I know this is at least the 5th edit of KOTCS out there, so sue me ;) I've removed an additional 3 scenes (Present in all other edits as far as I know) and the partial retention of Mutt's heroics makes this somewhat unique I hope. For me, Mutt needs those swashbuckling Errol Flynn moments to keep his character alive... he just doesn't need to do acrobatics across two Jeeps and have a spiritual bond with a bunch of CGI monkeys. Let the adventure begin!

Intention:

I started on a KOTCS edit a while back and ended up boring myself with it at around the time they get to the Conquistador Tomb. I found it so boring that it actually made it difficult to drag up the will to continue editing KOTCS! But after viewing njvc's excellent 'Raiders of the Lost Skull' edit I realised what was in my opinion really wrong with KOTCS. Since njvc had skillfully removed all the offensive material like CGI goffers, Mutt doing the splits, the fridge, the CGI flying saucer etc, those irritations no longer distracted my eye. So I could finally see what was left with fresh eyes. It was clear that in the original cut, between Indy escaping Doom Town and the quicksand scene, there was 47 minutes of near solid exposition (With only the brief bike chase to break it up). It goes...

Exciting Roswell Chase / Sit in AirForce base explaining the plot / Sit in Indys home explaining the plot / Sit in Cafe explaining the plot / Exciting Bike Chase / Walk through market explaining the plot / Stand in cell explaining the plot / Explore tomb while explaning the plot / Tie Indy to chair while explaining the plot to him / Mildy Fun Quicksand Scene

... so if I could cut this portion of the movie back to it's barest minimum the film woud finally flow. After alot of thinking the obvious removals were 'The CIA debrief', 'Indy returning to college' and 'The Sanitorium'. The first and second scenes setup the unresolved McCarthyism subplot and introduce a roster of characters we never see again. The second only adds further layers of exposition to the already complicated Oxley backstory (In my edit, these and other minor trims account for 14 minutes of the excised footage alone). I completely scrapped my old edit and started again. This time focusing first and foremost on upping the pace of the adventure, removing many long-shots that sapped momentum and featured excessive CGI and complete re-colour of the movie.

Other Sources:

KOTCS CD Soundtrack

Special Thanks:

njvc for his amazing work on KOTCS and for stealing his inspired ending.

Release Information:

DVD
Digital

Special Features:

14 minute Re-Edited Deleted Scenes Compilation

Editing Details:

General changes include:
- Entire film recoloured/desaturated to be less cartoony/artificial
- All CGI Goffers removed
- Mutt's swordfight and vine-swinging retained but heavily recut
- Doom Town, Debriefing, University and Sanitorium scenes entirely removed
- All footage showing the beings as bug-eyed aliens removed (Plus flying saucer)
- Mac is a double agent, not a quadruple agent
- Emphasis on removing many long shots that either slow down the pace, show excessive scale or are just plagued by bad CGI

Cuts and Additions:

