Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

"The adventure continues..."

2008 2h 2m EN

😐

6.0

MID

🍅

77%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.2

IMDB

★6.0TMDB · 9,298🍅77%Rotten Tomatoes●65Metacritic★6.2IMDB · 511,928

AdventureAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Set during the Cold War, the Soviets—led by sword-wielding Irina Spalko—are in search of a crystal skull which has supernatural powers related to a mystical Lost City of Gold. Indy is coerced to head to Peru at the behest of a young man whose friend—and Indy's colleague—Professor Oxley has been captured for his knowledge of the skull's whereabouts.

“The adventure continues...”

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Cast

Harrison Ford
Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett
Irina Spalko
Karen Allen
Marion Ravenwood
Shia LaBeouf
Mutt Williams
Ray Winstone
George 'Mac' McHale
John Hurt
Professor Harold Oxley
Jim Broadbent
Dean Charles Stanforth
Igor Jijikine
Antonin Dovchenko

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: George Lucas, David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson
Languages: English, German, Russian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$185M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, German, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Indiana Jones Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

246+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Steven Spielberg, shot by Janusz Kamiński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steven Spielberg directs. Janusz Kamiński behind the camera. John Williams scores. Michael Kahn cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, German, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$185M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
3Released 18 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, German, Russian.
5Part of the "Indiana Jones Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6246+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Steven Spielberg, shot by Janusz Kamiński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett and Karen Allen carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "The adventure continues...".
12IMDB entry: tt0367882 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 23 themes, including "treasure", "mexico city, mexico", "saving the world", "whip".
14Released under 24 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Janusz Kamiński
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Michael Kahn
Production design: Guy Hendrix Dyas
Costume design: Mary Zophres
Makeup / hair: Felicity Bowring
VFX supervisor: Pablo Helman
Sound: Gary Rydstrom
Stunt coordinator: Gary Powell
Runtime: 122 min · 2h 2m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $185,000,000
Box office: $786,636,033
Return: 425% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 77% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 65/100
IMDB rating: 6.2/10 · 511,928 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award10 wins & 42 nominations total

Part of

Indiana Jones Collection

Adventure film series created by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman starring Harrison Ford as archaeologist Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., and directed by Steven Spielberg and James Mangold. Spanning the globe, on death-defying archeological endeavors, if adventure has a name... it must be Indiana Jones.

Also by

Steven Spielberg

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-08-28
★ 8/10
Life in the old dog yet. Indiana Jones is called back into action when he becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls. So here it is, the fourth instalment of the Indiana Jones series is finally here, one of the most talked about, most anticipated, and most yearned for films is here to hopefully entertain the fans and maybe garner some new ones in the process?? Does it deliver? Well to me it most certainly does, as adventure yarns go, this is a ripper, and although the plot gets lost within the outlandish ideals, the film still emerges as one of the betert popcorn blockbusters of the year. All the chief ingredients that have made the franchise so beloved are crammed in by way of crowd pleasing necessity, and it damn well works, outrageous action sequences perk us up at frequent intervals, deftly self aware comic moments are many, and crucially, the film remains loyal to the heroic good against evil spirit of the franchise. We begin in the Nevada Desert in 1957, and it's through this 50s setting that we come to accept the ageing of the main protagonist, he is after all a mere mortal, a man with a whip and a bit of guts. The 50s was a time of paranoia, spies and dubious cover ups were all the rage, this shines through from the outset here, and putting an aged Indiana Jones in this time frame is nothing short of genius. But enough of the politics, we as fans just want to be entertained, and we are well served here, spooky chambers, mysterious civilisations, tricksy maps, unfathomable codes, creepy crawlies, peril at every turn, and stuntery abound, oh yes it's all here. However, the purists will hate the use of CGI in this, and for sure it does grate during one over extended sequence, but just like it didn't stop Stephen Sommers' The Mummy being a riot, it doesn't harm this picture either, we are after all talking about a popcorn actioner here. Surely going into a film of this type one immediately suspends disbelief? I mean I'm personally going into the cinema to escape for a couple of hours, and Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is just what the doctor ordered, with a lollipop to follow for good behaviour. The cast are a mixed bunch, Ford easily carries off the role as the older Indiana Jones, very aware and with tongue firmly in cheek, he surely has rammed all the pre-negative vibes down the throats of the doom mongers. Shia LaBeouf fits into the series with no problems at all, spunky and witty, he adds the young sparkle needed to off set the aged nature of our hero, and he gets a quite delightful entrance to boot. Ray Winstone is an odd casting choice because his character is very underwritten, if you are going to utilise the big Englishman then give him the reins to take, he's gruff and watchable but it remains a case of wasting talent. Karen Allen joyfully reappears as Marion, and the film takes a significant leap upwards once she arrives, however the character is reduced to playing fourth fiddle in the ensuring shenanigans, and as much as the interplay with Indy still sparkles, you can't help hankering for much more from our Marion. Cate Blanchet is sparky as Irina Spalko but although as our chief villain of the piece she's tough, sexy, and not to be messed with, it's a turn that is never quite fully formed. John Hurt does the best he can with what little the role calls for, whilst Jim Broadbent barely gets time to fill the considerable boots left by Denholm Elliott's Marcus Brody. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will divide fans and newcomers alike, but I honestly say without nostalgia rearing its head, that this film is a joy ride to be judged on its own merit. It's difficult to understand some of the venom aimed at this latest instalment, it's not like anything has really changed with the formula, Indiana Jones has always been about fun, nothing more and nothing less, just remember why you fell in love with the franchise in the first place and you will see the makers here have given the fans what they wanted. Perhaps the advent of time and the new technology available has a hindrance value for sure, but although Indy 4 obviously isn't quite the impacting franchise jolt that Bond got with "Casino Royale", it's sure as hell shown "Die Hard 4" how it should have be done. 8/10
Kamurai2020-08-19
★ 6/10
Good watch, could watch again, and can recommend. I'm always confused on when this movie is supposed to happen, and too many people get caught up in the involvement of Shia Lebouf to think too hard about it. This movie catches a lot of flak for Shia and half a dozen other things, but compared to the original 3 movies, the concepts of a crystal skull aren't any more weird. While people forget that aspects of the first 3 artifacts are real, the crystal skulls are a real thing that is actively being investigated. Because it's caught up in all the "alien conspiracy" communities I think the movie absorbed some of the ridicule of those people. The story itself is well structured, Cate Blanchett and Karen Allen are welcome are awesome additions to the story, and despite the "sci-fi" element from an alien skull, the movie keeps to a archaeological theme by investigating an ancient temple site. While I'm not going to re-watch this, please ignore the negative hype and give this a try if you like a good action adventure story.
CinemaSerf2024-06-03
★ 6/10
The problem with this is that if it was watched in isolation it isn't a half-bad adventure movie. Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf keep the story moving along OK. Unfortunately, it will always be compared with the earlier prequels and it simply doesn't hold a candle to any of them. Karen Allen reprises her role from "Raiders" with some considerable joie-de-vivre but Ray Winstone and a ridiculously cast Cate Blanchett as the Ukrainian colonel just don't cut through as we race across the world to track down the origin of a mysterious crystal skull. The plot is almost irrelevant; this is just a vehicle for the star and a pretty charabanc one at that. Can think of a few good uses for the killer ants, though...