INDIANA JONES: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES
(1981-2008, Blu-ray released September 18, 2012 – MSRP $99.98)
THE FILMS:
- “From the award-winning duo of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, experience every heart-pounding thrill like never before with “Indiana Jones(TM): The Complete Adventures” on Blu-ray! For the first time ever, all four unforgettable films are offered together on Blu-ray, featuring brilliant high definition picture quality and 5.1 audio presentation. This five-disc collection boasts fully color corrected digital master versions of “The Temple of Doom” and “The Last Crusade”, and the highly anticipated frame-by-frame full restoration of “The Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Dive into the unforgettable adventures and spectacular action of the Academy Award(R)-winning “Indiana Jones” series with hours of special features including new content created exclusively for this release. Only one name defines the ultimate hero… only one format delivers the ultimate experience! Includes: “Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark”, “Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom”, “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade”, and “Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull”.“
WHO SHOULD BUY:
Do I need to tell you that you need to own this? Are you actually reading this review while not a fan of these films?
I challenge anyone to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and not fall in love with it and its lead character. Not only is it a classic piece of ’80s action filmmaking but, for my money, it’s a damn near perfect film. From script to cast to direction to music, there’s barely a flaw on display in Raiders.
You’ll find few who feel the same about its sequel, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. I, for one, agree that it’s a weaker film but still brilliant in its treatment of character and story. A little less screaming Kate Capshaw would’ve gone a long way to improving it further but I’m a fan, either way.
The third film, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, has always seemed to me to be something of an apology for the dark intensity of Temple of Doom – an attempt to bring the series back to the tone of Raiders. It does, in fact, return a lot of the elements that made the first film successful but manages to disrespect them at every turn. Characters become comic relief, relics are given little weight and the plot feels more like an opportunity to pull off gags than tell a solid story. It really only sings when Indy (Harrison Ford) and his dad (Sean Connery) come face to face. River Phoenix is pretty great as young Indy too.
The boxed set also includes the nearly unwatchable 2008 sequel, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Blech.
THE BLU-RAY DISC:
Hot damn, this is one great looking set of discs! The most attention has clearly been lavished on Raiders, which has apparently been afforded a brand new 4K scan and restored to a gleaming polish! Well, that’s not really true. Raiders was shot from the hip and as such still looks pretty rough around the edges. But the presentation appears film-like and, for the most part, film accurate (Colours often seem hotter, more saturated than I remember but what the hell do I know? I was 7 years old when I saw it in the theatre!) Temple and Crusade also look exceptional, while clearly not the recipients of Raiders‘ lavish clean-up. Crystal Skull is a modern film and looks great, for what it’s worth.
All four films sport DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks that will blow your minds, if not your speakers! I’m in awe of how amazing these discs sound, and I’m not just talking the more modern ones. I think it’s safe to say that Raiders has actually never sounded this good. Ever! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as your new demo disc to show off your audio set up. Great stuff!
Most of the bonus goodies in the set are relegated to the special fifth disc, which is both amazing and disappointing at the same time. The best “making of” doc content has been carried over from the DVD boxed set from over a decade ago (yes, it’s still presented in standard def) and has had an incredible hour’s worth of newly assembled on-set content added in HD. On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark is presented in two parts and is one of the absolute highlights of the whole Blu-ray set, featuring so much never-before-seen behind the scenes and deleted footage, it’s truly a “holy grail” for any Indy fan. It’s unfortunate that such a collection of footage wasn’t included for each of the four films, though little nuggets are teased over the credits.
Features not carried over from previous editions of the films include the vintage featurette from the 2003 Best Buy exclusive bonus disc, 7 featurettes and image galleries from the 2008 DVD collection and whole mess of extras from the original Crystal Skull Blu-ray. If you’re a completist, you’d best hang on to those old discs. This new Blu-ray set is amazing, but it could’ve been perfect if made a little more complete.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Newly produced On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark featurettes:
- From Jungle to Desert
- From Adventure to Legend
- Making the Films featurettes:
- 1981 The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark documentary
- The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark
- The Making of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- The Making of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- The Making of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Additional behind-the-scenes featurettes:
- The Stunts of Indiana Jones
- The Sound of Indiana Jones
- The Music of Indiana Jones
- The Light and Magic of Indiana Jones
- Raiders: The Melting Face!
- Indiana Jones and the Creepy Crawlies
- Travel with Indiana Jones: Locations
- Indy’s Women: The American Film Institute Tribute
- Indy’s Friends and Enemies
- Iconic Props in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- The Effects of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Adventures in Post Production for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- High definition trailers and teasers for each film
