The Big Picture
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
introduced Soviets as new villains and showcased Indy’s versatile brawling skills.
The motorcycle chase through the campus was full of action and humor, with an insightful nod to the character’s past.
The scene in the library emphasized Indy’s belief in fieldwork over the confines of academia, adding depth to his character.
Say what you will about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but it did have its merits. Yes, it’s the least-liked movie in the Indiana Jones franchise. The movie did, though, introduce a new group of baddies to the franchise with the Soviets and showed us our favorite archeologist dealing with many problems beyond his usual tomb-raiding. It also gave us one of the best action sequences in the whole franchise, too! Remember the motorcycle scene with Indy (Harrison Ford) and Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) racing through the middle of the university campus? That’s pure Indiana Jones gold and proof of Steven Spielberg’s insightful directing and deep knowledge of the franchise, which is why the scene is still worthy of attention.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.
Release Date May 22, 2008
Runtime 122 minutes
Production Company Lucasfilm Ltd
Streaming Service Paramount+
What Happens During ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s Motorcycle Scene?
Indiana Jones is perhaps one of the most versatile brawlers in cinema history. We’ve seen him get out of tons of tough situations in the past, and always in very creative ways using the surrounding environment to his benefit. He’s used his whip, fists, swords, and even an airplane propeller to defeat Nazis and cultists before, and often uses his hat as a way of distracting his enemies to sucker punch them right after. That’s how the motorcycle sequence in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull begins, by the way. Indy and Mutt Williams are in a bar at the university campus discussing a letter Mutt’s mother sent him when they are approached by two thugs, who Indy quickly identifies as being from KGB. Indy tells Mutt, a biker, to punch a jock at the next table and start a bar fight, and it works, buying them an opening to jump on Mutt’s bike and run. Of course, the Soviets follow in multiple cars and thus begin the actual chase through the campus.
What makes this such a fun sequence is that it takes many different forms and goes to many different places inside the campus. Right after they flee the bar, for example, Indy and Mutt see the Soviets catch up to them and drag Indy from the motorcycle back and inside their car on one side, only for Indy to fight his way through it, exit through the other side of the car and get back on the motorcycle. Mutt then temporarily shakes the Soviets off, only to be found again shortly after. The chase continues around the campus, taking our heroes through a university rally both pro and against communism, where one of the Soviet cars even crashes into a statue of the late Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), Indy’s best friend and one of funniest, most clueless characters in the franchise.
Then, Mutt takes his motorcycle somewhere the Soviets can’t follow in their cars: a library. He almost runs over multiple people and loses control of the bike, making it fall and slide gently beneath multiple tables until reaching precisely an archeology student, who can’t waste this chance to ask Dr. Jones a question about the subject. The answer is one of Indy’s classic catchphrases: “If you want to be a good archeologist, you’ve got to get out of the library!”
What Makes ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s Motorcycle Scene Stand out?
Just like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull takes Indy to a whole different era than the one we are used to seeing him in. While the iconic trilogy of the first movies takes place in the 1930s, we’re now in 1957, nearly two decades after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so a lot has changed since then, and the motorcycle sequence in the fourth movie does a great job of playing with all that. We’ve also seen Indy in the university before and him running away from threats, but those two were always separate. Here, they happen simultaneously, an exciting change of setting.
First off, Indy’s attention to his surroundings is as sharp as ever, and, as an archeologist, he understands how things may change quickly over time. So he naturally knows that bikers and jocks don’t get along and that Mutt, a young biker, was too inexperienced to have thought about it. The bar fight erupts to the tune of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” by Bill Haley & His Comets, like countless others at the time, but Indy doesn’t run away until putting his hat in one of the jocks’ heads. This moment could’ve easily been in a typical movie about the 1950s, but it’s in Indiana Jones.
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As the motorcycle sequence continues, Indy’s brawl with the Soviet thugs inside their car is one of the funniest bits in any action sequence, and the kind of thing that only Steven Spielberg could’ve thought of. Indy is being dragged from a motorcycle and into a car, only to come out the other side of the car and onto the motorcycle again. This is subtle, but he’s never been much of an automobile guy, right? We’ve seen him riding motorcycles before, horses, and even camels, but never a car. So, of course he wouldn’t want to get out of there as soon as possible. Mutt going to the other side of the car is also a hint of his connection to Indy and how they think alike, but that’s for later in the movie.
‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ Perfectly Utilized Its New Era
Being in a different era, it’s natural that the villains should be different. It’s the height of the Cold War and people see communism as the ultimate threat, and no place can express this debate better than a university. As Mutt and Indy drive through the rally on the campus square, it’s funny how both sides of the issue are represented because that’s college life: you can’t demonstrate anything without someone else coming to present the opposite at the same time and place, just because. If it’s politics, then, it gets even bigger. When this moment ends, we’re saddened by Indy’s reaction to Brody’s statue losing its head, but that’s an insightful way of telling the audience that Marcus is no longer with us while simultaneously paying homage to him, showing he’s part of the fight even if just with his statue.
The library moment caps everything off by showing us who Indiana Jones really is. He warns Mutt about how dangerous what they are doing really is, and Mutt, full of young recklessness, waves it off, only to crash his bike instants later. Fortunately, no one gets hurt, and Indy taking his time to advise a student that archeologists belong in the field is pure gold, another typical Spielberg gem that only he, knowing the character so well, could’ve thought of. Every time we’ve seen him at the university, Indy is longing to get out and go to the field. Theory and knowledge are important, and that’s why he answers his student’s questions, but true discovery is outside.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is available to stream on Paramount+.
WATCH ON PARAMOUNT+