Raiders of the Lost Ark story conference notes

[alteran]

Some notes on the RotLA brainstorming conference with Lucas, Spielberg, and Lawrence Kasdan, who was tasked with writing the script.

http://mysterymanonfilm.blogspot.com/2009/03/raiders-story-conference.html

The blogger touches on lots of things from the original story conference document. Some very cool stuff in there if you're really into the film.

If you're an over-the-top fanboy, you can download the 125 page pdf.

I never caught the "always do exposition when you're doing something else" thing before. Usually exposition feels like necessary-but-clunky-- in the "date scene" in RotLA you don't even notice it's happening.

Cool stuff.

[snowdenscold]

Fascinating article - I can't wait to read the entire PDF since IJ is one of my favorite movie series ever - and even though RotLA was probably a better movie, I give a slight nod to Last Crusade as my all time favorite.

[JasonEvans]

Fascinating article - I can't wait to read the entire PDF since IJ is one of my favorite movie series ever - and even though RotLA was probably a better movie, I give a slight nod to Last Crusade as my all time favorite.

Are
you
joking?!?!?!

Raiders is one of the 5 best action/adventure movies of all time. Last Crusade is good, great even, but it is not on a level with the original.

-Jason

[brevity]

Raiders is one of the 5 best action/adventure movies of all time.

I agree. Take out the words "action/adventure" and I still agree. Brisk pacing from perfect scene to perfect scene... it never lets up.

Thanks for the link. I've downloaded it and will take a look at this weekend.

[alteran]

Are
you
joking?!?!?!

Raiders is one of the 5 best action/adventure movies of all time. Last Crusade is good, great even, but it is not on a level with the original.

-Jason


I see your point, but give the guy a break-- he pretty clearly said RotLA was "better," but that Last Crusade was his "favorite."

I feel the same way about another classic, Ridley Scott's "Alien." I prefer James Cameron's "Aliens" (which is the sequel). I love the action, the camaraderie, the humor, and especially the characters (Vasquez, Hicks, Newt, Burke, Bishop, and most of all, Bill Pullman as Hudson), as cheesy as most of them as are. It just works for me.

But as much as I enjoy the sequel, I know "Alien" is by far the better film. Really, it's no contest. Ridley Scott is one of the greats.

Anyone else here wish James Cameron had never made "Titanic?" Cameron is IMHO the best "B movie" director of all time-- the man just knows how to deliver cheesy good fun. But Titanic and the Academy award it earned him seems to have moved him away from his core strengths.

I don't know if he's lost his nerve, hit the pinnacle and decided to stop when everything else will be perceived as downhill, reached his comfort zone, or what.

But before Titanic, we would get a really fun film out of him every two years. But not since.

[Mal]

Don't forget about "Aquaman," though.

I don't begrudge Cameron for trying to be more serious after "Titanic." I do, however, begrudge the fact that his ability to do so was fueled by such a bloated, cliched, generally crummy film as "Titanic." I mean, look what a stilted actress that man managed to make Kate Winslett look like. That's no small accomplishment. :rolleyes:

Back to the subject at hand, I read the entire linked analysis of the RoTLA brainstorming and found it really, really fascinating. A great glimpse at how the storytelling sausage is made. I came away with a level of respect for George Lucas that I figured had been permanently erased in recent years. It looks, from the snippets of the transcript the writer clipped in, as though he was the one with the best and deepest ideas here.

[JasonEvans]

I see your point, but give the guy a break-- he pretty clearly said RotLA was "better," but that Last Crusade was his "favorite."

I feel the same way about another classic, Ridley Scott's "Alien." I prefer James Cameron's "Aliens" (which is the sequel). I love the action, the camaraderie, the humor, and especially the characters (Vasquez, Hicks, Newt, Burke, Bishop, and most of all, Bill Pullman as Hudson), as cheesy as most of them as are. It just works for me.

But as much as I enjoy the sequel, I know "Alien" is by far the better film. Really, it's no contest. Ridley Scott is one of the greats.

Whoooa. I like Aliens better than Alien too. I don't think that is nearly as outlandish a leap as liking Crusade more than Raiders.

Alien is #49 on the IMDB list of 250 greatest films. Aliens is #65. They are very close in that regard.

On the other hand, Raiders is #18 of all-time, while Crusade is #107. That is a much more significant gap (though, clearly all 4 films we are discussing are truly excellent flicks).

Anyway, just wanted to say that I too enjoyed Aliens more than Alien. Ripley in the Cargo loader saying, "keep your hands off of her you @#^!@!" is one of the great moments in film history, in my opinion.

http://thumbnails.hulu.com/6/808/7118_512x288_manicured__elJhAjyGrECbOsQ72Km2Rg.jpg

--Jason "Ridley Scott is a genius" Evans

[BD80]

OK, so what then are the best sequels? Other than, of course, Caddyshack II.

[DukeUsul]

The characters and dialogue in Aliens was remarkable. To wit

Hudson: Hey Vazquez, you ever been mistaken for a man?
Vasquez: No. Have you?

Hudson: We're on an express elevator to hell. Going DOWN!

Hudson: Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen!

Hudson: Game over man, game over!

Hudson is one of my favorite movie characters of all time. You can use one of his lines from this movie for virtually any situation.