The first trailer for Indiana Jones 5 has left fans of the franchise very excited, who are now looking forward to its premiere, scheduled for June 30, 2023. Although some whispers have also been generated about the brief appearance of a digitally rejuvenated Harrison Ford, and is not for less. It is that, in recent times, several large productions have abused special effects to take years away from their stars, and the results have not always been good.
However, the 80-year-old actor himself assures that there is no reason for fans to worry: that his rejuvenation is not on a whim and that, basically, it won’t be crap. This was stated in a recent interview for the magazine Empirewhere the use of technology to go back in time has been a recurring theme.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it and I believe it. It’s a bit creepy. I don’t think you want to know how it works, but it works. It doesn’t make me want to be young though. I’m glad I earned my age,” Harrison Ford said of the rejuvenated version of him in Indiana Jones 5, whose official English title is Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
James Mangold, the director of the film, also explained the reason for the rejuvenation of the beloved Indy. The filmmaker stated that Indiana Jones 5 will start with a pure adrenaline sequence set in 1944 that will lead the protagonist to face the Nazis again. Once the initial tone and roots of the conflict are established, viewers will be transported to 1969, where the plot will continue.
“I wanted the opportunity to immerse myself in this kind of old-fashioned George-style movie. [Lucas] and steven [Spielberg], and give the audience an adrenaline rush. And then we break off and show up in 1969. So that the audience doesn’t experience the shift between the ’40s and ’60s as some intellectual conceit, but rather literally lives the buccaneer spirit of those early days, and then the beginning of now,” he said.
How Harrison Ford’s rejuvenation was worked on Indiana Jones 5
As expected, Industrial Light & Magic has been a key piece in achieving the rejuvenation of Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 5. The Lucasfilm Signature used new software to analyze archive footage of the actorespecially from the time of the original trilogy of Indiana Joneswhich ran throughout the 1980s, and later compared them to the material recorded for the new film.
But the story does not end there. It is that not only was an attempt to remove some 40 years from the protagonist with digital effects, but to recreate the complete experience. Producer Kathleen Kennedy commented that she recovered the original leather jacket that Harrison Ford wore during the filming of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and that the actor tried it on again. The garment was then replicated, thread by thread.
“My hope is that even though this is going to be talked about in terms of technology, you just look at it and say, ‘Oh my gosh, they just found old footage. This is something they shot 40 years ago,'” he added.
Turning back the hands of the clock
We will have to see if Indiana Jones 5 It lives up to how much it promises prior to its premiere. We’re talking broadly, of course, but Harrison Ford’s digital rejuvenation sure does too. will be the subject of a more specific analysis When the movie hits theaters.
What the filmmakers imply in this case is that, unlike other recent productions, rejuvenating the protagonist is justified as a plot necessity and not as a whim, or a mere fan service.
Let us remember that in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Steven Spielberg and screenwriter David Koepp chose to resume the franchise from 1957. That is, 19 years after the events depicted in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989); coincidentally, the same number of years apart between the premieres of both installments. Therefore, the aging of Harrison Ford went hand in hand with that of his character. Something similar to what happens between the fourth and fifth parts, set 12 years apart, and released 15 years apart.
However, if the argument Indiana Jones 5 requires a resounding return to the past, it is illogical to pretend that today Harrison Ford have the necessary appearance or physical display to pull it off without any “help”. It remains to be seen if the technology really is as good as it is advertised, and if the premiere of this fifth installment is imposed as a definitive caress to the fans of the saga.