Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Plot hole?

[Treadwell]

Well, of course they didn't know it was pointless, but it turned out it was.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Yeah, talk about being let down by reality compared to the fantasy of the grail and what it could do.

 

[clancampbell]

We don't know how Henry Snr. died. For all we know, he could have been ran over by a car or he may have gone on another "quest" somewhere and just never came back for reasons unknown (where he probably got killed in the process). Immortality may only be limited in its abilities after going past the seal is how I took it.

Wasn't he eaten by a giant squid while looking for Atlantis?

Rich

 

[CB2001]

Wasn't he eaten by a giant squid while looking for Atlantis?

Rich

I don't know. I'm not familiar with all the IJ adventures except for the films and a couple of the junior novels I read back when I was in middle school (one of them having Indy on the Titanic when he was a little kid).

 

[Ford W Maverick]

I don't think the power of the Grail is tied to the seal, it's just that the Grail crossing the seal triggers the building to collapse and if you're in there with the building collapsing and you don't get out in time, yer kinda screwed. Tons of stone falling on your head is probably deadly even if you're carrying the Grail. Unless it was full of water, but I'd imagine it's not easy to run flat out through a collapsing temple without spilling all the water.

Anyway, I figure if you DID get the Grail out of the temple it would probably work. Thing is though, you would have had to have known how to get in there to get the thing and then successfully escape with it. Who knows? The Grail diary might have explained how to remove the Grail without the building collapsing, but they didn't have time to look it up.

In essence, getting out of the temple is another test, like the ones to get in.

 

[JRHermle]

In the novelization, it's explained that you have to drink from the Grail every day to remain immortal. The knight guarding the grail had aged because sometimes his "spirit faltered" and he didn't drink from the grail. He aged a year for each day he did not drink. Which is how the brothers would have died from extreme old age when the arrived back in civilization.

But since it's not said in the movie...

 

[TheDoctor]

Points:

1) Who's to say Henry Jones is ACTUALLY dead? Immortality would, logically, necessitate an occasionally death fakery so that no one notices - even to the point of fooling your own son.

2) The grail, and drinking from the grail, etc. is all symbolism of the Christian faith - everlasting life is everlasting spiritual life. Drinking from the false cup represents a shallow or false faith and leads to eternal death. Drinking from the true cup represents an understanding of who ***** was. The water and drinking from the grail represent the spring of life ***** talked with the Samaritan woman about.

Having said that, Indy (and Henry) had to show a certain amount of faith (I always thought that, even had Donovan actually drank from the correct cup, his lack of true faith would have taken it from him anyway.

3) Regarding the Submarine: U boats were never meant to operate under water for long periods of time. Some could, but they weren't submarines in the sense of the modern navy, they were more like surface boats that COULD go underwater (especially as a means of escape or attack).

 

[CB2001]

Yeah, wasn't it that it gave him everlasting life only if he didn't cross the seal? That was the price of immortality, as the knight said.

I know this thread was put to rest, but I was wanted to let you know I just rewatched it on SyFy and that's is what the Knight said. In fact, it's quoted on the IMDb:

"You have chosen... wisely. But, beware: the Grail cannot pass beyond the Great Seal, for that is the boundry, and the price, of immortality. "

So, the moment that the Grail went past the seal, the temple fell apart. The moment that Indy and Henry Snr. went past it, they were no longer immortal (remember: Indy drank from the Grail. Any assumption that Henry Snr. would be immotral would also have to apply to Indy by the fact that he drank from it). As a result, it leading to Henry Snr. eventually growing old and dying, and Indiana eventually grew old himself.

So, not really a plot hole, just a misinterpretation of events from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.

 

[d_jedi1]

In the novelization, it's explained that you have to drink from the Grail every day to remain immortal. The knight guarding the grail had aged because sometimes his "spirit faltered" and he didn't drink from the grail. He aged a year for each day he did not drink. Which is how the brothers would have died from extreme old age when the arrived back in civilization.

But since it's not said in the movie...

^^ you beat me to it. I've always accepted that explanation. :thumbsup

 

[sleepalot]

He was reading, praying, drinking from the cup... but... what did he eat?

Maybe he learned how to eat dirt

 

[dbuck]

Add in that the Knight should not be able to speak modern English.....

 

[allosaur176]

Add in that the Knight should not be able to speak modern English.....

maybe "God" taught him

 

[Talos]

Like others have said, I've long maintained that the knight had to regularly drink from the cup to continue living well past his normal lifespan. It's possible that Indy and his father got a few years added from drinking from it. Indy is pretty athletic for someone in his 50s in Crystal Skull. I also think it would still function beyond the seal, it's just that it would take the whole place down around you if you tried.

Of course, after this discussion I have to go back and rewatch it for the umptenth time. It's my favorite of the movies. Gah....

 

[CB2001]

Indy is pretty athletic for someone in his 50s in Crystal Skull.

As bad as it sounds, since what you're suggesting that drinking from the Grail gave him a bit more health in his 50s, it could also account for why he didn't get any broken bones from his crash landing while inside the fridge. I'm not saying that's what I think, I'm saying that with what you're suggesting, it opens that possibility.

 

[Talos]

As bad as it sounds, since what you're suggesting that drinking from the Grail gave him a bit more health in his 50s, it could also account for why he didn't get any broken bones from his crash landing while inside the fridge. I'm not saying that's what I think, I'm saying that with what you're suggesting, it opens that possibility.

Yeah, I thought about that after I posted too, actually.

 

[Sparticle]

As a Johnny-come-lately, I remember one line in the "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" where the old man in the museum (supposedly Indiana himself), talking to this kid mentions, "I have to go see my father in the Old-Folks Home." or words to that effect.

Anyone else recall that scene?