Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Guest Post ~ Carlos' Indiana Jones Adventure




Hello! I am Raquelle’s husband, Carlos. Raquelle and I share a great passion for movies. She primarily reviews movies made in the 1920s though the 1960s. I concentrate on movies mostly from the 1960s to the present. Between the two of us we have every decade covered!

The Indiana Jones movies have been a passion of mine since 1981, when Raiders of the Lost Ark was released. All four Indiana Jones movies were being shown for one Saturday only. The reason for the rerelease was to drum up business for the upcoming Blu-ray box set. These movies were extremely well received by audiences who were treated to exotic locations, a wise-cracking archaeologist, and nearly unattainable ancient artifacts.

I asked my manager for a Saturday off. This is a rare treat in the world of retail. Saturday’s is the busiest day of the week so it is all hands on deck. I joke with customers who ask if I work on Saturdays. I tell them if  I’m not at work on a Saturday it means I am either on vacation or dead! He gave me the ok and I purchased two tickets, one for myself and my Dad. I invited Mrs. S. but she declined. 


Knowing the popularity of the movies and not having been shown in the theaters for a quarter century, I wanted to get there as early as possible. We arrived at the movies around 9:45 am and the gate to the entrance was down. There were about 40 people waiting to get in. I was expecting more fans of the movie to turn out for this once-in-a-lifetime event. At 10 am the gates were raised and everyone shuffled in. We were corralled into a line, so we could be given a commemorative poster and lanyard. The lanyard was more functional as it was an indicator of our paid admission. There was a 30 minute break between movies which gave us the opportunity to eat and stretch our legs. 


Back of the Lanyard


Front of the Lanyard - This is the idol that Indiana Jones almost acquires in the first movie.

Movies:






As a movie buff where I plant my ass in a theater is of utmost importance. Almost to the extent of where and why Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory sits. I need to sit in the center of the theater about three quarters of the way up. In this location my eyes are level looking at the center of the screen. Also my ears are treated to a perfect balance of sound. I located the most centrally available seats and settled in with my Dad to my left. 

The lights go down...Raiders starts! It was a thrill to watch this movie again after so many years. We stayed for the first three movies, but we skipped “Kingdom of  the Crystal Skull”. I had seen it in 2008 when it came out.









Before “Last Crusade” an Indiana Jones trivia contest was held. The prizes were commiserate with the questions. Here are the questions:

  1. What is Indiana afraid of? 
  2. What is Indiana full legal name?  
  3. How does Indiana get the grail? 
  4. How did Indiana get the scar on his chin? 
  5. How did Indiana get the fedora? 
(See answers at the bottom of the post)

The best prize was the box set of all the movies on Blu-ray. I only knew the answers to questions 1 and 3. 

Sunday previous I trekked to the same theater for a special screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was being promoted for a special screening on Imax for one week only. I know what you are thinking: you went to see Raiders of the Lost Ark on  Imax and a week later you go back to see Raiders of the Lost Ark AGAIN and the three more Indiana Jones movies! 

Watching a movie on an Imax has no equal as it represents the zenith of current digital movie technology. It is engineered for the highest degree of high definition and 6 channel uncompressed audio. There is a catch however. The are two types of Imax’s: Classic Design and Multiplex Design. Classic Design is built in a certain manner to take full advantage of the experience. This is not your grandfather’s movie theater. Important features include seats set at a steep incline, a very large screen,  72 x 52.8 feet, and the seats placed much closer to the screen.  Multiplex Design is a regular theater has been turned into an Imax. It does not contain the important attributes needed for the full experience. As I entered the “Imax theater” I stopped in my tracks and wondered if I went into the wrong theater. I was expecting a Classic Design Imax, but I was in a regular theater. I went back out and asked the man who took my ticket if I was in the right theater. He explained it was “technically an Imax”. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and went back in and found my seat. The movie started and I kept waiting for the Imax experience to kick in. Within five minutes I realized that was not going to happen. I stayed through the entire movie, disappointed. When I returned the next weekend for the marathon, I explained what happened to a supervisor and she returned the cost of the ticket, $16. Lesson learned! If you want to see a movie on an Imax, it must be on a Classic design not a Multiplex design.



Answers:
1) Snakes
2) Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr.
3) The notes in his father’s diary
4) A whip used to hold back the lion
5) Given to him by the treasure hunter who found the Cross of Coronado

8 comments:

  1. That's the dream. To watch your most loved films on IMAX. What I wouldn't give. Damn you Sir. Damn you. :)

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  2. Sounds like a good time! My friend saw the screening of Raiders but I skipped it. It was at a fake Imax plus I had just seen Jaws on the big screen the night before so I wasn't keen on paying to see another movie that I'd seen dozens of times before.

    I would like to see these on the big screen someday as they're some of my favorite films. Kudos for sitting through them all!

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  3. Good post Carlos! I too found out the differences in Imax screens recently, expecting classic and getting multiplex. Still impressive, but def. not the true Imax experience. Blu-Ray's are heading this way.

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  4. Hi Carlos! Your experience matches mine! I went to the "IMAX" screening of Raiders, and it was also in a multiplex and was disappointed. No giant screen as I was expecting. It was still great to see it again. And like you, I stayed only for the first three movies on the marathon day.

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  5. Carlos, great post! I love Indiana Jones, too. Nothing like seeing Indiana and friends on the big screen. Glad you got to be there with your Dad.

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  6. I enjoyed hearing about your experience, Carlos, and I'm glad you got the Saturday off! (Just wish your IMAX experience had been better, glad to be warned about being careful of those!) One of my all-time favorite movie experiences was when a friend and I went to see a sold-out sneak preview of a new movie with that cute Han Solo guy from STAR WARS...we had absolutely zero idea what to expect and needless to say the roller coaster ride that was RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK blew us away! We were exhausted from laughing and screaming so much!

    It's funny you mentioned the BIG BANG THEORY in a post on RAIDERS...my oldest daughter worked as an extra in the movie theater line in the BBT episode where the characters go to see RAIDERS, which is supposed to have a few seconds added. She got to go chasing down the street after Sheldon and the film cans at the end of the episode, LOL. Thought you might enjoy that since it crosses between two topics you mentioned!

    Best wishes,
    Laura

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  7. I still count Raiders of the Lost Ark as one of my favourite movies of all time and I've seen all of the Indiana Jones movies in the theatre except for Temple of Doom. Much of the reason I love the films is I think they did a great job of capturing the feel of the eras (the Thirties in the case of the first three; the Fifties in the case of the last.

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  8. Love your blog =) Best wishes =)

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