Re: A dissenting vote...

Posted by Indiana Joe from ppp-s127-n58-as3.nerdc.ufl.edu on April 08, 2000 at 17:24:28:

In Reply to: Should Lucas direct Indy 4? posted by The Eternal on April 08, 2000 at 06:41:59:

I do agree that Spielberg is a better director; why shouldn’t he be? He’s directed a lot more than Lucas. That said, I’ve gotten the impression the last few years that Spielberg doesn’t really put much into movies anymore, unless they’re significantly different enough from previous work that they _require_ him to give them his all, as with Saving Private Ryan. Hook and both Jurassic Park films seemed pretty by-the-numbers to me; devoid of any real creative directorial flair of the sort Spielberg used to bring to his early escapist entertainment. He seems more interested in “serious” films now, which is certainly fine and admirable, but it seems to preclude him from really putting anything into any “just for fun” work, despite his continuing to do such work, with the consequence that most of the pure-entertainment fantasies Spielberg has put his name on in recent years have been half-hearted, soulless affairs at best (Hook, the Jurassic Parks, seaQuest DSV, etc.). Lucas, by contrast, seems to really care about things that bear his name; I think we’d get a more earnest effort from him, and now that he’s directed his first whole movie in over 20 years, some of the rustiness that might have affected that movie should be shaken loose.

I do realize Spielberg is, for many, part of the “magic team” responsible for the Indy movies (the others being Lucas, Ford, Williams, et al.), but it’s my understanding he wasn’t originally supposed to do the whole series; he was there on Raiders helping to create a legend, but after that he wasn’t necessarily going to direct any more - it would be Lucas’s series, with individual installments directed by various filmmakers, presumably mostly close Lucas associates. When Temple of Doom was in the works, Spielberg was originally not sure he was going to do it, I believe, and other directors were considered, but for whatever reason Spielberg wound up doing it too, and after that there was simply a perception of the Indiana Jones series as an ongoing collaboration between Lucas and Spielberg that made it then inconceivable that anyone but Spielberg would do Last Crusade. I may be wrong, but I believe that’s the way it shaped up.

- IJ

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: I do agree that Spielberg is a better director; why shouldn’t he be? He’s directed a lot more than Lucas. That said, I’ve gotten the impression the last few years that Spielberg doesn’t really put much into movies anymore, unless they’re significantly different enough from previous work that they _require_ him to give them his all, as with Saving Private Ryan. Hook and both Jurassic Park films seemed pretty by-the-numbers to me; devoid of any real creative directorial flair of the sort Spielberg used to bring to his early escapist entertainment. He seems more interested in “serious” films now, which is certainly fine and admirable, but it seems to preclude him from really putting anything into any “just for fun” work, despite his continuing to do such work, with the consequence that most of the pure-entertainment fantasies Spielberg has put his name on in recent years have been half-hearted, soulless affairs at best (Hook, the Jurassic Parks, seaQuest DSV, etc.). Lucas, by contrast, seems to really care about things that bear his name; I think we’d get a more earnest effort from him, and now that he’s directed his first whole movie in over 20 years, some of the rustiness that might have affected that movie should be shaken loose.

: I do realize Spielberg is, for many, part of the “magic team” responsible for the Indy movies (the others being Lucas, Ford, Williams, et al.), but it’s my understanding he wasn’t originally supposed to do the whole series; he was there on Raiders helping to create a legend, but after that he wasn’t necessarily going to direct any more - it would be Lucas’s series, with individual installments directed by various filmmakers, presumably mostly close Lucas associates. When Temple of Doom was in the works, Spielberg was originally not sure he was going to do it, I believe, and other directors were considered, but for whatever reason Spielberg wound up doing it too, and after that there was simply a perception of the Indiana Jones series as an ongoing collaboration between Lucas and Spielberg that made it then inconceivable that anyone but Spielberg would do Last Crusade. I may be wrong, but I believe that’s the way it shaped up.

: - IJ

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