"COWBOYS & ALIENS": THE LONDON PRESS CONFERENCE. PART TWO

Western heroes! Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford and Jon Favreau get together for the London premiere of COWBOYS & ALIENS. Images: Tim Whitby/GETTY for PARAMOUNT PICTURES.

Here’s Part Deux of our COWBOYS & ALIENS London Press Conference transcript, which showed Messrs Craig and Ford, probably usually more happy to undergo Root Canal treatment than talk to the press, actually coming over as very relaxed and jovial in promoting the film, which they clearly enjoyed working on. A nice thing to see and be involved in.

PRESS: Harrison, you’re obviously well acquainted with the sci-fi genre, how as an actor has this process changed over the years and do you find it more, or less, a pleasurable experience working with special effects?

HF: Uh... Y’know for the actors it…special effects only require an active imagination and I don’t find it that much more difficult to believe there’s an alien scampering all over the rock towards me than I do ignoring the Grip that’s sitting in the truck that’s pulling me through romantic mountain country. You blank out what is there and put in there what isn’t there. And at all points you refer to the story. You’re primary obligation is to...uh… to help tell the story by whatever behaviours you require. So I don’t find it that much different.

Harrison and Olivia at the London O2 Arena premiere.

Obviously we have the ability to replace a man in an alien suite with a computer generated alien, and what I was pleased with in Jon and his groups creation of that alien is that it didn’t move like a man in an alien suit, that they created a movement for the aliens that wasn’t humanoid. That was interesting. But the danger of computer generated graphics is that there’s the temptation by many directors to replace, to generate more than they need and I think more than often-what I do see is that they tend to lose human scale so what you might…if you get too much of any one thing you begin to think about it. Those are my little thoughts on the subject. (Laugh)

PRESS: Miss Wilde, again. In the western, for every thousand saloon girls or school mams, there is a Belle Star or an Annie Oakley. You’re character clearly is in the minority. I wondered about the research, first of all, into the very few women who toted guns in the west, and also how you established the fact that you’re convinced you know what to do with a hand gun-the practice and all that sort of thing.

Olivia meets the British fans.

OW: Well, I loved doing research for this role and learning about the women of the Old West, which was really fascinating. And there’s a great museum in Los Angeles called The Autrey which I spent a lot of time at. They had a very helpful exhibit at the time called Women of the Old West, which was nice. And I loved how tough these women had to be. I mean, everyone had to be tough in order to be these pioneers and to settle into these border towns was not easy. I don’t know how long I would have lasted, but I did have some ancestors who did just that so it was really interesting to me to do this research. And in terms of looking at characters in films, I didn’t specifically look at female characters. I probably looked at a lot of the same guys we all would. I thought that Ella had a great kind of Clint thing to her as well. I was so excited when I realized I was going to literally step out of the shadows in the saloon to approach Daniel. I thought, how cool: to be the woman in the shadow and then come out. It was just one of those moments when you thought, this was really westerny right now. This is fun. So I think I was inspired by all those guys. When I grew up watching westerns I wanted to be Steve McQueen, I didn’t want to be the girl. So I liked –I had fun- being inspired by them as well. The gun- Daniel taught me how to shoot my gun. Yeah, which was cool. Because I can always say that James Bond taught me how to shoot my gun! The guns were really beautiful. I’m not a big gun person- I’m a pacifist, I don’t really love guns in generals-but I loved these antique guns-they were so interesting. And not easy to shoot. We did have a gun expert who was teaching me how to spin the gun, but I never got to spin the gun on camera. I think in some of the wide shots we’d all be spinning the guns hoping we could do it! (Laughs) Jon and you Guys, not all of you can spin your guns, so stop doing it…(Laughs)

JF: It was like a Busby Berkeley film.

OW: But I do know how (to use a gun), and now I have that skill. I have tremendous respect for all of our props. I think they were very cool. And that was another thing that made the whole experience so fun.

PRESS: Were your ancestors on a wagon train?

OW: Some of them, yeah. Some of them were on my mother’s side, they were the first to head west and took some great photos of it, luckily. So I have that. This was the first time that I really connected with that, so that was interesting.

RO: And if I might say, that when you have the finest actors in their price range (Audience laughs) these things are characters we created together. Everyone at this table was very active in creating their character and Olivia certainly pushed it in all of us, too. The research we did affected the script and how we pushed the character (of Ella), and it affected the level of action that we had.

CH: How much of the Steve McQueen technique of going through the script and ripping out the lines did you do, so you could say something with a look rather than a line of dialogue? That’s for Daniel, first…

HF: (Laughs) Hey, they ripped at each others line. “We didn’t need to say that!” (Audience laughs)

JF: “I already said that,” y’know… (Laughs)

The name's Craig...Daniel Craig.

DC: It was just a natural process. He (Lonergan) ended up being like that. I’m glad. As far as I was concerned, the less I had to say the better. The more the character talked about how he felt about things the less realistic. I think he’s a man of action.

