So the filmmakers understood that if you come up with a piece of folklore that has had a lasting effect on society - that audiences are highly familiar with, then the better chance you have of baiting their interest. Religion and folklore, though categorically not the same, still go hand-in-hand together all too easily. So it’s only fitting to pull stories from religious beliefs and exploit them for their fanciful supernatural elements. The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail were concepts that people generally clicked with and said “Hey, I’ve heard of that - I know that story!”. Yet as with Temple of Doom (A movie that I love by the way) it is also evident that the MacGuffin didn’t have to be as referential as what was seen in the other two films in order to serve as an intriguing plot device. So this might seem counter-argumentative as to what is stated above but, again, there is no definitive right and wrong way as to what kind of supernatural treasure you wish to implement into your story. Perhaps if the MacGuffin itself is not so well known then, as compensation, you could emphasize the general atmospheric folklore of the culture and setting that surrounds it. This, I think, is what they did well with the second film though many have debated otherwise.

However, this doesn’t mean the Indyverse is one that is solely constructed out of biblical or divine references. A lot of people are saying that aliens won’t work because “It doesn’t fit in with the Indy movies” or “It just doesn’t feel very Indy’ like”. Yet I would argue that if you start basing set parameters simply off what you have seen so far then you really have no parameters at all. Were talking art/entertainment not mathematics - Creative variables are seldom consistent let alone identical. Crystal Skulls themselves may be a bit esoteric but the overall concept of ancient alien civilizations or the idea that human beings are in one way or another connected with other worldly visitors is one of the most common most popular myths through out the entire world. And even if this fourth installment does infuse some sort of weirdly alien technology I wouldn’t jump the gun into thinking that the franchise will somehow go from supernatural to Star Trek. Because when we think aliens, especially in terms of movies, we automatically associate with what popular culture as offered us so far; modernized contemporary conspiracy thrillers with taciturn scientist waxing long strands of pseudo-scientific intellectual jargon about what they’ve just studied under a microscope. I seriously doubt Indy 4 will fallow this genre. With enough imagination and originality (Which shouldn’t be a problem for Lucas) you can intermix the alien motif with just about any other kind of cultural-historical-religious motif one could think of. So yeah, the overall idea might be a little…”out there” but I think it is something new and refreshing as to what has been done in the previous films.

How sad that a wealthy and powerful man, who could not convince both a legendary director and actor, had to resort to such behavior to get what he wanted…

The problem I see is that he set a precedent and when he diverges from it fans get angry. I’ve been one such enraged fan. But I can’t blame him for doing what he wants with his story.

@ T-MACK: Also, like everything else, 30’s and 40’s serials ranged in quality from good to bad. As did 50’s B-movies.

Face it, nobody likes the idea of aliens because it doesn’t fit-in with their preconceived notions and expectations about what the next Indiana Jones film should be (expectations that have been compounded by time, nostalgia, and every fanboy’s misguided belief that they alone know what’s best).

I think aliens are a solid choice considering that the Indiana Jones trilogy deals specifically with modern mythology. And I can’t think of anything else that fits the bill more perfectly (unless you’d rather see Indy pursuing Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster).

The same kind of feeling surrounds a new Indy movie. And it feels like we’re going to get the same kind of immense, epic letdown. I just hope we don’t. I can understand the B-movie origins of the series and that’s totally cool. But, Israel is right in the fact that dealing with the spiritual and religious plotlines roots the story in a world we can almost believe. Aliens take it out of that realm. Although a lot of people believe in ET life (myself included), it does slide the movie into the sci-fi realm.

Although true, the last thing I want the marquee to read is “From the director who brought you ‘War of the Worlds’ and the producer of ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ comes…”

what a damn joke, it would have turned out worse than the star wars prequels

Indiana and Mutt are both dog names; what’s up with that?

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