Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30th, 2023)

Mondragon said:

The satchel strap scene magicly hooked then unkooked always took me out of it for a sec. they could have staged it better, but then the action just kept wonderfully rolling on, seeing him reach and unhook it might have killed the momentum, so who gave it much further thought.
Always wanted a model of that Last Crusade Fray Bentos Tank (or whatever they are called) for at least 3 3/4" line.
Is this abt 1/6?

Also this one noticed only after multiple viewings, his whip is clearly released with his dad when he's pulled onto the horse.

Yet when he remerges it's back on his belt..

But this stuff never bothered me much. A few seconds later his hat magically roles back into scene, and it all just fantasticly fueled the momentum.

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Agreed. I stopped buying anything 3 3/4" scale a decade ago, I would break that rule for a Last Crusade tank.
I didn't care much for tanks prior, the Last Crusade is what got me interested in them, I now have several dozen brick built (Cobi, others) tanks as a result. The only toy versions of the LC tank are unofficial brick built MOC set of instructions that have been turned into non-brand lego brick sets that can be found on Ali Express for not too high of a price.
Edit: I forgot, there were a few official small scale versions of the tank, one was Micro Machines (I had one as a kid), another a Hasbro Titanium Series (have one as an adult, lol), and the largest version was a disney theme park exclusive that's about 5 inches long (missed that one)
The tank in Last Crusade is a Mark 8 Liberty Tank with an additional turret btw:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_VIII_tank

jye4ever said:

While I respect where he was going with it regarding the woke culture problem attached to the costume changes, and lack of a firearm (disgusting), the dude really REALLY was obsessed with having late 1969 Indy having to look just like WW2 Indy lol

I want my bell bottoms and huge collar 70’s Indy lol

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I used to enjoy Michael French's videos, I more often agree with him than not and I enjoyed his live streams and toy restoration videos (not nearly as much as Toy Polloi) but that dude has become so insufferably defensive, whiny, and bitchy that I have absolute disdain for him and stopped watching Retro blasting years ago.

screamingmetal said:

Agreed. I stopped buying anything 3 3/4" scale a decade ago, I would break that rule for a Last Crusade tank....

.... the largest version was a disney theme park exclusive that's about 5 inches long (missed that one)

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Glad I didn't know about these either, looks like they made the flying-wing too, about the scale of the old Galoob Action Fleet line, would have been a whole new rabbit hole to go down.



Never got where they were going to supposedly "load" the Ark onto that wing to fly it out? Maybe in the gun turret? Or were they supposed to be strapping it to the outside?
More likely it didn't matter, they really just wanted the fantastic looking vehicle to stage the fight on and around, (which I agree was a great choice), and it didn't concern them past that, since it was getting blown up anyway. Was all more about the action just rolling on, and it always did!

Mondragon said:

Glad I didn't know about these either, looks like they made the flying-wing too, about the scale of the old Galoob Action Fleet line, would have been a whole new rabbit hole to go down.

Never got where they were going to supposedly "load" the Ark onto that wing to fly it out? Maybe in the gun turret? Or were they supposed to be strapping it to the outside?
More likely they really just wanted the fantastic looking vehicle to stage the fight on and around, (which I agree was a great choice), and it didn't concern them past that, since it was getting blown up anyway, was all more about the action just rolling on, and it always did!

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I'd forgotten I had the Flying Wing.

It's been sitting on a shelf in the attic for years... and is a bit dusty:



It came from a time when companies were starting to get jittery about putting swastikas on toys, so it has German crosses instead:



Small scale, but has a 13" wingspan.


As for loading the crate, these are the blueprints for an early version of the aircraft from J.W. Rinzler's The Complete Making of Indiana Jones:



If it weren't for the Spider's Wing in the 1937 Dick Tracy serial, Lucas and Spielberg would've probably chosen something more practical.

Mondragon said:

Never got where they were going to supposedly "load" the Ark onto that wing to fly it out? Maybe in the gun turret? Or were they supposed to be strapping it to the outside?
More likely it didn't matter, they really just wanted the fantastic looking vehicle to stage the fight on and around, (which I agree was a great choice), and it didn't concern them past that, since it was getting blown up anyway. Was all more about the action just rolling on, and it always did!