RO: Makes it easier for a screenwriter. “You want less lines?”

OW: In the riverboat scene, I remember that was a page longer. The dialogue there, we realised, was much more interesting if we were saying less.

CH: And Harrison, did you attack the script with a black marker pen or did you leave it alone?

HF: Not much. As Bob said, we did… these filmmakers were very willing to be collaborative and for me it wasn’t so much a question of taking away more lines or adding lines. It was a question of sharpening the focus. But they were always willing to entertain suggestions or notions and work with it.

PRESS: There seem to be lots of films out there that are very alien-centric. This summer alone we’ve had SUPER 8, ATTACK THE BLOCK, THE GREEN LANTERN… Particularly for Jon, what’s making the world go crazy for aliens all of a sudden?

JF: I think there are two main reasons for it. One is, there’s a whole group of people whose job is to figure out risk/reward for putting out a lot of money for an effects driven film, and they look at a list of movies which make money and which ones don’t. And AVATAR made money, to say the least. And typically that genre is one that tends to be a safe one. That seems to be the perspective of the financiers. I’ll also say that, for the first time, not for the first time but it’s a growing trend, is the world wide market is dictating what product Hollywood is putting out. I think the international market was responsible for seventy per cent of the revenue. It used to be that Hollywood was making movies for the States and then they would be sent off to overseas markets to collect money as well. Now it’s driving the entire industry. As different movies are green-lit, they always consider whether it will translate well to other cultures, in other societies, and when you deal with things that might be divisive like political themes or things that are more complex it becomes harder to handicap. But what’s nice about the alien movies is that its an enemy that everyone can agree is bad and it brings out the best in people because it tends to unify people who might otherwise be enemies. And I think the positive side of it is that its promoting harmony amongst different people and creates a sense that we’re all of one group and that there’s some external enemy. Ronald Regan said, “To end the Cold War it would rely on aliens to land on Earth.” He was wrong about that, thankfully, but it does show the sentiment of the common enemy as being a unifying factor. Hope that was a funny enough answer for you. (Audience laughs)

When's INDY 5? Harrison Ford looks momentarily distracted as he meets his dedicated fans.

PRESS: Mister Ford, there’s a very funny clip of you on YOUTUBE being pitched the idea for AIR FORCE ONE 2 by your make-up person. I wonder if, over the years, people have floated you other ludicrous variations on things you’ve played before...

HF: What’s ludicrous about AIR FORCE ONE 2?! (Audience laughs) I’m in negotiations right now! (More laughs) I happen to think it’ll work. (Harrison gives the look!) I’m sorry what was the question? (Laughs)

Y’know, I’m starting to think if there was a sequel pitch that I didn’t go for (Ford thinks playfully. Audience laughs). I don’t think so! (Laughs). Don’t think so. Uh... when we did the Indy sequels my ambition was that we take advantage of the audience’s knowledge of the character and extend and communicate that knowledge. That led to bringing in Indiana’s father and then finally bringing in his son whom he never knew. Those kind of things. I wasn’t the only one who was ambitious for that, but it was something I felt very strongly about.

PRESS: About something Daniel said a few moments ago about the fewer words you have to say the better, can you expand upon that?

DC: One word? (Audience Laughs)

CH: (to Daniel) Just give them that look!

DC: Isn’t there a legend that Clint only has eleven lines in that movie (one of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns)

JF: When they were dubbing them…

DC: The character of Lonergan was more verbose, but it was literally that thing of saying, “I don’t think the character was going to start talking about things.” This thing’s screaming and he was going to start shooting and then maybe talk about it afterwards. I mean I make a joke out of it but it literally was something that happened completely naturally as opposed to it being a conscious decision. Going through the script, sometimes we went, “I don’t need to say that…we've got that...its already been told by the actions I’m doing.” The fewer lines I had to say, really, the better…

RO: The western is not super verbose and Daniel is so proficient technically that there was so many things he could do with his face and his body language that it didn’t require a line. As a writer it’s hard to cut your line but we did because he could do it without the line and that’s an amazing partnership to have.

DC: It just lent itself to the western. It’s the kind of conversation we all had together. The fewer words the better...

JF: Trust me, when we all yelled “CUT!" there was a lot of talking going on!

Daniel, Olivia and Jon pose for the UK paparazzi.

PRESS: Question for Mister Favreau. In view of the films quite bloody opening, and what you said to need to appeal to the younger theatre audience, did you want to go further with the violence or did you have to approach it in a way that you could get a 12A rating?

