Reframing the Cold War in the Twenty-First Century: Action, Nostalgia, and Nuclear Holocaust in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Abstract

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystai Skull (Spielberg 2008) was the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, coming to screens 19 years after its predecessor, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Spielberg 1989). Like the earlier films, Crystal Skull was highly successful on its release, opening widely at 4260 theatres in the United States and achieving $126,917,373¹ on its first weekend (May 22, 2008). With worldwide box office registering $776,636,033² by November 2011, it currently remains high in the ranking of all-time top-grossing films. Obvious reasons for the film’s popularity lay in an intensive marketing strategy that capitalized on its lucrative franchise history, combined with the established partnership of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, and the star casting of Harrison Ford, an actor synonymous with the Indiana Jones mythology. Trailers and posters promoting the film, which is set in the 1950s, conjured a nostalgic ambience that, together with the promise of typical Indiana Jones-style action, romance, fantasy, and spectacular adventure, inevitably appealed to its original viewers as well as to a younger generation, while the inclusion of younger actor, Shia LeBoeuf, was a further strategy to widen audiences. The trailer features a significant moment for viewers of the previous films as a close-up focuses on Indy’s iconic fedora lying on the ground.