The shot where he pulls it from his belt is incredibly muddled. Even if he could get it off his belt in time that space is too narrow to even unroll the whip much less effectively throw it out to crack it. That's likely why it's been computer generated.
Not to mention that shot where he uses it on the train top is also completely ridiculous because he's lying down on his side and he's able to use it like Spiderman's webshooters. Really?
A huge part of the appeal of the originals was that by and large most of the stunts were done in camera, the whip action being all the more impressive because Ford was doing it himself. The effects shots were typically used for the most outlandish stunts or the supernatural elements. Every shot of this looks like it came out of a video game.
If you're interested in seeing what Ford could have done, for real, on camera on a real set/ location check out some YouTube videos of Anthony DeLongis and his whip work. He taught Harrison a number of things they never used for Crystal Skull but I wish they had because it would have been the most incredible whip work committed to film since DeLongis's teaching for Michelle Pfiefer as Catwoman.
Indy typically uses a 10 foot (in reality mostly an 8 ft for camera focusing purposes and filming at close range) but storywise he's supposed to be using a 10 foot. And yes, I know my way around a bullwhip as evidenced below. Note how much space I need to crack my 10 ft Indy whip.
I can understand using a CG whip in the shot at the end for safety issues, but that’s about it. Although, Indy’s whip has always been more of a “superpower” than an actual tool. The stunt whip in Temple of Doom that’s like twenty+ feet long comes to mind. But it is a shame Crystal Skull didn’t make better use of Harrison’s skills. There’s a sequence during the opening, in the warehouse, where Indy punches a Russian, pulls his whip off the guy’s shoulder, then pulls away the rifle of another soldier. The editing is horrendous there—a single wide shot featuring Harrison’s skill would have been better.
I don’t want to make excuses for poor filmmaking (should that be the case), but there’s a lot going on here. For one, not every effect in the original three films stands up that well to the passage of time. Temple of Doom has multiple matte paintings, composite shots, and blue screen that feel pretty bad. Another thing to consider is that YouTube’s 1080 compression is
awful. Did you see how smeary and artifact-ridden the video gets during the parade? All the streamers and confetti are wreaking havoc on the compression. Then you have the weird shot of Harrison’s head pasted on someone else on the horse. Well, as much as Harrison did himself, there’s always been stunt men to step in when it got too dangerous for the actor. Vic Armstrong is in as many of the stunts in Raiders as Harrison is. Yeah, the shot in this trailer looks bad, but it could be a result of an unfinished effect not mixing well with the YouTube compression. If they don’t address it before the release, though, that is on them.
There are definitely things to be reasonably concerned about in the trailer. John Rhys-Davies
more or less passed as Egyptian in the 80s, but here, no. Some of the shots with extensive digital skies and things of that nature are worrisome. And yeah, this trailer isn’t
technically as exciting as the Crystal Skull trailer, but that original Crystal Skull trailer leaned on nostalgia way heavier (using footage from the other three films to great effect) and it was also a trailer for
Crystal Skull. Trailers can obviously be deceptive.
I want this to be good. I know that the likelihood that even if I enjoy it, that the majority of people here won’t, is high. I just feel like there’s so much riding on this film. One last hurrah for Indiana Jones; one last score by John Williams, in an age where simplistic, non-traditional film scores are the norm; one more attempt at convincing Hollywood that audiences love adventure films when they’re done right. I can’t convince anyone that the movie might be good despite their reservations—but I can hope. They’re long odds, but they can be beaten.
Of course, I had high hopes for the Uncharted film too, and that movie stank.