JF: Well, I’m a parent also, so I have a pretty good sense of what I’m comfortable with for kids that I have of various ages, and I think that we definitely allowed ourselves to have more fun with the violence as it became more fantasy orientated- green blood- and that’s part of the appeal of both of these genres is they both have their bloody moments-it’s a visceral experience- and certainly the alien films we pointed to in the ones from the eighties verged on horror. ALIEN or PREDATOR, it (COWBOYS & ALIENS) was far less bloody than those films but we still wanted to feel that. But, as a dad, I wanted to share these films with my kids. I think the opening is as hard as it gets. Part of the reason we did this was because it was called COWBOYS & ALIENS and this is what you’re gonna get folks (Laughs). Here’s what’s in the Christmas present. So I think that it sets the table well for the rest of the film. By the same token I feel there’s a sense of responsibility, so I didn’t want to push it further. I know we’re working in the extended cut of going a little bit further for some of the effects stuff-for people who choose to see that-but we’re releasing it for a wider audience. I felt it was pushing it right up against the line for what was acceptable for that age group and I didn’t want to go beyond that. It wasn’t that I was told to cut things. We didn’t have to trim anything for the rating.

CH: Fantastic. And that is it, thank you for all your questions. But thanks most of all to Jon Favreau, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford and Roberto Orci.

With thanks to PARAMOUNT PICTURES and its dedicated publicity team for the invite to the Press Conference.

COWBOYS & ALIENS goes on general UK cinema release from August 17th.

For more info and stills on COWBOYS & ALIENS, head over to the UK FACEBOOK page:

Cowboys and Aliens UK

CLASSIC RAIDERS: BAR FIGHT!

Within the fiery interior of Marion Ravenwood's bar in frosty Nepal, Indiana Jones life is under threat once more -this time from one of Toht's "Mean Mongolians" (as played by Indy Classic Trilogy action veteran, the late Pat Roach), in another classic scene from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, celebrating it's Thirtieth Anniversary this year (with the Blu-rays arriving in late 2012).

CLASSIC RAIDERS: COMES A HORSEMAN!

Telling Marion and Sallah, "I'm making it up as I go!", nothing, not even overwhelming Nazi forces and firepower, can stop Indiana Jones from commandeering a horse and going in pursuit of the truck carrying the Ark of the Covenant.

Ballsy, and then some!

INDY TURNS 30! THE "SHORTLIST' CELEBRATION...

Indy goes Warhol on the cover of the UK SHORTLIST magazine!

The latest edition of the free UK men's lifestyle magazine SHORTLIST has a great cover and special, picture packed feature celebrating the birth of Indiana Jones and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK's Thirtieth Anniversary.

Check it out on their online site here: Indy turns 30 / Films / ShortList Magazine

CLASSIC RAIDERS: DISCUSSING THE LOST ARK

Back in his regular job as University Professor, Indiana Jones and his loyal friend and boss, Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot), consult with two members of US Military intelligence- Colonel Musgrove (Don Fellows) and Major Eaton (STAR WARS William Hootkins)- about the Nazi's involvement with their old friend Abner Ravenwood, and his mysterious Staff of Ra...

CLASSIC RAIDERS: SPIELBERG'S ACTING CLASS!

At ELSTREE STUDIOS, Steven Spielberg has a fun time with Harrison Ford emoting the look he wants from Indiana Jones's discovery of the speared cadaver of rival archeologist Forrestal, in one of the classic early scenes of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.

CLASSIC RAIDERS: TROUBLE IN CAIRO!

Indy (Harrison Ford) and Marion (Karen Allen) get into trouble once again-this time on the market streets of Cairo (actually shot in Tunisia)- when they are unexpectedly attacked by Nazi sympathisers in this classic scene of memorable comedy and action from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.

VIC ARMSTRONG TALKS TO SKY MOVIES

Legendary stuntman and film-maker Vic Armstrong. Image: SKY

Legendary INDY Stuntman/co-ordinator and Director Vic Armstrong talks to SKY MOVIES about his career, some of the movies he's worked on (including the upcoming SPIDER-MAN movie), the amazing directors he's been involved with, and, of course, his excellent new book: THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST STUNTMAN (available from TITAN BOOKS).

Check out the links here (note: some of these may not play outside the UK):

35mm: Vic Armstrong, stuntman extraordinaire - Sky Movies HD
Vic Armstrong on James Cameron - Sky Movies HD
Vic Armstrong on Martin Scorsese - Sky Movies HD

CLASSIC RAIDERS: INDY'S CELEBRATION!

Time goes so fast when you're having fun! Hard to believe, but it's INDIANA JONES birthday this year-celebrating 30 years of the superb RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. In celebration, every week or so we'll be putting up a classic image from the pioneering action adventure film-its cast, characters and breathtaking stunts.... so enjoy!

First up is the classic poster art in the UK by famous film poster illustrator Amsel, who brilliantly captures Harrison Ford at his best as Indy! The image was also used on the cover of the original UK paperback adaptation, too.

