Indiana Jones 4--The Script/Continued

Posted by Mike from Mizzou-AS9-14.missouri.edu on April 06, 2000 at 19:48:16:

FADE IN: A BASE CAMP ON (deliberately blank)--NIGHT

We see several tents through a light snowfall. The TITLE:

Deliberately left blank
1942

appears on the screen.

Closer now, a silhouette of flames dances on the canvas of the largest tent. Inside, the low chatter of a campfire tale is periodically broken by deep, masculine laughter.

Over the voices, we hear the sound of human footsteps in the snow. A man in cold-weather mountaineering gear trudges into the camp, his features obscured by the darkness. He seems injured. His knees finally crumple, and he collapses face-forward in the cold, ivory powder.

A drunken man, STEPAN, emerges from the main tent. He stumbles toward the fallen mountaineer and bends down to the body. He rolls it over to see a badly mutilated head and bloodied jacket.

Sucking in a long, hard breath, Stepan rises to his feet and yells. Several men rush from their tents, gathering around the corpse.

FIRST MAN
Stepan! What has happened?

STEPAN
We must go back! We must return
to Arguri! God forbids us to go
further!

Stepan retreats to his tent. The other men unzip the corpse's hood.

SECOND MAN
(looking at the body)
Abovian. I told him not to go out
unarmed.

ABOVIAN'S face is severely lacerated, his chest riddled with bullet holes.

THIRD MAN
Just like Patar! (looking around)
They are picking us off like helpless
flies.

Stepan reappears with a backpack hung over his shoulders.

STEPAN
God sent him as a warning! If we
don't leave now, we will all die!

A disembodied hand wheels Stepan around.

INDIANA JONES
(O.S)
Hogwash!

A flaming torch is thrust into Stepan's face by INDIANA JONES, bundled in a fur-lined parka and sporting a full beard.

CLOSE SHOT: INDIANA AND STEPAN

INDIANA
(cont., gripping Stepan's collar)
Just where the hell do ya think you're
goin'?

STEPAN
Turning back. And I suggest you do
the same.

INDIANA
You're a fool. You won't get ten
feet outta here in this weather.

STEPAN
You are the fool, Dr. Jones. Look
at Abovian and see your own fate.

EXT. BASE CAMP

Infuriated, Indy shoves Stepan into the snow and pulls a large revolver out of his belt. Cocking the trigger, Indy sticks the barrel up Stepan's nose.

INDIANA
I oughtta kill you now and save Mother
Nature the trouble.

Indy waves the gun toward Stepan's tent.

INDIANA
(cont.)
Now get in there and unpack, ya drunken
bum. You signed on for this expedition
and goddamn it you're goin'.

Stepan stands up, pushes Indy aside, and stumbles into his tent. Indy pauses briefly to watch the men packing their murdered comrade with snow.

INT. A TENT
Indy steps in and stretches out before the fire. MATVEI, the chief Armenian guide, enters. He pulls down his parka hood, revealing the dark, weathered features of a well-seasoned, hard-drinking mountain man.

Gulping whiskey from a hide-covered flask, he offers Indy a swallow.

MATVEI
Some whiskey, Dr. Jones?

INDIANA
(disgruntled)
Yeah. Thanks.

Indy takes a healthy swig.

MATVEI
You must try to understand these men.
Every Armenian has heard the
terrifying tales.

INDIANA
More like old wive's tales.
(PAUSE) Stepan's a coward and a drunk, pure and simple.

MATVEI
Any man is a coward at the hand
of the Almighty.

INDIANA
God didn't murder Abovian.

MATVEI
No. But to these men it is a
sign, an omen. To remind us that
no mortal man may ever view the
(blank). God does not want it
found. To Him, it is sacred.

INDIANA
That's what they said about the
Ark of the Covenant. And I found
it.

MATVEI
(chuckling)
And of course, you still have it?

INDIANA
Maybe I don't have it. But God
doesn't have it either.

