Movies
Steven Spielberg: 'I was against aliens in Indiana Jones 4'
Published Wednesday, Oct 26 2011, 21:12 BST | By Tom Eames | 14 comments
Steven Spielberg has revealed that he was against the use of aliens in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The fourth instalment of the Harrison Ford-starring series - released in 2008 - was directed by Spielberg and co-produced and written by George Lucas.
The movie received criticism for the inclusion of aliens as a plot device, dubbed the 'MacGuffin' by Spielberg. He explained that although he didn't agree with the storyline, he didn't want to side against his friend Lucas.
"I'm very happy with [Indiana Jones 4]," he told Empire. "I always have been. I sympathise with people who didn't like the MacGuffin because I never liked the MacGuffin. George and I had big arguments about the MacGuffin.
"I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings. But I am loyal to my best friend. When he writes a story he believes in - even if I don't believe in it - I'm going to shoot the movie the way George envisaged it. I'll add my own touches, I'll bring my own cast in, I'll shoot the way I want to shoot it, but I will always defer to George as the storyteller of the Indy series. I will never fight him on that."
The film was also criticised for several unrealistic moments, including a CGI gopher and a scene in which Jones survives a nuclear explosion by locking himself in a refrigerator, dubbed 'nuking the fridge'. On the latter, Spielberg revealed that he takes full responsibility.
He added: "The gopher was good. I have the stand-in one at home. What people really jumped at was Indy climbing into a refrigerator and getting blown into the sky by an atom-bomb blast.
"Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying 'jump the shark'. They now say, 'nuked the fridge'. I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."
On a possible fifth outing for Indiana Jones, he explained: "[George] is working on Indy 5. We haven't gone to screenplay yet, but he's working on the story. I'll leave it to George to come up with a good story."
Spielberg is reportedly working with Dreamworks for a movie adaptation of Halo.
> Steven Spielberg's sci-fi battle Robopocalypse gets summer 2013 release date
Watch the 'nuking the fridge' scene from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull below:
The fourth instalment of the Harrison Ford-starring series - released in 2008 - was directed by Spielberg and co-produced and written by George Lucas.
© Fox
© Rex Features
The movie received criticism for the inclusion of aliens as a plot device, dubbed the 'MacGuffin' by Spielberg. He explained that although he didn't agree with the storyline, he didn't want to side against his friend Lucas.
"I'm very happy with [Indiana Jones 4]," he told Empire. "I always have been. I sympathise with people who didn't like the MacGuffin because I never liked the MacGuffin. George and I had big arguments about the MacGuffin.
"I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings. But I am loyal to my best friend. When he writes a story he believes in - even if I don't believe in it - I'm going to shoot the movie the way George envisaged it. I'll add my own touches, I'll bring my own cast in, I'll shoot the way I want to shoot it, but I will always defer to George as the storyteller of the Indy series. I will never fight him on that."
The film was also criticised for several unrealistic moments, including a CGI gopher and a scene in which Jones survives a nuclear explosion by locking himself in a refrigerator, dubbed 'nuking the fridge'. On the latter, Spielberg revealed that he takes full responsibility.
He added: "The gopher was good. I have the stand-in one at home. What people really jumped at was Indy climbing into a refrigerator and getting blown into the sky by an atom-bomb blast.
"Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying 'jump the shark'. They now say, 'nuked the fridge'. I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."
On a possible fifth outing for Indiana Jones, he explained: "[George] is working on Indy 5. We haven't gone to screenplay yet, but he's working on the story. I'll leave it to George to come up with a good story."
Spielberg is reportedly working with Dreamworks for a movie adaptation of Halo.
> Steven Spielberg's sci-fi battle Robopocalypse gets summer 2013 release date
Watch the 'nuking the fridge' scene from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull below:
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