Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Ultimate Edition (Johnsonverse)

The Ultimate Edition of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released on May 22, 2018 theatrically by Johnson Studios, Paramount Pictures, and Lucasfilm. It was released on home video on August 1 of that year by Johnson Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment. This version boasts many significant changes from the original version, supervised by Tim Johnson and Steven Spielberg.
== Background ==
Johnson was unsatisfied with the film upon seeing it in 2008, and sought to re-edit the film once he acquired the Walt Disney Company in July 2013. The Ultimate Edition project began on June 29, 2015 and was produced at the same time as the Ultimate Editions of Star Wars. Director Steven Spielberg was brought in to shoot many new scenes with Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and other actors throughout 2017.
== Changes ==
* The film's title is shortened to simply Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.
*The Lucasfilm logo was updated to the 2015 version introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
* The Paramount opening logo is changed to say "A Paramount Picture" like in the other films instead of "Paramount", though with a Viacom byline instead of a Gulf+Western one, using the same font as the latter.
*Mutt does not exist. Instead, an older Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) is Indy's sidekick and later adoptive son.
*The plot shakes up the formula more rather than simply copying beats from Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade.
*All CGI animals were either cut or replaced with real animals.
*All sci-fi elements are removed; the titular "Crystal Skull" is an artifact from a lost civilization that the Soviets are looking for.
* The plot point of Indy being accused of helping the Soviets is expanded upon and is a major plot point.
* Much of the dialogue is redubbed with new lines, with new lip flaps superimposed over the original actors' mouths.
* The score was expanded with new themes composed by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
* Irina Spalko is a much darker and more menacing villain. She also uses an RPD machine gun (a real-life weapon that Soviet troops would've used in 1957) instead of a sword.
*All villains appear with proper context.
* Mac is changed to not be a Marcus Brody clone.
* All nonsensical scenes are removed and/or changed, including the infamous scene in which Indy hides in a refrigerator at a nuclear testing site (it was changed to Indy ducking in a foxhole and turning the fridge over his head as cover, taken from an earlier screenplay, Indiana Jones and the Saucermen from Mars).
*Sallah (John-Rhys Davies) and Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) are digitally added to the wedding at the end. It is also less corny.
* The map font, Century Gothic, is replaced with Futura for historical accuracy.
== Release ==
== Reception ==
The Ultimate Edition received widespread acclaim for fixing many of the film's criticisms. Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film "Two Thumbs Up" on Siskel & Ebert and even called it "the same caliber of the originals".
Category:Johnsonverse