(Seen on 5/22/08) Originally I was very against the idea of another Indiana Jones film. (I even thought it was a bad idea 10 years ago when the rumors first started popping up.) It was way too long since the last one; Spielberg is a different filmmaker and Harrison Ford is way too old. I saw no way of them pulling it off with the same style and panache that marked the first three films. Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all time favorite action film, it's so perfect in so many ways, those action scenes will live forever as some of the greatest ever made. Temple of Doom is a very fun follow-up, much darker in many ways, but again it has incredible action scenes and furthers Indy's legend. And I thought that The Last Crusade, while the least effective of the three, was a great send off; where we get to learn about where Indy came from and he has a great adventure with his father. I didn't see where another film could fit in. But as time went on, and the great teaser trailer came out for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I'll admit that the kid in me was yearning to see another Indiana Jones adventure. So it was with great excitement that I went to opening night. (The first big premiere I'd been to since the last Lord of the Rings.)

One of the things that worried me when I initially heard about the making of this film, was that I thought they'd try to ignore that Harrison Ford is nearly 20 years older. But they make it part of the film, with a couple of good jokes about Indy's age. I especially liked that they moved the action into the 50's, no longer is Indy fighting the Nazis, now he's got the Russian communists, which proves to be almost as great a set of villains. They were able to incorporate nuclear testing, the red scare, hot rods and make Indy's sidekick a motorcycle-riding greaser.

That was another thing I was skeptical about, Shia LaBeouf. I really like him, I think he's one of the most charismatic young actors around, but I thought he'd seem too anachronistic, that he wouldn't be able to play the era. But he did a great job fitting in, I think Lucas and his American Graffiti knowledge of the era, helped him find his character Mutt. It's fairly obvious who he is, and I'm glad they didn't drag out the surprise for too long.

I dug the other characters as well. It was cool to have Karen Allen back as Marion Ravenwood, always Indy's best girl. Ray Winstone was a lot of fun as Mac, the flip-flopping sidekick, who you're never quite sure which side he's on. John Hurt does the nutty- professor thing to perfection as Ox, who's spent too much time around the crystal skull, and has had his brain fried in the process. Best of all the new characters was Cate Blanchet, as Dr. Irina Spalko, equally evil and sexy, a completely memorable villain. She was so good, I'd consider the best of the series since Raiders' Colonel Dietrich. Having a great villain is paramount to these turn-your-brain off adventures, there has to be someone truly evil to root against.

There were a couple of really great action sequences; I particularly liked the truck chase through the jungle, while nowhere near as classic as the chase is in Raiders, it reminded me of it. Only one thing bothered me while watching it, the use of CGI. It was very apparent in a couple of instances and that took me out of the scene. But I won't completely denounce their use of it in the film, it's simply another tool; one that's pretty unavoidable these days; and the gruesomely-awesome scene with the giant-killer-ants,my favorite moment in the film, couldn't have been done without it.

I walked out of the theater totally satisfied with this new Indy adventure, and only one scene bugged me while watching the film. Which was Mutt swinging through the trees with a bunch of digital monkeys, too ridiculous, even for an Indiana Jones film. It wasn't till later, when I got a chance to reflect on the film, that more things started not to work for me. The entire end of the film, seems way too out there, and didn't seem the right fit for a series ground in earthly matters. Though I must admit, it fits nicely into Spielberg's filmography.

I've seen this film so many times, in three different variations now, that I'm not sure where to start. At the beginning I guess. My dad showed me this film when I was around 13, I wasn't quite sure what had happened, but I knew I liked it. But I don't think I watched it again for another five years, when I was in art school. One of my friends insisted on watching it over and over, which I had no problem with. Blade Runner is one of those rare movies, that no matter how many times I see it, it always seems fresh. There's so much to look at, so many details, that you're always noticing new things about the film. We were watching the original cut, the one with the narration, I've seen it so many times, that I still hear it when watching the versions without.

In 1997 I bought my first DVD player, and Blade Runner: The Director's Cut was the very first DVD I bought to go along with it. I watched it quite a few more times in that form, grew used to the new changes. Around the same time I saw it for the first time on the big screen, when they did a revival show, at the best theater in Seattle, the Cinerama. I bought and read the book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, a must read for any Blade Runner fanatic. I've read the original novel Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick, a wonderful book, that truly only shares the dystopian view of the future and a cop chasing down rogue androids; if you want to expand the Blade Runner universe, again, a must read.

So yeah, I'm a fan. I easily place it among my top five films; if it weren't for The Matrix, I'd call it my all-time-favorite sci-fi film. I believe it's a masterpiece in every sense of the word. Beautifully crafted from top to bottom; from the set and costume design, to the gorgeous, dark photography; superbly written, great naturalistic dialogue, great acting, and top notch direction by Ridley Scott. At a time when everyone was trying to remake Star Wars, Scott and team set out on a completely different sci-fi idea, creating a new view of the future, and influencing a whole new set of filmmakers.

I was ecstatic when the long rumored Final Cut made it's way to DVD. And after watching it, I must say it's the best version of the film yet. It's not drastically different than the Directors Cut, there are only a few different cuts here and there, mostly in reference to Deckard's being an android himself; they extended Deckard's dream of the unicorn, which pays off by Gaff leaving him an origami unicorn at the end; saying that he knows his dreams and what he really is. The other big editing change, is when Zhora is killed by Deckard and she goes crashing through the glass store front; in previous versions it was obviously a stunt-man in a wig, now, it looks like actress Joanna Cassidy all the way through. The most noticeable change about the film is the way it looks.

It looks brand new, no more dirty prints, it is clean and gorgeous like it was shot yesterday, instead of 25 years ago. Some of the effects are slightly improved, not in a "look at me" kind of way like the new Star Wars films, but subtle, keeping with the original look of the film. My only problem with this new version of the film, is that it does pretty much spell out that Deckard is an android himself. I always liked that the original cut left the idea vague, leaving the decision up to the viewer. Scott has taken that decision away. He does that through the unicorn dream and the fact that at one point in the film, you see every androids eyes glow red, which Deckard's do when he's in his apartment with Rachel. Something that may have happened in the original cut, but I always missed, and is now pretty blatant.

One problem I've always had, is that if Deckard is a android, why is he so weak? He is constantly getting beat up by all the Nexus-6's he's tracking down. If the cops went to the trouble of getting an android to do their hunting, wouldn't they want him to keep the advantage of strength and quickness. It's a small quibble, and it gives me something to discuss with the other die-hard Blade Runner fans. All in all, I'm very happy with the Final Cut and the DVD set. It's something I will treasure for a long time, and hope will introduce the film to a whole new generation of fans. - Grade: A+