Today I received an email from ‘undeadbothanspy‘, along with some material which gives credibility to his report, which I shall not post by request. I am including his report in full but the spoilers will need highlighting for you to read them.

“I was very fortunate to be on the set. It was a great experience watching Ford and Spielberg at work. I actually got to have a very brief conversation with Ford. He was friendly, down to earth, and cordial. No attitude or pretension.

But the best part was watching the famous Ford/Spielberg combo at work. They work together so well- they were like a well-oiled machine; their pace was smooth, relaxed, yet intense. There was no ego, no agenda, or clashing. They were devoted to making the best film they could. It was almost as if they had come full circle- those guys with so much credential and nothing left to prove. You could almost say they had gone back to what filmmaking is all about, the love of the craft. It was a true privilege to have had access to all this and I felt so blessed to be able to watch them at close range.

Contrary to what most people think, the scenes shot at Essex are genuinely emotional and are pivotal to the film- I won’t say much because these are major, major spoilers, and I have too much respect for this film to disclose what is going on, but I have to say they definitely have something going with the 4th episode in the Indiana Jones series.

I was able to get up close to the monitor and see the scenes they shot, and they are beautiful- well executed. Spielberg still has his touch. There were a few excellent shots, and one of them was a great crane shot involving Ford getting out of a cab, paying fare, and heading to the train, and Shia roaring up on his bike. The camera goes down with the cab, past the bad guys (or feds?) in a car, to the ground, a motorcycle wheel enters the frame, then the camera backs out across the bike, diagonal across the Harley Davidson logo. There’s another great shot that’s between the engine and the train station and there’s all this fog in the middle from the steam engine (dry ice) and out of this fog comes the bad guys (or feds?) who board the train, then out of it comes Shia on his bike. It’s just such a well done sequence- so beautifully done.

Again it was a great privilege to watch the best of the best at work. This much I can say- I don’t think anyone will be disappointed by this film. Not by a far stretch.“