Matvei settles next to Indy.

MATVEI
Doubtless you've heard the story
of St. Jacob.

Indy looks at him across the campfire.

MATVEI
He wished to honor God, and his brave servant (blank), by building a splendid shrine around the (blank). But each time he tried to climb this great mountain, an angel cast a spell over him, and carried him back to the bottom.

INDIANA
All that work for nothin'.

MATVEI
Not quite. You see, the Lord was so pleased that he sent another angel to give Jacob a piece of timber from the
(blank) itself. (PAUSE) But Jacob's motives were far nobler than ours.

INDIANA
Well, no one ever accused me of bein' noble. And no angel's gonna buy me off
with a piece of wood.

Indy leans back and closes his tired eyes.

MATVEI
Say your prayers, oh brave misguided one. Tomorrow we start for the summit.

EXT. BASE CAMP--MORNING

The expeditionary team is packed and ready to assault the mountain. One of the men climbs up from below, puffing and panting, clouding the icy air with each burst of breath.

CLIMBER
I found footsteps down there. He must have left during the night.

INDIANA
(to Matvei)
I told you he was a coward.

MATVEI
And unfortunately, a fool.

Indy brushes past Matvei, who looks worried.

EXT. SIDE OF MT. (BLANK)--DAY

From afar, we see seven men scaling the mountainside. Carefully digging their spiked boots into the frozen, rocky earth, the climbers follow the determined Dr. Jones, who we see CLOSE UP, hammering a steel piton into the hard dirt and snapping a karabiner through it. Matvei is grasping the rope beneath him.

Breaking the wintry silence, one of the climbers shouts, pointing toward the summit. The other men look up and see a dark object, bouncing off rocks as it plummets down the mountain.

Smashing into the snow, it plows into one of the expeditioners before continuing on. The man loses his footing and screams down the mountain. Thinking fast, Indy releases a karabiner and pushes away from the mountain, sliding down the rope faster than the other climber can fall.

Indy grabs him just before he can splatter on a jagged boulder. The falling object has landed just below. Petrified, the imperiled alpinist clings tightly to his savior.

CLIMBER
We must leave! We must leave now! Stepan was right!

Naturally curious, Indy descends to investigate the fallen object. A closer look reveals a corpse wrapped in a parka. Indy yanks back the hood, unmasking a grizzly sight--the mangled face of Stepan!

CLIMBER
UHHHHHHHH!

INDIANA
You wanna leave? Be my guest.

The horrified mountaineer scrambles up the rope, like a man treed by a hungry bear.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. ANOTHER SECTION OF (BLANK)

Indy is climbing just above Matvei.

MATVEI
Tatar highwaymen. Stepan was unfortunate enough to encounter their good side.

INDIANA
Whatta they want with us?

MATVEI
Our money and our lives. BLANK is famous for its bloodthirsty bandits.

Climbing up to a ledge, Indy and Matvei stumble upon the den of a wild mountain ibex. Indy gives the horned goat a wide berth, while Matvei waits behind.

All of a sudden the irascible beast charges Indy and butts him down an ice flume. He slides into the snow at the mouth of a narrow crevice.

MATVEI
(shouting to Indy)
You should have been a bullfighter!
You would have been...c'est magnifique!

Behind him, Matvei hears a SWISHING SOUND followed by a pained GRUNT. He turns to see a climber fall into the snow with an arrow through his neck!

MATVEI
(yelling to the others)
Bandits!!

INDIANA
(yelling up)
Hurry up! Down here!

Matvei and the others hustle toward the crevice. Indy motions them through, one at a time.

As the fourth climber is crossing, the frosty ground gives way beneath his feet, burying him down a gaping crack. Indy is left stranded with one other climber, LARS.

THWUNK!! Lars looks down at the arrowhead sticking through his chest. He looks forlornly at Indy as blood gurgles out of his mouth and he collapses in the snow. Indy squeezes into the crevice, pressing tightly against the walls as he pushes along.
But he's getting older, so his back aches and he groans.

