Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull: Covenant Edition

I started on a KOTCS edit a while back and ended up boring myself with it at around the time they get to the Conquistador Tomb. I found it so boring that it actually made it difficult to drag up the will to continue editing KOTCS! (So I never started a work-in-progress thread since I thought I'd never finish it).

But after viewing njvc's excellent Raiders of the Lost Skull edit I realised what was wrong with KOTCS. Since njvc had skillfully removed all the offensive material like CGI goffers, Mutt doing the splits, the fridge, the CGI flying saucer etc, those irritations no longer distracted my eye. So I could finally see what was left with fresh eyes. It was clear that in the original cut, between Indy escaping Doom Town and the quicksand scene, there was 47 minutes of near solid exposition (With only the brief bike chase to break it up). It goes...

Exciting Roswell Chase / Sit in AirForce base explaining the plot / Sit in Indys home explaining the plot / Sit in Cafe explaining the plot / Exciting Bike Chase / Walk through market explaining the plot / Stand in cell explaining the plot / Explore tomb while explaning the plot / Tie Indy to chair while explaining the plot to him / Mildy Fun Quicksand Scene

... so if I could cut this portion of the movie back to it's barest minimum the film woud finally flow. After alot of thinking the obvious removals were 'The CIA debrief', 'Indy returning to college' and 'The Sanitorium'. The first and second scenes setup the unresolved McCarthyism subplot and introduce a roster of characters we never see again. The second only adds further layers of exposition to the already complicated Oxley backstory (In my edit, these and other minor trims account for 14 minutes of the excised footage alone). I completely scrapped my old edit and started again.

Changes include:

- Entire film recoloured/desaturated to be less cartoony
- All CGI Goffers removed
- Mutt's swordfight and vine-swinging retained but heavily recut
- Doom Town, Debriefing, University and Sanitorium scenes entirely removed
- All footage showing the beings as bug-eyed aliens removed (Plus flying saucer)
- Ends in Akator (Same as njvc's brilliant ending)
- Recut wedding moved to a 'Marvel Style' post credits sequence
- Probably a hundred other changes that I'm yet to fully list (Total = 30 minutes)

I know this is at least the 5th edit of KOTCS out there, so sue me. I think the removal of the 3 additional scenes and the retention of Mutt's heroics makes this unique. For me, Mutt needs those swashbuckling Errol Flynn moments to keep his character alive... he just doesn't need to do acrobatics accross two Jeeps and have a spiritual bond with a bunch of CGI monkeys. I'll get a full cutlist together soon.

This edit is done and uploaded and is available as a:

DVD-5: with motion menus and '14 minute Re-Edited Deleted Scenes Compilation' bonus feature

and

4GB 1280x720 mp4: with the same '14 minute Re-Edited Deleted Scenes Compilation' zipped along side

Here is the cover (Click to enlarge):



It's designed to match in with my old Indy DVD boxset:





Here is the opening 27 minutes:


and here is that recut post-credits Wedding scene (With Jim broadbent removed):


The implication is that the guy running at the start is Indy, late for his own wedding (And not broadbent). The reason I've put it post credits is because I think it's a nice end to the saga but a bad end to the film.

If you've got any questions/comments about the edit post below or hit me up with a PM.

Finally got my cutlist done, time to submit this edit...

General changes include:
- Entire film recoloured/desaturated to be less cartoony/artificial
- All CGI Goffers removed
- Mutt's swordfight and vine-swinging retained but heavily recut
- Doom Town, Debriefing, University and Sanitorium scenes entirely removed
- All footage showing the beings as bug-eyed aliens removed (Plus flying saucer)
- Mac is a double agent, not a quadruple agent
- Emphasis on removing many long shots that either slow down the pace, show excessive scale or are just plagued by bad CGI

