The widget hit the web containing trailers of the new and three older films as well as some photos, a chance to enter a contest and news regarding the upcoming film. Much anticipated, it can be seen that the studio has gone through the maximization of technology for marketing and publicity and none could be more high-tech than the Internet. Many say the film will flop yet many also say it’s about time they came up with another one. Lucas says he’s been working on the film’s plot for 10 years and he thinks this will be his last. We’ll see, as our favorite adventure comic hits the silver screens again in the legend that is Indiana Jones in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Grab and add the widget to your site for a true showing of your love for the charismatic Indiana Jones.
The life of the explorer/adventurer Indiana Jones takes us away from the reality of life and takes us into an action packed adventure we might never get to experience on our own. Adventure, suspense, action, romance and a little comedy all rolled up into one film is a good way of getting people out of the house and into the movie theaters. What about the future when we don’t have movie theaters anymore? The future is bright for advancements in 3-D and virtual reality that are now currently being used in the amusement park business may hold the key to an immersed movie experience. IMAX which has revolutionized the movie industry has begun to creep slowly into the movie house business with new theaters boasting the new technology opening yearly. Imagine being in the film with Indy’, what an adventure.
There are some real facts behind the movie but since they have been adapted for the big screen, they have overshadowed facts and twisted them as far as the eye can see. The true nature of the main character is loosely based on true archaeologists but on a lower note, for the work of one is often done in the field and laboratory. Real Indiana Jones of today are still out there discovering our past as well as the secrets they hold. Imagine the Egyptians on how they created the pyramids, there have been tons of suggestions but no solid proof of their construction. This is what draws us to them, the mystery and allure of the unknown and the adventure of discovery.
Many of the world’s archaeologists have in fact provided us with the best insights on long lost civilizations that gave way to our modern lives. The adventures of the ever-bearing Indiana Jones has even been attributed to the career choices of people who were so mesmerized by the movies they themselves have turned into their own Indy’s in their own right. The world may never know much of the secrets our ancestors have brought with them to their graves, only these laboring researchers and their innate inquisitiveness get them to light, modern light that is.
The length of period it took for the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to come out was more or less 20 years and that length of time had seen a lot of changes in the movie industry. Some amazing facts about the movie, Harrison Ford had to gain a few pounds for his aged role(many say he’s a health buff) and needed not much changes to the movie’s wardrobe sets. Harrison had put on some of the original suits he wore in previous films without much adjustments needed in terms of the size of his clothes.
There was also an interesting fact that came up wherein Indiana Jones wasn’t allowed much to play with his trademark bullwhip which was part of his persona due to stringent safety measures of today. The physical demands on the actor was still high and Harrison Ford being a man of pride, still did most of his stunts (with the help of modern safety rigging of course which he says greatly improved his performance) as he did with most of his films.
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Before ‘The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ was selected as the title, several other titles were considered and even registered with the MPAA in August 2007, including ‘The City of Gods’, ‘The Destroyer of Worlds’, ‘The Fourth Corner of the Earth’, ‘The Lost City of Gold’, and finally, ‘The Quest for the Covenant’.
This is the first Indiana Jones film without actor Pat Roach, who had a role in all the first three films. Roach died in 2004.
In 2006, Harrison Ford stated that if this film was not completed by 2008, then the filmmakers should drop the idea altogether. This alerted Steven Spielberg looking for a good script immediately.
The poster art for the movie was drawn by Drew Struzan, the same artist who also created the poster art for the previous two Indiana Jones films. He took over from original Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) poster artist Richard Amsel who died in 1985.
The chilled monkey brains were custard and raspberry sauce which goes to say they affected the way we felt when they were shown. The opening sequence where a pane had its engine failing was the same sound effect used in Star Wars when Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon failed to start. Harrison Ford’s vest he wore when he entered the palace was his Star Wars vest. The time when Willie is strapped onto the cage to be lowered into the fiery pit, as she turns and the floor opens, the sound of a light saber activating can be heard… Hmmm didn’t know that. Being second (set in 1935) in the series, the time period where it was set was actually took place before the other two. Raiders was set in 1936, Last Crusade in 1938!!!!!
Remember the club in the beginning of the film, it was named Club Obi Wan, Remind you of someone out of this world? It is also the first to use the THX Alignment Program which ensures all theaters that would be playing the film would have to conform to strict technical and presentation standards for them to be accredited. The Mine cart Chase was actually shot in miniature with aluminum foil walls painted to match and the sounds of them rumbling were from Disneyland roller coasters (with the sound and effects turned off of course).
Tunisia’s weather proved to be too much for Spielberg and the rest of the cast that he managed to compress an estimated six-week shoot into four and a half much to the relief of the overheated crew and cast. When filming in Tunisia, all the cast including Ford got sick of the food with the exception of Spielberg who relied totally on his box after box of Spaghetti-O’. The giant boulder’s sound was from a Honda Civic rolling downhill. The sound of the heavy Ark Lid opening was the sound of a cistern lid doing the same. The punching sounds were actually leather jackets which were hit by a baseball bat. Did you see the hieroglyphics in the Well of Souls, find the engravings of R2-D2 and C-3PO on the walls, the head of R2 is also on top of the pole Indy and Marion were tied to near the end of the film.
The scene where Indiana Jones was determined to blow up the Ark with a bazooka was the same place where R2-D2 was zapped by the marauding Jawas in Star Wars. In the scene where he went into the Well of Souls where there were snakes of all shapes and sizes, the crew had to go through all the pet shops in London just to make the shot more realistic but couldn’t find enough. Spielberg had hoses cut to length to play dummy snakes which was shot with the true eye for none seemed hose-like at all. The snake that Indiana Jones came face to face with as he fell into the well was a true cobra, which was separated from him by a sheet of glass which was nice for it did spray venom onto the glass! The shot was also so well done the glass doesn’t even show! 
Spielberg wrote the script to one of his best works in between takes, writing them down with Melissa Mathison, the film to be? ET!