Indiana Jones: Russians love it, Communists hate it

RED RAGE: Russia's Communists call the new Indiana Jones movie more than crude anti-Soviet propaganda.

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Moscow: He's the daring archaeologist who's dodged Nazis, Arab swordsmen, and poisonous snakes. But this time it's Soviet Communists who're the baddies.

Set during the Cold War, Harrison Ford's character in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull battles a sinister KGB agent — played by Cate Blanchett — in an epic struggle for a skull endowed with mystical powers.

Members of the Russian Communist Party are not impressed and the story has drawn criticism in country. Russia's Communists call it little more than crude anti-Soviet propaganda.

"Look, they're slapping a Soviet soldier in the face. These films just propagate idolisation of the West, because all of our guys are dying at the end," St Petersburg Communist Leader Sergei Malinkovich says.

The new film comes at a time of renewed national pride and Communists say it could give Russian youth a distorted view of their history.

But the controversy doesn't seem to have affected ticket sales. Indiana Kones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has already opened in more than 800 Russian theaters, which is than any other Hollywood blockbuster. It seems the concerns of Russia’s once-all-powerful Communists aren't shared by most compatriots.

"No, by no means. They have no right to demand that. Communists belong to the past, it's a new era now," a young Russian said when asked whether the Communist Party was right in demanding the ban.

And in this new era, most Russians appear glad to have Indiana Jones swashbuckling across their screens once again.

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