Releases
22 May
Indiana Jones has become what he was always intended to
be – a genuine cinematic icon, a true Hollywood
legend, and one of the most successful film-related brands
ever created. Many have tried to create the prefect mix
of cinematic elements, and many have failed – but
in Indy, co-creators George Lucas and Steven Spielberg
succeeded perfectly.
No, neither Indy nor the films in which he appeared were
overly original – but they were never intended to
be, having been deliberately designed as a hybrid of James
Bond, the Victorian adventure stories of H Rider Haggard,
and the Saturday morning film serials so popular during
the 30s, 40s and 50s. The success of this formula speaks
for itself – there’s the $1.1 billion the
three original films pulled in at the box office during
the 1980s, and then (to further rub it in) the untold
additional millions that have been generated by the video
and DVD sales and rentals, the four theme park rides,
the countless toys, the 50-odd books, the comics, the
28 episodes of the epic TV series The Young Indiana Jones
Chronicles and sundry other pieces of merchandise that
have been snapped up by eager fans during his 27-year
existence.
Yet, despite this vast success, and despite Indy’s
continued place as one of the best-loved film characters
of all time, the idea of his return to the big screen
has filled his fans with dread.
If you look to the tabloid coverage, this has all been
thanks to the return of Harrison Ford in the lead, and
the fact that he’s not only now old enough for a
bus pass but also, were he British, for a state pension,
having hit 65 last year. The world’s most successful
film star during his 1980s heyday, he’s also not
had a genuine box office hit to his name since 1994’s
The Fugitive, and is these days mostly seen sporting an
ill-considered earring while chaperoning girlfriend Calista
“Ally McBeal” Flockhart down various red carpets.
From being two of the coolest film characters of all time
– Indiana Jones and Star Wars’ Han Solo –
he’s become the epitome of the mid-life crisis,
like your dad dancing at a wedding.
(L-R) Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf in Indiana Jones
and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. – Photo Credit:
David James. © 2008 Lucasfilm Ltd.
And then, of course, there’s George Lucas, an undoubted
genius as the man who invented both Indiana Jones and
Star Wars. But since his revival of the Star Wars franchise
with 1999’s really rather poor The Phantom Menace,
Lucas has become a hate figure for an entire generation.
Because for anyone – especially male – now
around 28 to 40 years-old, Star Wars was a vital part
of their childhood, and Lucas’ long-hoped for revival
of the franchise was widely considered such a disappointment
that many of those cherished memories of pretend lightsaber
battles with classmates have now been forever sullied
with images of Jar-Jar Binks screaming out “Meesa
sorry!” or a child Darth Vader (the stuff of nightmares
when we were children) going “Yippee!”
There was a 16-year gap between the last of the original
Star Wars films and 1999’s disappointing revival,
and it has now been 19 years since the last of the original
Indy movies. The similarity in timing, combined with Harrison
Ford seeming far too old and uncool for such an action-heavy
role, and the fact that many fans of the films hated the
early-1990s Young Indiana Jones TV series means it should
be little wonder that fans are desperately worried that
Lucas may have produced something that will sully yet
another batch of nostalgic childhood reminiscences. With
the plot and action kept tightly under wraps right up
until the release, the only way to find out is to go see
for yourself. And let’s face it – you’re
going to. This is Indy, after all, and Steven Spielberg’s
still in the director’s chair – they surely
can’t have mucked it up. Can they?