American RAIDERS fans look out for the special screening of a new digitally restored print by OSCARS.ORG on Friday June 17th at 7.30pm with a guest talk from Frank Marshall, Ben Burtt and others...  Here's the link:"Raiders of the Lost Ark" 30th Anniversary Screening | Events Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

REVIEW: THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST STUNTMAN

If adventure has a name, it has to be Vic Armstrong! Images: Vic Armstrong/TITAN BOOKS

THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST STUNTMAN

(My life as Indiana Jones, James Bond, Superman and many other movie heroes)

By Vic Armstrong 

(with Robert Sellers)

Published by TITAN BOOKS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

I think adventure was implanted into Vic Armstrong’s unique DNA cell structure from birth; a man who would quickly prove himself as a one of a kind master of his particular craft, and widely regarded as perhaps the finest Stunt Coordinator and Second Unit Director in the world by his peers within the elite British and Hollywood film industries in general, of whose projects have all greatly benefited from his talents.

He's also one of the very elite few to have jumped from a horse onto a tank, led a huge cavalry charge, dropped from a collapsing rope bridge, thrown himself off of a helicopter onto a mountain peak, gone up, up and away as the ultimate purveyor of Truth, Justice and the American Way, and slid downwards into a volcanic rocket base hideaway! Its all been a regular days work for this particular action hero gentleman over the years, working with the best of the business in the stunt field. You may not know his name straight off the bat, but anyone who’s seen a great movie or DVD will quickly be in awe of him and his back and present catalogue of definitive work on some of the greatest and most exciting action films and movies of the last forty plus years, where it's also become a family inheritance/tradition, too, not just with his brother (Andy, who’s also a director) and wife, Wendy Leech-an acclaimed Stunt woman in her own right, often working with him, but also with his grown-up children.

A voracious horse rider at an early age within his family, whose instinctive skills in that area would lead to a fine entrance within the mysterious, globe trotting world of the Stuntman, his diverse love of the film and TV industry-of which his CV is a packed load of classic credits too many to mention- holds supremely to this day, all the while still retaining a youthful and positive outlook on his life and career, and having always sought out the best opportunities to advance himself, in the most positive light, within his career, additionally learning/creating new skills to make the best better. It would be this adaptability and entrenched faith in himself, his professionalism and abilities, that would soon hold him in good stead as he perfected his eminent position, giving back to the industry with his talents and soon travelling the world-one of his greatest passions alongside his industry work (I bet the hallway of his house is permanently packed with a giant travel bag ready to go at a moments notice!) - and keenly spotting new talent in the action world whom he would enjoy bringing to the commercial fore.

Judging from this enjoyable book, there’s no airs and graces to the author. Clearly a professional with attention to detail and research who likes working on big and small films, and working with raw and iconic visualists, he's one of the lads, too, and someone who clearly works well as a team player, bringing a good sense of camaraderie, humour, practicality and pragmatism to his life and career, whilst also working hard in a highly dangerous business's that’s also both elitist and competitive, where you have to make a mark to survive and prosper. It’s not always been a perfect ride, though, and there's also been the odd blunder or two along the way, where Vic’s got the injuries to prove how risky his chosen career can be. And don’t try and beat him in a battle scars contest (a la Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss in JAWS)-you’ll lose every time!

Assisted by Robert Sellers, this incredible film history of adrenaline is presented by Vic in a fun, easy to read and very personable style, and is a fascinating and informative look at the wild, crazy, adrenaline rush universe of the Stuntman and director of mega-budget action, and, to its credit, also charts the success and failures you can have in the job, and how luck- of being in the right time and the right place- would play a great part within his career, especially in his early years within the always struggling British film industry of the early seventies.

The Jones boys: Vic and Harrison Ford.

And its all pretty much thanks to Bond…James Bond that Armstrong gets that memorable first foothold into the entertainment business, starting off on the classic Sean Connery vehicle YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, playing a Ninja, which would eventually lead to an even more successful road directing explosion strewn action and physical character drama in three further bonds, culminating (so far) in the equally big league DIE ANOTHER DAY in 2002, for Pierce Brosnan’s own popular interpretation of the British super-spy. Its with this type of large scale adventuring that Armstrong’s physical work will be forever remembered by the fans, and he is surely grateful to have launched his career in not just one of the most successful action franchises in the world, but later two more, firstly in the late seventies doubling up for his good friend, the late Christopher Reeve, as the Man of Steel in the revolutionary first two SUPERMAN movies, and then, followed in the early eighties, by the world beloved classic INDIANA JONES trilogy, where his talents shone through as the perfect stunt double for Harrison Ford (the pair having a brilliant off-screen relationship that has many fun moments in the book) and as an inventive action creator/spotter for Steven Spielberg (who provides the books affectionate foreword) on RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK onwards (intriguingly, with regards to the classic Indy shooting the swordsman scene in this breakthrough movie, Vic reveals a slightly different version of events as to how that sequence actually happened, in comparison to what has been historically said by Spielberg and Ford over the years). He’d also then save the day several years later when the gang were all-reunited on THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, rescuing the film from a possible shut-down, and the loss of time and money, when star Ford had a serious back operation that had to be quickly sorted out. All of these great memories are, for me personally, the best sections of the book as he covers his one-of-a-kind experiences working on the epic franchise movies, with Armstrong surely being a critical talent to their success with regards to the believable filmic reality of the action/adventure scenes. With Indy, it's truly a shame that Vic wasn't able to work on the eventually made fourth installment- I’m really curious about what the original plans he was involved in for the film with creator George Lucas, that were then subsequently changed or didn’t happen, resulting in his departure from the project in its early stages.

