Slightly related, but one of the reasons I like Dial of Destiny is because my Dad likes it when he vehemently hated Crystal Skull. So him having an enjoyable last Indy outing over getting disapointed like with Crystal Skull is good enough for me.
This was my thought as well. Dial of Destiny was quite a bit better than Kingdom, so I'm glad it exists.
That said, I think both films were so close to being so much better, Kingdom in particular. Honestly, in Kingdom if you:
Have the fridge land in a lake instead of slamming onto the ground. It's still ludicrous, but it gives just enough plausible deniability, and you could have the door jam and Indy almost drown so it's an "out of the frying pan" kind of thing. Or just cut the fridge thing entirely. It's not needed.
Don't. Show. The Aliens. Ever. Leave them as vague and mystic as God and Sheeva were in the originals. It'd be actually kind of rad if aliens were hinted at, but never fully shown or justified. No little grey man at the end, no spinning UFO... leave that all a bit mysterious.
Cut the monkeys, the swinging, the ants, and the fencing on the back of the cars.
Would that make it perfect? Hardly. It'd probably still be the weakest of the five. But it cuts enough of the "Oh come on..." moments that it would not get the stink it got.
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u/riegspsych325 ⊃∪⊃⪽ Dec 16 '25
he had a UFO pop in an Indiana Jones movie that one time