12 Movies That Were Ruined By One Dumb Decision

3. Aliens - Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones is a joint venture between writer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg, with both parties having to be in total agreement of where to take the character. Which, in actuality, translates to Lucas sitting in a huff until Spielberg relents and makes whatever movie George wants. That's why it took so long to get a fourth Indiana Jones movie; since way back in the early nineties, Lucas was adamant that the movie would deal with aliens, with a 1993 draft titled the unbelievable Indiana Jones And The Saucermen from Mars. Seriously.

Spielberg originally refused stating he was done with aliens after Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, although we think the main motivation was that it was a f**king stupid idea. And you know what? It is f**king stupid idea. And this is a series whose first entry ends with God swinging down to kill the Nazis.

It's not that aliens don't have a place in the Indy universe (although that is part of it), but that they don't bring with them an inherently interesting mythology. The Ark of the Covenant, the Sankara Stones and the Holy Grail have an exciting-yet-grounded story, which, even with the Crystal Skulls added, extra-terrestrials don't. Maybe (and this caveat keeps Indy 4 from the top spot), had the film followed its original plan of invoking fifties B-movies rather than simply copying earlier installments, it could have worked, but it's doubtful. Many of the film's dumbest moments (yes, including the lead-lined fridge) come from those early ideas also, although it's the alien one that renders the plot fundamentally uninteresting.