Synopsis:

I know this is at least the 5th edit of KOTCS out there, so sue me ;) I've removed an additional 3 scenes (Present in all other edits as far as I know) and the partial retention of Mutt's heroics makes this somewhat unique I hope. For me, Mutt needs those swashbuckling Errol Flynn moments to keep his character alive... he just doesn't need to do acrobatics across two Jeeps and have a spiritual bond with a bunch of CGI monkeys. Let the adventure begin!

Intentions:

I started on a KOTCS edit a while back and ended up boring myself with it at around the time they get to the Conquistador Tomb. I found it so boring that it actually made it difficult to drag up the will to continue editing KOTCS! But after viewing njvc's excellent 'Raiders of the Lost Skull' edit I realised what was in my opinion really wrong with KOTCS. Since njvc had skillfully removed all the offensive material like CGI goffers, Mutt doing the splits, the fridge, the CGI flying saucer etc, those irritations no longer distracted my eye. So I could finally see what was left with fresh eyes. It was clear that in the original cut, between Indy escaping Doom Town and the quicksand scene, there was 47 minutes of near solid exposition (With only the brief bike chase to break it up). It goes... Exciting Roswell Chase / Sit in AirForce base explaining the plot / Sit in Indys home explaining the plot / Sit in Cafe explaining the plot / Exciting Bike Chase / Walk through market explaining the plot / Stand in cell explaining the plot / Explore tomb while explaning the plot / Tie Indy to chair while explaining the plot to him / Mildy Fun Quicksand Scene ... so if I could cut this portion of the movie back to it's barest minimum the film woud finally flow. After alot of thinking the obvious removals were 'The CIA debrief', 'Indy returning to college' and 'The Sanitorium'. The first and second scenes setup the unresolved McCarthyism subplot and introduce a roster of characters we never see again. The second only adds further layers of exposition to the already complicated Oxley backstory (In my edit, these and other minor trims account for 14 minutes of the excised footage alone). I completely scrapped my old edit and started again. This time focusing first and foremost on upping the pace of the adventure, removing many long-shots that sapped momentum and featured excessive CGI and complete re-colour of the movie.

Change List:

Specific changes include: 00.00.00 Added TM2YC Ident 00.00.08 Added oldskool Lucasfilm logo 00.00.24 CGI goffer replaced with new mountain matte painting 00.00.40 'Covenant Edition' title added 00.02.41 Magic checkpoint massacre removed (But hinted at) 00.04.35 Indy's "Drop Dead" line removed 00.04.39 Indy's "I'm sorry..." line removed 00.05.51 Indy looking at Spalko crosseyed and her flicking his hat removed 00.06.20 Spalko's magic powers removed 00.07.37 Mac's "West" line removed 00.07.59 First part of magnetic-gunpowder sequence removed 00.11.56 Mac's betrayal recut to be a surprise 00.12.33 Indy's "I like Ike" line removed 00.13.02 Indy now makes his first jump 00.13.10 Exploding CGI boxes reduced 00.15.02 More CGI goffers from Rocketsled sequence removed 00.15.18 Indy waking up shot reduced 00.15.31 Indy falling over removed 00.16.11 9 minute Doom Towm, Debriefing and University sequences entirely removed 00.16.19 Indy looking sad as he boards the train removed 00.17.13 Dialogue about Oxley being boring removed 00.17.54 Dialogue about other Crystal Skulls removed 00.22.15 Indy motorcycle sking removed 00.23.24 Closeup shot of Brody plaque removed 00.23.32 Rest of bike chase through library removed 00.23.40 Letter translation exposition reduced 00.25.40 Mention of Oxley being in a Sanitorium removed 00.26.54 Shot of Indy and Mutt entering the Sanitorium recut 00.26.57 Sanitorium sequence entirely removed 00.29.14 Indys "Part time" line removed 00.29.25 Mutt combing his hair and shaking removed 00.31.15 Dialogue refrencing Ox's cell and discussing skulls removed 00.31.25 Mutt's "You're going nowhere fast" line removed 00.32.29 Redundant dialogue about footprints removed 00.33.38 Knife swapping sequence removed 00.36.39 Discussion about returning the skull removed 00.40.04 Indy's "Come on?!" line removed 00.40.51 Removed explanation dialogue 00.41.12 Oxley dancing removed 00.44.17 Removed Indy face wobble 00.45.32 Removed Indy's goofy reaction to seeing Marion 00.46.17 End of arguement with Marion removed 00.47.19 Oxley's "Three times it drops" dialogue removed 00.49.34 Sinking into the sand shortened 00.49.51 Indy talking about quick sand removed 00.50.18 Discussion about Mutt shortened 00.50.51 All shots of snake removed 00.51.07 Indy's "Good work Ox" line removed 00.51.12 Start of long pan-out from Tractor removed 00.51.21 End of long pan-out from Tractor removed 00.53.11 Sound of Indy ripping his pants and Mutt saying "Oh shit!" removed 00.53.41 Long shot of Marion grinning removed 00.54.30 Two shots of bouncing saw removed 00.54.33 Shot of bouncing saw removed 00.54.42 Indy's "Pull up next to that duck" line removed 00.55.55 Indy telling Mutt to not be a child removed 00.57.35 Two long shots of Mutt dueling Spalko removed 00.57.46 Long shot of Mutt dueling Spalko removed 00.58.06 Mariion getting whacked by a branch removed 00.58.07 Mutt doing the splits sequence removed 00.58.11 Shot of Mutt doing the splits again removed 00.58.21 Spalko firing the jeep gun removed 00.58.24 Shot of Marion un-ducking removed 00.58.43 Marion grunting shortened 00.59.05 Shot of Mutt wobbling removed 00.59.19 Shots of Mutt and Indy noticing the vine removed 00.59.24 Four shots of Mutt having a long look at the Monkeys removed 00.59.28 Mutt beginning to swing brought forward 00.59.36 Long shot of canyon chase shortened 00.59.36 Mutt swinging shots shortened or removed 00.59.45 Long shot of canyon chase removed 00.59.47 Shot of Mac and another long shot removed to create new match cut 01.00.05 Second vine swinging sequence drastically shortened 01.00.21 Shots of monkeys attacking the jeep removed 01.00.27 Two shots of Monkeys still attacking shortened and removed 01.00.31 Monkey surviving and "Whoa" dialogue removed 01.00.39 Shots of Spalko's Jeep flying shortened 01.00.51 Shot of Spalko trembling about the ant removed 01.01.28 Shot of ants shortened 01.02.01 Marion driving the jeep near the cliff edge removed 01.02.28 Shot of ants crowding round Spalko removed 01.03.02 Indy being picked up by his ear and Ants climbing after Spalko removed 01.03.03 More fighting removed to make new match cut 01.03.35 Closeup of guy drowning in ants and two reaction shots removed 01.03.37 Two shots of the ants carrying his body removed 01.04.22 Long shot showing height of cliff removed 01.04.30 Shot of jeep leaping removed and next shot heavily cropped and shortened to reduce scale 01.04.44 All footage of springing tree and falling Russians removed 01.04.45 Next shot of jeep cropped closer 01.04.50 Shot of Spalko shortened to again reduce scale 01.04.55 Ox's "Three times it drops" line removed 01.05.07 All footage of 3 waterfalls recut and mixed up so there is just one now 01.05.21 Scramble ashore recut to remove catatonic Marion 01.05.26 Shot of Indy brought forward so he sees the next step first 01.05.33 Mutt's lines shortened and redubbed 01.05.36 Dialogue rehashing why the Skull must be returned removed 01.10.00 Shot of Spalko picking up a beacon removed 01.10.48 Circling round the obelisk and mention of Ox's cell removed 01.12.33 Long shot of chamber removed 01.14.05 Shot of Mac dropping a beacon removed 01.14.10 Shot of Spalko picking up a beacon removed 01.17.22 All footage of Mac's triple-cross removed 01.17.39 Spalko's dialogue and walk round the temple removed 01.19.01 Indy's "A big gift" line removed 01.20.43 Shot of space ship claw thing opening removed 01.22.14 Shot of Mac hanging on and Aliens merging removed 01.22.23 Two shts showing the Alien removed 01.22.25 Shot that showed the Alien shortened and cropped 01.23.33 All footage of the flying saucer removed 01.23.34 Shot of water washing away evidence cropped to remove Indy 01.23.36 Indy reaction shot used to breakup water footage 01.25.19 New credits sequence added with KOTCS CD soundtrack finale dubbed on 01.31.51 Recut wedding added as Marvel-style post credits sequence 01.31.53 Two running shots shortened and cropped to remove Jim Broadbent 01.31.54 Jim Broadbent's dialogue about the lettering removed 01.31.55 Shot of Jim Broadbent getting the bible shortened and cropped 01.32.21 Shot of Jim Broadbent and part of the wedding vows removed 01.32.30 Shot of Oxley cropped to remove Jim Broadbent 01.32.35 Shot of Oxley removed 01.32.41 Shot of Oxley removed and "Well done Henry" line redubbed 01.32.44 Shot of Mutt cropped to minimise Jim Broadbent 01.33.15 Fade to black before original credits role FanEdit Length: 92 minutes Original Film Length: 122 minutes Time removed: 30 minutes Major cuts: 122

Additional Notes:

General changes include: - Entire film recoloured/desaturated to be less cartoony/artificial - All CGI Goffers removed - Mutt's swordfight and vine-swinging retained but heavily recut - Doom Town, Debriefing, University and Sanitorium scenes entirely removed - All footage showing the beings as bug-eyed aliens removed (Plus flying saucer) - Mac is a double agent, not a quadruple agent - Emphasis on removing many long shots that either slow down the pace, show excessive scale or are just plagued by bad CGI

Other Sources:

KOTCS CD Soundtrack

Special Thanks:

njvc for his amazing work on KOTCS and for stealing his inspired ending.