Vic in a costume test for his stunt work on the first two SUPERMAN movies starring Christopher Reeve.

Beyond the blockbusters, the rest of Vic’s career is equally packed with great incidents and memorable life and death challenges- I think he's lived about three or four lifetimes more than the average reader ever will! - which are well described (some of these incredible tales/anecdotes are so amazing you just couldn't make them up!). Alongside all that there’s also special reminisces on top league directors and actors too, including geniuses like Spielberg and Lucas, taskmasters/perfectionists like David Lean, and James Cameron, and total eccentrics like Stanley Kubrick.

There’s candour, good and bad, about the final realized movies and TV series he’s worked on, as well as its stars and behind the scenes talents, and, even more intriguingly, some fascinating mentions of the projects that either got or away from him or were never completed or abandoned, like the intriguing plans for the big budget Paul Verhoeven/ Arnold Schwarzenegger nineties epic CRUSADE and the original version of Tom Cruise’s MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III.

The aforementioned competitive nature of the stunt industry in general and all the usual eccentricities, superstitions (don’t give Vic anything that’s green, and be wary of helicopters!), quirks of serendipity and fate that go with it to make or break careers within the weird and wonderful behind the scenes digital and celluloid world are also charted, as is his warm salutes to many of the great past, present and future action technicians he has had the tremendous opportunities to work with, such as Roy Alon and Alf Joint.

Some 900 terrific rare photos from Vic’s private collection have been well assembled within the book, showing many of the classic stunts he has performed or been linked to, as well as with the stars and his family, accompanied by further mega league remembrances and tributes from the likes of Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie, and Christopher Lee.

Still a force to be reckoned with, Armstrong’s GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS breaking career remains as strong as ever, with film companies fighting to have him work on their projects (taking us right up to the filming of the new SPIDER-MAN movie starring Andrew Garfield) and with this book you'll certainly find out why he's so highly regarded in the “smoke and mirrors” business, successfully managing to ride the crest of the highest wave and still remaining atop of it!

Film and TV fans will thoroughly enjoy immersing themselves into this exciting and often very dangerous world that belongs to Vic Armstrong. Its a life experience packed career of living on the edge so as to entertain millions of viewers worldwide on the big screen, and now he’s doing the same thing in recalling those amazing feats for readers of the printed page!

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

Check out a section of the book here:James Bond, Superman and Indiana Jones have all been played by legendary stuntman Vic Armstrong | Mail Online

Vic Armstrong will also be doing a signing of the book at London’s FORBIDDEN PLANET Megastore (179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H) on Thursday 19th May between 6-7pm.

BACK FOR A "LAST CRUSADE"!

"On some adventures, one Jones isn't enough!"

It may have taken quite a long gestation period to reach the worlds cinema screens (including early ideas such as being a ghost story set within a haunted castle, as well as an intriguing aborted screenplay along the way, written by HARRY POTTER director/GREMLINS creator Chris Columbus, called THE MONKEY KING), but INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, the originally planned conclusion to the Indiana Jones Trilogy which had been first thought up by Lucas in the early 1970's and finally brought into development with friend Spielberg after a lazy day on the beach building sandcastles in Hawaii in 1977 (both of whom enjoying some much deserved in-hiding downtime, wanting to escape the stresses of their then just released film-making endeavours), hit the cinemas screens in the early summer of 1989, and proved to be a record breaker amongst a veritable crowded sea of other blockbusters (including the Bond actioner LICENCE TO KILL, GHOSTBUSTERS II, STAR TREK V and the ultimate box office champ that year: BATMAN, starring Jack Nicholson as the evil Joker and Michael Keaton in the title role as the dark avenger of the chaos stricken Gotham City).

