Review: Indiana Jones The Adventure Collection

By: The Dweeb

May 2008

DVD Features Video: 2.20:1 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 - New Introductions to Each Film by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas - The Indy Trilogy: A Crystal Clear Appreciation - The Mystery of the Melting Face - Snakes Alive! - The Well of Souls Storyboards - Creepy Crawlies - Discover Adventure on Location with Indy - Hold Onto Your Hat!: The Mine Cart Chase Storyboards - Indy’s Women Reminisce - Indy’s Friends and Enemies - The Birth of an Action Hero!: The Last Crusade Opening Scene Storyboards - Spectacular Photo Galleries for Each Film - LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo Theatrical release: 06/12/1981, 05/23/1984, 05/24/1989 DVD released on 5/13/2008 by Paramount Running time of 115, 118, 126, minutes Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliot, Ronald Lacey, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davis, Sean Connery Director: Steven Spielberg Plot: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Get ready for the edge-of-your-seat thrills in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indy (Harrison Ford) and his fiesty ex-flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) dodge booby-traps, fight Nazis and stare down snakes in their incredible worldwide quest for the mystical Ark of the Covenant. Experience one exciting cliffhanger after another when you discover adventure with the one and only Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom brings you non-stop thrills and excitement like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Indy (Harrison Ford), his sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), and nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) go from high-flying action above the Himalayas to a nail-biting runaway mine car chase and finally a spine-tingling escape from a fortress-like mine in India. Hang on tight as the world’s ultimate action hero takes you on a heart-pumping roller-coaster ride of adventure that’s guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade There’s nothing more exciting than trying to keep up with the Joneses in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indy’s Nazi enemies are back and have kidnapped his father, Professor Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery), to get help in their search for the Holy Grail. Following a trail from America to Venice to the deserts of the Middle East, it’s up to Indy (Harrison Ford) to save his father, save the Grail and save the day in this non-stop, action-packed adventure the whole family will treasure.

In the immortal words of Henry Jones, “This is intolerable!”. For those of who missed the first DVD set that came out in 2003, now is your chance to pick up the slimmer version that’s being pushed out to promote the next installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. I hate when studios do this! This is the exact same DVD set as the last iteration, except with less extras and in order to coax you completists out there they add some “NEW Exciting!” teaser material from the upcoming film. Frankly, its not that exciting and actually provides little information about the upcoming movie. At least you have the option to purchase each film separately if say Temple of Doom is not your thing.

We’ve all seen this films a thousand times, so I won’t go into particulars about that. We’re all familiar with our fedora wearing, snake hating archeologist. The rollercoaster ride of adventures with Dr. Jones is quite the experience, I just wish Paramount would stop pimping him so much with these less than stellar editions that will only be superceded when Crystal Skull makes it way to home video. The kicker here is that the movies on the DVD’s aren’t even remastered. This is the same print as what can be found on the first box set, including the menu animations. Aside from some minimal changes this is mostly the first DVD repackaged with minor changes. This is straight from the George Lucas playbook, and frankly I don’t like the idea of handing over my money multiple times for essentially same thing, I just can’t help myself I’m such a fanboy!

I am going to guess that once Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has long left the movieplexes, the job of remastering these classic films for high definition will begin, or probably already has begun, in order to put these films on the Blu-ray format. A remaster is definitely in order, as the film grain was evident on the Raiders disc while I was watching on a large screen television. So, once again, time to shell out for the Blu-ray box set. Argh! Again I am just speculating here, because good ole Uncle George has not said a word yet about anything in Blu-ray for Star Wars, so who knows when this will happen.

So, enough griping, lets talk about what we do get for our $40. Along with each film of course, there are new introductions from the principles of the movies, essentially made from one long interview and then cut up into three sections for each disc. You can just tell this same material was collected for the inevitable box set with all four movies. Also included on each disc is a featurette examining some aspect of the film, from special effects to Indy’s impact on the film industry in general. Most of it seems very self promotional, but I did enjoy the The Melting Face bit and a look at Creepy Crawlies.” Snakes Jaque! I hate snakes!” I suppose its a decent set, but I’ve been spoiled by the previous version which includes an entire DVD dedicated to all aspect of Indiana Jones. That one is much more in depth.

So, if you already own this set from 2003, its safe to say skip this one as you aren’t missing much. For those of you who do not own it yet, you could take the plunge but be forewarned that probably by this time next year you may have to shell out yet again for another box set.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BORROW IT!!