Specific changes include:
00.00.00 Added TM2YC Ident
00.00.08 Added oldskool Lucasfilm logo
00.00.24 CGI goffer replaced with new mountain matte painting
00.00.40 'Covenant Edition' title added
00.02.41 Magic checkpoint massacre removed (But hinted at)
00.04.35 Indy's "Drop Dead" line removed
00.04.39 Indy's "I'm sorry..." line removed
00.05.51 Indy looking at Spalko crosseyed and her flicking his hat removed
00.06.20 Spalko's magic powers removed
00.07.37 Mac's "West" line removed
00.07.59 First part of magnetic-gunpowder sequence removed
00.11.56 Mac's betrayal recut to be a surprise
00.12.33 Indy's "I like Ike" line removed
00.13.02 Indy now makes his first jump
00.13.10 Exploding CGI boxes reduced
00.15.02 More CGI goffers from Rocketsled sequence removed
00.15.18 Indy waking up shot reduced
00.15.31 Indy falling over removed
00.16.11 9 minute Doom Towm, Debriefing and University sequences entirely removed
00.16.19 Indy looking sad as he boards the train removed
00.17.13 Dialogue about Oxley being boring removed
00.17.54 Dialogue about other Crystal Skulls removed
00.22.15 Indy motorcycle sking removed
00.23.24 Closeup shot of Brody plaque removed
00.23.32 Rest of bike chase through library removed
00.23.40 Letter translation exposition reduced
00.25.40 Mention of Oxley being in a Sanitorium removed
00.26.54 Shot of Indy and Mutt entering the Sanitorium recut
00.26.57 Sanitorium sequence entirely removed
00.29.14 Indys "Part time" line removed
00.29.25 Mutt combing his hair and shaking removed
00.31.15 Dialogue refrencing Ox's cell and discussing skulls removed
00.31.25 Mutt's "You're going nowhere fast" line removed
00.32.29 Redundant dialogue about footprints removed
00.33.38 Knife swapping sequence removed
00.36.39 Discussion about returning the skull removed
00.40.04 Indy's "Come on?!" line removed
00.40.51 Removed explanation dialogue
00.41.12 Oxley dancing removed
00.44.17 Removed Indy face wobble
00.45.32 Removed Indy's goofy reaction to seeing Marion
00.46.17 End of arguement with Marion removed
00.47.19 Oxley's "Three times it drops" dialogue removed
00.49.34 Sinking into the sand shortened
00.49.51 Indy talking about quick sand removed
00.50.18 Discussion about Mutt shortened
00.50.51 All shots of snake removed
00.51.07 Indy's "Good work Ox" line removed
00.51.12 Start of long pan-out from Tractor removed
00.51.21 End of long pan-out from Tractor removed
00.53.11 Sound of Indy ripping his pants and Mutt saying "Oh shit!" removed
00.53.41 Long shot of Marion grinning removed
00.54.30 Two shots of bouncing saw removed
00.54.33 Shot of bouncing saw removed
00.54.42 Indy's "Pull up next to that duck" line removed
00.55.55 Indy telling Mutt to not be a child removed
00.57.35 Two long shots of Mutt dueling Spalko removed
00.57.46 Long shot of Mutt dueling Spalko removed
00.58.06 Mariion getting whacked by a branch removed
00.58.07 Mutt doing the splits sequence removed
00.58.11 Shot of Mutt doing the splits again removed
00.58.21 Spalko firing the jeep gun removed
00.58.24 Shot of Marion un-ducking removed
00.58.43 Marion grunting shortened
00.59.05 Shot of Mutt wobbling removed
00.59.19 Shots of Mutt and Indy noticing the vine removed
00.59.24 Four shots of Mutt having a long look at the Monkeys removed
00.59.28 Mutt beginning to swing brought forward
00.59.36 Long shot of canyon chase shortened
00.59.36 Mutt swinging shots shortened or removed
00.59.45 Long shot of canyon chase removed
00.59.47 Shot of Mac and another long shot removed to create new match cut
01.00.05 Second vine swinging sequence drastically shortened
01.00.21 Shots of monkeys attacking the jeep removed
01.00.27 Two shots of Monkeys still attacking shortened and removed
01.00.31 Monkey surviving and "Whoa" dialogue removed
01.00.39 Shots of Spalko's Jeep flying shortened
01.00.51 Shot of Spalko trembling about the ant removed
01.01.28 Shot of ants shortened
01.02.01 Marion driving the jeep near the cliff edge removed
01.02.28 Shot of ants crowding round Spalko removed
01.03.02 Indy being picked up by his ear and Ants climbing after Spalko removed
01.03.03 More fighting removed to make new match cut
01.03.35 Closeup of guy drowning in ants and two reaction shots removed
01.03.37 Two shots of the ants carrying his body removed
01.04.22 Long shot showing height of cliff removed
01.04.30 Shot of jeep leaping removed and next shot heavily cropped and shortened to reduce scale
01.04.44 All footage of springing tree and falling Russians removed
01.04.45 Next shot of jeep cropped closer
01.04.50 Shot of Spalko shortened to again reduce scale
01.04.55 Ox's "Three times it drops" line removed
01.05.07 All footage of 3 waterfalls recut and mixed up so there is just one now
01.05.21 Scramble ashore recut to remove catatonic Marion
01.05.26 Shot of Indy brought forward so he sees the next step first
01.05.33 Mutt's lines shortened and redubbed
01.05.36 Dialogue rehashing why the Skull must be returned removed
01.10.00 Shot of Spalko picking up a beacon removed
01.10.48 Circling round the obelisk and mention of Ox's cell removed
01.12.33 Long shot of chamber removed
01.14.05 Shot of Mac dropping a beacon removed
01.14.10 Shot of Spalko picking up a beacon removed
01.17.22 All footage of Mac's triple-cross removed
01.17.39 Spalko's dialogue and walk round the temple removed
01.19.01 Indy's "A big gift" line removed
01.20.43 Shot of space ship claw thing opening removed
01.22.14 Shot of Mac hanging on and Aliens merging removed
01.22.23 Two shts showing the Alien removed
01.22.25 Shot that showed the Alien shortened and cropped
01.23.33 All footage of the flying saucer removed
01.23.34 Shot of water washing away evidence cropped to remove Indy
01.23.36 Indy reaction shot used to breakup water footage
01.25.19 New credits sequence added with KOTCS CD soundtrack finale dubbed on
01.31.51 Recut wedding added as Marvel-style post credits sequence
01.31.53 Two running shots shortened and cropped to remove Jim Broadbent
01.31.54 Jim Broadbent's dialogue about the lettering removed
01.31.55 Shot of Jim Broadbent getting the bible shortened and cropped
01.32.21 Shot of Jim Broadbent and part of the wedding vows removed
01.32.30 Shot of Oxley cropped to remove Jim Broadbent
01.32.35 Shot of Oxley removed
01.32.41 Shot of Oxley removed and "Well done Henry" line redubbed
01.32.44 Shot of Mutt cropped to minimise Jim Broadbent
01.33.15 Fade to black before original credits role