After the dark and disturbing imagery of 1983's THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, Lucas and Spielberg were determined to do something a litlte more fun and light heartededly entertaining than before, mixed with the usual mcguffin (this time the Holy Grail) and the clever action scenes, as well as giving things story wise a bit more depth as a conclusion. Star Harrison Ford, too, was worried that the character of Indiana Jones was becoming one dimensional and wanted to end the series on a high with more characterisation and additional facets to the iconic role so as to make the film more satisfying as a project for both him to work on and for the audiences waching it. The result of the trios efforts saw in the highly successful introduction of Indy's father, originally planned as a Yoda like professor who stayed away from the action, but whom soon became an integral part of the films success, fully integrated into its story and its character relationships, and metamorphosed into the Henry Jones we know and loved, as played by ex-James Bond himself, Sean Connery. And, despite some early reticence from Lucas about the actor taking the role, Spielberg was ultimately right when he said, "Who else could and should play Indy's father than 007?" The resulting combination/chemistry of Ford and Connery together would prove the vital masterstroke that holds the film together. The pair work beautifully on screen, with a wonderful camaraderie and great comic and dramatic timing-you can also sense that the two actors are having a great time here and presumably added much of their own input to the films success, and providing it, backed up with a great John Williams score and an interesting script from the late Jeffrey Boam (who had a double win that year with his screenplay for another summer hit: LETHAL WEAPON 2), apparently with additional dialogue from popular UK screen writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, which showed a clear sense of heart and familial recognition that could affect, enthuse and entertain audiences worldwide (backed up with a fun opening set-up/chase introducing us to a young version of Indiana Jones, well played by the late River Phoenix). Plus there were the usual great action highlights (the tank versus Indy on horse sequence is absolutely fantastic-a triumph of plotting and choreography which brings to life a very satisfying character orientated adrenaline scene- as is the Venice speedboat chase), a yummy blonde Indy-babe, the German spy Elsa Schneider played by the equally yummy ex-Bond girl Alison Doody, and other enjoyable villains-once more the Nazis (though a little bit more lampooned and cliched now in comparison to their mostly tough and intimidating roles in RAIDERS, but a special note to Michael Byrne who is excellent and thoroughly rotten as General Vogel, alongside Julian Glover's ambitious and slimy US businessman Walter Donovan (and look out for a little cameo from the actors real-life wife, Isla Blair (as Mrs Donovan, and listed in the movies credits as being played by "Mrs Glover"!). Finally, to the delight of long term fans since RAIDERS, there's also the return of our other friends: Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot) and Sallah (John Rhys Davies), though, like the Nazis they're fighting against, it seems that there characters would also be amped up for more comic effect.

Here's one of the original trailers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNTV61FeAs



The Tank action sequence looked thrilling on the big screen in 1989.

 I remember that seeing the final INDY film was even more of a thrill for me this time, as I was witnessing it on the biggest screen in London at the newly re-opened and re-furnished EMPIRE, Leicester Square theatre in the heart of London's West End. I saw it the opening weekend of the films release (plus a few more times after that with family and friends) where it was also the opening weekend for the new cinema, and which, I think, had also played host to another special Royal premiere, too, just like the one for TEMPLE OF DOOM. I clearly remember walking into the new EMPIRE and thinking, "This is how all cinemas should be!", and loved the re-design: the plush seating and a loud and eye filling laser light show and deafening, proper THX sound system designed specifically to rattle you in your seat before the film had even started! The audience of the Saturday mid afternoon show proceeded to love every minute of THE LAST CRUSADE, and so did I, and, as our old friends Indy, Marcus, Henry and Sallah rode off into the sunset at the end of their own crusade, I knew that this was indeed going to be the last film of the series and I had a little lump in my throat as the final credits rolled...

And then, almost twenty years later, Ford and the gang proved me wrong!

THE LAST CRUSADE, showing tonight on BBC 1, completes the series being shown on the channel and BBC HD.

INDY'S DARKEST HOURS AT "THE TEMPLE OF DOOM"

The Bridge too far! Indiana Jones fights for survival in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

"I'm not gonna have anything nice to say about this place when I get back!"  - Willie Scott.

Time has sadly not been kind to INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. Critics have often
stated that it didn't live up to the success or sequel promise of RAIDERS, and both Lucas and Spielberg themselves have kinda regretted making it over time, citing it as too dark and intense in places (indicative of the dark times they too were then having in their personal lives and relationships), but I personally like it a lot. Remember that little dark and intense film called THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK that followed STAR WARS. Nothing wrong with that one, eh? This was just following in the same vein. Granted, it doesn't have the first films verve, but there are some terrific moments of action and comedy worthy of merit (many of which were originally derived for RAIDERS but had to be eliminated for time and money reasons, leading them to be held over for this sequel), and it does have some adrenaline ride moments like the action in and outside the Club Obi-Wan, and, later, in the minefield chase, and the baddies, a different foe from the Nazis, really are nasty and scary. Plus, there's spooky voodoo like possession (even Indy gets captured in this one!), dark caves, human sacrifices and lots of heroics not only from our Fedora hatted adventurer, but also his likable companion Short Round (Ke Huy Quan). Plus Kate Capshaw, Mrs Spielberg to you and me!, is a fine, if loud, Indy babe! And how can we not mention that great musical number at the films beginning, which would make the legendary choreographer Busby Berkeley proud!

Night club singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and the dancing girls- a part of the opening musical number that didn't make the final cut of INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

I remember seeing this film twice at the cinema, first at the local ODEON Streatham (where I first saw STAR WARS in January 1978) with my family (and we all thoroughly enjoyed seeing Indy again!), and then with some school friends at the Streatham ABC a few months later. I also remember there was a big premiere at the London West End EMPIRE Leicester Square with the cast and crew, and I think it was a Royal Premiere (with Princess Diana), but I wasn't aware of it until after the fact.

