he just became an invincible macho hero.
It was a bit jarring to hear Indy's voice sound as reedy as it did during the 1944 section, especially since they used Anthony Ingruber (who has played a pretty pitch-perfect younger version of Ford in "Age of Adaline", including voice) as one of Ford's stand-ins.
I gotta be honest, I didn’t like it. 1. It was too long. 2. Helena is EXTREMELY unlikeable. 3. Indy is now a broken down drunk old man who basically has a death wish which just made everything depressing. 4. After a while, I just got bored. There’s only so many action sequences you can get into until you realize that you weren’t feeling any danger and you were just watching the somewhat, (in some scenes) questionable visuals. 6. Too much CGI. A few times the de-ageing seemed off plus why spend $300 million USD when you still have a 40 year old Harrison Ford STILL sound like 80 year old Harrison Ford?! You couldn’t hire the best impersonator money can buy??? In the tuk-tuk chase, you can clearly tell it’s CGI when Indy and Helena are bickering. You can see it’s CGI a few times when Indy is on the horse, especially on the two or three close-ups of Indy’s face upwards. You can easily see that it’s a CGI background, which takes us out of the immersion. 7. Teddy is a Great Value version of Short Round, but isn’t as likable or cute. He’s almost like a younger Helena, which is awful. (I could barely stand one!) 8. The best sequence is the prologue on the train, after in 1969, it quickly becomes such a slog. 9. What happens at the end with Indy and Helena annoyed me. (She spent the entire time being so ageist and annoying that for me, I was like, “Okay, we still got 15 minutes to go, I think I’m going to dose off a little.” Because at this point, I just didn’t care anymore and I just wanted to have it be over with! 9. Was Indy ever cleared??? 10. I’m sorry but Crystal Skull is better than this imo. I enjoyed it better. Looking back, Mutt and aliens don’t look as bad anymore. (They did him dirty btw.) 11. It only made $24 million USD only for Thursday preview and Friday debut. Against a $300 million budget, this is god awful news. It seems(like this movie), it’s a long and far journey to even BREAKING even! There’s no way it’s reaching the heights of $800 million USD plus! 12. Why was this necessary?! Everything goes basically back to depressing reality minus one thing by the end! I’d rather have just had Crustal Skull’s happy ending if we needed a semi recent Indy movie, just leave it at that! And 13. Why couldn’t they have brought Short Round back? He himself saw Indy as his own father figure. He could have become an archaeologist himself and reaches out to Indy, (who is happily still with Marion and who is now thriving and president of his university and who has become wealthy and semi famous after writing several books about his adventures that which would evolve into the young Indiana Jones Chronicles ) to help him on a mission and the movie goes with them instead of Helena. Plus Mutt and Indy are on good terms now, with Mutt being much maturer and wiser after all this time. Perhaps he joins too? SR and Indy can have a really touching moment somewhere in the movie too. I started thinking about it throughout the movie. Just on what could have been. God what a disappointment!
I've read that this is the last Indiana Jones movie, and that doesn't surprise me. I hope to see it at the movies. If I don't, I'll check it out from the library when it comes out on DVD.
I know this only applies to me but what kind of affected my enjoyment of the movie was the divorce plot thread for Indy. I’m just coming off a difficult divorce and I saw the movie with my dad to escape and remember what it was like to watch an Indy movie with my dad when I was a kid but once I saw those “separation agreement” paperwork I was just distracted the rest of the movie 😔 but I’m glad Indy’s story had a happier ending than mine at least
Kind of spoilery!! Just saw it, kind of liking it! But maybe should have had more practical things in action. Just saw Mangold's Ford vs. Ferrari and hoped that kind of "action". I was very pleased to hear one of my favourite soundtrack pieces from Williams at the first act, but somewhat taken from the moment away. Second act dragged at times, but I liked more old Indy than de-aged Indy. Age thing was handled pretty well in the 1969 showing that Indy really is old and not trying to make him "young" like Roger Moore in AVTAK :D Third act worked for me very much, was kind of "wow" and thought that "thing"should have been more, more "places", but maybe it would have been too much after all :D It didn't make me go like "what the hell is this" like Crystal Skull :D Ending was pretty neat and good closure, scared at first at oh no not this again, but way to go Mangold/screen writers. Above Crystall Skull, but not taking over any of the original trilogy. Interested to see how this works on future viewings.
I just got back from seeing it and really enjoyed it, despite being conflicted about the final 20 minutes. As abrupt as the ending was, I did get emotional with the kiss here scene. It did perhaps feel like the magic of Spielberg was missing, but Mangold did a great job nevertheless. Despite all it’s flaws, there is still something so charming about seeing Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones one last time.
