We all have our favorite moments in movies, books, and games, moments that stay with us long after the story is over. This column is my attempt to examine my favorite moments and see why they stick with me.
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NOTE: This article contains big spoilers for the climax of ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’
The Movie
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’
Spoiler Break
Spoiler Break
Spoiler Break
The Scene
Why it’s great
As I wrote in my last post, re-watching ‘Dial’ after looking at it with a different mindset led me to appreciate it more than I originally did, but one scene that is great from both my first viewing and subsequent one is when Indy meets the legendary Archimedes at the Siege of Syracuse. Not only is it Indy’s greatest dream come true (actually meeting history instead of excavating it), but a wonderful example of two people from two different eras just talking to each other with no hostile intent between the two… and if you turn on the automatic captions for the video, you get a hilarious alternate version where Archimedes and Indy both snorted something before meeting each other. In case the video is ever removed, here’s how the discussion goes.
Indy: It’s him!
Achimedes: A sparrow… they lay with us.
Indy: He’s asking how far we’ve come! (to Archimedes) They all feelings. We’ve come he the hell that’s wrong. But we didn’t expect to meet… zones for sale, Archimedes.
Archimedes: I forget soy pants.
Helena: That dial is a fourth deck it doesn’t take us anywhere!
Indy: He built it to get help.
Helena: Ticket well we just got off the entire Roman Navy so I think we’ve helped enough!
(This post contains spoilers for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny)
Like many people, I was disappointed with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the official last Indiana Jones film (and with its box office performance, it’s likely to stay that way for a very long time). Going into my local theater the night of its premiere, dressed in my officially licensed fedora, leather jacket, gasmask bag, and beige pants, I was hoping against hope that the film would give Indy one last, glorious adventure that would celebrate his life, his legacy, and let him end his story on a high note. Heck, I even did a post last year theorizing about what might happen.
None of that happened.
Over the course of two and a half hours, my heart steadily sank as I realized that Dial of Destiny was falling into the same trap so many legacy sequels had fallen into over the years: The hero/s of the previous films are now old, tired, and failures, and only a young, smart, strong, and talented newcomer can rejuvenate them (while also setting themselves up to take over the franchise in future sequels). Instead of Indy getting the spotlight, I watched as his goddaughter Helena – an unlikable con artist, thief, and borderline sociopath – became the film’s protagonist, insulting Indy and upstaging him every chance she gets. And then, during the climax of the film – which, to remind you, is the last time we will ever see Harrison Ford as Indy – Helena is the one who saves the day while Indy literally just sits around, and then punches him in the face.
As the film faded to black, and the credits rolled, I stared at the screen, feeling nothing. Had this movie happened several years ago, I would have been crushed at seeing my childhood idol being denied the final adventure he deserved. But after enduring the disappointment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and Jurassic World: Dominion, it was easy to walk out of the theater into the night with my fedora in hand, drive home, and try to forget that the film ever happened.
But today, a realization came to me: I wanted a story where Indy saves the world from being conquered by the Nazis via time travel. Instead, I got a story where Indy – who has already accomplished more in one life than most people could in a dozen – saves a loved one going down the path of cruelty, selfishness, and greed by being the good angel on her shoulders. A grumpy, none-too-gentle angel, yes, but one that gradually convinces her (and her sidekick Teddy) to take the first steps down a better way of life. And as a reward for everything he’s done, Indy’s given not gold, treasure, or fame, but a treasure greater than anything he’s found: being able to spend the rest of his life with both Marion and Sallah, his best friend, by his side.
Dial of Destiny doesn’t have the story I wanted: it doesn’t feature Indy saving the world, or time-traveling to multiple eras in history, or Indy hanging up his hat at the end, satisfied that he’s stopped the Third Reich for good… but it’s a more intimate, emotional story of a great man in his twilight years saving others from going down the wrong path in life. That, I think, is a story worth telling.
