Q2 has done an admirable job of improving the worst of the Indy franchise, a worth wile watch for anyone that wants to watch a more tolerable version of Crystal Skull.

Technical Quality
I watched the Single Layer DVD 5 on a 52″ Plasma. The image quality was overall very good, I noticed no artifacting or outrageous compression. For a SL presentation, it was right where you’d expect it to be. Audio quality was fine, I didn’t have to fuss with the volume for adjustment purposes of correcting sudden level changes. Well done.

Editing/Entertainment
The Good: Q2’s handling of the Nuclear Test sequence was simply fantastic. It flowed wonderfully and if you ‘d never seen the original, you’d never have noticed anything was missing, it goes to show just how useless this sequence was. Likewise, I love the truncated motorcycle chase. It was over-the-top silly and out of place in the Indy Universe in my opinion. Mutt/Tarzan is also deftly handled, more kudos for how this was handled. The worst of the most offending dialog has been removed and again, as a viewer we are none-the-wiser.
The Bad: Most glaringly there were a few flash-frames in various places. Some have been noted by previous reviewers, and I also noticed two in the back of the transport as our heroes are beginning their escape. Beyond that, I simply wish Q2 would have been even more aggressive in his edit. As much as was removed, much more could have been taken out without detracting from the narrative.

Overall Enjoyment
Q2’s edit is a definite improvement over the original. The movie still suffers from serious flaws, many far beyond the reach of editing for correction. But if you want to watch Indy 4 as part of an Indy marathon, well, this far superior to the original and cuts out the worst excesses of the original.

Overall Rating
8/10

Still, great piece of work and very highly recommended.

8/10

I did however note two technical issues in this edit from the DVD:

Indy, Mutt and Marion in the back on the truck – there’s a fractional visual of an apparent cut scene, maybe just a couple frames. Later, there’s a scene where Mutt jumps from a vehicle I believe. The shot is below him – the AR visibly changes. I have the timings of exactly when these issues do occur written down at home and can send them to you.

Other than that, very nice.

My first thought with the open was that I didn’t like how the gopher mound appears to start falling apart on its own before getting run over. But as I thought about it, it’s actually quite clever. The gopher is starting to come up, but is run over by the car. If you hate the gophers, it doesn’t get any better than that

The warehouse works pretty well, but I would have liked a few more cuts. Mainly more Mac dialogue (You don’t know him!), Indy’s rope swing where he doesn’t reach Spalko the first time, and maybe a little more mystery with the box (don’t show the alien at all?).

The nuclear test scenes aren’t missed at all in this edit, and it saves us from watching the fridge.

My biggest gripe with the motorcycle chase is that the statue head gag remains – I always hated that.

The jungle chase works pretty well. Thank goodness the Tarzan scene is gone, although Mutt still somehow catches up with the jeep by swinging down from the trees. I think cutting around that part might work better. I like what was done with the ants – it’s nice not seeing them actually carry the Russian up and into the anthill.

I loved most of the waterfall sequence, especially now that we don’t have to see the ridiculous bit where the duck lands in the tree. Glad to hear you’re taking another look at the end part of the sequence – if you can make it flow a bit better, it will be perfect.

I would have liked to see a little less of Mac at the end (if possible), and I would like Spalko’s demise being a bit more ambiguous instead of the face melt, but otherwise the end sequences worked well.

I loved how the wedding played with just music. A nice end to the edit.

The text commentary was a neat feature. I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more detail in it, but it was fun to have on while I watched the movie.

Overall this was a really good edit. My complaints are all minor, and really just come down to personal preference rather than any problems. Thanks for making Indy 4 enjoyable, and I look forward to the AVCHD

8/10

First of all: I watched it on my laptop, so all I can say about picture and sound quality is that on my notebook it seemed good.

This is not an edit that tries to give a new structure to the film, so all the flaws in that department are still in the movie. However, the editor tries to improve the flow and tries to remove as much dumb elements as possible. While I was a big fan of the library chase, the other stuff he cut is fine by me, and the first 50 minutes or so (until Indy and Mutt get captured by the Russians) actually plays like a classic Indy film. Up to this point I was quite fine with the original, too. From there on, the flaws and silly moments of the original movie are much too prevalent to be edited out completely. This edit does a nice job of getting rid of many embarrassing things, like Karen Allen still holding the wheel after dropping down the waterfall, and the ill-advised Tarzan moment.

With a lot of stuff gone, I noticed only one awkaward moment, editing-wise: The descent down the waterfalls plays much too quickly now, you realize that there is something missing (I did, anyway). As this is the result of the removal of so many dumb moments that it almost killed my interest in the movie altogether, I can live with the edit – all things come at a price.