I know how you feel, I had to keep sitting and listen to the entire raiders march, very conscious that it’s likely the last tine for ne to hear this in the theatre.
Calvin I really needed this thanks mate. Have been and still am quite unwell, but this certainly bounced up my spirits. Can’t wait to see this film, and frankly spoilers have never spoiled my enjoyment of any film ever. More power to you Calvin. 👏 👏
Hi Calvin, I just saw Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and also has low expectations, but I enjoyed watching it, may be it could of been 10 minutes shorter. Will you do a review of the new Mission Impossible on You Tube?
There has been a lot of talk about the fact that Phoebe Waller-Bridge was going to replace Harrison Ford after his death in the past, that she would be seen in classic scenes from the previous movies and than would star as Indiana in a Disney + - series. That has all been denied, but seeing what Disney was doing with other male characters in the MCU and the SWU I believed it, for me it explains why they decided on a time travel-device as the macguffin. Indiana Jones 5 could have been about so many other mystical/mythical/archeological things, but they decided on time travel, and I do believe that was because they wanted to replace Indy. When the rumors about that ending got out, Disney panicked and changed the story, but it was impossible to change everything... so they had to keep the time travel in it. In the end they did not know what to do with the time travel anymore. It would have been exciting if Voller actually got back to the 1930's, but they would have had to add another hour to the movie to let that plot play out and the movie would have gone even more over budget. For me Indiana Jones will always be a trilogy, Crystal Skull has a decent first act (ignoring the nuclear blast and the gopher) but the second and third act are so stupid, in Raiders Indy did not do a lot anymore in the last part of the movie but the revelation of the Arc made it exciting, in Skull Indy does not do anything anymore in the last part and the revelation of the Skull was boring. Dial is boring from beginning to end, everything in the movie is forced, scenes drag on and on and Helena is a horrible character, she keeps stabbing Indy in the back and gets people killed doing so. Hollywood has been in trouble for some time now when it comes to the classic blockbuster, it is not that easy anymore to impress people with big visuals, it has all been done before, so it comes back to impressing people with a good story and interesting characters, but that seems to be very difficult.
@pascalcallemien2498 - In Skull, the best part is the very end where we get to see the resolution of the relationship between Indy and Marion - they get married, and Indy acknowledges Mutt (also known as Henry Jones III). In Dial, as the producer, Phoebe Waller Bridge (hereinafter abbreviated as PWB) had Indy’s son Mutt killed off to reduce her competition. Short Round also could take over the Indy franchise, but PWB had Shorty’s scenes reduced. Remember, there currently is an ongoing Writers’ Strike. But, I could write a better plot than PWB. Indiana Jones = I - IV
@@thegreypath1777 Uuuuuh. No. For one, Phoebe Waller Bridge isn't a writer on the film. 2. Mutt was written out entirely because of both LaBeouf's beef with Spielberg and... some other stuff that's a bit too serious to mention here. And 3. This was being written the same time Ke Huy Quan was still in retirement from acting. So Short Round was off the table.
I liked how overtly anti fascist this one was. Like, in the past it was Indy looking for a thing and the nazis getting in the way. This time it was trying to stop a nazi from getting the thing in order to save the world. It may be a coincidence, but it’s also cool to me that the Soviets were the bad guys in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which was made at a time when the very idea of fascists coming back to power was laughable and now here we are in 2023 and we needed Indy to remind us that punching nazis is very important. I will say though it’s a shame that Ke Huy Quan had his comeback just barely too late to be in this film. Would’ve loved to see him team up with Harrison Ford again.
@Reidak12 - I agrée. Bringing Short Round along for the adventure would have turned this movie from a F to an A+. But producer Phoebe Waller Bridge was too threatened by the male leads, and didn’t want them in the movie, and/or wanted the time for the male leads to be shortened as much as possible (for example: killing off Indy’s son Mutt [also known as Henry Jones III] in the Vietnam War).
I must have been in a bad mood, because I hated this film and I liked Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But I’m happy seeing so many people liking/loving this movie. That’s always the best.
There is an image of Mutt in the film! At the beginning of the 1969 portion, in Indy's apartment, you can briefly see a picture of Mutt in his Marine uniform!
Hey Calvin, new subscriber but been a viewer since getting into the bond series a couple years back, really appreciate the positive light on what is a good enough Indy movie, cheers🎉
Calvin, I always appreciate hearing your views about a film. From James Bond to Alfred Hitchcock to Indiana Jones, you have such a love for this experience of cinema that it is an absolute Joy seeing your videos. I watched all the way through, spoilers and all even though I hadn't seen the film yet. Have to say you have convinced me to go see this. Am a huge fan of the Indiana Jones, so I am looking forward to this. Thanks🤗
Thank you! Helped realize I never left an IJ luving at the time, but only over time came to! Excludes, or Allows adding Bondian recast 1930s-40s perilous episodes though now we know he lives to get old??