After 12 long years, Indiana Jones is coming back to theaters for his final adventure in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,’ the trailer for which was released a few days ago:
Jokes about Indy whipping kids off his lawn aside, part of the fun after seeing the trailer and reading Empire’s exclusive coverage of the upcoming film is theorizing about what’s going to happen. So far, this is what we know for sure:
*The film takes place in 1969
*The opening features Indy fighting Nazis in the 1940’s.
*Indy’s main adversary is a former Nazi
*Sallah is back
*Indy has a goddaughter
Beyond that though, everything is up for grabs. But after a few days of thinking and brainstorming, I think I might have an idea about what will happen in the film… and if it turns out to be true, then Indy will face his single greatest challenge of his life, and find the fate of Earth in his hands.
To begin with, let’s start with a very interesting quote from Empire Magazine regarding Indy’s nemesis, Jürgen Voller:
Considering how the film has long been rumored to feature time travel, this quote seemingly all but confirms that it will be present in some form: After all, what would an ex-Nazi love more than the chance to go back in time and use more modern technology and advancements to give the Nazis what they need to win World War 2?
There’s another hint that this might happen: Empire’s magazine features a special subscribers-only cover featuring artwork inspired by the film. Looking at the picture and Indy’s body language makes me think of a man who is baffled at seeing something beyond his comprehension, like someone who has been transported from his own time to another (notice how Indy’s hair is dark, not white). Perhaps Indy’s watching New York City be morphed into something different; maybe that light is some sort of cosmic wave washing over New York and morphing it into an alternate version of itself due to messing with time?
There is, however, a far more sinister interpretation: What if the light doesn’t represent some sort of time-warping wave, but the Sun Gun? For those who don’t know, the Sun Gun is a hypothetical superweapon that the Nazis were researching as early as the 1920’s. To quote Wikipedia:
“The scientists calculated that a huge reflector, made of metallic sodium and with an area of 9 square kilometres (900 ha; 3.5 sq mi), could produce enough focused heat to make an ocean boil or burn a city. After being questioned by officers of the United States, the Germans claimed that the sun gun could be completed within 50 or 100 years.”
If Voller really wanted to help the Nazis turn the tide of the war, what better way to do it than by spending 24 years researching rocketry, technology, and weapons, and then using time travel to go back and give that research to Nazi scientists, who could then use rocket technology of the 1960’s to leap ahead of the Allies, construct the sun gun, and use it to incinerate Allied cities, armies, and fleets? Nowhere on Earth would be safe, and there would be nothing the Allies could do to stop the Nazis. It’s conceivable that what we’re seeing on Empire’s cover is the power of the sun being used to incinerate Manhattan with Indy watching on, helpless to stop it… unless he uses time travel to make sure the gun is never made.
Of course, this is all speculation, and we’ll have to wait until June 30th of next year to find out if the theory is true or not. In the meantime, here are a few other thoughts:
*What if the train that Indy rides in the 1940’s is the fabled Nazi gold train? He might find something of great importance on it, including research into time travel, or the dial itself. The train appears to be very well-guarded, suggesting that there’s something very valuable on it.
*If Indy does time-travel to a version of a world ruled by Nazis, it’s conceivable that he’ll run into Hitler again, giving him a second chance to either punch him or shoot him. After all, if he restores the timeline, then Hitler will die as he does historically, giving us two Hitler deaths for the price of one!
*Speaking of time travel, if it is involved, we’re likely to see Del Glocke, another Nazi superweapon that will likely be used as a power source, or as a way to find and retrieve the Dial of Destiny.
*Time travel may seem like a cheesy gimmick, but since this is Indy’s last adventure, I think it can be used well if handled carefully: As he nears his 80’s, Indy is seen as an old relic from a different time, someone who has no real place in the modern world. But thanks to his efforts, he manages to save everyone, and can walk off into the sunset knowing that he literally saved the world from being taken over by the Nazis. If you’re looking for a perfect ending for one of the most famous cinematic heroes of all time, it’s hard to top that.
Imperfect Glass 