When the fridge was nuked in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, it became synonymous with a series being past its prime. First you jumped the shark, now you nuked the fridge. There’s still talk of another Indiana Jones movie somewhere down the road, but at this point it really feels like all the air has leaked out of the tire, and the whole thing’s gone pretty flat.
As much as the fanboys would love to blame George Lucas for screwing up yet another beloved franchise he created, Steven Spielberg was willing to jump on the landmine for this, and at a screening for Raiders, Spielberg reiterated, as he has on other occasions, that it was his idea all along.
As the Huffington Post and FirstShowing report, Spielberg said, “I know in Indy 4, you didn’t buy the refrigerator and the atomic bomb…I know! I know! But we tried! We tried! I was pushing the envelope! By the way, I take FULL responsibility for that – that was COMPLETELY my idea! Even Harrison said to me: ‘Nobody is going to buy this!’”
Then the Huffington Post ran a quote from Lucas, who said it was HIS idea, and Spielberg was “trying to protect me.” Lucas believed that you could indeed survive a nuclear blast in a fridge, and Myth Busters indeed reported that it’s not as far fetched as it sounds.
Still, as much as Spielberg said he tried, we have to quote one of Yoda’s maxims with this: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Indy 4 did not do.