Movie was shyt. I love the "it was a great ending" people. Yeah because a guy who like Indy should end as a broken, sad pathetic old man whose son died hating him. Definitely important to forget he is an absolute hero in every movie only to be a complete whimpering coward that needs constant saving and put in his place by Pheobe.
When that time travel scene happened I thougth first oh good lord but then I remembered that I've been quite enjoying the belgian comic series Blake and Mortimer lately which kinda is James Bond and Indiana Jones going on adventures and they have a lot of SF elements in their stories. So I ended up rolling with it.
I like to sort of think this movie is like Rocky 6/ Rambo 4 in that it leaves the film series in a good place(Guys, Rambo 3 is silly amazing OK haha ). If you were to do a marathon of all 5 of these movies, then you would end on something gratifying, but you can always end on 'Last Crusade' if you want. No one will push or blame you. But it leaves you on something that gives you a question, could INDY have stayed in the past and be happy or confront his dilemma? I do feel that if Shia hadn't gone through the faze that he went through in 2013/14 then not only would he had been in this movie, but i feel that maybe it would have been Marion that would have passed away and that the movie then tries to deal with Indy trying to rekindle with his Son by the end. The fact that the movie dares to try and address the absence of the son was something I feel the film makers certainly were coming back and forth over weather do they address it or leave it out and carry on with the adventure in the script meetings. Especially after Speilberg left the directors chair in that there was always a question of "What would Speilberg do" or "What can we do instead" ? And heck, a similar situation with Terrance Young leaving Goldfinger and then Guy Hamilton does his own thing, so it goes to show that not only can anyone do a Bond movie but maybe anyone can do an INDY aswell as a STARWARS movie! Who knows though, maybe Steven just didnt have it in him to top something where he said repeatedly that he was done with back in 1989 and only did the 4th movie for George (seeing as George thought Harrsion looked great in that 'Young Indy TV show' epsisode). He doesnt just want to do action movies after all. 18:01 SPOT ON i feel the same and good for feeling what a 4th indi movie would have been in the 90's with Harrsions look had they had done one then. It is sad however that while Salah has himself grandchildren in the movie, Indi however will have to live the rest of his days knowing that he will never have any grandchildren of his own :( . Kinda does make me a little sad actually and one that the film makers were always in the meetings going back and forth over. But in the end, the movie instead doesn't end on a BANG, but it ends......on a wimpar. Something I feel know one would have expected, even for a summer BLOCKBUSTER and it creates conversation with friends afterwards. Lets not forget that there were those that didnt like that Elsa died, but it took some time afterwards to except that 'Last Cruesdae' was a father and son movie. A good one to end on :) Mike Stoklasa from 'RedLetterMedia' did say in his 'Temple of Doom 'Re:Veiew' recentley (and his Crystal skull review is amazing as always ) that Indy's appeal is a adventurer that does crazy wild things and is not a Three Dimensional character and that's whats great about him which can be argued with James Bond too. How far do we go to try and add depth to our action heroes and not lose what made them great in the first place? Mariella Frostrup even argued about that in the ' The James Bond Story OO7' documentary (check it out on RU-vid Calvin). Something I feel they wanted to do with Daniel Craigs Bond, which has its great moments, but did it end well.........some people say yes and some people say no. I will say however that Indy getting shot, he should have lost a lot of blood and be a little bit more weak and sweaty than he was in the movie, hahah. But its fine! OOOOO did you kind spot the tribute to Harrison supposedly being in 'the great escape' when he sits down on the nazi trains at the beginning? Because people thought he was an extra in that movie for many years. it does look like him in 'the great escape' hahaha. I hope you talk about the 'Young Indianna jones ' TV one day Calvin, all the best :)
Very good point about Shia! If he hadn’t taken the turn he did I fully believe he’d have taken over the series or at the very least we’d have had 3 films with him in the lead by now
@@heartbeatcity23 They don't really do recasting now a days if it's in the same continuity, particularly as the films are readily available online unlike the old days. Rachel in the Dark Knight was one of the few in recent years and that was out of necessity.