FanEdit Length: 92 minutes
Original Film Length: 122 minutes
Time removed: 30 minutes
Major cuts: 122

First Half Hour

Faneditor Name:

TM2YC

Original Movie/Show Title:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Genre:

Action

Franchise:

Indiana Jones

Fanedit Type:

FanFix

Original Release Date:

2008

Original Running Time:

122 minutes

Fanedit Release Date:

August 2013

Fanedit Running Time:

92 minutes

Time Cut:

30 minutes

Available in HD:

Yes

Additional Links:

Join the Forum Discussion

Synopsis:

Intention:

Other Sources:

KOTCS CD Soundtrack

Special Thanks:

njvc for his amazing work on KOTCS and for stealing his inspired ending.

Release Information:

DVD
Digital

Special Features:

14 minute Re-Edited Deleted Scenes Compilation

Editing Details:

Cuts and Additions:

Cover art by TM2YC (DOWNLOAD HERE)

First Half Hour

Trusted Reviewer reviews

5 reviews

Overall rating

9.0

Audio/Video Quality

9.6(5)

Audio Editing

9.6(5)

Visual Editing

8.8(5)

Narrative

8.2(5)

Enjoyment

8.0(5)

February 08, 2022

Overall rating

9.4

Audio/Video Quality

10.0

Audio Editing

10.0

Visual Editing

10.0

Narrative

8.0

Enjoyment

8.0

Overall a very good edit of KOTCS. I know this is one of TM2YC's first edits and he did a marvelous job. Edits are seamless and PQ/AQ are very good. Not much I can add to the other reviews. I do think a little too much was cut but that's a personal preference.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

Digital

Q2_ Top 500 Reviewer 38 reviews

Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0

October 14, 2017

Overall rating

9.0

Audio/Video Quality

9.0

Audio Editing

9.0

Visual Editing

9.0

Narrative

9.0

Enjoyment

8.0

Many small improvements, without any grating omissions or transitions. This was my go-to version until I saw Q2's edit.
TM2YC's edit remains a convincing improvement on the original.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

Digital

lapis molari Top 100 Reviewer 60 reviews

Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0

November 05, 2013

Overall rating

8.7

Audio/Video Quality

10.0

Audio Editing

10.0

Visual Editing

8.0

Narrative

7.0

Enjoyment

7.0

Good fanedit. Quality was great. Editing overall was good but a little sloppy at times. Could have spent more time on some things, such as the opening shot transitions. Color correction is pretty damn solid, great work on that. Movie is much more bearable. Recommended.

A/V Quality - 10
Editing - 8 visual, 10 audio
Narrative - 7
Enjoyment - 7 (original 4)

Recommended drink: Popov vodka, Brita filtered 3x

User Review

Format Watched

Digital

Neglify #1 Reviewer 462 reviews

Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0

September 02, 2013 (Updated: September 02, 2013)

Overall rating

8.2

Audio/Video Quality

9.0

Audio Editing

9.0

Visual Editing

7.0

Narrative

8.0

Enjoyment

8.0

A very cool Indiana Jones edit.

