Fans Cry Foul Over Alleged Deception in 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'

Has the Indiana Jones franchise been misleading fans?

Related: “This Is It!”, Harrison Ford Puts an End to ‘Indiana Jones’ Franchise at D23

The Indiana Jones film series, crafted by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg, follows the adventures of Dr. Indiana Jones, portrayed by Harrison Ford. Currently under Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company, the franchise spans 30 years from 1981 to 2023, with its seemingly final installment, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, or Indiana Jones 5, debuting June 30, 2023.

Now, prior statements about the use (or, more accurately, lack thereof) of VFX from director James Mangold are being brought into question as new evidence emerges to the contrary.

The Indiana Jones Legacy

The beloved character of Indiana Jones is one of Lucasfilm’s most iconic. Harrison Ford’s Jones is an archaeologist known for wit, charm, and combat skills who travels the world to uncover and protect historical artifacts. In the series’ debut, 1930s-era Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), director Steven Spielberg introduces love interest Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), rival Dr. René Belloq (Paul Freeman), and friend Sallah (John Rhys Davies).

Related: Keeping Up With the Joneses: A Guide to the ‘Indiana Jones’ Franchise

Over the years, additional action-adventure films featuring the icon have been released, including Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and the most recent installment, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023).

Prominent figures from the series include museum curator Dr. Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), Indy’s father Dr. Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery), love interest Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), and young companion Short Round (Ke Huy Quan/Jonathan Ke Quan). Recent additions include Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) in Crystal Skull and Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in the James Mangold-directed Dial of Destiny.

Director James Mangold: Debunked?

The following contains language not suitable for younger readers.

Now, VFX studio The Yard has revealed information that could be viewed as contradictory to the claims of Indy 5 director James Mangold, causing a stir among fans of the series.

Previously, Mangold had boasted about how Indiana Jones 5 had only “done real shit” — denying the use of some of Hollywood’s favorite visual effects tools like The Volume.

Interestingly, Indy 5‘s VFX provider The Yard, recently released a showcase for its work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, showing off how Dial of Destiny relied quite a bit on computer-generated VFX — even entirely CG surroundings. The Yard accompanies its showreel with the following boast, claiming they provided over “110 VFX shots”, building up the town of Tanger with VFX, and even creating a “full-CG underwater environment” from scratch:

Take a peek behind the scenes of ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’, directed by James Mangold. The Yard worked on more than 110 VFX shots, all under the expert supervision of Andrew Whitehurst. Discover how we spruced up the charming town of Tanger from various perspectives, including breathtaking views from a CG helicopter, and how we created a full-CG underwater environment. The latter presented intricate challenges, involving dynamic FX such as the movement of seaweed, moss on rocks, and the captivating flow of particles and bubbles, among other elements.

Watch The Yard’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny showreel below:

 

Mangold’s (now controversial) original comments were made at a promotional event, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Celebration Live!,  and included fairly bold statements like, “We did real shit”, “I don’t even know what Volume is”, and “We built [the sets], we went there”:

Naturally, this has stirred up some scrutiny from fans

X (formerly Twitter) user MyTimeToShineHello for example, noticed the seeming discrepancy and started a discussion on the topic, expressing their disappointment that Dial of Destiny had indeed utilized a fair amount of VFX:

But James Mangold said they filmed “Real shit” 😭

But James Mangold said they filmed "Real shit" 😭 https://t.co/ixDY566paG

— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) December 27, 2023

There appear to be mixed sentiments from fans on the topic.

Some, like @forsnyderverse_, lambasted Mangold’s approach as being notably inferior to Spielberg’s “perfection”, citing bad decisions like “ugly” lighting and “fake” looking visuals in the fifth Indy installment:

This movie was so fake looking, ugly and yellow. Spielberg lighting in the first 3 films (and most of his 70s/80s films) was just magical and soulful. KOTCS was lit in very harsh ways at times, but looks like perfection when compared to this

This movie was so fake looking, ugly and yellow. Spielberg lighting in the first 3 films (and most of his 70s/80s films) was just magical and soulful. KOTCS was lit in very harsh ways at times, but looks like perfection when compared to this

— SnyderVerseRestorer (@forsnyderverse_) December 28, 2023

Others like joebond99991107 meanwhile leaped to Mangold’s defense, placing the blame on studio interference from Lucasfilm and Disney:

I’ve seen many James mangold movies.. this was not a James mangold movie, I don’t know what sort of studio interference took place but I can promise u this was not bad because of mangold

I've seen many James mangold movies.. this was not a James mangold movie, I don't know what sort of studio interference took place but I can promise u this was not bad because of mangold

— joe (@joebond99991107) December 28, 2023

It appears that this VFX revelation is further dividing fans, despite nearly all Hollywood movies using at least some VFX nowadays, if only for minor touch-ups. One could argue that Mangold did still build a majority of sets and shoot on location — however, the revelation that entire scenes and backgrounds were seemingly CG-generated definitely feels like a bit of a betrayal of trust from the fans’ perspective.

Unfortunately, it still seems as if the general consensus is an overall sense of disappointment in the final Indiana Jones movie starring Harrison Ford — ending the series not with a bang but a purportedly “ugly-looking” whimper.

Fans will get to participate in Indy’s ancient site-spelunking world one last time in an Indiana Jones tie-in video game developed by Bethesda-owned MachineGames.

What do you think about the final Indy film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!