If you ask people what their favorite film in the Indiana Jones franchise is, I don’t know a single person on the planet who would say Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. While not without its charm, the fourth film in the action-adventure series starring Harrison Ford as the whip-wielding, wisecracking archeologist is considered a blight on the franchise by many. Recently, creatives who helped bring Crystal Skull to screens opened up about the film’s creative process. Among them is Crystal Skull co-writer David Koepp, who says he approached the project with “some trepidation.”
Kasdan and others on Crystal Skull‘s creative process
“I was really stepping into the assistant storyteller role, of trying to model something that had happened in the past and worked great,” Koepp told Vulture. “Larry Kasdan is a friend of mine, and I was talking to him about a problem I was having with the scene where Harrison and Karen Allen are in this truck and he’s talking about how he’s gone out with a lot of women since her. He says that they all have the same problem. And she says, “What’s that?” And he says, “They weren’t you.” That’s Larry’s line. And it’s the best line in the movie, because Larry probably should have written that movie.”
It’s funny that Koepp would mention this line. I did an epic rewatch of the entire Indiana Jones franchise two years ago, and recall feeling the same about Kasdan’s stand-out dialogue in one of the film’s best scenes.
Vulture also spoke with Crystal Skull cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, who says he struggled to make the movie because he didn’t want it to be an imitation of the other films. “It’s the only movie where I was trying to copy another look, and I don’t think I succeeded, because Douglas Slocombe who did the other Indiana Jones movies was just brilliant, and I’m not Douglas. My best friend, Phedon Papamichael, made the fifth Indiana Jones movie with James Mangold. I said, “It’s going to be the hardest movie you’ve ever made.”
Did Spielberg and Ford not want aliens in Crystal Skull?
Kathleen Kennedy, co-founder of Amblin Entertainment and former president of Lucasfilm, also waxed rhapsodic about Crystal Skull, saying both Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford “struggled” during the making of the film. According to Kennedy, neither wanted to make a movie with aliens, and even fought with George Lucas about that aspect of the feature.
Is Crystal Skull an “awfully good” Indy film?
Crystal Skull isn’t perfect, and the suggestion that there was a lack of confidence in the film’s creative process shows that even the people in charge were hesitant about its execution. At the end of the day, Crystal Skull is a bizarre detour in the Indy franchise that has its moments, but it is ultimately a misfire and questionable entry in such a beloved franchise.
What do you think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Does the movie get too much hate? Where do you rank it among other Indy films? Let us know in the comments section below.
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