Cool. I see what you are saying.

Sure, bring him back, but never have him appear on screen. I lik emy super villains as elusive puppetmasters.

yeah, the whole terrorism thing is a perfect recipe for an amazing Bond film - think Die Hard 3 on a global scale. I would love that type of Bond film. Global. Destructive. Angry. and eventually, one way or another, a bit personal. This Bond is ready to take the next step.

Temple of Doom is still a very heavy contributor to iconic Indiana Jones moments. Personally. I love every bit of it.

I think Crystal Skull showed that there isn't anything left with this Indiana Jones. Shelf it. Bring it back someday with a new actor trying on the hat in the late '30s. It may not measure up to anything without Harrison Ford, but Indiana Jones, if done right, might be one of the few characters that can survive the transition (see James Bond 21).

However, I know that Spielberg, despite forgetting about tension in Indy4, still knows how to deliver a sequence. I'd like to think that anyway.

The main thing is to kill the sequential storyline they have set up, and get back to Indiana Jones being Indiana Jones.

quit kidding yourself. It's a terrible film lacking any of the tension filled sequences that have made Indiana Jones an icon. Spielberg mailed it in. Who knows why?

Even often criticised Spielberg films have sequences that succeed greatly on their tension.
War of the Worlds had some very nice, tension filled sequences: revealing the tripods, fleeing the city, the ferry, the harvest, etc.

Minority Report : The jetpack fight, eye surgery, the spider-bot search
etc.

Remember Temple of Doom? Iconic Indiana Jones sequences, with Indiana figuring out what to do and succeeding only to find himself in a worse situation than what he started in. Look no further than the stand-off on the walking bridge.

So, where is this tension filled dramatic sequence in Crystal Skulls that has you defending this film? It's just....not... there. It's too bad really. Spielberg knows how to do it. He just didn't.

Don't forget the huge storytelling mistake of giving the prize, magical problem solving abilities.
Nothing kills a film faster than creating a magic problem solver. The Crystal Skull was an instant tension killer.

It's not the aliens that were the problem. It was the handling of that myth and how they lost sight of it trying to tell a story that was so patched together, it didn't stand a chance. Couple that with the complete loss of dramatic tension that is the core of Indiana Jones, and you have a terrible, failed film.

Anyone that knows anything about the Crystal Skull Mythology, cna see that there was something much bigger and better available to this story, but it was swallowed by a laundry list of bad ideas.

...and yet, people are still spending money on remakes. I have no idea what Platinum Dunes has done because I won't shell out a cent for whatever crap it is.

Yeah, like a politician. Disgusting.

And since i'm still thinking about it, I would anticipate seeing Kaneda's bike (there are custom bikes out there) in action with the same interest as the Batmobile. Get a group of similar bikes together for the live action sequence? Can't even imagine how cool that would be.