MediaCollege.com describes “suspension of disbelief.”

    In the world of fiction you are often required to believe a premise which you would never accept in the real world. Especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, things happen in the story which you would not believe if they were presented in a newspaper as fact. Even in more real-world genres such as action movies, the action routinely goes beyond the boundaries of what you think could really happen.

    In order to enjoy such stories, the audience engages in a phenomenon known as “suspension of disbelief”. This is a semi-conscious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the story.

    Suspension of disbelief only works to a point. It is important that the story maintains its own form of believability and doesn’t push the limits too far.

So, after Indiana escaped a nuclear bomb while hiding in a refrigerator, thousands of rounds of automatic gunfire and three—yes, three—Niagara-sized waterfall plunges, my suspension of disbelief was pretty well depleted by the time he escaped a UFO abduction.

Maybe it’s just that I’m twenty year older (and more critical) since Indy’s Last Crusade, but film four seemed to “push the limits too far” for me.

What did you think?