The Fountain

[Graham]

Some men will stop at nothing to unearth the world's secrets. Others will.

[Bebop Man]

Do I detect some RE4 in the dialogue? Mr. Saddler? Illuminati? Archaelogical excavation? Spain?

PS - Awesome sketch

[Foxmar]

Ive always felt that in modern adventure movies/games it would just make more since to just blow the door instead of trekking around the world for some special key or a clue that will open it.
Great sketch!

[Can't Wear Hats]

Possible alternative title: Indiana Saunders and the Modern Excavation Equipment.

Really great sketch, I was a little thrown by the aspect ratio but once it became clear you were going for a movie-feel it stopped bothering me. Loved the stinger especially, Paul acts alongside himself a little too well...if that is indeed Paul and not some kind of clone/secret twin/ultra-illuminati agent.

[Clypheous]

I've always had this exact thought about those tombs and stuff. Why do you have to solve a puzzle or a riddle? Why can't you just blow doors open and use a shield for traps? Or, now, send a robot.

Awesomeness. Paul's attitude of trying to solve the puzzle "the right way" as opposed to doing it the easy way was priceless. I love it, this is a video that I've shown to people who don't normally watch LRR and they loved it too.

[AlexanderDitto]

Holy SHIT you guys! That was some amazing cinematography! Friggin' gorgeous! Man! Wow. You just completely blew my pants off with how pretty this sketch was.

It was funny, of course, and well acted! Paul's scripts don't usually make me laugh out loud. They make me smile on the inside. And Paul as the Evil brother... just perfect.

Must be nice to have mysterious moss-covered-boulder laden forests within filming distance. Everything about this skit was just gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. I want to smooch this skit.

[thatlaurachick]

I don't know why but everything Paul said after "Ultra-Illuminati" was hilarious.

There's a bit of DaVinci code in here too.

[Jimor]

But what about the secrets that are even too dangerous for the Ultra-Illuminati to know?

(For example, the secret to smoooooth dolly shots (eagerly awaiting the LT for this one))

[plummeting_sloth]

1) this reminded me of a way earlier Those Games podcast, where I think Jer and Paul were talking about how funny it was when Nate Drake unearthed these ancient undiscovered tombs and discovered scaffolds, lighting and dudes with guns. Looks like other people followed the "Eh, just blow a hole in it" school of adventuring

2) Basically, this is taking the "Oh, just shoot the guy" pragmatism Indy showed that that swordsman in Raiders, and applying it to the whole franchise

[Snowman]

With the talk of easy access to small children in a recent LRR podcast, I was kind of expecting the stinger to be the fountain worked too well using the modern methods.

[Jimor]

With the talk of easy access to small children in a recent LRR podcast, I was kind of expecting the stinger to be the fountain worked too well using the modern methods.

"We're not getting the pressure we expected, so we're injecting waste sludge from nearby petroleum wells into the aquifer to facilitate pumping."

That should make sure the product isn't too effective.

[empath]

Ohhh, that closing line!

Vintage Saunders, that story. I'm with others - he acts opposite himself a little too well.

And the cinematography?!? It felt weird to look at (compared to your other opuses), but there's one word that sums all this resolution/aspect ratio/etc up in relation to the subject matter:

APT.

[Amake]

The one thing I couldn't see coming was the story developing exactly as I'd have predicted. Once in a while I guess you need to give up on the unexpected twists to keep unpredictability fresh.

I like how Jer's controlled demolition plan is very cautious and thorough. You know they're not going to blow up the find in some Hollywood villain-esque inexplicable fit of impatience that would serve to justify Paul's more traditional method; they're just using the most efficient means money can buy. Which realistically is going to end up saving lives when they get to the fountain sooner.

Unless it's the take-a-life-leave-a-life style of fountain of youth as seen in a recent Pirates movie. That would suck. I can never tell the difference been Graham's evil authority figure and reasonable authority figure characters until they show their hand. . .

[WAYF]

Welp, the Escapist forums have decided to take the opportunity to make fun of archaeologists. Didn't see that coming.
*Is majoring in Archaeology at university*

The reality is, an ACTUAL archaeologist WOULD recommend those techniques for excavating the fountain properly. I even know exactly what Jer's character is talking about when he mentions the initial Ground-Penetrating Radar survey.
(Archaeologists are multi-disciplinary; they're not at all afraid to call in experts in other fields)

Mini-rant over, because I'm fiercely defensive of archaeology.

[Drecon]

Well, I guess now have a new favorite LRR video.

Also good to keep the funniest joke as the punchline of the stinger. Would've had to pause the video otherwise.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Archaeology is science for people who hate data.

[WAYF]

Oh, you wanna get into this, do ya?

Well here's a tip: When claiming that archaeologists hate data (thereby implying that archaeology involves no recording of data), it's probably a good idea to make sure that archaeological practice doesn't involve, say, tons of not only data recording, but also several advised redundancy measures (i.e extra recording) to make sure that the data is never lost. (After all, who knows, you may only have one chance to record any given site.)

To that end, I propose that archaeology is science for people who like storytelling. That's certainly what I do it for.

[Amake]

If we take it as Jer's character being the archeologist, while Paul's character is the crazy guy whose idea of getting a van permit involves a complicated quest chain delving into the depths of Spanish history, then we might say Paul's character loves data more than Jer's does. But it's more like he loves complicating things for the sake of making life more adventurous and romantic.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

With hindsight, I really should have remembered to put that in quotation marks.

[headband]

I don't know why, but I love the idea of the ultra-Illuminati. There should be really conspiracy theories about them, including from an actual Illuminati member who tries to convince the rest of the Illuminati that they're real.

[Amake]

If you could have one successful secret conspiracy, it stands to reason you could have an even more secret conspiracy hidden from the first, as Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality touched on with the concept of double witches.

[viscomica]

I love it! Oh, well, I'm off to sign up to an archeology introductory course Go ultra-illuminati!