Spielberg takes blame for 'nuking the fridge'

Indiana Jones survives a nuclear explosion in the fourth film in the adventure series. Photo / Supplied

Steven Spielberg says Indiana Jones fans should blame him for the highly derided sequel's worst scene.

In a new interview with Empire magazine, Spielberg says putting Harrison Ford's character inside a fridge so he could survive a nuclear bomb blast in 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was his idea - not producer George Lucas'.

The scene has become infamous among critics of the fourth Indiana Jones film, and "nuking the fridge" has even replaced the phrase "jumping the shark" as a term used to describe a series that has passed its use-by date.

Spielberg now admits the scene was "silly".

"Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea," he told Empire.

"People stopped saying, 'Jump the shark'. They now say, 'Nuked the fridge'. I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."

Despite the criticisms, Spielberg said he was "happy" with the film but "sympathises" with people who didn't like the extraterrestrial plot developments.

"George and I had big arguments about (that). I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings. But I am loyal to my best friend. When he writes a story he believes in - even if I don't believe in it - I'm going to shoot the movie the way George envisaged it.

"I'll add my own touches, I'll bring my own cast in, I'll shoot the way I want to shoot it, but I will always defer to George as the storyteller of the Indy series. I will never fight him on that."

Spielberg confirmed to Empire that a fifth Indiana Jones film was planned for release in the next couple of years.

Check out the scene below:

- Herald online