Skip to content
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny… When I first heard about this, I thought it was a terrible idea, after the so-so 2008 movie, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Apparently, the idea of five films was first mooted in the late ’70s, but surely after the classic trilogy ended in 1989, why on Earth would you go and ruin it 19 years later, and again, a further decade-and-a-half on? Anyway, let’s explain.
I have to say, the first 30 minutes is the best, as we’re in 1944, and Indy (Harrison Ford – Shrinking) is captured whilst out and about, and the actor has been de-aged to the point where up-close, he looks spot-on, but he still sounds like he has today’s voice (so that should also have been treated). Hence, Mr Ford is an 80-year-old, playing a 65-year-old for the most part, and occasionally voicing as a 40-year-old, yet still sounding 80. It’s mad.
Also, there’s dodgy CGI for when the they have him jumping from rail carriage roof to rail carriage roof. This issue also rears its head later on, for a chase during the Apollo 11 parade, with Indy on horseback, and some bad very CGI as they try to cram far too many people onscreen.
What’s he after? Well, everyone wants the Lance of Christ, and the power it can deliver, along with the Antikythera – aka Archimedes’ Dial, which can help the user travel through time, but it’s in two parts, and both need to be found and put back together. Yep, nothing’s ever simple anymore.
Another minor moan: Stupidly, the film doesn’t put the years onscreen, like it usually did – at least in the original trilogy. I can’t remember when I last saw ‘Crystal Skull‘ in full.
i knew Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny began in 1944 before I saw this, but had to guess the year which was the ‘present day’, by the musical tracks being featured, such as The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, and David Bowie’s Space Oddity. Okay, so those are 1967 and 1969, respectively, but it was seeing characters watching the moon landing on TV which actually confirmed the year.
In the trailer, Indy says he’s been looking for the Dial all his life, yet I don’t remember that coming up in the film, itself. And this is the first we’ve heard of the Dial, so it can’t be all that. However, the aspect of the dial, itself, is sort-of fine, but it feels like it could’ve been thrown in as a plot device with any other movie character, so they should’ve just left it for Indy in 2008… well, in 1989.
But there’s some major issues. Also, as shown in the trailer, the film is completely stupid for having a plot device that sees Helena (the awful Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who I can’t stand in the man-hating Fleabag, and comes across as SO out of place in this) nicking the dial for her own purposes, and trapping elderly Indiana with the baddies. What a complete bitch!
There’s also a sea scene was so overlong that I zoned out and lost track of what was going on, the film just brings in old hands for the sake of it, and only for brief scenes, such as Sallah (John Rhys-Davies – Wizards: Tales of Arcadia), early on we see a picture of Karen Allen back in the ’80s – since he’s in the process of getting divorced from Marion – thus playing on our emotions, it retreads scenes, such as the cave bugs in Temple of Doom, Sallah singing “A British Tar” from Raiders, and one that’s a spoiler…
After watching this, I read that the movie has been stuck in development hell for years, including one review asking if the script had been written by ChatGPT(!)
That’s a fair question because this basically really has no reason to exist. Plus, when it comes to the titular Dial, they only use it to go back in time once. In 154 minutes, they could’ve had all sorts of time-travelling shenanigans! What a lazy movie. Given Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One snapping at its heels, Indy will quickly fall by the wayside.
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 154 minutes
Release date: June 28th 2023
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International
Format: 2.39:1 (ARRIRAW (4.5K), Anamorphic Panavision)
Cinema: Cineworld Didsbury
Rating: 4/10
Director: James Mangold
Producers: Simon Emanuel, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Screenplay: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, James Mangold
Characters: George Lucas, Philip Kaufman
Music: John Williams
Cast:
Indiana Jones: Harrison Ford
Helena Shaw: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Dr. Voller: Mads Mikkelsen
Klaber: Boyd Holbrook
Renaldo: Antonio Banderas
Marion: Karen Allen
Sallah: John Rhys-Davies
Mason: Shaunette Renae Wilson
Colonel Weber: Thomas Kretschmann
Basil Shaw: Toby Jones
Hauke: Olivier Richters
Teddy: Ethann Isidore
Durkin: Martin McDougall
Rahim: Alaa Safi
Archimedes: Nasser Memarzia
Chinese Hat Bidder: Gabby Wong
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.