Specific changes include:
00.00.00 Added TM2YC Ident
00.00.08 Added oldskool Lucasfilm logo
00.00.24 CGI goffer replaced with new mountain matte painting
00.00.40 'Covenant Edition' title added
00.02.41 Magic checkpoint massacre removed (But hinted at)
00.04.35 Indy's "Drop Dead" line removed
00.04.39 Indy's "I'm sorry..." line removed
00.05.51 Indy looking at Spalko crosseyed and her flicking his hat removed
00.06.20 Spalko's magic powers removed
00.07.37 Mac's "West" line removed
00.07.59 First part of magnetic-gunpowder sequence removed
00.11.56 Mac's betrayal recut to be a surprise
00.12.33 Indy's "I like Ike" line removed
00.13.02 Indy now makes his first jump
00.13.10 Exploding CGI boxes reduced
00.15.02 More CGI goffers from Rocketsled sequence removed
00.15.18 Indy waking up shot reduced
00.15.31 Indy falling over removed
00.16.11 9 minute Doom Towm, Debriefing and University sequences entirely removed
00.16.19 Indy looking sad as he boards the train removed
00.17.13 Dialogue about Oxley being boring removed
00.17.54 Dialogue about other Crystal Skulls removed
00.22.15 Indy motorcycle sking removed
00.23.24 Closeup shot of Brody plaque removed
00.23.32 Rest of bike chase through library removed
00.23.40 Letter translation exposition reduced
00.25.40 Mention of Oxley being in a Sanitorium removed
00.26.54 Shot of Indy and Mutt entering the Sanitorium recut
00.26.57 Sanitorium sequence entirely removed
00.29.14 Indys "Part time" line removed
00.29.25 Mutt combing his hair and shaking removed
00.31.15 Dialogue refrencing Ox's cell and discussing skulls removed
00.31.25 Mutt's "You're going nowhere fast" line removed
00.32.29 Redundant dialogue about footprints removed
00.33.38 Knife swapping sequence removed
00.36.39 Discussion about returning the skull removed
00.40.04 Indy's "Come on?!" line removed
00.40.51 Removed explanation dialogue
00.41.12 Oxley dancing removed
00.44.17 Removed Indy face wobble
00.45.32 Removed Indy's goofy reaction to seeing Marion
00.46.17 End of arguement with Marion removed
00.47.19 Oxley's "Three times it drops" dialogue removed
00.49.34 Sinking into the sand shortened
00.49.51 Indy talking about quick sand removed
00.50.18 Discussion about Mutt shortened
00.50.51 All shots of snake removed
00.51.07 Indy's "Good work Ox" line removed
00.51.12 Start of long pan-out from Tractor removed
00.51.21 End of long pan-out from Tractor removed
00.53.11 Sound of Indy ripping his pants and Mutt saying "Oh shit!" removed
00.53.41 Long shot of Marion grinning removed
00.54.30 Two shots of bouncing saw removed
00.54.33 Shot of bouncing saw removed
00.54.42 Indy's "Pull up next to that duck" line removed
00.55.55 Indy telling Mutt to not be a child removed
00.57.35 Two long shots of Mutt dueling Spalko removed
00.57.46 Long shot of Mutt dueling Spalko removed
00.58.06 Mariion getting whacked by a branch removed
00.58.07 Mutt doing the splits sequence removed
00.58.11 Shot of Mutt doing the splits again removed
00.58.21 Spalko firing the jeep gun removed
00.58.24 Shot of Marion un-ducking removed
00.58.43 Marion grunting shortened
00.59.05 Shot of Mutt wobbling removed
00.59.19 Shots of Mutt and Indy noticing the vine removed
