About the 80 year old Indy in Indiana Jones 5

I won't watch it. Thought he was already too old for the character in Crystal Skulls. Indy was someone you could idolize. Good looking, educated/smart, powerful, goes on exciting adventures, gets the beautiful women... I don't idolize old age. How is he gonna fight big men a third his age? Or will they just not engage him anymore?

What about a new actor? I think the best option would be for an unknown to play the younger Indy again in the 1930s. Disney would thus have their very own Bond series.

I get why people don't want a movie featuring an elderly Indiana Jones. For all the reasons you mentioned.

However, I really like the character and am curious/nostalgic enough to be interested in his life even as a retired old archeologist. Will we get a movie akin to the old ones with Indy fighting dudes, banging hot women and performing action stunts? No. Can we get an actually decent movie nonetheless? I believe we can, as long as the writing is good and nowhere near the level of Crystal Skull.

Indy could lead a small team into an exciting new exhibition. Use his smarts and knowledge. And ultimately, leave the action sequences to others. Except for his whip. He's got to use his whip.

As for a new actor taking on the role - I'm not really a fan of the idea. At least for the foreseeable future. Some characters are just so iconic that they cannot easily be separated from the actors that portrayed them. Like Harrison Ford and Indy/Han Solo. Now the characters shouldn't die along with the actors, just give it some time before trying to milk them again.

I'd be more interested in them introducing new characters. Like Indy's son or grandchild taking up the mantle. Although they messed it up with Shia LaBeuf.

It's all about the writing not the age.

Bingo.

Mangold is a decent director and he could do a good job given the proper material.

My problems with Crystal Skull were the CGI and poor writing (nuke fridge anyone?).

Use practical effects and get someone to write a good script and voilà, you get a good movie. But of course that's easier said than done. Spielberg went the Lucas route and ditched practical effects.

I have little hope that this will turn out well.

Well, he did drink from the Cup of Everlasting Life in The Last Crusade. So maybe he's immortal?

@ezekiel43 said:

Yes, putting Indiana in a situation like that would be cringy, which is why it shouldn't be done in the first place, i.e. a good script.

Coincidentally, Bethesda just announced a new Indiana Jones game developed by MachineGames.

https://twitter.com/bethesda/status/1349023307228704770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1349023307228704770%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

If it's in first person view, like their other games, it's an instant skip for me.

I'm more excited for the 4K collection coming out this year, supposedly. I'm most curious about Temple of Doom. The mines with all the fire should look spectacular in 4K and HDR. As should the opening club scene with all the colorful dancers and decoration. And it also has the grey-white of the mountains and the brown and green of the jungle to show off with the wider, more filmic color range. Doom is a lot of fun.

I hope there will be individual releases. I can get Raiders and Doom first and wait for Crusade, since the third is my least favorite of the original trilogy. But I have a feeling the individuals will be released later. I've been holding off on rewatching these for years because of this inevitable release.

Spielberg's other movies, those I own (Jaws, Schindler's List, E.T., The Lost World), have looked good on the new format. I think the only dud was Jurassic Park, which I didn't watch in 4K.

I thought they were passing the mantle to Shia Labeouf and Harrison would play the advisor or counsel role.

I'd be surprised if he was even in this movie.

I’m totally fine with it myself. For me it’s all about seeing how the character Indy has progressed over time with age. I watched the very first movie when it came out so seeing him age in real time presents me with a connection with how I have aged as well.

Indiana Jones to me is still a trilogy. I like to pretend the fourth one doesn't exist.

If only nineteen years didn't pass from Crusade to Skulls the franchise might have some value and still be interesting. A quality script could not have been written a few years past the 1989 entry?

Yeah, I don't think anyone wants to see Ford jumping chasms and punching (and banging) people in their 20s. But if they factor his age into the story and work with it, this could be cool.

I'm not completely sold on this idea either, I'm just saying it MIGHT work.

@Master_Live said:

@ezekiel43 said:

Yes, putting Indiana in a situation like that would be cringy, which is why it shouldn't be done in the first place, i.e. a good script.

Indiana Jones is about the 1930s pulp adventure and therefore the character should stay forever young.

Which is why you introduce a new guy to take care of the action-y stuff and still keep Harrison. Not sure why you want to cut Ford out when we can have our cake and eat it too. You have a preconceived notion of what it should be and me, and others in this thread share this view, think exploring an old Indiana could be something worth doing.

You can replace Ford with a new younger guy to play Indiana and the movie could still suck if the script is bad.

At the end of the day, Ford, no Ford, new guy or not the script is the key (but then again, that's always is the case).

If a new character does the action-y stuff for Indy, why even call it Indiana Jones? Honestly, such an emasculating idea, in a series partly about masculinity.

Of course the script is key. But you're already setting yourself up for disaster by keeping Ford the main character. At least if you let an unknown actor replace him with his own interpretation and write the story in the 1930s, there is a chance. Personally, I thought replacing Mel Gibson was smarter than bringing him back for Fury Road. He doesn't have that physicality anymore. He's fat and old. Ford is feeble and old.

Ford doesn't have to be the main character. What I sense from you is a lack of imagination, you just can't see any type of role for an old Harrison Ford in this.

And, despite George Miller's public comments to the contrary, I don't think Gibson's age was the sole consideration for going with Hardy in Fury Road. Even if Miller wanted to cast Gibson that would had been, ahem, difficult.

