This Changes Everything...

So again, we've been left with a bit of a dry spell in movie related news (at least of any significance). The summer season is here and I find myself actually really busy at work, thus my lack of making any posts at all over the past week or two.

But this... this changes everything and I've found myself making the time to ensure this is seen and heard by the members of this community and others. Joss Whedon wrote the line "You can't stop the signal." in the movie Serenity. It was a salute to the individuals who pushed Firefly forward despite it being a canceled project and left for dead. Now this post has nothing to do with Firefly or Serenity, but has everything to do with a recent release that left me feeling ultimately empty inside... and now that I've seen the light, the truth, I find I've been cheated of something spectacular.

http://ftwgaming.com/velhym/Indiana_...f_the_Gods.pdf

I give you the original 2003 written movie script for the flick that became Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Back in 2003 I remember hearing the first inklings of serious news that a new Indy movie was on its way, written by Frank Darabont, a die hard Indy fan, excellent screenwriter, and the individual who continued the Jones legacy on the small screen with the Young Indiana Jones saga. Within a few weeks news came out that George Lucas rejected the script, despite massive praise from Ford and Spielberg, saying only "He didn't care for the handling of Henry's and Indy's relationship in the movie".

Be warned, if you haven't see Crystal Skull yet, don't read that script unless you want the movie ruined for you... or worse, want to be utterly let down when you actually see what happened, when you know what could have been.

The differences between this script and the actual film are virtually night and day. Where the film sucked, the script flourishes, where the film gave coy little nods, the script explains where the nostalgia came from... You'll see many similar things in both the movie and this script, but ultimately I think you'll agree with me that this would have been so utterly fantastic that words barely describe.

I suppose you're ultimately asking "So, what does this change?" What it changes is my perspective of Lucas, forever. I've always known he was bad, I've always known he was a dick that didn't deserve his status or praise, and I've always ignored it anyways and just watched his movie because I could still derive entertainment from them, the same way I was able to milk some form of joy from Indy 4... but this changes everything... He mettled too far and too much this time and a great entity has suffered and been deprived of life. The world must know what Lucas shit on so he may never be respected or appreciated in any way, shape, or form again.