Throughout the whole movie, the removal of unnecessary dialogue and dysfunctional humour results in a much more enjoyable movie. All in all this version absolutely does what it is supposed to do – improving Indy4 without restructuring it and turning it into something new.

As for the two scenes I cut I guess it’s all about personal taste. I was originally going to leave the nuclear test scene in and remove dialog and the gawd awful refrigerator. But after an extensive amount of time I wasn’t happy with how it was turning out. Then it dawned on me that the scene wasn’t even needed thus it was cut. This did cause a minor issue with dialog during Indy’s interrogation though. I won’t go into the details here, but I recommend you go back and watch how it originally played out and then how I edited it. While not perfect it works pretty well.

For the library chase sequence everything after the statues head breaking off felt as if it were an elaborate set up for Indy’s joke. The scene was already long and prolonging it wasn’t necessary. Again… personal choice I suppose. But I knew some people liked these scenes so that is why they are in complete form in the deleted scenes section.

Title/FanEditor: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – The Essential Edition by Thunderclap.

Prologue: When I heard that a new Indiana Jones flick was coming, I was stoked. I had read a few of the treatments and scripts that Lucas had commissioned by various writers in the years since The Last Crusade came out and they were more of the same: Indy in an exotic locale, finding antiquities, barely escaping death, intrigue, sex, etc. I heard that Frank Darabont was commissioned to write the latest installment and I was very excited. He worked on it for a year. After turning it in, these were the reactions: Steven Spielberg loved it. Harrison Ford loved it. George Lucas hated it. Lucas then asked Spielberg to bring the various scripts (by Darabont, Jeffrey Boam, Jeb Stuart & a lot more) to his go-to screenwriter David Koepp to have him try his hand at cobbling together the different scripts that all had what Lucas wanted – aliens, the Soviets, and our favorite archaeologist. (Google Frank Darabont’s take – it’s awesome.) Anyway, long story short, it’s no wonder that the film was released to mixed reviews. I like parts of it but overall I found it to be a lazy, weak installment. When approached by Thunderclap for a firstling review, I was intrigued and though “why not?” Let’s see if there is any hope for this flawed film.

The Edit: The one good thing going for this fanedit is it is apparent that Thunderclap is quite adept at editing a film. The cuts are seamless. It is very well done. Bravo. My problem is with what he chose to remove. The Nuclear Bomb Test, while not necessary for the narrative, was one of my favorite parts of the film. I also enjoyed the full chase through the college, including the library sequence. Having said that, the removal of the cutesy stuff like the prairie dogs and Tarzan sequence, gleaming CGI-heavy sequences, along with a lot of dumb, pointless dialogue, are fine by me and the film moves right along. I didn’t miss any of it. I particularly enjoyed the wedding sequence. It is very clever in this form. The movie has a lot of problems and this cut helps a good part of them. It’s clean and Thunderclap’s heart is in the right place. ****/*****

Image Quality: The film has been “desaturated and grained” (to coin a phrase) so it looks more film like. It helps in the “video game sequence” near the climax especially – the CGI does not stick out like a sore thumb. (Fans of the film know what I’m talking about.) The picture is vivid, clean and clear. It looks great. *****/*****

Audio Quality: The film makes good use of the surrounds — the sound field is enveloping with musical score, dialog and panning, directional sound effects. I did not notice any LFE. To be honest, I can’t remember if it had a lot to begin with. I love films that rumble my basement, though. It could have used a punch on the low end. Overall, it sounded pretty good on my set-up. ****/*****

The DVD: The disc features two static menus with poster art: Main Menu (Play, Play with deleted scene subtitles and Deleted Scenes (Nuclear Bomb Test, Library Chase, and Tarzan). Let’s talk about the deleted scene subtitles. This is the first fanedit I have reviewed that included such a clever feature. I loved it. It really showcased thunderclap’s ability when it comes to cutting a film. I have to admit that it took me out of the film so I would suggest that fans turn the subtitles off to enjoy this incarnation of the film. As a reviewer, I found it very helpful. *****/*****

Overall Rating: ****/***** (not an average). I would have graded it higher if the two sequences mentioned above were left intact.

Epilogue: This is a hard film to edit into something that’s good. I was not a fan of this installment before and this cut didn’t change my mind. That being said, it’s a great attempt at making KOTCS a better film. If you’re a fan, or just interested in seeing a bad film made a bit better, give this a go. I only wish that we could have seen Darabont’s vision. It blows this piecemeal effort to smithereens.

Molasar has spoken.

Reviewed using Sony 51” 16×9 RPTV, Panasonic DMP-BD80 Blu-Ray disc player and Onkyo 650 Watt 5.1 surround sound.