00.59.24 Four shots of Mutt having a long look at the Monkeys removed
00.59.28 Mutt beginning to swing brought forward
00.59.36 Long shot of canyon chase shortened
00.59.36 Mutt swinging shots shortened or removed
00.59.45 Long shot of canyon chase removed
00.59.47 Shot of Mac and another long shot removed to create new match cut
01.00.05 Second vine swinging sequence drastically shortened
01.00.21 Shots of monkeys attacking the jeep removed
01.00.27 Two shots of Monkeys still attacking shortened and removed
01.00.31 Monkey surviving and "Whoa" dialogue removed
01.00.39 Shots of Spalko's Jeep flying shortened
01.00.51 Shot of Spalko trembling about the ant removed
01.01.28 Shot of ants shortened
01.02.01 Marion driving the jeep near the cliff edge removed
01.02.28 Shot of ants crowding round Spalko removed
01.03.02 Indy being picked up by his ear and Ants climbing after Spalko removed
01.03.03 More fighting removed to make new match cut
01.03.35 Closeup of guy drowning in ants and two reaction shots removed
01.03.37 Two shots of the ants carrying his body removed
01.04.22 Long shot showing height of cliff removed
01.04.30 Shot of jeep leaping removed and next shot heavily cropped and shortened to reduce scale
01.04.44 All footage of springing tree and falling Russians removed
01.04.45 Next shot of jeep cropped closer
01.04.50 Shot of Spalko shortened to again reduce scale
01.04.55 Ox's "Three times it drops" line removed
01.05.07 All footage of 3 waterfalls recut and mixed up so there is just one now
01.05.21 Scramble ashore recut to remove catatonic Marion
01.05.26 Shot of Indy brought forward so he sees the next step first
01.05.33 Mutt's lines shortened and redubbed
01.05.36 Dialogue rehashing why the Skull must be returned removed
01.10.00 Shot of Spalko picking up a beacon removed
01.10.48 Circling round the obelisk and mention of Ox's cell removed
01.12.33 Long shot of chamber removed
01.14.05 Shot of Mac dropping a beacon removed
01.14.10 Shot of Spalko picking up a beacon removed
01.17.22 All footage of Mac's triple-cross removed
01.17.39 Spalko's dialogue and walk round the temple removed
01.19.01 Indy's "A big gift" line removed
01.20.43 Shot of space ship claw thing opening removed
01.22.14 Shot of Mac hanging on and Aliens merging removed
01.22.23 Two shts showing the Alien removed
01.22.25 Shot that showed the Alien shortened and cropped
01.23.33 All footage of the flying saucer removed
01.23.34 Shot of water washing away evidence cropped to remove Indy
01.23.36 Indy reaction shot used to breakup water footage
01.25.19 New credits sequence added with KOTCS CD soundtrack finale dubbed on
01.31.51 Recut wedding added as Marvel-style post credits sequence
01.31.53 Two running shots shortened and cropped to remove Jim Broadbent
01.31.54 Jim Broadbent's dialogue about the lettering removed
01.31.55 Shot of Jim Broadbent getting the bible shortened and cropped
01.32.21 Shot of Jim Broadbent and part of the wedding vows removed
01.32.30 Shot of Oxley cropped to remove Jim Broadbent
01.32.35 Shot of Oxley removed
01.32.41 Shot of Oxley removed and "Well done Henry" line redubbed
01.32.44 Shot of Mutt cropped to minimise Jim Broadbent
01.33.15 Fade to black before original credits role

