Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

After twenty-five years since Indiana Jones first took on Nazis in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” we might expect that Indiana Jones would be hunting the Fountain of Youth, but instead he is hunting a Crystal Skull. He sets out to discover a mythical “Crystal Skull” in the mythical “El Dorado.” Along the way, he must fight Communists who are eager to get their hands on the strange power alleged to be held by the Skull. It is soon discovered that the power is other worldly, and Jones must keep its power secret for the sake of the world.

Despite his age, Harrison Ford does a good job and looks almost as tough as he did in the early days. The movie also reunites Indiana Jones with Marion from the first Indy movie. Karen Allen, too, does a good job reviving her character of old. I watched “Raiders of the Lost Ark” the day before seeing the new movie, and felt very much that Indy and Marion were the same people twenty-five years later. However, a new character is introduced—apparently as Indy's heir apparent. That is a young man named “Mutt.” He is obviously modeled after the “Rebel without a Cause,” and when he first appears on screen he looks exactly like Jimmy Dean riding on a motorcycle. All worked well together and made Indy's return feel fresh, rather than old.

As one would expect the movie has Steven Spielberg's flair and humor mixed with George Lucas’ action-adventure-fantasy plot. There are plenty of “easter eggs” which fans of the Indy movies will appreciate and a truck chase scene obviously designed to rival that of “Raiders” fame. The only draw back is that the use of CGI actually diminished the excitement. In “Raiders” we may have known that the truck was not really going 70 mph and there was a trench to give the stuntman more room under the truck, but in a technical sense it was still real, and that made it feel real. The action scenes this time around were still great, but never quite felt real.

Moral Elements

At least two of the previous Indy movies should have been rated R. By comparison, “…The Crystal Skull” is relatively mild, but still far too strong for young children. In terms of violence, there is plenty of shooting, fisticuffs, bloody noses, sword cuts and the like. The greater violence includes a man coughing up blood, a series of decaying corpses, and a scene where a woman is burned alive from the inside out, but the most violent scenes involve giant, man-eating ants which consume several people; one in rather gory detail.

The language is not as bad as most PG-13 movies, but Marion is still her usual foul-mouthed girl, uttering the majority of the bad language. Most of these are “mild” obscenities, but there are a few 'd___'s and 'he--'s and a OMGs.

Finally, there is a scene were Indiana Jones is being scrubbed down while apparently naked. You cannot see anything, but one of the scrub brushes is lowered to his groin area and Jones clearly reacts. Some might also be bothered by the pot shots taken at the McCarthy era, wherein America is portrayed as being “hardly recognizable.” Finally [SPOILER] Jones discovers that Mutt is really his own child, apparently conceived in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Pagan Elements

[***CONTAINS SPOILERS***] The occultism of the original movies has been replaced with the modern pagan myth of Erich van Daniken. Van Daniken was famed for arguing that all the myths and legends of the ancients could be explained by extraterrestrial aliens. He saw the “chariots” of Elijah in 2 Kings as space ships, and the pagan gods of old were really space aliens. It is evident early on in the film that the Crystal Skull is an artifact left behind by space aliens whom the Mayans (or Incans—the film seems to confuse the two) worshiped. The film clearly promotes the concept that aliens planted the seeds for the ancient civilizations, and it also promotes the concept of ESP and psychic abilities, using the long disproven argument that we have “undeveloped parts of our brains.” Finally, the aliens are actually said to be from another dimension, rather than another planet. All these concepts are actually nothing more than ancient pagan religion dressed up in modern science fiction courtesy of van Daniken

That the pagan gods of old are today viewed as ETs is ironic, for it is, in a sense, true. The “gods” were nothing more than idols which the Apostle Paul calls demons (1 Corinthians 10:20). Since the pagan “gods” have died out, the demons are now worshiped by the modern man as ETs. One only has to watch Ben Stein's recent “Expelled” where world renowned atheists declare that aliens planted the seeds on Earth. Paganism, it seems, has not really died. It is just a chameleon which has changed shapes. The “gods” of old have been replaced with aliens, evolution, and self-worship. Parents will do well to educate their children on this, so they will recognize this for what it is—paganism in modern dress. [***SPOILERS END***]

In the end, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is a strong comeback for Indy and company. Although I would have preferred that they stayed away from excessive CGI, which diminished the believability of the action scenes, “…the Crystal Skull” is certainly on par with “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and superior to “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Parents should, however, be cautioned, as Indy has never truly been family-friendly and has always been pagan in spirit. With this in mind, “…the Crystal Skull” is a solid entry in the Indy saga, proving that age doesn't always slow you down.

Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: Minor

Editor’s comment

Followers of Christ should alert about this film’s promotion of ANCIENT ALIENS or ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS theory, because this is an issue that is truly deceiving a very great number of people, partly because it is presented as scientific and archaeological (both false claims). At its base, it is a lie being used by godless people to “scientifically” explain away Biblical miracles and events—and God Himself.

This tactic started with atheist author H.P. Lovecraft. Years later, this pseudo-scientific idea was famously promoted by Erich von Däniken (Chariots of the Gods) and others. The Director of this film was inspired by von Däniken, and says so. This idea has particularly been used by some whose worldviews are New Age or Evolutionism/Atheism (or both).

The claim is that extraterrestrials with advanced technology came to Earth in ancient times and were mistaken for gods, angels and supernatural activity—and that out of these encounters with naive and unsophisticated humans (who misunderstood what they witnessed), humans began to worship these aliens—and the world’s religions (including Christianity) are the end result.

I have researched these claims in considerable depth, including attending von Däniken lectures. I am in agreement with many other researchers, the so-called evidence for this fantasy is filled with foolish errors and serious outright lies and deceptions.

Nonetheless, many sci-fi books, movies and TV shows have eagerly used and promoted what is essentially a dangerous Atheist-inspired worldview.

What difference does it make? When accepted, this pseudo-science leads people directly away from Biblical truth about Earth’s Creation, mankind’s place in God’s plan, Earth’s history of wicked rebellion against the Creator, and the record of His judgments. Inherent in this worldview is rejection of belief in God and the Bible. People are less likely to perceive their spiritually bankrupt state before God and are more unlikely to want—or listen to—the Gospel.

Entertainment dramas that use the ancient extraterrestrial encounters fantasy and thus promote it some extent…

• “Stargate”
• “Prometheus”
• “Knowing”
• “Thor”
• “The X-Files: Fight the Future” etc.
• “Alien vs. Predator”
• Transformers: The Last Knight and most of the “Transformers” series
• “Outlander”
• “The Fifth Element”
• “Mission To Mars”
• “Star Trek” various episodes, including “Star Trek: The Next Generation—The Chase,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation—Who Watches the Watchers” —Gene Roddenberry, creator of “Star Trek” was an opponent of all beliefs in God
• “2001: A Space Odyssey”—the monolith
• “Earth: Final Conflict”
• “Space: 1999”
• “Quatermass and the Pit”
• 65 (2023)

If nothing else, the mere CONSTANT REPETITION of this view of history in entertainment media is causing it to become embedded in the minds of billions of people, making it somehow seem to them less ludicrous than it really is. Discerning Christians know that we and God have an Enemy who is the father of lies who seeks to deceive the whole world.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative
• Young people