The Fridge moment was the least of it for me - I found the scene where his son was swinging from vines like tarzan far more annoying and ridiculous. Also the fact that they are in a JUNGLE and the only thing the kid can find to pull Indy out of the sand pit is a dang snake? REALLY? They couldn’t find any other way to bring up the “Indy hates snakes” running gag?
So no - the fridge moment doesn’t even come close to being the worst thing about the movie.
I and most of the people in the theater laughed when he climbed out of the fridge, it was a humorous and implausible escape to an impossible situation. I did my best to just push it aside and ‘go along for the ride’, after all Indy movies are like roller coasters. They are fun and exciting and though they can be scary you are never in any REAL danger, just hold on and enjoy the ride.
These are not documentaries after all… They are not meant to be taken seriously, there is just enough fact and history to reel you in. And then enough gritty realism to make the audience ‘feel’ as if they are there. Beside Indy trying to fight and think their way out of danger.
Relax, and just try to enjoy the ride…
Great discussion. I too am not that particularly perturbed by the fridge, but it does reinforce for me why I love Raiders (and to a lesser extent Crusade) better than the other movies. The stunts in Raiders were so personal. You looked into Indy’s eyes when he was toed by the truck, clinging to the front grill, or running from the ball. Yes, there were stuntmen in there to replace HF, but you felt the stunts were really performed. In contrast, miniatures rolling down a mine track or a digital fridge don’t quite evoke the same visceral reaction in me. They’re all fun movies and personally I agree it does get a little silly nitpicking about reality in these contexts, but when one part of the series ends up a movie classic the others are going to engender a lot of scrutiny.
Maybe Indy, like Starbuck, has a higher purpose?
And at the end of Indy 7 – please end with an odd-numbed good one – Indy disappears. Or Shia LaBoeueoff does. And Indy and Marion fly off in a shuttle.
And, yes, a lot of times, in movies, stuff happens that wouldn’t really go like that.
Harrison Ford has already let slip that Speilberg/Lucas have an idea for a Raiders 5, and that he approved of it.
That’s exactly what I compared it to too when I saw it.
I also think It’s because the average person knows more today how radiation works. The life raft feels plausible just like when Indy put a flag pole in a motorcycle wheel and sent it flying. (even the mythbusters said that) but I think the fridge doesn’t get a pass cause it wasn’t grandfathered in or anything.
Other parts of that movie bugged me. A lot really, but the fridge never did.
That’s a definite phenomenon in all media: No matter how good a sequel or follow-up is, it can never recreate the circumstances that led a fan to think, “My gods, is this fresh and new! I’ve never seen/heard anything like this before!”
well i think maybe there’s a little more to it at least to me as a viewer. i mean the falling out of plane and sliding down the mountain is just as silly and in no way mystical. and it did pull me from the movie a little but not as much as the fridge. it should have had the same effect but it didn’t. i think maybe its the baggage that goes with an atomic blast i mean its been the symbol of our species death since WW2. it comes with a whole lot of bad; maybe such silly solution to it also acts to destroy realism…
i don’t know i’m just rambling and have to think about this some
Two issues, First I think the extra hate about “Nuking the Fridge” is that it made a great phrase, and so now people may think that they hate the scene because the phrase is in their head. Like “Jumping the Shark”, it rolls off the tongue, while “Jumping out of an airplane in a rubber raft and sledding down a mountain” isn’t as smooth.
Two, I kinda touched on this subject in a blog post I did here.
I’ll also toss in my ‘Nuke the Fridge’ moment that I mentioned in another thread:
German troops wandering around British occupied Egypt prior to WWII. Heck they never really entered Egypt during WWII.
Oh my Gods, totally. That was such a Sand Kraut moment!
…hmm, no. That was such an Anachronistic Nazi moment!
…not even close. Gotta start with a verb. Howsabout:
[ul]
[li]Diddle the desert?[/li][li]Fondle the Pharoah?[/li][li]Penetrate the Pyramid?[/li][li]Goose the Grail?[/li][/ul]What was I talking about again?
In the battle of Tobruk didn’t Rommel’s tanks make it into Egypt? Or at least the edge of Egypt? Maybe I’m confused…
Anyway, to address the question of this thread. The Nuke the Fridge moment didn’t really bother me.
I’m sure it was, as Chuck said, they wanted the iconic moment of Indiana juxtaposed with the mushroom cloud and in the process of writing they had to think “hmmm…how is he gonna get out this alive”.
I didn’t hate this movie. I think I had higher expectations for it. Shia Lebuf also didn’t do it for me as Indy’s son. I would have preferred another actor. Otherwise, it was fine in terms of story action, suspense. It had heart but the heart it had seemed a little forced. And again, bottom line I was hoping to come away feeling the thrill I felt seeing the first three Indy movies. And whether I’ve changed or the world’s changed or whether it was the movie’s fault, I just didn’t come away with that feeling.
No hate from me. I found it hilarious. When I heard the phrase, (I believe it was Pike) I giggled. I didn’t take it as hate, just a clever ditty.
As we all know haters gonna hate, Fanbois even more so. I can’t get there from here. There’s not much I hate, except if JJ and crew decide to ret-khan Khan. sharpening pitchfork You hear that, JJ? That’s the sound of reckoning. There will be a price to pay. ahem Where was I? Yeah. I don’t hate much. So the nuking the fridge and Shia Tarzan only produced eye rolls and guffaws.
I understand the hatin’, I used to do it a bunch. For me, I was a bitter and frustrated person. I wanted to create, write, etc. I would pick apart plots and one day someone said to me, “Why don’t you write an episode/story?” I soon realized, it ain’t easy. I began to appreciate the process and the hate faded. That’s just me, of course. In the end, it’s all about passion. If you love something (Star Trek, Star Wars, Indiana Jones), it tends to get pelted with much scrutiny and fall under the spell of, “I could’ve done it better. Hrmph!!”
[/li]
For. The. Win.
A Goa’uld is coming to your house dude…:eek:
I never had a big problem with the fridge. I actually remember thinking “Go for the fridge!” when I saw it the first time. I’m still not sure why it was blasted so far and nothing else was. I also think the chances of him surviving it were about the same as the raft fall. Most of my problems were with the whole jungle scene. Crazy monkeys, swinging like tarzan, CGI shots to the crotch and frakkin giant ants are all far worse then the fridge. It didn’t have any of the magic in the originals. At least the fridge scene had that feeling if imminent danger with little or no hope for survival.
I think everyone else hit the points I would make. Personally, I didn’t have any problems with the movie. It was fun to watch and a few more years I’ll pull it out and watch it again.
I think a small part of the problem with Indy 4 was the rumors around Lucas’ original script and how Spielberg and Ford had to rein him in. So when people went into the movie, they were looking for something, rather than just accepting it for what it was, a 1950s-style pulp story featuring a 1930s pulp hero.
I’m late to the party, as usual.
Anyway, you’re right about that, Solai. It seemed plausible to me and a clever and rather funny end to the scene.
I propose re-purposing “nuking the fridge” as a term for “feeling like you’re too clever to enjoy something for what it is, and choosing instead to hate.”
i really liked it. when you think of the ridiculous things indy pulls in temple of doom (running behind giant gong, life raft ride, etc.), crystal skulls is certainly no worse.
besides, it all takes place in Indiana Jones World, not the real world. that’s why it’s so much fun.