May 23, 2008 -- The latest, and probably last in the series of adventure films that began with “Raiders of the Lost Ark” has hit theaters nearly 20 years since the previous film in the series, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” It is a worthy successor to those earlier three films in the series. This film caps a year which has seen a spate of films from seemingly dead franchises rise from the ashes, including “Rocky Balboa” and “Rambo” from Sylvester Stallone and “Live Free or Die Hard” from Bruce Willis. Later this year, a new installment in the “Terminator” series is coming out on the heels of Terminator-based TV series, “Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicles.” All this proves two things. 1. In Hollywood, nothing ever completely dies. 2. There is still life left in these movie franchises and in the aging movie stars who made them famous.

The 65-year-old Harrison Ford stars again as the iconic action hero Indiana Jones and he seems fit enough to at least go through the motions of the outrageous stunts in this movie. In one scene, Indy climbs into a refrigerator which is then blasted some considerable distance by an atomic bomb test. He emerges unscathed, of course. All this after escaping several hails of machine gun fire from a group of Soviet agents and crashing through the windshield of an oncoming truck. The Soviets are on the trail of an oddly-shaped crystal skull, which may hold the power of thought control. The Soviets are lead by Irina Spalko (played by Kate Blanchett of “Notes on a Scandal”). Spalko is a deliciously evil villain, a key ingredient in this kind of adventure movie. Jones is joined in his quest by Mutt Williams (a reference to Indiana Jones' name, which is similarly canine-based, played by Shia LaBeouf of “Transformers”), whose mother is being held hostage by the Soviets. The Soviets are also holding Professor 'Ox' Oxley (John Hurt of “Hellboy”) hostage, who is an old friend of Indy.

The chase for the Crystal Skull leads to South America, where the legend gets tangled up with a lost city of gold. The legendary 1947 flying saucer crash in Roswell, N.M. also gets thrown into the mix. None of this makes any sense, or is believable in any way, but none of the Indiana Jones movies are believable. The first three films in the series had supernatural elements. This one replaces the supernatural elements with science fiction, which may be more or less believable, depending on the beliefs of the viewer. There are a couple of good chase scenes in the movie, including one with Tarzan-like overtones. In one chase, people leap back and forth between vehicles speeding through a jungle, and along a cliff edge. During the same chase, there is a sword fight involving a man standing astride two vehicles racing side by side. None of these stunts are believable, but they are fun to watch. Again, these outrageous stunts are no more extreme than can be found in the other Indiana Jones films, or those old Republic serials which inspired them.

A lot of this film's appeal can be attributed to the immense talent in front of and behind the camera. Steven Spielberg directs the film and the script was co-written by George Lucas. The director of photography is the accomplished Janusz Kaminski (“War of the Worlds”). Music is composed by the great John Williams, one of the all-time greats. In addition to Harrison, Hurt, Blanchett and LaBeouf, the film stars Ray Winstone of “Beowulf” and Jim Broadbent of “Hot Fuzz.” Also back from the original film is Karen Allen, reprising her character of Marion Ravenwood. It's great to have her back. I had my doubts about trying to revive the Indiana Jones franchise, but this team of filmmakers and actors has done a good job. I'd say this movie is as good as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and is better than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but not as good as Raiders of the Last Ark (but then, what is?). It rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2008 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .