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Indiana Jones in the map room in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
© Paramount Pictures

Wait for It...

By: Robert T. Trate
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2008

On May 13^th, 2008 Paramount and Lucasfilm will release the Indiana Jones Trilogy, again on DVD. No, it will not be released on Blue-Ray. To many fans this is already a disappointment because there is no date yet for Blue-Ray Indiana Jones. I would like to look back and look ahead on how Emperor Lucas will separate many from their money, again and that some of us will never get the special features we want.

In the fourth quarter of 2003 Paramount and Lucas finally released The Adventures of Indiana Jones DVD box set. Many tore into the bonus material DVD and were delighted with the Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy documentary. Some, like me, questioned where the original Great Movie Stunts: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Making of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and The Making of 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' were. These are touched upon on the DVD but, where are these original uncut made for TV documentaries? To some these are unimportant. To those of us that grew up watching them over and over again these are essential. “Making of” documentaries like this inspired the DVD special features to begin with.

In October of 2007 Lucas finally released the first of three volumes of his Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Each was reasonably priced around one hundred dollars. Again, no Blue-Ray or HD-DVD (R.I.P.) but the third and final volume will be released on April 29. One month shy of the new Indiana Jones. Right as the hype will be brimming to the top.

Almost two weeks before the new Indiana Jones is released, extra special editions of the original three movies will be released. What will make them special is their new, never before released, featurettes (check out Mania’s coverage). Why weren’t these released before? You know the answer to that one loyal Maniacs: money.

So Indy fans, “when our joy is at its zenith, when all is right with the world”, rent the new versions of Indiana Jones. Watch the special features, get it out of your system and hold out till the holidays. I’ll bet you Sankara stones to Ark’s of the Covenant that you’ll see Blue-Ray Indiana Jones movies sitting on the shelves and more importantly the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be in the box set too.

Will we get all that we want then? Fedoras to fertility idols says they are nothing more than Blue-Ray versions of the May standard DVD releases. The three documentaries I mentioned above I’m sure will be absent along with any commentary from Lucas or Spielberg. Now I could have brought this up weeks from now. Instead I think we Maniacs should spread the word and tell people to wait for it and pick up the Blue-Rays.

This will without a doubt put the Star Wars saga Blue-Ray on hold. Why? Emperor Lucas cannot have two cash cows in one year. Look for them next year fourth quarter of 2009.

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Comments/Responses

SONYMANswallows • Mar 10, 2008, 11:14pm •

Boo hoo no blue ray, get over it.

Is Raiders gonna be called Raiders of the Lost Ark or are they going to be dumb and call it Indiana Jones and the Raiders of The Lost Ark like the original DVD set?

ultrazilla2000 • Mar 11, 2008, 12:40am •

Bob, I hope you were kidding about the Young Indiana Jones volumes being a "reasonable price"!
One hundred dollars per volume is pure greed...and a greed that keeps all the FREE ILLEGAL DOWNLOADS in high circulation!

miko34 • Mar 11, 2008, 01:56am •

I'll wait until all four come out on Blu-Ray ... oh and I guess I'll need an HDTV too. Perhaps I can afford one when the movies are released. Of course, by that time, we'll have HD movie downloads as the norm.

hanso • Mar 11, 2008, 03:17am •

the blu ray titles might be released when the new jones film hits dvd, if that's the case HD movie downloads won't be norm by that time.
I hope they do like they are going to do with Batman, release all films in blu ray when dark knight comes out on video.
i read blu rays were going to drop to 300 this year.

themovielord • Mar 11, 2008, 06:18am •

ultrazilla2000, i was kidding... $100 would have been reasonable for all three volumes together...

gkboy25 • Mar 11, 2008, 06:57am •

are they going to do one with a commentary?

themovielord • Mar 11, 2008, 07:00am •

gkboy25 ,

According to the press release I got... no.

tiredjay • Mar 11, 2008, 08:22am •

Spielberg doesn't believe in doing commentaries,

themovielord • Mar 11, 2008, 08:57am •

Lucas did one for Star Wars...

TheLastCleric • Mar 11, 2008, 09:31am •

Here�s an idea, Bobby: Don�t buy the re-released set.

I understand that trashing Lucas is en vogue and has been every since he made the prequels his way rather than listen to the idiotic input of a million fanboys who thought they had the definitive vision for the prequels, but I think it�s time to move on, yes?

That said, your comments are insipid and ignorant; the worst kind of speculation and conjecture. Truth be told, there has been just one DVD release of the Indy films in the last five years, which isn�t exactly indicative of somebody trying to milk these assets dry. When you consider that almost every major and even minor film has received at least 2-3 versions released onto the DVD format (not counting HD-DVD and Blueray) I really don�t see how Lucas re-releasing these popular movies for a second time, in anticipation of the fourth film, is all that egregious. Were you in his position you�d do the same thing and if you claim otherwise you�re either a liar or you lack even the most rudimentary business sense.

Also, there is no vast conspiracy here regarding Blueray. The logistics of converting the Star Wars and Indy films to true HD is no doubt an expensive and time-consuming process. If Lucas was the money grubbing whore you claim, he would have simply done what so many others have and released shoddy HD versions and reaped the money. However, as he did with DVD, he seems to be taking his time to deliver something that will reset the bar in terms of audio/visual and become the definitive example of the format. (At least, that�s what he did when he released The Phantom Menace on DVD)

Ultimately, what really aggravates me is the double standard at work here. Your snide, pretty attacks, such as calling him �Emperor Lucas�, reeks of a callow and lowbrow mentality unworthy of a professional publication and it also begs the question, where is your outrage at all the other double and even triple dipping that goes on in the DVD market? David Fincher released a vastly superior edition of Zodiac only a few months after the bare bones release; why is he not a whore? Those of us who purchased the initial version of the excellent comedy Hot Fuzz were also screwed when a vastly superior edition was released shortly thereafter. Again, where was your outrage? And what about Anchor Bay, a company that has released about 27 versions of the Evil Dead films; why no venom and spite directed towards them?

If anything, Lucas has shown great restraint with his films, releasing them at key times for promotional purposes rather than gratuitous, yearly updated versions. Considering that there has only been two releases of the Star Wars trilogy on DVD (one box set and the re-releases containing the original, non-SE versions that can be purchased separately by title) I really don�t see the problem here. Lucas didn�t even opt to put out another box set in 2007, despite the fact that it was the 30th anniversary of a NEW HOPE, nor has he released the oft speculated six film set. From a business standpoint, the 30th Anniversary would have been an optimal time to release all six films re-packaged in a new box, yet he didn�t. Not exactly the actions of a greedy �emperor.�

Even if Lucas released a dozen versions of his movies, nobody is being forced to purchase them. Despite being a rabid fan of the Indiana Jones trilogy, I have no intention of purchasing it again to acquire a few snippets and extra features. There is this thing called common sense and if you apply it liberally and equitably you would discover that double dipping is really a non-issue. Consumers have a choice and they can choose to say no.

Lastly, it�s unfortunate that rather than discuss the DVD release of the Best Movie of 2007, No Country for Old Men, you decided instead to retread a stale and vacuous editorial that wouldn�t have been fresh two years ago.

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