Steven Spielberg voices his distaste for 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' extraterrestrials
Director lays blame squarely at the feet of George Lucas
Steven Spielberg arrives at the French premiere of 'The Adventures of TinTin' in Paris
In the history of breathlessly anticipated movie sequels, few have generated more excitement than "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Of course, that was before we actually saw the movie, which disappointed a lot of us with its ridiculous extraterrestrial reveal in the third act (though for whatever reason, the majority of critics actually gave the film positive marks).
In a recent interview with Empire magazine director Steven Spielberg himself admits that like many fans of the series (not to mention "Crystal Skull" star Shia LaBeouf), he wasn't the biggest fan of the film's alien "MacGuffin", but that he ultimately chose to defer to George Lucas on that point because he's the "storyteller" of the series (something he might want to rethink for the next sequel, which he claims Lucas is currently brainstorming).
"I sympathise with people who didn't like the MacGuffin because I never liked the MacGuffin," Spielberg told Empire in an interview that will be featured in their next issue. "George and I had big arguments about the MacGuffin. I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings. But I am loyal to my best friend. When he writes a story he believes in - even if I don't believe in it - I'm going to shoot the movie the way George envisaged it. I'll add my own touches, I'll bring my own cast in, I'll shoot the way I want to shoot it, but I will always defer to George as the storyteller of the Indy series. I will never fight him on that."
Nevertheless, the director maintains that he is "happy with the movie" overall, and that he was the one responsible for that much-mocked sequence in which Indy escapes a nuclear blast by hiding in a (sigh) lead-lined refrigerator.
"Don't blame George," he said of the sequence. "That was my silly idea. People stopped saying 'jump the shark'. They now say, 'nuked the fridge'. I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."
Well, good for you, Steven.
Spielberg's next film is "The Adventures of TinTin", which hits theaters on December 21st. You can read Guy Lodge's review of the movie here.
News From Our Partners
-
Hulu.com: 7 Things That Wouldn't Exist Without The Office
Larry Womack: In Defense of (the Original) James T. Kirk
'Storage Wars': Ivy Finds Giant Clam Shell
-
Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher in $10M Tug of War
'Captain America: The Winter Soldier': Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie Spotted in D.C. (VIDEO)
Katie Holmes Attracts the Wrong Kind of Attention on 'Mania Days' Set
-
The Telefile - TNT & TBS Upfront 2013: Reaping What Other Networks Sowed
The Telefile - Fall TV 2013: What's On When
The Telefile - New Girl: Wedding Do's and Don'ts
-
'Riddick' Trailer: Vin Diesel Is What Goes Bump in the Night
'The Simpsons' Taps Kristen Wiig For Guest Arc As FBI Agent
CBS Fall 2013 Schedule: 'Mike & Molly' to 2014, More Comedy Thursday, and 'Hawaii' to Friday
-
'Star Trek' Baddie Benedict Cumberbatch Reveals Role's Biggest Challenge
Cannes Film Festival 2013: Our Must-See Movies
'Star Trek Into Darkness': The Secret Behind The Sounds
-
Best Alicia Keys Instagram Photos – Picture Perfect
Taylor Swift Fan Arrested for Swimming Near Her Rhode Island Beach House
Taylor Swift vs. Pink vs. Rihanna vs. Beyonce: Whose Tour Costume Do You Like Best? – Readers Poll
-
Tolerability Index: This week we're barely putting up with The Killing
TV Roundtable: When My Boys tested its prickly chemistry by inviting some new faces to the poker table
The Walkthrough: The New Girl showrunners on topping season two’s big kiss (Part 5 of 5)
-
In Pictures: The Stars of Star Trek Into Darkness
Digital Multiplex: The Last Stand, Side Effects, and More
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Ambitious, Time-Jumping Epic Cloud Atlas
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupDave I
October 26, 2011 at 11:29PM EST Reply to CommentIt sounds like they lost track of what worked in the first movies, Raiders and Last Crusade in particular (in that order). There was something kind of approachable about religious relics and coming face-to-face with the myths that the aliens in Crystal Skull (the movie and the myth) missed.
That and the lead-lined fridge? That is counter to what I think audiences loved about Indy. Finding an obvious plot device (Hey, look, a conveniently placed lead-lined appliance right where we need it to escape a nuclear blast!) sort of diminishes the payoff when we're used to Indy escaping by guts and wit, not the most unlikely of coincidences. Yet Steven's proud of that? I hate to say it, however I think Spielberg & Lucas have lost it. And by "it" I mean that thing that took them from being good at the mechanics to being great at the overall crafting of stories.
-Cheers
KlarkKent
October 27, 2011 at 1:07AM EST Reply to CommentYou know what? The aliens were definitely not the issue with Crystal Skull. They're no more ridiculous than the Shankara Stones. The issues were the undercharacterization of roles that went to John Hurt and Ray Winstone and problems with the plotting. Even then, I still enjoyed the film. There are some great set pieces and the audaciousness of the fridge scene left a huge grin on my face. Frankly, it struck me as just a tad more crazy than jumping from a plane in an inflatable raft.
Call me crazy, but I think a big part of the reason people rejected it is because a chunk of it seemed derivative of the Mummy films.
October 27, 2011 at 1:09AM EST Reply to Comment"Nuked the fridge"...HA! I love it! :)
Fastbak
October 27, 2011 at 2:09AM EST Reply to CommentI would have actually preferred it if they went full and made it a real 50s B movie with aliens and flying saucers and that stuff instead of shoehorning the temples and relics. They just didn't mix.
jimbo
October 27, 2011 at 9:23AM EST Reply to CommentWell, I'm glad they tried something different, and I really enjoyed the movie.
Hope they make another one.
John W
October 27, 2011 at 9:54AM EST Reply to CommentI'm sure Mr. Spielberg is so disgusted with Crystal Skull he's going to start writing refund checks to everyone who saw the movie...
storymark
October 27, 2011 at 2:43PM EST Reply to CommentThe MacGuffin wasn't the problem, everything else was.