FanEdit Length: 92 minutes
Original Film Length: 122 minutes
Time removed: 30 minutes
Major cuts: 122

Just from seeing the 30 minute preview, this is an awesome fanedit. Great job on this! When I first saw the original cut of KOTCS, I like many were so disappointed. The original three were what I grew up on, and so far this edit brings me back to those. I thoroughly enjoyed the cut out of the Doom Town, the whole character of Dean Charles Stanforth(a poor mans Marcus Brody) and the whole McCartneyism. Continue with the great work and I hope to see the whole edit

jbattle89 said:

Just from seeing the 30 minute preview, this is an awesome fanedit. Great job on this! When I first saw the original cut of KOTCS, I like many were so disappointed. The original three were what I grew up on, and so far this edit brings me back to those. I thoroughly enjoyed the cut out of the Doom Town, the whole character of Dean Charles Stanforth(a poor mans Marcus Brody) and the whole McCartneyism. Continue with the great work and I hope to see the whole edit

Click to expand...

Well thanks! The plot does barrel along nicely without those scenes IMO. btw the edit is done and released, the video is just an extended teaser/sample.

Hi TM2YC,
just watched the 30minute-vimeo-preview and it's clear to me that you are very good at editing, nice transitions, both visually and audio-wise. But if I were you I would let the movie start at the 16th-minute with Indiana Jones boarding that train, and just cut out all the previous stuff.

That previous stuff is just too much exposition for nothing really and it's only purpose seemed to center around preparing for that nuclear-explosion-scene... and since that is gone anyway in your edit, there's imho no need for it.

Ooo! You have my attention!

I haven't watched any fanedits in a few years now, but yours looks really pretty awesome and a great place to start again. I'll be sure to review after I've had a chance to watch!

NewSpock said:

Hi TM2YC,
just watched the 30minute-vimeo-preview and it's clear to me that you are very good at editing, nice transitions, both visually and audio-wise. But if I were you I would let the movie start at the 16th-minute with Indiana Jones boarding that train, and just cut out all the previous stuff.

That previous stuff is just too much exposition for nothing really and it's only purpose seemed to center around preparing for that nuclear-explosion-scene... and since that is gone anyway in your edit, there's imho no need for it.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I see what you're saying about it being removable/not-needed on some level (Since it ends before the main plot begins). However, it is absolutely essential on so many other levels...
- It stylishly reintroduces us to older Indy via his shadow (Boarding a train doesn't set the heart beating)
- It sets the time and the theme - 50s, aliens, russians etc
- It sets up Spalko beautifully, her big dialogue scene for one, her motivations in the plot for another
- It sets up Mac as a friend and then as a double agent
- Sets up the menacing 'Pat Roach' russian guy
- It builds the mysterious storyline nicely before releasing the tension in an action set peace
- Plus I disagree that it exists to setup doom-town. That was the problem with doom-town... it was disconnected from everything before and after.

and it's removal would generally render the rest of the film incomprehensible. We as viewers would be wondering, who is this Mac guy and why is he so familiar with Indy? Who is this russian woman, is she the antagonist in this movie and why doesn't she have a name? Hang on she's talking about an alien she found in Roswell, when did that happen? etc etc

I've included a chapter break on the DVD exactly as the train station scene starts, so by all means skip to that point if you want to begin there.

TM2YC said:

Thanks!

I see what you're saying about it being removable/not-needed on some level (Since it ends before the main plot begins). However, it is absolutely essential on so many other levels...
- It stylishly reintroduces us to older Indy via his shadow (Boarding a train doesn't set the heart beating)
- It sets the time and the theme - 50s, aliens, russians etc
- It sets up Spalko beautifully, her big dialogue scene for one, her motivations in the plot for another
- It sets up Mac as a friend and then as a double agent
- Sets up the menacing 'Pat Roach' russian guy
- It builds the mysterious storyline nicely before releasing the tension in an action set peace
- Plus I disagree that it exists to setup doom-town. That was the problem with doom-town... it was disconnected from everything before and after.

and it's removal would generally render the rest of the film incomprehensible. We as viewers would be wondering, who is this Mac guy and why is he so familiar with Indy? Who is this russian woman, is she the antagonist in this movie and why doesn't she have a name? Hang on she's talking about an alien she found in Roswell, when did that happen? etc etc

I've included a chapter break on the DVD exactly as the train station scene starts, so by all means skip to that point if you want to begin there.

Click to expand...

You are of course right and obviously more familiar with the story of the movie than I am, but isn't it possible to deliver the really important story-points from that scenes differently and more elegantly after the movie started with Jones boarding the train?

NewSpock said:

You are of course right and obviously more familiar with the story of the movie than I am, but isn't it possible to deliver the really important story-points from that scenes differently and more elegantly after the movie started with Jones boarding the train?

Click to expand...

Short answer? No it wouldn't be possible ;-)

However, if I'd have been writing/shooting the movie I'd have have opened with the ballsy move of having Mutt battling Spalko instead.

That way we would be given the chance to love his character on his own terms before Indy gets introduced at the train station. We could have had the Roswell opening end with a captured Marion telling Mutt to "Find Dr Henry Jones Jr, he's the only one who can help!". So when we the audience meet old Indy we'd be seeing him the same way as Mutt, as a quiet old Professor. We'd be wondering if he's retired from adventuring. So when to our and Mutt's surprise, Indy starts kicking ass and taking names we'd be all the more excited. We'd have two adventuring heroes we'd be rooting for!

I watched it last night!

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has always been one of those movies where I've not followed the popular opinion, since I never HATED the movie but was merely disappointed by it. IMO, the biggest flaw with the Theatrical cut was that while a great idea for an adventure movie, it just didn't feel like the sort of adventure Indy would actually be on. Topping it off, Indy felt more like a sidekick in his own movie! You spent a good chunk of the time wondering why he was there at all. So, needless to say, I've been waiting a long time for a fanedit that really thoroughly addressed the problems with this movie.

IMO, the Covenant Edition is that fanedit.

The movie is now brisk and exciting! It not only feels like an Indiana Jones movie now, Indy is now unquestionably the hero and the protagonist just as much as in previous films. The over-the-top goofiness is gone, the annoying McCarthy/Cold War subplot is gone, and the straight Sci-Fi elements have been HEAVILY redacted. Overall, this is a GREAT cut of this movie and has permanently replaced the Theatrical cut in my collection

Now, I do have some issues with this cut, but in general I think they're nitpicks:

- The most minor one first, and something that won't be a problem for anyone else, but I never like when editors alter the title of the movie's title card. Again, super minor.

- I'll need to look at it again, but movie feels like it starts VERY abruptly. Looking at the cut list, I think this is because you cut the CGI gopher at the start and, as a result, the Elvis song cuts in wrong. It feels like something is missing. Again, maybe I'm wrong and you did do this, but I'd recommend at least keeping the audio for that shot and playing it behind the Paramount logo.

- I love how you tie up the Nevada sequence! That said, it again feels VERY abrupt transitioning from there to the train platform and Mutt's introduction. We don't get any sort of establishment for Indy back in the city at all. Perhaps it works on multiple viewings, but the first impression is that we need something there.

Otherwise, great job! ^_^

Pkmatrix said:

I watched it last night!

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has always been one of those movies where I've not followed the popular opinion, since I never HATED the movie but was merely disappointed by it. IMO, the biggest flaw with the Theatrical cut was that while a great idea for an adventure movie, it just didn't feel like the sort of adventure Indy would actually be on. Topping it off, Indy felt more like a sidekick in his own movie! You spent a good chunk of the time wondering why he was there at all. So, needless to say, I've been waiting a long time for a fanedit that really thoroughly addressed the problems with this movie.

IMO, the Covenant Edition is that fanedit.

The movie is now brisk and exciting! It not only feels like an Indiana Jones movie now, Indy is now unquestionably the hero and the protagonist just as much as in previous films. The over-the-top goofiness is gone, the annoying McCarthy/Cold War subplot is gone, and the straight Sci-Fi elements have been HEAVILY redacted. Overall, this is a GREAT cut of this movie and has permanently replaced the Theatrical cut in my collection

Now, I do have some issues with this cut, but in general I think they're nitpicks:

- The most minor one first, and something that won't be a problem for anyone else, but I never like when editors alter the title of the movie's title card. Again, super minor.

