Gary Farber has a better idea for the fourth Indiana Jones pic. Granted, we don't know what they have in store for us. But whatever it is, it probably sucks. Gary takes a dark corner of the Nazi era, shines a light in it, and shows how we could make fabulous entertainment out of it. He also links to Charles Stross, who stands supreme on my list of favorite writers. Stross' book Atrocity Archives discusses some of the same subject matter from a different direction entirely. I suggest to Gary that you read that book instantly, and really, anyone else as well. Unix guru meets Lovecraftian horror. You can't beat that with a stick.
But back to the main point. Indiana Jones. Nazis. Objects of power. Raiders of the Lost Ark tapped into something wonderful. The thirties, Nazis, the Lost Ark of the Covenant - it all blended together perfectly. It was all those comic books we should have had, all the serials we half remembered watching on Saturday afternoons that never were really that good. Other movies have tried to capture that feeling, with varying but typically small success. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow got the the alternate thirties technology, and noir feel. The Phantom was frankly pathetic. Disney's The Rocketeer (which I just saw on cable last night) was surprisingly good, though lacking in grit. To be expected of a Disney flick, but still overall a good effort. [Side note: my father, noted historian and old car collector, pointed out that in the street scenes in Rocketeer, all the cars will be of the same make. It might change from scene to scene - Buicks on this street, Chevies on the next, but typically a lot of uniformity. The reason is that production companies in need of old cars for scene dressing typically hire old car clubs, and for ease in logistics, will have a club supply all the cars for a single scene.]
The only book I've ever read that captured all the elements for kick-ass thirties adventure was a Doc Savage book. Violence, Nazis, retro-high-tech, noir atmosphere, strange locales, the whole panoply - but I lost it and can't remember the title or even author. An author could have a lot of fun writing a tale like that.
Just think of the elements you could include:
- Nazis - but even better, real Nazis like the Ahnenerbe that Gary talks about.
- Soviet agents, because they always get left out of these stories, and were fully as evil as the Nazis.
- Gangsters. Hey, why not? They add period color, and will certainly ally with a patriotic hero to fight Nazis and Commies.
- Strange technology. You get some real bonuses with a film on this one, thanks to being able to show cool art-deco/industrial gothic designs. But even so, in a book you could have - just for starters - airships, autogyros, jets, jetpacks, electro-mechanical computers, wrist radios, Tesla-style super weapons, rockets, atomics, sheesh, all kinds of fun.
- Mystical objects. To be sure, two of the best ones are already taken. But there are others, even if you stay within the western tradition and avoid the pitfalls of the second Indiana Jones flick.
Stir that into a pot, and smoke it. Fun for the whole family.
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