I loved what Brandon Kleyla has put together in this film. The movie is a not only a celebration of the cultural icon created by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, but a fairly in-depth look at the people who helped bring Indiana Jones to life both on and off the big screen. Kleyla, who was too young to see any of the original three Indy films in theaters, fell head over heals for Indy when he first watched the Indiana Jones stunt show at Disney's MGM Studios. Sine then, Kleyla has amassed what is reported to be one of the largest Indiana Jones memorabilia collections in the world. Kleyla's film chronicles many facets of Indyfandom, including Deborah Nadoolman-Landis' design and creation of Indiana Jones' wardrobe, Disney Imagineers Tony Baxter and Tim Kirk's contributions to creating the various Indiana Jones themed shows and rides in the Disney parks, and numerous fan experiences ranging from Dads who took their little kids to watch filming of the new movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in New Haven to Lucas and Spielberg's Kingdom of the Crystal Skull announcements at 2007's San Diego Comic Con.
Kleyla told the audience that the reason he only had an hour to show is that this footage only represents a few of the highlights he strung together strictly for screening at the Newport Beach Film Festival. He says he continues to edit it and is indeed still filming pieces through July. I suspect he couldn't in good faith complete this ultimate fan documentary of Indiana Jones without covering the opening of the new movie. The mention of "filming through July" leads me to wonder if Brandon also plans to cover Indy-related happenings at this year's San Diego Comic Con (rumor is that there will be an Indiana Jones panel in addition to other confirmed things.)
Also attending the film's screening were costumed actors dressed as the titular archaeologist, Marion Ravenwood, The Monkey Man (from Raiders), Willie Scott (Temple of Doom), Short Round, and even a guy dressed as Mutt Williams, the character being played by Shia LeBeouf in in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
After the film as a Q&A session with the filmmakers and some of the film's guests, including Tony Baxter and Tim Kirk.
I got this nifty Indyfans t-shirt for correctly guessing a few questions in the Indy Trivia game we played inthe theater before the screening.
For more info on the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull film, check out the official website.
