Synopsis:

Indiana Jones meets the 1950s B-Movie when the good doctor is called back into action to investigate a strange ancient mystery in a brand new decade.

Intentions:

Initially undertaken as a light “re color” project to see if Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull could be made to look more akin to the original trilogy the project evolved into an attempt to produce a somewhat more serious, tighter paced, more story and character focused re cut of the film. This edit of the film hopes to cut down the overly goofy cartoonish humor and CGI-slathered action setpieces and environments in order to align the film more with the rest of the series. In addition to that I sought to both embrace the “Science Fiction B-Movie” archetypes that Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is inspired by to better emulate and homage the 1950s era that George Lucas was inspired by. I sought to preserve some mystery by stringing the information out a little bit more deliberately, teasing things instead of showing them so overtly, and bringing and introducing a little bit more ambiguity instead of concrete answers.

Change List:

Shot by Shot feature length recolorization. Newly revised and created opening credits to include “Re Cut Edition” credits. Removed CGI Prairie Dog emerging from the Prairie Dog Hill. Removed Oddly colored shot from opening credits/car race montage (minor change, specifically requested from “Edit Producer”). Introductory scene for Spalko cut to preserve mystery of who the character is. Trimmed dialog: “contents of box, mummified remains” to preserve mcguffin mystery. Trimmed dialog: “You will help us find it” scene to remove unnecessary dialog. Removed exposed alien hand to maintain a bit of mystery. Removed dialog: “colonel doctor Spalko.” as Indy has not been introduced to her in this cut (established continuity cut from earlier). Rearranged shots to fix accidental early reveal of Mack’s betrayal of Indy during Gun Standoff. Removed CGI Prairie Dogs during Rocket Sled Escape. Re-Edited Nuclear Fridge Survival sequence heavily. Trimmed dialog: “Pieces of Wreckage in an intensely magnetic shroud covering…mutilated remains”, again to preserve alien mystery further. Aliens are officially confirmed now in Russian Tent Sequence. Trimmed motorcycle chase sequence. Drive through the library cut. Trimmed investigation of Oxley’s Cell for dialog and pacing. Re-Cut Audio, Dialog replacement: “Part Time” line replaced with alternate trailer take and mixed with new lightning effects to mimic trailer delivery. Search of the cemetery tomb trimmed. “Seesaw” puzzle removed for timing and pacing. Dialog removed: “You don’t got a knife do you?” Indy asking if Mutt has a knife removed. It’s been well established Indy already knows Mutt has a knife. “Hold this” corpse gag removed. For pacing. Russian Tent dialog trim “I’m gonna break your nose” cut for pacing. Russian Tent Interrogation. Reveal of Alien corpse trimmed to “suggest” instead of showing too much of it too soon. “You broke my nose!” “I told you” gag removed for pacing, and to maintain tone of tension and drama instead of undercutting the story for a joke. Audio addition: Marion’s theme used in Marion’s initial introduction at the Russian camp. “Three Times it drops” dialog and references removed. New “Moon” transition/establishing shot to help make the jungle set more convincing as an actual location. Quicksand scene recut. “Oxley for Godsakes don’t just stand there, go get help!” trimmed and re-edited to just “Ox don’t just stand there, Help!” to make pay off of Oxley going to the russians make sense. “Stop calling it that!”, “Say Rope!” removed. Entire scene trimmed and re-timed for hopefully better comedic effect. Dialog Removed: “For love of God, Shut the Hell up” removed from hostage truck sequence for pacing and flow and tighter focus on the Jones family dynamic. Trimmed: “Oh shit” ripping gag with the knife. Nobody has any idea what this moment is supposed to mean, and it’s gone now, yay! Heavily re cut entire Jungle Chase. Removing giant CGI cliffside, tarzan swing, and as much of the bad green screen and CGI “gags” as possible. Removed CGI bridge of ants and Spalko crushing CG ant with her knees. Ant circle Fist fight trimmed to remove excessive amount of punches. Trimmed CGI ants swarming Dovchenko to make it more “horrible” and less cartoonish. Also removed ants carrying Dovchenko down into their hole. Trimmed “bending tree” sequence to make it a quicker, smoother gag. Trimmed three waterfall drops into 2 total falls that happen much quicker. Added a music cue to the climactic waterfall drop. Dialog Removed: “I’ll take it, nobody else has to come” and “Who cares? It’s brought us nothing but trouble” argument as to this point it’s been everybody’s mission to get to Akator. Mutt’s argument comes out of nowhere, has no emotional weight, and the conflict is resolved in seconds. Continuing the focus on the need for everybody to get to Akator feels like the more appropriate dramatic choice. Removed. Akator Warriors. Removed. Pyramid puzzle. Removed. Retracting steps boobytrap. Removed. “Hold this” reprise joke. Dialog removed: “A Portal, a pathway to another dimension.” New Portal opening sound effects created. Removed dialog: “Jonesy…I’m gonna be alright.” from Mack and restructuring of his death sequence. Re Coloring of Spalko Death sequence. Angry Alien Face closeup removed and replaced with more subtle effect. Dialog Removed: “Where’d they go? Space?”, “Not into Space…into the space between spaces.” Trimmed Dialog: “...knowledge was their treasure” to simply “Their treasure wasn’t gold…it was knowledge.”

Other Sources:

Roswell New Mexico News Broadcast, 1947. Youtube Audio.

Special Thanks:

special thanks to https://www.reddit.com/user/J-Mannix/ for providing the trailer.