- I'll need to look at it again, but movie feels like it starts VERY abruptly. Looking at the cut list, I think this is because you cut the CGI gopher at the start and, as a result, the Elvis song cuts in wrong. It feels like something is missing. Again, maybe I'm wrong and you did do this, but I'd recommend at least keeping the audio for that shot and playing it behind the Paramount logo.

- I love how you tie up the Nevada sequence! That said, it again feels VERY abrupt transitioning from there to the train platform and Mutt's introduction. We don't get any sort of establishment for Indy back in the city at all. Perhaps it works on multiple viewings, but the first impression is that we need something there.

Otherwise, great job! ^_^

Click to expand...

Thanks for the review!

1. I'm the oposit, I don't like it when editors change the title on the cover/listing but fail to reflect that within the edit. Ideally it's nicer to come up with a brand new title card but that wasn't possible with this edit.

2. Yes the opening is very abrupt, but on purpose. I wanted the music to explode in at the same time as the hotrod.

3. I was actually very pleased with how smoothly that transition to the station worked (Maybe I'm wrong? ;-) ). We see Indy crest a mountain and spot the nearest town/city/settlement in the distance, then we see him sometime later catching a train in that town back to wherever he lives. But Mutt interupts him before he leaves. In the original we never saw how Indy got from the top of the mountain into doom-town, or we never saw how he got from the fridge to the air force base. Maybe as you said, the new cut seems abrupt only the first viewing. Hopefully anyway!

I removed the Marcus Brody plaque from the statue so the town is just 'A' college town, rather than Indy's college town. The later scene in the study slightly contradicts this I'll admit, but that scene couldn't be removed. So I decided to live with that continuity error, since the alternative was having all the pointless college scenes retained.

TM2YC said:

Short answer? No it wouldn't be possible ;-)

However, if I'd have been writing/shooting the movie I'd have have opened with the ballsy move of having Mutt battling Spalko instead.

That way we would be given the chance to love his character on his own terms before Indy gets introduced at the train station. We could have had the Roswell opening end with a captured Marion telling Mutt to "Find Dr Henry Jones Jr, he's the only one who can help!". So when we the audience meet old Indy we'd be seeing him the same way as Mutt, as a quiet old Professor. We'd be wondering if he's retired from adventuring. So when to our and Mutt's surprise, Indy starts kicking ass and taking names we'd be all the more excited. We'd have two adventuring heroes we'd be rooting for!

Click to expand...

Also a good idea, but even without reshooting through editing it is possible to retell the story differently. Of course your edit is already finished and probably already pretty good as it is but watching that 30 minute-intro I couldn't stop wonder about how to tell it with the train-boarding as the start. How about this:

It starts with the train-boarding and then when Indiana Jones and the young guy are in that cafeteria and he tells him to hit that college-boy hard, you cut back to the fist forming of that Russian soldier wanting to hit Jones and then that russian woman stops him at the last moment and we see Jones and that woman talk...until the point she says "you are hard to read... but you will help us find what we seek" and then it goes back to the cafeteria fight... and then it goes on normally up to the point Indy says "It's a riddle" then it goes back to where the russians open the crate with the mysterious stuff and it goes on up to the point when Jones and his friend force the russians to lower their weapons before revealing the betrayal of his friend...and so it goes on weaving in and out of these story-elements from the beginning, showing only the important stuff at the appropriate moments.

NewSpock said:

Also a good idea, but even without reshooting through editing it is possible to retell the story differently. Of course your edit is already finished and probably already pretty good as it is but watching that 30 minute-intro I couldn't stop wonder about how to tell it with the train-boarding as the start. How about this:

It starts with the train-boarding and then when Indiana Jones and the young guy are in that cafeteria and he tells him to hit that college-boy hard, you cut back to the fist forming of that Russian soldier wanting to hit Jones and then that russian woman stops him at the last moment and we see Jones and that woman talk...until the point she says "you are hard to read... but you will help us find what we seek" and then it goes back to the cafeteria fight... and then it goes on normally up to the point Indy says "It's a riddle" then it goes back to where the russians open the crate with the mysterious stuff and it goes on up to the point when Jones and his friend force the russians to lower their weapons before revealing the betrayal of his friend...and so it goes on weaving in and out of these story-elements from the beginning, showing only the important stuff at the appropriate moments.

