Yeah only Spielberg was against "aliens", like a decade ago, and which never appear in the final treatment, script or movie anyway.

S.S was only against aliens, not interdimensional beings. All the resistance was when it was flat out aliens (circa 90's meetings) being considered as a story point. Aliens from another planet. Steven obviously having tackled aliens a LOT, was resistant to doing another alien movie.

Since he has never once said he was against IDB's, all the BS talk is totally off-base. Nobody ever factors in the timeline and most disregard or distort stated facts.

I don't think Lucas deserves as much credit as he gets for Raiders or as much hate as he gets for Crystal Skull. People really undervalue the contribution of the screenwriter.

You know, back then, it was probably considered kind of long. Yet today, studios sometimes request behemoth-sized treatments from writers.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make (and I'm sure you agree) is that writing a story treatment is considered writing by the Guild. It may not be, as you say, "nuts and bolts" screenwriting (and no one here is claiming Kasdan didn't write those five screenplay drafts all by himself) but Lucas certainly deserved his "Story by" credit. On the other hand, I'm not sure Kaufman did.

And as the 1978 story conference transcript demonstrates, Kasdan was not writing in a vacuum. He asked questions, listened to Lucas' and Spielberg's ideas, suggested compromises, offered his own ideas... and generally, tried to make a coherent, entertaining whole out of the sheer tonnage of ideas they were throwing around during those five days. But Lucas was definitely in de facto charge during those story meetings (Spielberg had not yet officially signed on as director). The bulk of it is Lucas talking (especially during the first few sessions), slowly laying out the story and characters, telling them how he saw it and nixing anything he didn't deem appropriate.

But surely, Kasdan had the much, much harder task of sitting down and writing the screenplay... in longhand! And he did it extremely well. Which is why he was nominated for a WGA Award in 1982.* It's actually kind of criminal that both his scripts for Empire and Raiders were overlooked by the Academy.



*For Best Comedy! (nominated along with Lucas and Kaufman) His other nom was for Body Heat (Drama). Though, I thought that one was kind of hilarious too. ;)

When Crystal Skull was released, I remember hating the Alien idea. But...

Since then, I read a little on the Maya archeology and visited the Indiana Jones Exhibition at Montreal last year, and the Alien is a strong reference in the Maya culture (Crop Circles, drawings and hieroglyphic message about "them") mixed with a Roswell storyline at the time of the famous "UFO crash", all seems to fit nicely.

So, I must say that I now respect the storyline of the 4th Indy movie. It's not weirder that the Ark of Covenent of the Grail when you think about it. I don't believe in God but I like the first and third movie. I don't really believe in little grey aliens, but I now appreciate the forth story. I don't really believe in Voodoo or Hoodoo, but the second movie is one of my favorite too!

I think the mythology of Crystal Skull is great, too- I had absolutely no problem with it. The movie is such a missed opportunity, though. I like it for what it is. I think the opening 15 minutes are fantastic and I don't really think the thing as a whole can tarnish the older films. Overall, I'd rather have another Indiana Jones than not.

Best post of the subject. Yeah, they showed the handwritten script in the making of books and featurettes, incredible. I really want a copy of that script!

I agree whole heartedly (except with TOD being the favorite :D). I've been fighting in Crystal Skull's defense since it came out. The story fits just fine with the other three and the film itself is a lot of fun, which is exactly what an Indy movie should be in my opinion. Of course, no entry will ever hold a candle to Raiders, but that goes without saying...

looking forward to buying this on black Friday,...









... for $30 :D

Look forward to your dream tonight. That's the only place this goes for 30$ ;)

I'll go out on a limb and say 0% chance this is $30 on BF...perhaps BF'13

stop buying whatever you're smokin and you'll have enough money to buy this set when it's regular price :p

I know right. The Black Friday sale on this is what I'm waiting for.:D

Do you remember how much was the Star Wars set on Black Friday?

Thanks for the info. I never used the price tracker before, very useful!

In case you didn't know, you can set price tracking on BD's you might be interested in buying. When they drop to the price you set for them, you'll get an email. A fantastic feature of this site, and great for saving a good chunk of money if used diligently!

Yeah!! I've just done it for 20+ movies! I can't believe I never used that feature after all the time I spent on browsing the website!!! :D

Its even more than that per film for those of us that only want certain ones. Ugh.

Not preorder Day 1. Wait until singles come out. They always do. Ive waited this long, a few months more or whatever isnt gonna kill me.

I say I'm going to hold out for individual releases but I have a feeling I'll say screw it if/when it gets down between $40-$50.

george lucas rocks. i dont understand the bashing at all. the guy is a genious storyteller and created not only some of the most memorable film characters, but some of the biggest epic action adventures on the screen. i enjoyed KOTCS and i also enjoyed the star wars prequels. sure, neither additions to the franchises were as good as the originals, but who expected them to be? i found them to be fun and worthwhile. it was his inventions, his stories, and he wanted to continue them. he caan do what he wants with his own creations, and personally i think he did a hell of a job. i dont get the hate AT ALL. if you dont like it, then dont watch it. but dont troll around bashing the guy for doing what he wants with his own movies. i think the prequels added depth to the whole saga, and indy 4 was just plain awsome to see ford back in arguably his greatest role. sure haveing aliens and ufo's in indy sounded strange at first, but the way the executed it was very much in the indy style, like a film straight out of the 50's, as was the original intention, to be like a movie you would have seen in the 1950's, which is probably my favorite era of the 20th century.



anyway, i'd rather see another indy or star wars movie in theaters, especially when you look at the total crap coming out today. seriously, remaking total recall?? the only movies im interested in seeing this year is MIB 3 and expendables 2. thats IT. oh yes, the hobbit way later on, as well. but thats it. everything else stinks to high heaven. hollywood generally sucks today. the creativity has been zapped out of it. i wish lucas would create something else and give us something fun and also interesting to enjoy.

I didn't know Rick McCallum was a member here.:D