Tom Hardy was cast in 2010, Gibson was 54 (hardly a death sentence in Hollywood) in 2010, which is perfectly suitable for a bit older, more rugged type of character.

Plus Harrison is a real life badass (or moron depending on how you look at it), he keeps crashing planes and lives to die another day. A smart director could incorporate his flying skills into the film.

With all that ^^^ said if I had to choose between Ford/CGI and No Ford/ 100% (or near 100%) practical effects I would choose the latter.

@Master_Live: Indiana Jones is just another franchise they're trying to find ways to milk to death. They already attempted [and failed] to pass the baton over to Shia LeBeouf. I think the sign is - Harrison Ford IS Indy, and no one else should take that role; and the spirit of Indy: was in his youth and not as an old man.

Sometimes I just think it's best to give the classics a rest and let their legacies do the talking.

I know the moment they place Indy as the mentor character on the side, they're going to find ways to milk the series with a new face, and as a fan of the old series that just makes my stomach turn.

Indy is the titular hero after all, and it just does not seem right to have anyone but Harrison.

Then it doesn't earn its title "Indiana Jones and..." What I sense from you is fabulous optimism. Not sure where it's coming from.

That's a nice picture. Now pan down.

He would have been like 57 in Fury Road. George Miller never intended for the series to go that far. Sure, part of the reason they didn't hire him was because of his public image. But it was also his age.

Miller:

We were going to do it with Mel and we were within reach of doing it with Mel. Then 9/11 happened and the American dollar fell against the Australian dollar. The budget ballooned. ... By the time we were ready for Fury Road again, Mel had all those troubles. It also definitely got to the stage where it wasn't like Unforgiven, where it plays with an older guy. It was definitely the younger guy, the same guy.

He made the right decision. Max is written as a young man, just as Indy was written as a young to middle aged man in the 1930s to '40s.

I think it would be hard to make an Indy film without Ford, just like a Terminator film without schwarzenegger.

I am fine with an 80 year old Indy, it’s just an old Indy. The movie might be focus more upon his struggle with action and how he copes with it. I would prefer that to rehashing the old with a younger actor. God forbid an entirely new remake of the old films...

@ezekiel43: I might add that Fury Road happened to be a big risk that happened to pay off.

I think it would be irresponsible to believe that recasting a titular character would pay off like that every single time.

They already demonstrated this risk with Shia LeBeouf and it ultimately fell flat. I think that's just a sign the role should be left with the original actor, and if the actor happens to retire then so should the franchise.

The first three movies are still entertaining and very watchable to this day. I don't think anyone would have a problem popping in the original trilogy when they need their Indy fix.

And Fury Road is kind of funny example, you could name Hardy's character John or whatever and the movie would have worked just as fine. A lot of people were/are down on Hardy's performance in FR (I thought he was fine), but what set that film apart were the insane practical effects/stunts/energy/unbelievable cinematography. That movie is just a directorial wonder.

@Master_Live: Max was pretty much the weakest character in all of Fury Road. Imperator Furiosa ended up stealing the show.

Like I say, Fury Road was a risky one to do, and yet it ultimately paid off much for the reasons you say.

It's just irresponsible to think it's a risk that will work for every franchise. Indy 4 already tried and failed at it.

Says more about Shia LaBeouf and the character they wrote him as.

@ezekiel43: True; along with outlandish CGI sequences and aliens.

But still, I know what they're trying to do, and that is to introduce the new face of Indiana Jones so they can milk it forevermore. I'm just not fond of that idea.

Also, Max was central to Fury Road. It was him to told Furiosa and the women to go back to the Citadel when they were about to get themselves killed in the desert and it was his actions that had the most impact on the battles after he was unchained. The movie was about his redemption just as much as Furiosa's. Hardy handled the quiet crazy well.

@ezekiel43: I looked at his role kinda like the "lone angel" archetype in the story that guides the hero to justice.

Not saying Max was worthless in the story, because he was in fact pivotal to the outcome of it - but compared to some of the other characters he was overshadowed.

Which is suitable like you say, because he's more of the bystander in a much larger conflict.

They should honestly let these franchise die with some dignity. There’s nothing more pathetic than to watch someone attempt to cling on to the heyday they once held in time that it no longer affords them due to its passage.

Harrison is simply too old for what the source material necessitates. And no, no one else but Ford is Indiana Jones. He will always be, and he always should be. I don’t care how good the writing is....I simply don’t care to watch a geriatric swinging at Nazis or making flirtatious quips to women half his senior (who at this point, would be forty+).

Indy’s time has come and gone, it’s over. The original four films are the only real Indy movies out there. They need to recognize that when the putrid odor of sourness begins, it’s time to stop milking the udder.

I didn’t know Harrison Ford is 80+ years old? Shocking to me honestly,times flew by!!

I expect Harrison Ford to pull of stunts impossible for people in top shape in their 20s and 30s. Wrestle some muscle dudes and win. Be scared of snakes and pull of a leap of faith. :P

But the last one was so good ?!?

Being chased by Russians on American soil. Couldn’t just stop and yell “Russian spies!”

Survives nuke in a fridge 😑

The natives who just seem to hang out in the walls near the dormant spaceship

Shia swinging on the vines 🤣

The complete plot fail like the Raiders of lost Ark. If the hero did absolutely nothing and went home the bad guys would still die activating the skull.

They should do the same thing they have done with James Bond and have a revolving door of actors playing Indy.