Click to expand...

Very creative thinking! I'd like to see that. Do your own version based on those ideas, or if you want, base your edit on mine? Although I'm not sure intercutting in time and space like that would work stylistically in an Indy film but I'm keen to find out.

An idea I also briefly considered, was adding one of the 'super-old-Indy' intros from the TV show. But I couldn't see how it would work. If there was an Amazonian episode of the show it might have synched up nicely.

TM2YC said:

Very creative thinking! I'd like to see that. Do your own version based on those ideas, or if you want, base your edit on mine? Although I'm not sure intercutting in time and space like that would work stylistically in an Indy film but I'm keen to find out.

An idea I also briefly considered, was adding one of the 'super-old-Indy' intros from the TV show. But I couldn't see how it would work. If there was an Amazonian episode of the show it might have synched up nicely.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouragement

But doing it myself is out of my reach at the moment: I would have to buy the bluray of the movie, buy a bluray-reader and maybe I need more horsepower for my computer to encode and edit 1080p material...

Besides, for the foreseeable future I'm bound in the Buffy-verse anyway..

My review, as posted on IFDb:I didn't think it was possible, but editor TM2YC has created a version of Indy 4 that I actually enjoyed and look forward to watching again. I absolutely hated the theatrical version of the film, and while njvc's edit "Raiders of the Lost Skull" (a very good edit in it's own right) made the experience much less painful, it wasn't quite enough. I never expected to watch another version of KOTCS, and then I read TM2YC's intention and cut list for this one. Wow. The editor makes some bold and competently argued assertions, and, I'm delighted to say, every one of them was spot on. At last, this feels like an Indiana Jones movie!

By removing much of the old age humor, Dr. Jones retains his heroic persona; he no longer feels like a lovable has-been just trying to keep up. The removal of the huge chunks of exposition throughout the film is actually helpful in three different ways: 1. It improves the pacing considerably. 2. It streamlines the narrative, making it less convoluted. 3. By removing many of the scenes where Dr. Jones is seen merely walking around in daylight, you don't notice his bow-legged, stooped old man posture as much (I'm not trying to be cruel here; it happens to all of us eventually. Watch the deleted scenes compilation and you'll see what I mean). Not seeing this allows for easier suspension of disbelief when the stunts start happening; you don't have this crazy disconnect between the two images. Also helping the action feel more believable (and thus more in line with the other films), is the serious trimming away of many shots that either look phony/cartoony or make the scale of the danger look ridiculous. Essentially, it no longer looks like huge swaths of the movie were shot on a soundstage against a green screen. Well, the trimming gets us halfway there; the other half of that essential fix was achieved by recoloring and desaturating the picture. This alone, giving the film a more grounded appearance, bringing it more in line with the rest of the franchise, makes KOTCS 25% less depressing. Of course, the most egregious stuff has been removed as well (atomic bombs, gophers, flying saucers), with a truncated Mutt vine-swinging scene that is far less upsetting.

Is it a good movie now? No, not really. It is a lot more fun, though. I equate it with Jurassic Park 3; a minor entry in a major franchise. It's a let-down, of course, but it's not offensive. It merely feels like a smaller film. It zips along, hitting its beats, and then it's over in an hour and a half. There are a couple of little things that still bothered me, but I don't see how they could have been done better, so I'm not docking much. The only one really worth mentioning here is that it really does feel like something is missing between the rocket sled and the train station. The single shot from the excised "doom town" sequence is an inventive way to bridge these two scenes, but it still feels rather abrupt. Otherwise, this is a superb edit that turns an unwatchable epic into a fun little adventure movie. I give it my highest recommendation.

