Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
81%RT Audience Score: 76%
Awards & Nominations: Won 4 Oscars
38 wins & 24 nominations total
Though the plot elements are certainly familiar, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still delivers the thrills and Harrison Ford’s return in the title role is more than welcome
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a wild ride that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sure, the plot is a bit nonsensical and Harrison Ford may be getting up there in age, but who cares when you’re watching Indy swing from vines and survive a nuclear explosion in a fridge? Plus, there’s a Wilhelm scream and Shia LaBeouf swinging with CGI monkeys, what more could you want? It may not be as punchy as the original trilogy, but it’s still a fun adventure that’s worth a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Charles K. Feldman Group Warner Bros.,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Sidi Bouhlel, Tozeur, Tunisia
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
2008
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 2m
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Language(s):English, German, Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, Nepali
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 22, 2008 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 14, 2008
Genre(s)
Adventure/Action
Keyword(s)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Adventure/Action, PG-13, Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, directed by Steven Spielberg, written by David Koepp, produced by Frank Marshall, box office gross $317.0M, Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS sound mix, Scope (2.35:1) aspect ratio, reviewed by Deborah Ross, Dave Calhoun, Jordan Hoffman, Tom Ryan, David Denby, Matt Brunson, Niall Browne, Tony Black, Mike Massie, Jason Best, Alex Maidy, PG-13 rating, adventure, action, archaeologist, Cold War, Crystal Skull of Akator, Soviet Union, Peru, Irina Spalko, Marshall College, Mutt Williams, Professor Oxley, Marion Ravenwood, Mac, legendary artifact, conquest of the world
Worldwide gross: $790,653,942
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,313,773,039
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 61
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 143,268,597
US/Canada gross: $248,159,971
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $836,122,504
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 27
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,305,823
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $27,984,713
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 494
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $18,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $60,647,191
Production budget ranking: 670
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $32,658,512
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,220,467,336
ROI to date (est.): 1,308%
ROI ranking: 87
Cate Blanchett – Irina Spalko
Shia LaBeouf – Mutt Williams
Karen Allen – Marion Ravenwood
Ray Winstone – Mac
John Hurt – Prof. Oxley
Director(s)
Steven Spielberg
Writer(s)
David Koepp
Producer(s)
Frank Marshall
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 4 Oscars
38 wins & 24 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (276) | Top Critics (65) | Fresh (215) | Rotten (61)
Everything happens so dizzyingly fast and with such a dazzling disregard for any kind of realism it sort of doesn’t matter that the plot is a silly rambling nonsense or that Harrison Ford is now 312.
August 23, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
The film doesn’t feel as punchy, amusing or as fast-paced as the best of the other three films, but it’s passable both as nostalgia and old-fashioned action-adventure that favours impossible leaps from waterfalls over psychological insights.
December 15, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The worst that can be said of Crystal Skull is that it won’t be inspiring any youthful vine-swinging. A shame, really.
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
I’ll answer the most important question first. Yes, there is a Wilhelm scream in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
August 31, 2009 | Rating: B
Jordan Hoffman
UGO
TOP CRITIC
The energy on display is impressive, even if Spielberg’s suggestion that a fifth Indie adventure is a distinct possibility is more a cause for concern than celebration.
June 7, 2008 | Rating: 2.5/5
Tom Ryan
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
Crystal Skull isn’t bad — there are a few dazzling sequences, and a couple of good performances — but the unprecedented blend of comedy and action that made the movies so much more fun than any other adventure series is mostly gone.
May 27, 2008
David Denby
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
I will never understand the hatred for the refrigerator scene. You want a low point? How about Shia LaBeouf’s brash greaser Mutt Williams swinging through the trees alongside a bunch of CGI monkeys?
June 19, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
When it was first announced, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas stated that they’d be doing this “the old fashioned way” with minimal CGI, and Janusz Kaminski would be kept on a tight leash, and wouldn’t be using his “white-out” style cinematography.
March 17, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Niall Browne
Movies in Focus
A film long, to my mind unfairly, lambasted by critics and indeed fans, perhaps because in part it moved away from the template laid down in previous instalments.
January 31, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Tony Black
Cultural Conversation
They’ve taken a character of extreme popularity and a trilogy of great admiration and added an additional chapter of unnecessary absurdity.
November 28, 2020 | Rating: 5/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
The kind of action that was funny and exciting in Raiders of the Lost Ark now looks incredibly dated.
November 15, 2020
Jason Best
Movie Talk
I contend that it is a worthy addition to the Indy mythology and is actually better than another movie in the original trilogy. But yes, for Indiana Jones Crystal Skull is an interesting case study.
October 26, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Alex Maidy
JoBlo’s Movie Network…
Plot
The year is 1936. An archeology professor named Indiana Jones is venturing in the jungles of South America searching for a golden statue. Unfortunately, he sets off a deadly trap but miraculously escapes. Then, Jones hears from a museum curator named Marcus Brody about a biblical artifact called The Ark of the Covenant, which can hold the key to human existence. Jones has to venture to vast places such as Nepal and Egypt to find this artifact. However, he will have to fight his enemy Rene Belloq and a band of Nazis in order to reach it.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Cate Blanchett’s performance as the villainous Irina Spalko is “old-fashioned” and “hilarious to watch, almost straight out of a 30s flick.”
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