Here are my pros and cons Pros -The acting especially by Harrison Ford he really care -The nostalgia and remember berry's -the opening flashback sequence -The slice of life we see of Indy -Recapture the classic adventure feel and the action was well done for Indy's age -the very ending with Indy and Marion I loved Mixed -Old Indy I think as a character he is more like Marty McFly or Spiderman part of the fantasy is him being a young guy I think he not like Batman of something I like the take on old Indy but I think you do lose something -Helena the I don't have any prejudice towards her but I didn't like how antagonistic they were to each other in a way I didn't enjoy I get they tried to mirror her like a young brash Indy as her act care more about other then fortune and glory I thought it could have been done better Con -The length I think 20 minutes have been trimmed down -3rd act get really crazy that felt out of place for Indy and it ended sort of anticlimactically Overall I did have fun with the movie it was nice to have one final adventure I don't think it is the swan song that Indy deserves however. But it's better then crystal skull and I had enough fun to the point we're I'm satisfied 6-6.5/10
As a course correction, there's at least now the slimmest chance they could bring the Indy character into 1981 (the year "Raiders" was released) and have Ford play his actual age (Indy was born in 1899) and give him a proper send-off, honoring the legacy of the franchise. And, maybe we'd see how he ends up with eye patch he's sporting in the 'Young Indiana Jones Adventures!'
I'm normally very forgiving of cg people but even I had to make myself commit to the CG Indi at the start. Once I was over that, I had a terrific time with the film.
I gave it a 6.5 out of 10. I didn't hate it and it did some things better than Crystal Skull but this was the least enjoyable film out of the series for me. Maybe it'll move up in the ranking the more I re-watch it but I don't really have the desire to re-watch it anytime soon.
The best reason I can think of for going to see this in the theaters is nostalgia. Unfortunately, nostalgia is about 75% of everything that's being pumped out now, Reboots, remakes, spoofing. I'm exhausted. So I haven't seen it yet. I think I'm going to wince a lot. The time travel, as described, sounds very embarrassing. Sounds like they tried hard to justify it thematically, but perhaps the better choice would have been to do something else instead of hammering an idea into a series that doesn't seem to have a place.
I like your RU-vid channel a lot. You bring a lot of entertainment and insight with your charm and filmmaking knowledge but don’t you work for Disney? If so shouldn’t you disclose that? This is the most positive review I’ve seen.
The "time travel device" only predicted where rifts in time appeared and when they appeared--the Dial of Destiny was no different from a watch in that the watch measured time, not altered time.
This is the first positive review I have seen. Everyone else seems to think it is a travesty that destroys Indy. Maybe this film is your Indiana Jones 'Moonraker" equivilant haha
Harrison Ford being 80 million years old is Never the ending that Indy deserves, no matter how well the movie would be made. And this one also happened to be garbage
I love Indiana Jones and the dial of destiny it is better than kingdom and the Crystal skull I give It a ten out of ten I saw it in the cinema last year with my dad and me and my dad got out of the cinema screening room think the film that I have just seen with my dad is really good
The man never evolved? WTH is he still doing running around looking like that? Indy should now look like his dad as played by Sean Connery in Last Crusade. They really blew it, only featuring Connery in one film. Golly, the Indy film ft. Connery was the best!❤❤❤❤
The original 90's drafts of what became Crystal Skull started with the wedding scene [to a new character not Marion] as a device to get old characters back, especially Indy Sr who would be trying to talk him out of it. Of course by the time the film was actually made Connery was in retirement.
I loved this film in theaters, and I think it might be my third favorite overall. I actually quite liked Phoebe-Waller Bridge’s character- I loved how she was basically a mirror of Indy before his pseudo-character arc in Temple of Doom, only in it for the fortune and glory. She even had her own Short Round, albeit less memorable
Agreed. A lot of the hate seems to be just insulting her rather than based on the film. It's also much more interesting that she is a flawed character that the older wiser head can help change [such as pointing out her sidekick shows she has a good side to her].
@@PatriotJedi This video is Calvin's opinion, not a 'box office' report or a 'general consensus'. For example he did a semi positive review on Crystal Skull and even gave Zardoz a fair shake. It's only going to not 'age well' if his opinion changes.
@@PatriotJedicry more. The movie exists whether you like it or not. It was entertaining and crybabies like yourself that call everything they don’t like “woke” are going to end up screwing yourselves and everyone else over when studios close or just stop making movies.
@@PatriotJedi Gotta be honest, I don't particularly like either Last Crusade (I know, I know) or Crystal Skull, and wouldn't have gone to see this in the cinema but my dad wanted to. I really enjoyed it. I'm hoping good word of mouth brings those numbers around, especially with the army of whiners online who went in ready to hate it for, um, reasons.
Sadly, for me it completely lacked the wonder, adventure, fun period detail and especially humour that Spielberg and Lucas built the series around. Maybe an okay Harrison Ford movie but not Indy. The events of the finale actually gave the film a lift and is no more ubsurd than in earlier films, if lacking the literal magic. However since they took it that far, didn't anyone else feel that the conclusion Indy desired would have been a far more happy ending (brushing off the consequences) than the downbeat one which unfolded?
