Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[kim]

WILHELM SCREAM: Boy with a stack of books in the library about to get crashed into by bike.

[darrell]

When filming the scene where Indiana drives a truck through a wall, things did not go as planned. Timed explosives were used, but one explosive did not go off, and landed in the seat next to Harrison Ford.

[jessica]

Before "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was chosen as the subtitle for this movie, the original title on the original script was "Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men", because that was George Lucas' original choice for the title. He also had several other titles in mind, such as "Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Giant Ants". Steven Spielberg's wanted the movie to be called "Indiana Jones and the (blank blank) of The Mysterians", but he quickly gave up on that idea, to avoid confusion with The Mysterians (1957). Screenwriter David Koepp thought the movie should have been called "Indiana Jones and the Son of Indiana Jones". Eventually all three had settled on the movie's final title, with Lucas himself insisting on using the word "Kingdom" in the title, as opposed to "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull".

[frederick]

Steven Spielberg came close to working with Cate Blanchett nearly a decade earlier, when she was cast as the pre-cog Agatha in Minority Report (2002). However, the death of Stanley Kubrick prompted him to decide to make A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) first. Blanchett went on to other projects (like The Lord of the Rings trilogy), and was replaced by Samantha Morton.

[mathew]

When Professor Harold Oxley (Sir John Hurt) is auto-writing, the Mayan symbols he is drawing in the notebook with one hand were actually done by an expert in Mayan script seated directly behind Hurt. It is the expert's arm doing the writing instead of Hurt.

[tom]

Director Steven Spielberg brought on Janusz Kaminski, who has shot all of Spielberg's movies since Schindler's List (1993), to replace the now-retired cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, who had worked on all previous Indiana Jones movies. Spielberg refused to modernize the photography, and wanted to retain the comic book style from the previous movies. Thus Kaminski had to watch all of the previous movies repeatedly, to study Slocombe's techniques. Spielberg later commented that both he and Janusz had to swallow their pride: "Janusz had to learn another cinematographer's look, and I had to acquire this younger director's look, which I thought I had moved away from after almost two decades."

[jamie]

This is the first Indiana Jones movie without Pat Roach, who had a role in the first three movies. Roach died in 2004.

[kyle]

In the coffee shop, Indiana mocks Mutt Williams' name: Mutt (a mixed breed dog). But as stated by Henry Jones, Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Indiana's name is also canine-related: "Indiana" was the name of the Jones' family dog.

[jesus]

Steven Spielberg requested the facial features of the conquistador mask to be based on those of the alien from The Man from Planet X (1951).

[veronica]

Harrison Ford has kept himself in such good shape over the years that his costume measurements for this movie had not changed from those in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). He performed many of his own stunts, because stunt technology had become safer since 1989. He also felt it improved his performance.

[melinda]

The nuclear bomb test that Indiana Jones finds himself in is loosely based on the Operation Teapot atomic bomb tests of 1955, detonated on the Nevada Test Site. Most notable is the use of buildings and mannequins to observe the destructive force of the explosion, which was also featured in the nuclear bomb test in this movie. The announcements and countdown preceding the explosion are based on the Ivy Mike test of 1952, the very first detonation of a hydrogen bomb (most notably the warning "Do not remove goggles or face blast until ten seconds after first light.")

[ella]

Sir John Hurt wanted to read the script before he signed on. He had previously heard about actors and actresses who signed on to a Steven Spielberg movie before reading the script, since "Spielberg, you know, GOD, was doing it!" Hurt replied, "'Well, I need to have a little bit of previous knowledge even if God is doing it." The filmmakers sent a courier with the script from Los Angeles over to London, who gave the script to Hurt at three in the afternoon, reclaimed it at eight that evening, and flew back the following day. Ray Winstone mentioned a similar experience on a British talk show. He was asked if he wanted to be in the movie, and he requested to read the script. He described a young man in a suit coming to his house, drinking tea while he read it, then getting on the next plane back to America. He also noted that once the movie was over, they had to give the scripts back.

[harry]

This is the only Indiana Jones movie to be set entirely in the Western Hemisphere.

[leo]

As Indiana and Mutt enter the library on the motorcycle, the theme from Johannes Brahms' Academic Festival Overture can be heard in the score.

[kylie]

Indiana Jones has more monikers in this movie than in any of the other three. In addition to "Indiana", "Indy", "Dr. Jones", "Jones", and "Henry Jones, Jr.", he is called "Henry", "Jonesy", "Colonel Jones", "Dad", and "Daddy-o".

[aaron]

In the warehouse scene during the shootout one of the wooden boxes contained the lost Ark

[addison]

The Thompsons that the Russians are carrying in the opening scene are the M1928A1 variant, not the M1A1 that would have been more commonly issued to the U.S. Army during World War II, and could have been in service afterward. However, M1928A1s were supplied with M3 tanks to the Soviet Union during World War II. Due to a lack of suitable ammunition, they were never issued, and put into storage. This means the Russians would have easy access to this model.

[jessica]

During the Hangar 51 scene, the theme for the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) is heard when the Ark makes its brief appearance.