Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas.

Set in 1957, the fourth film in the Indiana Jones film series pits an older and wiser Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) against agents of the Soviet Union, led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), in the search for a crystal skull.

Indiana Jones is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), and fellow archaeologist Mac (Ray Winstone). John Hurt and Jim Broadbent also play fellow academics.

Directed by Steven Spielberg
David Koepp (screenplay)
George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson (story)
George Lucas and Philip Kaufman (characters)

Cast (in credits order)

Harrison Ford ... Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett ... Irina Spalko
Karen Allen ... Marion Ravenwood
Shia LaBeouf ... Mutt Williams
Ray Winstone ... 'Mac' George McHale
John Hurt ... Professor 'Ox' Oxley
Jim Broadbent ... Dean Charles Stanforth
Igor Jijikine ... Dovchenko
Dimitri Diatchenko ... Russian Suit #1
Ilia Volokh ... Russian Suit #2 (as Ilia Volok)
Emmanuel Todorov ... Russian Soldier #1
Pavel Lychnikoff ... Russian Soldier (as Pasha D. Lychnikoff)
Andrew Divoff ... Russian Soldier #3
Venya Manzyuk ... Russian Soldier #4 (as Veniamin Manzyuk)
Alan Dale ... General Ross
Joel Stoffer ... Taylor
Neil Flynn ... Smith
V.J. Foster ... Minister
Chet Hanks ... Student in Library
Brian Knutson ... Letterman #1
Dean Grimes ... Letterman #2 (as Dean L. Grimes)
Sasha Spielberg ... Slugger
Nicole Luther ... Diner Waitress
Sophia Stewart ... Malt Shop Teen
Christopher Todd ... College Brawler #1
Dennis Nusbaum ... College Brawler #2
T. Ryan Mooney ... Teenage Boy
Audi Resendez ... Teenage Girl #1
Helena Barrett ... Teenage Girl #2
Carlos Linares ... Fast Speaking Inmate
Gustavo Hernandez ... Shouting Inmate
Maria Luisa Minelli ... Sanitarium Nun
Nito Larioza ... Cemetery Warrior #1
Ernie Reyes Jr. ... Cemetery Warrior #2
Jon Valera ... Cave Warrior
Kevin Collins ... M.P. in Guard Hut
Robert Baker ... M.P. Sergeant
David LaVera ... Toba - Mayan Warrior

PLOT
In 1957, Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) leads a convoy of Communist Russian men driving U.S. military vehicles to a location in the Nevada desert called "Hangar 51", where they force Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) to lead them to an object he had previously studied. When the crate holding it is opened, it contains the remains of an apparently off-Earth bioform. When Jones attempts to escape, he is foiled by his old partner, George "Mac" McHale (Ray Winstone), who is working with the Soviets.

Jones then escapes into the desert, where he stumbles upon a nuclear test town and narrowly escapes the blast. He is brought to a facility where he is debriefed and discovers that because Mac is a Soviet agent, Jones himself is under investigation by the F.B.I. for his association with him. Jones returns to Marshall College to find that because of the F.B.I. investigation, he is being offered a leave of absence to avoid being fired. As he is leaving, Jones is stopped by Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) and told that his old colleague, Harold Oxley (John Hurt), disappeared after discovering a crystal skull in Peru.

In Peru, Jones discovers that Oxley was locked in an insane asylum until men with guns broke him out. In Oxley's former cell, Jones discovers clues to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who went missing in the 1500s while seeking Akator (also known as El Dorado). Jones finds the grave along with the crystal skull that Oxley hid there.

The skull is elongated in the shape that indigenous humans formed their own skulls into. The Soviets capture Indy and Mutt and take them to the camp where they are holding Oxley and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). The Soviets believe that the skull is from an off-Earth bioform, holding great psychic power.

The four escape from the camp, but Indiana and Marion become trapped in dry quick-sand. Marion reveals that Mutt is Jones's son, whose real name is Henry Jones III, and after a long vehicle chase with sword fights, killer ants, and water-falls, Indy, Mutt, Marion, and Oxley find the Temple of Akator. While being choked by Jones, Mac reveals that he is a double agent working against the Soviets and goes into the temple with Jones and the group.

After entering the Temple, Jones uses the skull to open the door to a chamber tomb. Inside, thirteen crystal skeletons are seated on thrones, with one missing its skull. When the Soviets arrive, Mac reveals that he lied about being a double agent. When Spalko places the skull onto the skeleton, it begins communicating to the group through Oxley using an ancient Mayan dialect.

Jones translates this to mean that the bioforms want to give them a great gift. Spalko demands them to tell her all they know, and the skulls begin firing knowledge into her eyes, causing her to shake. As a portal to another realm appears over the room, Oxley regains his sanity and explains that the bioforms are interdimensional and taught the Maya their technology. Indy, Mutt, Marion, and Oxley escape from the temple, but Mac is sucked into the portal.

The skeletons form into a single bio form who continues to feed Spalko with knowledge. However the knowledge overwhelms Spalko, causing her to ignite into flames and disintegrate, with her essence being absorbed into the portal above. The temple crumbles, and a flying saucer rises from the debris and disappears. Back home, Jones is made the Associate Dean of the Archeology Department and marries Marion.

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