Did anyone notice during the FBI interrogation scene, they called him Colonel Jones ? It was also said that he had many medals and citations. It would be interesting to see Indy’s military career.

Alright, I totally enjoyed it!
We had a great time; I took my son and his friend, both 11, and I gotta say I think that might be the optimal way to enjoy this movie: as a grown-up fan of the original movies with a kid or two who are around the same age you were when you first saw and loved Raiders. Those two were loving it, they kept turning to each other and whispering, "Isn't this a great movie!?"

There were definitely some cringe-able things...Blanchett's way-wobbly accent in the first scenes...the vine-swinging was a very sour note in an action sequence that was otherwise a lot of fun, in a completely unbelievable way...and another thing that really bugged me was how Indy handled the crystal skull when he and Mutt first found it. I see this mistake made in a lot of movies, and it drives me kinda nuts: there was no weight at all to that prop- it probably weighed little more than an empty two-liter soda bottle- and Ford didn't compensate for that by acting as if it were as heavy as a chunk of crystal that size should be. To me, it was such a glaring oversight...it looked really silly.

Anyway, all in all, a very fun night at the movies, and I have to say it met my expectations in that way.

Saw it yesterday with my son. Given what I had heard, I did not go in w/ high expectations, so it was better than I anticipated. Lots of crazy, illogical comic book stuff, but that's OK - it's Indiana Jones, not Fassbinder. (I never analyze carnival rides.) Go see it as fluff, leave your brain at home & you won't be dissapppinted. Fun stuff.

Just saw it. I'm in the complete minority I thought it was just "ok". I had zero expectations but watching it didn't feel special and it almost felt like it was co-directed. Almost like Lucas took over the 3rd act and wanted to finish the film.

The most exciting scene for me...where I actually felt like something bad might happen was the car chase in the opening sequence. Believe me...I love Indy and I love aliens and it was fun for what it was worth but overall...I don't think i could watch this over and over. The first three..yes. This one..meh.

I thought it was just "OK"... Didn't really disappoint, but it didn't surprise me either.

I thought the whole "Mack" character was a waste... annoying, and didn't really add much. I would much rather have had Cate Blanchett's character exhibit more psychic abilities to do the tracking rather than having Mack drop tracers for the Reds to follow.

I liked that the kid was named "Mutt"... so we have 2 generations of Joneses with 4 letter dog names.

Marion was a bit of a disappointment to me... I guess it was because she was playing the role of "mom" more so than sidekick, but she just seemed along for the ride rather than a contributor.

I thought the plot was a bit weak... Did the body at area-51 have a skull? would bad (worse) things happened if they put the wrong skull on the torso of the last body in the temple?

I'd say this ranks as the 3rd best of the series... Raiders > Last Crusade > Crystal Skull > Temple of Doom

Nice little writeup, Loco. I agree with almost everything you said. The motorcycle scene in the beginning was nice and nostalgic, though the film began to deteriorate from that point on. I read on cnn.com that Spielberg was wrestling with the idea of ditching the digital during preproduction, but opted for the "advanced cgi" that ILM was able to provide. Unfortunately, I believe the marriage of ILM, Skywalker sound, and Lucas with the film inevitably steered him in that direction. Like the Star Wars prequels. A type of corporate nepotism if you will. Coaxing the mind into suspending disbelief is one thing, doing the same with your eyes is another thing entirely. If the movie/show/play is conducted with puppets, illustrations, or live action footage let the eyes become aware of this and move on with the story. Trying to convince the eyes that you are looking through a camera lens at live action when you are not, is a failure waiting to happen. Too much to suspend your disbelief. No matter how nice the textures are.

Hated the monkey bit.

Loved the bike chase.

Hated the amphibious boat - tree bit.

Loved the A-bomb bit.

oh yeah, and laughed out loud at the the prairie dog bit.

and as someone earlier said. Think Lucas got his mitts all over too much of it though.
Over all ... Great fun action flick that didn't disappoint.

My only serious disappointment was the script - with a coupla decades to get it right, it was a little hard to believe this was the best they could do. It just didn't have the snap, the freewheeling spirit ... it felt a little like they were only going through the motions. I think Ford and Blanchett did a fine job with what they had, but that wasn't a lot. This is the level of script I might have expected if they had rushed #4 to the screen right after TLC, but not after this long.