Having in mind to make a Indy 4 fanedit myself I wanted to check an edit that removes so much exposition scenes. The pace is indeed excellent while keeping the good elements. It definitely was a good idea.
I found some tiny continuity "problems" with some of the cuts, specialy during the first part, but in the end they more or less all are good use of the "lesser of two evils" principal.
I would have kept the Russians killing the US soldiers at the beginning though. Now, maybe they have false pass and can get to the restricted area, but I think the movie somehow needs the Russians killing people.
Video quality of the DVD is good. Although even if the color correction is nice, some faces are a little white looking to me now, maybe just a bit more saturation would have been cool, just my taste.
I did not notice any jarring audio transitions. All pretty smooth.
Can't rate the enjoyment more than 8 cause there are still some things that I can't enjoy in this Indy 4 version. But 8 is pretty strong for this movie anyway, lol.
I also liked the way the monkeys scene was done. Does not bother me as much as the original.
(But one thing that I don't like in the original is still there: Indy's car is way ahead Spalko after Mutt met the monkeys, while before that Indy was way behind. And I understand she wants to get them off the cliff but since she have the skull at that moment and had the lead of the chase one minute earlier, it just looks odd to see her chasing Indy. Just a pev peeve of mine concerning the original.)

I recommand this edit if you want a better paced Indy 4, that feels more like an adventure ride rather than people explaning what this is all about (and confusing the audience even more by the way!)

A nice watch for Indy's fans.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

DVD

TMBTM Top 50 Reviewer 139 reviews

Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0

August 24, 2013

Overall rating

9.7

Audio/Video Quality

10.0

Audio Editing

10.0

Visual Editing

10.0

Narrative

9.0

Enjoyment

9.0

I didn't think it was possible, but editor TM2YC has created a version of Indy 4 that I actually enjoyed and look forward to watching again. I absolutely hated the theatrical version of the film, and while njvc's edit "Raiders of the Lost Skull" (a very good edit in it's own right) made the experience much less painful, it wasn't quite enough. I never expected to watch another version of KOTCS, and then I read TM2YC's intention and cut list for this one. Wow. The editor makes some bold and competently argued assertions, and, I'm delighted to say, every one of them was spot on. At last, this feels like an Indiana Jones movie!

By removing much of the old age humor, Dr. Jones retains his heroic persona; he no longer feels like a lovable has-been just trying to keep up. The removal of the huge chunks of exposition throughout the film is actually helpful in three different ways: 1. It improves the pacing considerably. 2. It streamlines the narrative, making it less convoluted. 3. By removing many of the scenes where Dr. Jones is seen merely walking around in daylight, you don't notice his bow-legged, stooped old man posture as much (I'm not trying to be cruel here; it happens to all of us eventually. Watch the deleted scenes compilation and you'll see what I mean). Not seeing this allows for easier suspension of disbelief when the stunts start happening; you don't have this crazy disconnect between the two images. Also helping the action feel more believable (and thus more in line with the other films), is the serious trimming away of many shots that either look phony/cartoony or make the scale of the danger look ridiculous. Essentially, it no longer looks like huge swaths of the movie were shot on a soundstage against a green screen. Well, the trimming gets us halfway there; the other half of that essential fix was achieved by recoloring and desaturating the picture. This alone, giving the film a more grounded appearance, bringing it more in line with the rest of the franchise, makes KOTCS 25% less depressing. Of course, the most egregious stuff has been removed as well (atomic bombs, gophers, flying saucers), with a truncated Mutt vine-swinging scene that is far less upsetting.

Is it a good movie now? No, not really. It is a lot more fun, though. I equate it with Jurassic Park 3; a minor entry in a major franchise. It's a let-down, of course, but it's not offensive. It merely feels like a smaller film. It zips along, hitting its beats, and then it's over in an hour and a half. There are a couple of little things that still bothered me, but I don't see how they could have been done better, so I'm not docking much. The only one really worth mentioning here is that it really does feel like something is missing between the rocket sled and the train station. The single shot from the excised "doom town" sequence is an inventive way to bridge these two scenes, but it still feels rather abrupt. Otherwise, this is a superb edit that turns an unwatchable epic into a fun little adventure movie. I give it my highest recommendation.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