I concur. I enjoyed this edit far more than my Paramount DVD.
So much so that I shall never watch the original version, and it will be piled in the loser section.

Thanks chaps and chapettes! For the positive comments and for taking the time to review the 'Covenant Edition'. btw I never explained why I gave it that name. The dictionary definition of the word is...

cov·e·nant (kv-nnt)
n.
1. A binding agreement; a compact.
2. Law.
3. The Ark from the first Indy film.;-)

So I'm refering to 'keeping faith' with the principles, styles and 'laws' laid down in the first 3 films.

(^ Maybe that was obvious anyway?)

plurmonger said:

3. By removing many of the scenes where Dr. Jones is seen merely walking around in daylight, you don't notice his bow-legged, stooped old man posture as much (I'm not trying to be cruel here; it happens to all of us eventually. Watch the deleted scenes compilation and you'll see what I mean). Not seeing this allows for easier suspension of disbelief when the stunts start happening; you don't have this crazy disconnect between the two images.

Click to expand...

On a conscious level at least, this is something I never thought about when removing those scenes. They just bored the arse off me. However on an un-conscious level, maybe that's why I found them dull and "Un-Indy" like.

Just a little thought while I'm looking at the changes:

00.06.20 Spalko's magic powers removed

Click to expand...

In fact Spalko gives an order to a soldier (the one who is the closest to the explosion) for the door to be opened.
You can see (barely but it is there) a detonation cord that goes from the point of explosion to the soldier's hands.
It's no magic power. But what it is however is a very weak editing choice from Spielberg (and there some others in this movie.)

TMBTM said:

Just a little thought while I'm looking at the changes:

In fact Spalko gives an order to a soldier (the one who is the closest to the explosion) for the door to be opened.
You can see (barely but it is there) a detonotation cord that goes from the point of explosion to the soldier's hands.
It's no magic power. But what it is however is a very weak editing choice from Spielberg (and there some others in this movie.)

Click to expand...

Oh yeah... you're right! I'm far from the only person to think it was Telekinesis when Spalko does a Jedi hand wave in the door's direction:lol:

Oh well. It wasn't very clear in any case as you say so the edit just moves along a second or two quicker, bonus! Fortunately the removal was seemless (IMO) so no damage done.

Review I left at IFDB:

A very cool Indiana Jones edit.

Having in mind to make a Indy 4 fanedit myself I wanted to check an edit that removes so much exposition scenes. The pace is indeed excellent while keeping the good elements. It definitely was a good idea.
I found some tiny continuity "problems" with some of the cuts, specialy during the first part, but in the end they more or less all are good use of the "lesser of two evils" principal.
I would have kept the Russians killing the US soldiers at the beginning though. Now, maybe they have false pass and can get to the restricted area, but I think the movie somehow needs the Russians killing people.
Video quality of the DVD is good. Although even if the color correction is nice, some faces are a little white looking to me now, maybe just a bit more saturation would have been cool, just my taste.
I did not notice any jarring audio transitions. All pretty smooth.
Can't rate the enjoyment more than 8 cause there are still some things that I can't enjoy in this Indy 4 version. But 8 is pretty strong for this movie anyway, lol.
I also liked the way the monkeys scene was done. Does not bother me as much as the original.
(But one thing that I don't like in the original is still there: Indy's car is way ahead Spalko after Mutt met the monkeys, while before that Indy was way behind. And I understand she wants to get them off the cliff but since she have the skull at that moment and had the lead of the chase one minute earlier, it just looks odd to see her chasing Indy. Just a pev peeve of mine concerning the original.)

I recommand this edit if you want a better paced Indy 4, that feels more like an adventure ride rather than people explaning what this is all about (and confusing the audience even more by the way!)

A nice watch for Indy's fans.