DVD Review

Indy (Harrison Ford) and Henry Sr.(Sean Connery) star in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.
© Paramount

Mania Grade: B+
DVD: Indiana Jones the Adventure Collection
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Connery
Written By: George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, Willar Huyck
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
Original Years of Release: 1981, 1984 & 1989
Extras: 12 Bonus Features

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DVD Review of Indiana Jones the Adventure Collection

By: Tim Janson
Review Date: Monday, May 19, 2008

To coincide with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Paramount has release the three original Indiana Jones film in a new, boxed set with a host of new features. You can hear fans grumbling about Paramount and George Lucas just trying to capitalize on the new film. Well Duh! Of course they are! As the old saying goes you have to strike when the iron is hot and right now the Indiana Jones iron is red hot and Paramount wants to make every last buck off the series. It’s called capitalism, if you don’t like it move to Cuba! No one is forcing fans to buy the new set. If you have the original four DVD set that came out in 2003 then you should not feel compelled to buy the new set. Yes, the new set does have numerous brand new features and the films are in true widescreen, enhanced for 16:9 TVs. But don’t blame Paramount if you’re a completist and can’t live without the new 90 minutes of extras.

Everyone has seen the Indiana Jones films, or at least you should have. It should be a prerequisite for visiting Mania! So instead of reviewing the actual films, and everyone has their favorite, we will instead take a look at the new bonus features that are on each of the three discs.

Disc 1 Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indy (Harrison Ford) confronts a competitor in INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Raiders of the Lost Ark: An Introduction. 7:45. This feature includes archival footage and present-day comments from Lucas and Spielberg about the genesis of the series. Lucas at first did not want Harrison Ford to play Indy as he felt it would detract from his role as Han Solo in the Star Wars films.

Indiana Jones: An Appreciation. 11:40. Cast and crewmembers from all four films reminisce about the series and relate their favorite scenes and lines.

The Melting Face. 8:48. Special Effects artist Chris Walas talks about how Toht’s melting face sequence was designed in Raiders of the Lost art and even recreates the process so fans can see, step-by-step, how he effect was created.

Storyboard sequence: Well of Souls. 4:17. Storyboards are shown along side the actual film for this sequence. Each disc has a different storyboard sequence, one from each film.

Disc 2 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Temple of Doom: An Introduction. 7:45. In this featurette, Lucas and Spielberg comment on the second, and least financially successful film of the series. Lucas purposefully made the film darker than the others, just as The Empire Strikes Back was darker in tone than the other Star Wars films.

Creepy Crawlies. 12:00. One of the best featurettes in the set. This one looks at each of the films and their squirmy pests: the snakes in “Raiders”, the bugs in “Temple”, and the rats in “Crusade” and examines the various problems encountered while working with the critters. The biggest problem was that each day many of them would end up escaping into God knows where!

Travel With Indy: Locations. 10:30. Another excellent featurette. Explores the actual locations used, often substituting for the real life locations in order to keep the films under budget. The canyon in Raiders where Indy threatens to blow up the Ark is the same canyon used in Star Wars during the Jawa sequence.

Storyboards: The Mine Cart Chase. 2:30.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indy (Harrison Ford) is amazed at his father in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE.

Last Crusade: An Introduction. 6:11 Lucas and Spielberg talk about casing Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. Spielberg was actually opposed as he felt fans would identify with him too much as James Bond.

Indy’s Women. 9:20 Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, and Alison Doody reunited with the American Film Institute’s Joan Firstenberg for a discussion about each of their roles. To her benefit, Capshaw admits she knows her character was unpopular and scene as annoying by fans. Doody basically whines because her character had to play second fiddle to Connery’s character.

Indy’s Friends and Enemies. 10:47. The last featurette is a look at Indy’s various allies and enemies throughout the series.

Storyboard sequence: The Opening 3:40.

Each disc also includes photo galleries and demo of the Lego Indiana Jones game.

Bottom line? With the 2003 boxed set and this one, we still probably don’t get as many extras as this popular series deserves. No additional scenes, no commentary tracks. If you don’t own either and you have a widescreen TV, the new set is definitely the way to go. Great entertainment no matter what!

More From Mania

Trade paperback Review: Indiana Jones Omnibus Vol. 2

INDIANA JONES: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE (Hardcover)
(Wednesday, May 14, 2008)
Topps Unveils New Indiana Jones Trading Cards
(Wednesday, November 14, 2007)
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
(Friday, May 23, 2008)
Facts & Insight Behind the CRYSTAL SKULL
(Thursday, May 22, 2008)

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Comments/Responses

lovedeath • May 19, 2008, 05:27am •

Got 'em. Love 'em. A killer build up to a new movie. my only problem is when the new one comes out on DVD, it will not fit in the box.

galaga51 • May 19, 2008, 05:29am •

While I would suspect most here would already have the 2003 set, there is bound to be another set released for the 2008 Xmas holidays; even if it isn't the last to have Indy, it MIGHT be the last with him as the featured character... as mentioned in the other article.

coocoo4cocoa • May 19, 2008, 06:20am •

'Paramount has release the three original Indiana Jones film in a new, boxed set with a host of new features.'

It's spreading.

Muldfeld • May 19, 2008, 09:10am •

"It's called capitalism. If you don't like it, move to Cuba"? You sound like an idiot. May I remind you that any exploitation can be justified by what you just said. The fact is it's kind of a dirty thing to do this and it makes fans like me hold off on buying films like "Babel" without an audio commentary because we expect a later version to have it. There's something to be said for treating fans respectfully. Good thing I'm not an Indiana Jones fan! Anyway, you and Dubya can enjoy his retirement, while the world is destroyed by excesses of capitalism. Ira Steven Behr, if he had control over DVD releases and such, would never exploit fans the way George Lucas has! There are people with integrity in the world. Enjoy your rising cost of health care, in the name of corruption...sorry, capitalism.

And what's wrong with an actress complaining about a crappy role. Indiana Jones has pretty sexist roles for women after the first film, n'est pas? Lucas and especially Speilberg have hardly been adventurous in using their power and money to give unknown actors a chance and are happy giving millionaires more chances to make millions. Pretty lacking artistic integrity, if you ask me.

fft5305 • May 19, 2008, 02:02pm •

I'll wait for the box set with all 4 movies to come out. I see no point in buying these now when they're just going to be re-released later. I don't like it, but I'm not moving to Cuba (no matter what their cigars are like). It's called 1st Amendment - I have the right to bitch about it.

TayDor • May 20, 2008, 01:33am •

"Sexist roles for women..."

Well, duh. Look at the time period those movies are set in and the type of movies (serials) that the Indy movies are based on. The role for woman is damsel in distress or the temptress.

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