Here's the films original trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4zD6Nm_ce4

TEMPLE, the first Lucas Prequel, is being shown in the UK in glorious full HD widescreen on the BBC tonight, though most likely it will be the edited version of the movie which I despise (on its original release, the scene where Mola Ram removes the heart from one of his sacrificial victims, a part of said victims burning, and Short Round's whipping from the young Maharajah were ordered cut from the film by the then very nervous people at the British Board of Film Censors, so as to get a family audience viewing certificate (all of these scenes, however, remain intact in the US versions on DVD and laserdisc)). These same cuts have continued over the years with subsequent releases in different formats in the UK, and no doubt the eventual UK release on Blu-ray will suffer the same fate unless the movies certificate is upped to a 15 level, which we doubt that LUCASFILM/PARAMOUNT will want to do, as it may disrupt family audience sales of their box sets. To be honest, though, looking back at those TEMPLE scenes they now seem pretty tame to me: the violence and gore I've seen in some of today's modern family viewing is often far worse!

UPDATE: 13/1/2010. Once again, and as expected, the cut UK version of the film was shown.

BACK ON UK TV: "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK"

"Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" Indy descends into trouble in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.

On BBC 1 and HD today at 9pm, and then the other two to follow each week. I'll be intrigued to see which version of RAIDERS is shown: the original as has been seen on the UK's SKY MOVIES over the last year, or two years ago BBC HD copy, which had a new cgi overlay background sequence during one scene in the truck chase (image below):

Old version 1981

New version for the so far unreleased INDY Blu-rays? With thanks to ORIGINALTRILOGY.COM

I'll never forget seeing RAIDERS for the first time in 1981. I was eleven years old, and I knew nothing about the film apart from seeing some stills in STARBURST magazine (I didn't even know it was set in the 1930's). Me, mum, my brother and his wife (my dad didn't want to come-he regretted it afterwards!) went to the weekend sneak preview midnight screening, the week before its proper release in UK cinemas, at the lovable flea-pit cinema the Streatham ABC, in the days when you didn't book online or phone for tickets, you just went and hoped you got in there! We did, the cinema was jam packed, and we were all blown away by how exciting the film was- and as the opening scene unfolded we were all impressed by Harrison Ford, superb in a role that was meant for him! My love of STAR WARS got me in trouble, though: when I saw William Hootkins in the film, I remember turning round to my mum and saying, "It's Porkins!", to which I got an aggressive "sshhh" from the angry adult above me!

Great days and happy memories!

UPDATE 6/1/2011: The new version of RAIDERS was shown.

RETURNING TO "THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL"

Always in trouble, Indiana Jones is older but never any wiser! Image: LUCASFILM/PARAMOUNT



The UK's BBC 1 channel (and HD) sees in the New Year's Day at 5.35 pm with a healthy dollop of fun and action with Harrison Ford, who, if adventure had a name, continues to be known as Indiana Jones, as he and his new "family", wayward youth Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) and still feisty after all these years Marion Ravenwood (a fine return for Karen Allen), enter the legendary Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to unearth its possibly alien secrets, followed by a fine Russian villainess, Irina Spalko (the chameleon-like actress Cate Blanchett) and her army of dedicated soldiers, determined to conquer the world with the secrets they can steal. 

Harrison Ford, despite criticisms of his advancing years, has aged well as the iconic hero and carries the film well-looking good at a time of life when most people can barely climb on board a bus! Perhaps the adventure overall could have had a little bit more depth towards the end story and character-wise, and Indy himself could have have had perhaps one more major action sequence in which to shine, but I feel that KINGDOM is a much under-rated film and far better than most people give it credit. Ultimately, though, none of the Indy sequels, despite all their great and highly memorable moments of drama, action and comedy, have ultimately topped or fully matched the strong story or break neck, pitched to perfection pace of the original RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK-that film is still the best and remains unbeatable as one of the all defining action movies ever- but KINGDOM certainly holds up well alongside an Indy sequel like THE LAST CRUSADE in many places and, if there is no new film on the horizon next year for our archaeologist hero, proves to be an acceptable and generally satisfying conclusion to it all.

Remember this original trailer, and how the world was excited to see Indy return after such a long absence from our screens?:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5bvLbl-Ul0

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: SPACE STORMTROOPER

At ILM, Joe Johnston suits up in one of the then surviving UK built Stormtrooper costumes (with extra air piping) for an additional insert scene for STAR WARS filmed in 1977, showing one of the soldiers out on the Death Star surface watching as the captured Millennium Falcon is tractor beamed into one of its Docking Bays. The scene would be supervised and directed by George Lucas and quickly added onto the model work.

