i just don’t think that the filmmakers can let go of “Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones” and, therefore, have had to yank Indy out of his era….which they will be doing, again, in Indy 5.
Indiana Jones is a creature of a specific era and genre (1930’s Republic Serials). If they held true to the original concept for the character, present day Harrison Ford, at age 80, would be horribly miscast as Indy.
This, I think, is such a conservative, narrow perspective and something I bet George Lucas himself doesn't agree with.
We had already seen Indiana Jones in the 1910s in the original trilogy. And later on there was a TV show that expanded the character into the 1920s. Him living beyond a time constraint limit is a narrative advantage, not a liability. You could say the movies should've stayed a trilogy set in the 1930s because that's where Spielberg's heart was and that'd be ok. But if anyone wants
more movies, if that's the case, then having the character exist beyond the 1930s is pretty much the only way to go regardless of Harrison Ford playing him, because the story of who Indiana Jones is in the 1930s has already been told. If you keep going back to that time period, you just end up with a cardboard cutout with no development. The same thing over and over and over again.
Seemed a little sad to have Indy still dressing in the fedora and jacket in KotCS... Kinda like he was stuck in the past.
This was literally the point of the movie.
The clothing represents the physical embodiment of time and era that Indiana Jones rightly belongs in (the 1930s)…dropping the character into the 1960’s with the same trappings forms an absurdity that stretches believability.
Again, this was the outcome of choosing the actor over the character.
The part here about clothing I agree though, and it echoes something I said earlier in the thread. His gear should've been adjusted to reflect time passing, while keeping the most recognizable elements there. The sentiment about choosing "actor over character" however... by sticking to the same actor they're actually forcing themselves to develop the character. Which, again, is a good thing. What you're doing here is choosing time-period, aesthetics, and a series of nostalgic elements you enjoy in three movies over character, which is more problematic in reality.
I mean if we really look into this, we could go as far as guessing that the reason why they don't change his gear is, most likely, because they're trying to accommodate both character development within this fan-fixation over a series of superficial traits that define the character for them. God forbid Indy wears something different under his leather jacket. It's apparently already too much to handle to see him in a different time period.
Anyways.
Like I said, there are plenty of reasons why the fifth Indiana Jones movie may not work, and why the fourth one didn't. But being set in the 1950s or 1960s, featuring aliens or time-travel, and a 60 to 70 plus year old Harrison Ford are not any of them.