Suddenly arrows from above the crevice dive around Indy, who's losing his grip on the slick, icy walls. He's just about to slip when Matvei reaches in, grabs him by the belt, and pulls him to safety.

They meet quickly eye to eye!

MATVEI
(beaming excitedly)
This is invigorating, eh Dr. Jones!

Indy looks at Matvei dubiously.

EXT. A VALLEY

The four remaining explorers come to a gently sloping ridge overlooking a wide valley. The peak of Little BLANK is visible in the distance. The peak of Great BLANK looms above.

Indy is first to spot the danger.

INDIANA
(quietly, to the others)
Hold it!!

The men stop silently. Matvei creeps up to Indy's side. Together they see an abandoned church in the valley, abutting the mountain.

It is swarming with Tatar bandits.

INDIANA
(motioning to the others)
Okay! But keep it down!

They cautiously move on, ensconced behind boulders and snowbanks.

EXT. THE ABANDONED CHURCH

A few of the bandits are on horseback. One of them spots Indy and whistles to the others. Armed with crossbows and a bullwhip, they gallop after their newly-discovered victims.

EXT. GREAT BLANK

Matvei spies the approaching criminals.

MATVEI
Quickly! We must hurry! They've spotted us!

The brigands beat their horses up the embankment. Indy continues on, trying not to look back. But Matvei falls behind.

The bandits' bullwhip coils tightly around Matvei's neck so fast he never knows what got him! They yank him off his feet, while Indy and the other two men flee without seeing him.

One of the bandits whips out his sidearm and quickly shoots down the fourth climber. Indy and the last man, CYRIL, scurry over a low hill.

Catching his breath, Indy peers through a crack between two rocks.

INDIANA
(to himself)
Matvei!

The bandits are tying Matvei's hands. He looks up pleadingly, toward the rocks.

MATVEI
(crying out to Indy)
Indiana! Get away! Save yourself!

Two bandits sway their horses in Indy's direction, while he watches helplessly as Matvei is horsedrawn by his wrists toward the abandoned church.

INDIANA
(to himself)
I'll be back for ya, pal.

Indy and Cyril bolt up the mountain.

EXT. NEAR THE SUMMIT

Indy and Cyril are climbing when the highwaymen come galloping around a ridge. One of them aims a crossbow at Cyril and SWOOSH! An arrow sails into his back, dropping him instantly! Indy keeps on moving as he must.

EXT. THE VALLEY OF THE BLANK

Huffing and puffing, Indy staggers into a mysterious canyon covered with acres of fresh, undisturbed snow. The cliff walls which surround him on three sides are covered with a splendorous icy sheen, breathtaking to behold in the glistening sunlight.

Hearing HOOFBEATS close behind, Indy tramps as fast as he can through the dense blanket of snow. Whipping their steeds, the brigands ride into the canyon. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind stirs up the snow. The horses stop short, throwing their riders and whinnying up in fright. Indy dives for cover and the bandits retreat, as the entire valley is engulfed in a miniature blizzard.

EXT. OUTSIDE THE MYSTERIOUS CANYON

Once out of the canyon, the bandits are again in clear weather. They look back at the bizarre sight! The blizzard still raging, creating a wall of snow between the canyon and themselves. Jumping on their now quieted mounts, the superstitious bandits raise their eyes to the sky and chant a quick prayer, then hightail it back to the church!

EXT. THE VALLEY OF THE BLANK

The blizzard stops as suddenly as it started, leaving Indy half-buried in a snowdrift, beard covered with white powder. A hollow wind howls, but otherwise the place is strangely peaceful.

Indy rubs his aching back as he struggles to his feet, groggily brushing the snow from his body.

Our view is BROADENED and behind him we see the surprise unwrapped by the snowstorm.

The Title and blanks filled in coming soon, if you haven't already figured it out.

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