DVD Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas bring you the greatest adventurer of all time in a nonstop thrill ride (Richard Corliss TIME) that s packed with sensational awe-inspiring spectacles (Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull finds Indy (Harrison Ford) trying to outrace a brilliant and beautiful agent (Cate Blanchett) for the mystical all-powerful Crystal Skull of Akator. Teaming up with a rebellious young biker (Shia LaBeouf) and his spirited original love Marion (Karen Allen) Indy takes you on a breathtaking action-packed adventure in the exciting tradition of the classic Indiana Jones movies!

Review:
Harrison Ford just climbed out of his rocking chair at the sharp age of 66 to put on the fedora one last time, but if only he could remember where he last hung his whip…

Taking place during the Cold War, Doctor Henry Jones is about to get knee deep in something that not even he is prepared for. A large group of Soviet soldiers are after an artifact known as the “Crystal Skull,” and they have a good feeling following Indiana Jones might be just the ticket to getting their hands on it. Indy, however, decides to make a somewhat forced partnership with a young man who has the same strange taste for adventure and danger. Shia LaBeouf plays a young man named Mutt who reminds me of John Travolta from Grease. He might be rough around the edges, and a nonconformist, but he may be just the help and friend that Indiana Jones needs this late in the game.

I have been a big fan of the first three films in the Jones series for my entire life. Steven Spielberg definitely had his eye on the prize when he helmed the first three films. This fourth adventure wasn’t too shabby; it had lots of stunts, laughs, and excitement. It just has a stinky “too Hollywood” feel to it. The plot has a sci-fi alien type twist which doesn’t fit, in my opinion, with an ancient artifact hunter saga. It didn’t ruin it for me, but I wasn’t a fan of the storyline. I just paid my money so that I could see big dog Harrison Ford once again return to the big screen with his sarcasm and witty comebacks. He delivered on all of those fronts. It serves the purpose of a great family action adventure as well, allowing you to save the better grizzlier action movies for later when the kids go to bed. Give this one a watch when you have free time.

As far as the extras on the Blu-ray version, not only do you get to view the movie in 1080p High Definition with THX Certified English 5.1 Dolby True HD but you also get a load of extras including several featurettes all in HD. There are timelines to cover the making of the film, the actual story timeline, and then the real-word historical timeline. There’s also a production diary (in HD) and countless still photographs to look through.

Review by Charlie Giltenboth

Grade: D
Official site: http://www.indianajones.com/site/index.html
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