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Kind of like Obi-Wan being instructed to bring Jango back to Coruscant in his single seat Jedi fighter in AOTC.

I can see Jango in the droid's seat, tapping on the glass like Grogu.

Jango: Excuse me, Mr. Jedi...?

Raiders March said:

I've read that the first look of Indy was a bit of a mash-up to begin with. Bag and pants from a surplus ww2 store, and the jacket was made very quickly by ' leather commissionaries' aka Wested at short notice and was aged by Ford and the costume designer the night before the first day of shooting. Definitely sounded a bit last minute!

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Yeah I kinda suspect the reason so many people see that as the "ideal Indy look" is just because it's his look in the first and best Indy movie. Ford still looks just as cool in the other movies with the slightly different hat or slightly looser jacket. And I honestly never gave it a second thought when the movies originally came out. Plus you would kind of expect Indy to get his outfit from different sources and suppliers over the years.

And while I'm not crazy about the changes made in Dial, it's pretty far down the list of problems in that movie for me.

I agree -- Indy should have variants to his outfit while still capturing the basic "hero outfit". I'm fine with Temple of Doom's changes. I think, for me, it was Last Crusade where I really started to notice the differences, not in a good way. The hat being small, the boxy, fake weathered jacket, the "pink" pants, the pale web belt, etc. There was something lazy about it, for lack of a better word. The ridiculous "tie" didn't help. Why the hell would he wear a tie -- with that outfit -- for his father? Everything seemed like a punchline in that movie -- like someone joked "he should wear a tie to meet his Dad" and everyone laughed and said "yeah, let's do that"...

I've kinda grown to like the tie, as nonsensical as it is. I always assumed it was mean to signify a more "mature" Indy in that movie. Or perhaps just because Spielberg thought it would help him pass better in the various disguises he wears.

davejames said:

Or perhaps just because Spielberg thought it would help him pass better in the various disguises he wears.

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I'm sure you've just given it more thought than anyone on set did back then.

The only thing I like about it, is that it tells warns me that its Last Crusade Indy.

The Clown Prince of Crime said:

This is a good video about the devolution of Indiana Jones' costume in the sequels. I never realized how much they ******up the costume in the sequels.



What original costume looked like

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Sequels/Dial of whatever...
View attachment 689761

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Personally I’ve always loved this look:




The Raiders outfit does look the best, but all the outfit versions look fine on Harrison Ford. They look goofy on this guy. I would t expect Indy to be wearing the exact same clothes for decades.

French is hit and miss. The last few years he is just making long winded grumpy old man videos because things aren’t like they used to be. Or pushing people to buy his buddies bootleg offerings like the Airwolf that people got scammed over.

EVILFACE said:

Personally I’ve always loved this look:

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Mondragon said:

Love it. While that issue wasn't by Steranko, after Kirby, Steranko did help define the look and tone for the more Adventure seeking Nick Fury for a generation which included Lucas and Spielberg. Not as celebrated as McQuarrie is for SW, Steranko (amongst many other influences Bogart, Lad's China, Heston's Incas, Spy Smasher, Zorro and other serials etc..) then helped realize the design and presence of Indiana Jones (chomping cigarillo here), as well as his illustrations for Rober E Howard's El Borak (sadly even less known by todays supposed fandom) , which Lucas referenced as a starting template. (Lucas' actual notes on Steranko's El Borak)

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Steranko doesn't seem nearly as celebrated as McQuarrie is for SW in helping realize the design and presence of Indiana Jones.
Yet he left an awesome visual impact.

Going forward personally I have little interest in whatever direction or inevitable reboot Disney and some fans are reimagining the character for modern audience.
Be it plastic Ryan Gosling or Chris Pine, or the likes? Or worse knowing Disney, their new gender and race swapped Indy, or legacy character.
Who will now be a virtue signaling social justice warrior, trying to steal artifacts from the evil museums, and return them to their original place? Or however they want to ruin the character.

Rant warning:
For me Jones pretty much began and ends with the Steranko drawings and Ford's portrayal.

There is however if they wanted to continue the spirit of the franchise without ruining Jones, a somewhat less defined prototype character I would follow
And it wouldn't be so much a reboot degrading the original, but more a prequel, adding to it.