One of the key creative people at ILM to have worked on the Original Trilogies design front since 1975, Johnston was a storyboard artist, model maker, matte painting assistant, actor (check out his cameo in the Hoth Base Rebel Crusier Bay in EMPIRE) and puppeteer. Since departing ILM (of which he had worked on other non STAR WARS projects including Indiana Jones), he would become an acclaimed director of such interesting, wide ranging genre fare as THE ROCKETEER, JUMANJI and JURASSIC PARK 3, as well as family friendly films like the enjoyable horse race adventure HIDALGO (with LORD OF THE RINGS Viggo Mortensen), and horror films like the under-appreciated HAMMER HORROR-esque THE WOLFMAN (starring Benecio del Toro, Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins), of which Johnston took over the directing reins at the last minute from someone else who had departed the difficult project. Now, expectations are high for his next major production, currently filming in Manchester, England: the big budget film adaptation of MARVEL COMICS ground breaking superhero CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, with Chris Evans in the title role, and a strong supporting cast that includes Hugo Weaving (as the villainous Red Skull), Hayley Atwell, Richard Armitage and Tommy Lee Jones. The insider buzz on CAPTAIN AMERICA, to be released next Summer, is very positive, and lets hope that it propels Johnston ever further as a top name director of high quality and exciting movies, having gained so much top experience from his time working at LUCASFILM...

Check out the MTV website feature on CAPTAIN AMERICA here: http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/captain-america/

INDIANA JONES: AN ANNIVERSARY OF ADVENTURE!



Fans who want to keep up with the Jones's will no doubt enjoy today's all day showing of Indy's feature film adventures on SKY MOVIES ACTION/ADVENTURE in the UK. We can't confirm this but it looks like the screenings, which will be shown in HD, will not be the same HD prints as the ones recently shown on the BBC (of which RAIDERS had a new cgi background effects shot added) - the latter were apparently the versions to have been released on Blu-ray before Spielberg apparently changed his mind and asked for more extensive cleaning up be done to them.

With the thirtieth anniversary of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and Indiana Jones next year, lets hope that there are some major league celebrations upcoming planned by LUCASFILM and PARAMOUNT. How about a limited theatrical run of all four films in plush digital screenings at the cinema, or at least RAIDERS, and not just in the US but worldwide, and then release the Blu-rays? How about some kind of cast and crew signings. And OFFICIALPIX, open up your INDY shop again for a limited time to celebrate (with some new images, too!). Perhaps a revised and updated release of the Rinzler making of book with some more publicity on it may be nice to see.

With the recent news that the main cast have been told the apparently "crazy and exciting" story, what's going on with INDY 5? And, with the success of THE CLONE WARS, how about an Indy animated series?

Want more on Indy? Then why not join our YAHOO GROUP:

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/indianajonesfortuneandglory/

CELEBRATION V: DICKEY BEER - DELETED SCENES ACTION MAN!

One of the nice things about Celebrations is the chance to meet and get autographs from many of the people who worked in front of and behind the cameras of the STAR WARS films, and to find out more about them and their work. Dutch Stuntman and Second Unit director Dickey Beer is one of the most recent new signees in the STAR WARS world and I had the chance to talk to him about some of his work on the final classic STAR WARS film: RETURN OF THE JEDI.

Its well known that he played one of the hired thugs at Jabba's Court (including the alien Barada, doubling for Boba Fett (for a part of his demise) and playing Luke on the skiff (at one point in the films editing Beer fights himself as both Luke and Boba!) during the exterior Sail Barge battle filmed in Yuma, Arizona during April 1982, was one of the Rebel Commando squad members on Endor, and an ILM filmed biker scout, but what you might not know is that he also played an Imperial Stormtrooper for a deleted action scene at ELSTREE, which we hope will be on the eventual Blu-ray. Getting into the Endor Bunker and reaching the shield control room wasn't as easy as it looked in the original cut of the movie, as Han and his commando squad literally walked into, and have to face off, with a squad of Stormtroopers. Beer recalls the scene started off with two Stormtroopers by a wall, which was obscured from Han and his party. Then the fireworks start and Beer's Stormtrooper, who was nearest to the wall, would be felled by an explosion. Beer doesn't recall the scene listed in the novelisation book where Chewbacca grabs a section of door and brings it down on the rest of the Stormtroopers (and I haven't seen any photo documentation for this, either), but does recall it was one of many sequences that he was involved in for JEDI that was cut. In location filming at the Redwoods, Beer, as well as being one of the Rebel commandos nearest Solo, Leia and Chewbacca when they are escorted out of the bunker (and seen below in this behind the scenes shot), would also be the Scout Walker captain shot by Leia when all hell breaks loose with the Ewoks surprise attack.

Beer, who has also had the privilege to work with three James Bonds and battle Harrison Ford in a deleted scene from INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (playing a Thugee guard who fights Indy on the sacrificial scaffold chamber (which previously housed Willie and lowered her into the volcanic pit), but Indy hits him with a long staff!), was an extremely pleasant and highly likeable person, and I look forward to seeing him again at future STAR WARS related events.

Above top image: Han - once again - walks into trouble in this deleted scene. With thanks to Lou Tambone from his STARWARZ.COM site.