Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American science fiction adventure film. It is the fourth film in the Indiana Jones series, created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Released nineteen years after the previous film, the film acknowledges the age of its star Harrison Ford by being set in 1957. It pays tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the era, pitting Indiana Jones against Soviet agents—led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)— searching for a telepathic crystal skull. Indiana is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and son Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts before David Koepp's script satisfied the producers. Shooting began on June 18, 2007 and took place in various locations including New Mexico; New Haven, Connecticut; Hawaii; and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles, California. To keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films.The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, and was released worldwide on May 22, 2008 to generally positive reviews, though audience reception was judged to be more mixed. It was also a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide, becoming the franchise's highest-grossing film when not adjusted for inflation, and the second highest-grossing film of 2008. Marketing relied heavily on the public's nostalgia for the series, with products taking inspiration from all four films.
Movie Details:
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Produced by: Frank Marshall
Screenplay by: David Koepp
Story by: George Lucas, Jeff Nathanson
Starring: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, Shia LaBeouf
Music by: John Williams
Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski
Edited by: Michael Kahn
Production company: Lucasfilm Ltd.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release dates: May 18, 2008 (Cannes Film Festival), May 22, 2008 (United States)
Running time: 121 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $185 million
Box office: $786,636,033
Plot:
In 1957 during the Cold War, World War II veteran Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" McHale are kidnapped by Soviet agents under Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a warehouse labeled "Warehouse 51" in Nevada and force Jones to locate a non-human corpse including a crystal skull, recovered ten years earlier. Upon its discovery, Mac reveals he is a double agent working for the Soviets, and Jones escapes on a rocket sled. Jones, still pursued, arrives in a model town at the Nevada Test Site, minutes before an atomic bomb test, and takes shelter in a lead-lined refrigerator. Jones is arrested by FBI agents, who suspect him of working for the Soviets; and though freed, is put on indefinite leave of absence from Marshall College. Jones is approached by greaser Henry "Mutt" Williams, who tells him that Harold Oxley had found a crystal skull in Peru, suffered a mental breakdown, and was later kidnapped. In return, Jones tells Mutt about the legend of crystal skulls found in Akator. Mutt gives Jones a letter from his mother, who is also held captive, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient Native American language. KGB agents try to take the letter, but Jones and Mutt evade them and reach Peru. At the local psychiatric hospital, Oxley's scribbles on the walls of his cell lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador searching for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Jones reasoning that Oxley had hidden it there. Shortly afterward, Jones and Mutt are captured by the Soviets and taken to their camp, where they find Oxley and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood, who later reveals that Mutt is Jones' son, Henry Jones III. In the following struggle, Mac claims to Jones he is really a CIA double-agent to regain Jones' trust. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an inter-dimensional alien life form and holds great psychic power, and that returning the skull to Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare. Oxley's mental conditions having devolved, Spalko uses the skull on Jones to identify a route to Akator. Jones and his allies escape with the skull into the Amazon, elude giant ants, and survive three waterfalls in a duck boat, whereafter Jones and Oxley identify markings that lead them to Akator, unaware that Mac is still loyal to Spalko and has been dropping transceivers to allow the Soviets to track them. Having escaped a native tribe guarding the city and gained access to the temple, filled with artifacts from several ancient civilizations, Jones believes the aliens were "archaeologists" studying the different cultures of Earth. The five enter a chamber containing the crystal skeletons of thirteen enthroned inter-dimensional beings, with one missing its skull. Spalko arrives and places the captive skull on this skeleton, whereupon the aliens offer a reward in a language that Oxley deciphers. The aliens fuse into one, which activates a portal to their own world. Spalko demands knowledge equal to the aliens', but in the process, she is dematerialized and sucked into the portal. Jones, Marion, Mutt, and Oxley escape, while Mac and the Soviets are also drawn into the portal, after Mac tells Jones to leave him behind. The survivors watch as the temple walls crumble, revealing a flying saucer rising from the debris, which vanishes into the "space between spaces" while the void left by its departure is flooded by the waters of the Amazon. Sometime later, Jones is reinstated at Marshall College and made an associate dean. He and Marion are then married in a church.