That is the untold adventures of Fedora/Abner Ravenwood (in the original script) before he had Marion or met young Jones.
Moving away from the virtue signaling garbage Disney is moving towards, and instead moving even further back into the pulps, and movie serials Lucas and Spielberg grew up with.

A more morally ambiguous character, even more of a soldier of fortune, closer to the gritty hard-boiled Steranko take . Being somewhat less defined they can still cast someone new to great effect ....



Though it makes to much sense, and would actually have to add to the franchise not replace it, so they will never do it.

Unfortunately, instead the new "creators" at Disney who don't actually like and resent this^ character and the world he represents, will want to reboot (I mean "fix") Jones, to their likeness and todays audience.
That fantastic Steranko drawing is the absolute antithesis of that, he represents everything they hate.

Mondragon said:

That fantastic Steranko drawing is the absolute antithesis of that, he represents everything they hate.

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Sadly, this...

In my opinion, it was a missed opportunity that Charlton Heston wasn't cast as Fedora in The Last Crusade. That would have been perfect.

I think its time for Indiana Jones to bow out. He didnt get the best send off the character deserved. But it was reasonable. We will always have the 80s trilogy which for me, firmly anchored my love for the character and his adventures. Its time to leave well enough alone!

Raiders March said:

I think its time for Indiana Jones to bow out. He didnt get the best send off the character deserved. But it was reasonable. We will always have the 80s trilogy which for me, firmly anchored my love for the character and his adventures. Its time to leave well enough alone!

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The only aspect of DOD I didn't like was Indy in a run down apartment in NYC. I just don't believe it- when you look at his life starting.in 1908 as an 8-year old traveling the world with his successful Professor father & his Tutor in "Young Indy"; and he's.obviously a successful Professor/Archeologist in the movies. Marital problems/ Mutt dying isn't not gonna put.him in a dump pad. That's not true to the character.

I liked DOD otherwise, and.love we can watch his fictional life from "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" thru the film series. But times have changed & its time to retire the character for good

Raiders March said:

I think its time for Indiana Jones to bow out. He didnt get the best send off the character deserved. But it was reasonable. We will always have the 80s trilogy which for me, firmly anchored my love for the character and his adventures. Its time to leave well enough alone!

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JohnnyStarTrek said:

The only aspect of DOD I didn't like was Indy in a run down apartment in NYC. I just don't believe it- when you look at his life starting.in 1908 as an 8-year old traveling the world with his successful Professor father & his Tutor in "Young Indy"; and he's.obviously a successful Professor/Archeologist in the movies. Marital problems/ Mutt dying isn't not gonna put.him in a dump pad. That's not true to the character.

I liked DOD otherwise, and.love we can watch his fictional life from "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" thru the film series. But times have changed & its time to retire the character for good

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Disney responds

Raiders March said:

I think its time for Indiana Jones to bow out. He didnt get the best send off the character deserved. But it was reasonable. We will always have the 80s trilogy which for me, firmly anchored my love for the character and his adventures. Its time to leave well enough alone!

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Having observed so many attempts to sequelize, reboot, and reimagine every reasonably popular IP under the sun over the years, I have changed my opinion about this somewhat. In times past I would have totally agreed with you. However, good storytelling is good storytelling, and if someone found the right script, the right actors, and the right director to take care of it all I wouldn't be against someone bringing Indy back in some fashion. If they could do what George Miller did with Mad Max or what Villeneuve did with Blade Runner, then that could be awesome.

But the sad reality is that studios don't care about good stories well told, and so we get junk like Dial of Destiny 9/10 times they attempt this. From that perspective I'm in alignment with the opinion that it's better to leave it alone, but there is always a chance. . . Putting that aside, ultimately, they could let Tyler Perry, Paul Feig, and Michael Bay collaborate on the worst Indy excrement imaginable, and it wouldn't hurt my opinion of the first two films if they made. So, power to them to do whatever. They continue to run Star Wars and Marvel into the ground, what makes Indy any more special?

I don't have high hopes for that Furiosa prequel though.

And I STILL think Fury Road would have been better if Gibson came back. Though I do think Tom Hardy has matured as an actor since then.