DVD

plurmonger Top 100 Reviewer 38 reviews

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User reviews

12 reviews

9-10 stars

75%

7-9 stars

25%

5-7 stars

3-5 stars

1-3 stars

Overall rating

9.1

Audio/Video Quality

9.3(12)

Audio Editing

9.3(12)

Visual Editing

9.4(12)

Narrative

8.6(12)

Enjoyment

8.8(12)

View all user reviews View most helpful

December 30, 2021

Overall rating

10.0

Audio/Video Quality

10.0

Audio Editing

10.0

Visual Editing

10.0

Narrative

10.0

Enjoyment

9.0

I haven't watched the original film in years, so I probably didn't notice ALL of the changes... but the biggest one I did notice was that this movie didn't suck as much as I remember it did. If you've never liked this film, but really want to, I think this edit will change your mind!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

Blu-ray

Charlie Abs Top 500 Reviewer 15 reviews

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November 11, 2019

Overall rating

9.2

Audio/Video Quality

9.0

Audio Editing

10.0

Visual Editing

10.0

Narrative

8.0

Enjoyment

9.0

‍

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

Digital

Flounder Top 10 Reviewer 160 reviews

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November 26, 2017 (Updated: November 27, 2017)

Overall rating

9.2

Audio/Video Quality

10.0

Audio Editing

9.0

Visual Editing

10.0

Narrative

8.0

Enjoyment

9.0

I have to say, pretty good edit in many aspects. The quality is good, and the edits are pretty seamless. KOTCS seems to be most of a disappointment for most people, but I was like in the middle. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. This edit cuts the correct things and makes an not too bad movie for me into yeah, really not bad at all. The narrative is a little hard to follow but it wasn't too bad for me personally.

But more importantly, this is the first ever edit I watched and I just want to thank TM2YC here for making an edit that sold me the idea of fanedits. Awesome work, TM2YC!

theryaney Top 500 Reviewer 20 reviews

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August 17, 2017

Overall rating

9.0

Audio/Video Quality

10.0

Audio Editing

10.0

Visual Editing

10.0

Narrative

6.0

Enjoyment

8.0

So like seemingly everyone, I hated KOTCS too, and to be blunt, this edit definitely improved my enjoyment of it. All the little, obnoxious, obviously late George Lucas-written moments are removed, and the movie definitely like a somewhat fitting and appropriate sequel to the original three.

The technical aspect of this edit was really perfect. The video quality was tremendous for 720p (I would've guessed it was 1080p), and the sound and video editing was completely on point.

However, I ended up watching this in conjunction with Q2's KOTCS edit, and I did find this version cut out a little bit too much of the first act. So much so, I kept rewinding, wondering why Indy was doing this, or why he was at a particular location. The movie still works to a degree, but when compared to Q2's, I found the latter to be much easier to follow and improved my enjoyment of the story even more -- unfortunately for me, the video quality of Q2's isn't nearly as good as this one.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

Digital

Ka Kahn Top 1000 Reviewer 5 reviews

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August 14, 2014

Overall rating

8.2

Audio/Video Quality

10.0

Audio Editing

9.0

Visual Editing

8.0

Narrative

6.0

Enjoyment

7.0

Whilst I was too young to see the originals in theatres, I grew up with them on home video and they were my go to films, second behind the Superman series when I was looking for fun and adventure. I actually enjoyed Indiana Jones 4 when I first saw in the theatre. However on repeated viewings of the Crystal Skull I realised it was the experience of seeing Indy on the big screen that I enjoyed rather than the movie itself.

Could Indiana Jones 4 be saved? TM2YC's fan edit of the Crystal Skull seemed like a good place to start.

With 30 minutes cut this isn't a conservative edit. TM2YC felt the middle of the film had too much exposition, as a result extensive cuts are made. However I always found the drawn out action towards the end to be the real downer.

Despite a cool transition from the warehouse scene to Indy on the train I felt too much set-up was missing and that we arrived at the third act too quickly.

That said there's plenty to like in this edit. Most of what fans would call offensive has been removed, though I would have liked to see no monkeys and Jeep sword fighting and the post credits wedding scene felt a little tacked on.

Picture quality is great with improved colour design and less overblown saturation and the editing was pretty much faultless. Overall a very solid fan edit.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?

Yes

Format Watched

DVD

Ollie W Top 500 Reviewer 14 reviews

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