BLU-RAY REVIEW: Indiana Jones - The Complete Adventures

The Films Have Never Looked or Sounded Better...

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Making its blu-ray debut last week was the INDIANA JONES THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES Blu-ray disc set that marks the first time all four Indiana Jones films were released at the same time. It’s also the first time we’re seeing the original three films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade in high definition. The original films are all digitally remastered for enhanced picture and sound using the original source materials from the archives and restored frame by frame. Indy's latest adventure, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was previously released on Blu-ray, but don’t throw away that set yet if you already own the 2-disc special edition. Love or hate that film, you’re going to want to hang onto all the bonus features included in that set.

If you’ve bought the Indiana Jones Trilogy on DVD recently, you might be wondering if the fuss is even worth it. The answer to that depends entirely on how much of a completist you are and if you love these films enough to see them in the best resolution possible.

In case you’re wondering, the films have never looked or sounded better than they do on this set. Even if you don’t have 1080p, you can tell the difference and it is simply put, remarkable. But perhaps that’s not enough. If you’re like me, then you’ve owned these films on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, and now Blu-Ray. How are the extras?

The bonus features boasted in this set include 7 hours of special features, which is quite a handful. But realize that it’s for four films, and then that number may not seem as impressive. A lot of these extras have been pulled and mined from the previous DVD set without any updates or additions. You’ll find a lot of features with the hopeful filmmakers talking about the “possible” fourth Indiana Jones film. It just seems a bit odd, to put it lightly.

And because the majority of the bonus features are from the previous DVD set, a lot of it blatantly ignores Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Granted, we all joke that we don’t want to remember that film, but it does exists and it is part of this set. When a bonus feature goes into the creepy crawlies of the first three films, it would be a nice endnote to also bring in the ants from the fourth film. There are some featurettes also from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Blu-ray release that do focus on the ants so you at least get it, but not in context with the rest of the saga.

Each film does have its own “making of” documentary that pulls from various sources but the main highlight in the special features is the brand new 2-part documentary about Raiders of the Lost Ark entitled “On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark – From Jungle to Desert and From Adventure to Legend.” Featuring nearly an hour of rarely seen footage from the set of the film and archival interviews with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford.

If you’ve owned everything in the past, the 2-part documentary is all that is new but it is a treat to see. A lot of these extras would have worked great as a cinema-explore feature while watching the films and a part of me wishes they done it that way, especially since a lot of the featurettes are basically recapping the scenes over and over. It would have been great to see an all new retrospective of Indiana Jones as a whole, a look at the merchandise, a look at the Lucasfilm archives, and even a look at the Indiana Jones presence at the Disney Theme Parks worldwide. Perhaps a look into the works of Drew Struzan as well!

There’s so much to this property that fans would love to see more about and if you’ve never owned a single Indy DVD, this set should give you plenty to keep you busy with. At least until the next format is released...


Review by David Yeh


DISC SPECIFICATIONS:

Disc 1—Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 2.0 Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The disc includes the following:

- Teaser Trailer (HD)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD)
- Re-Issue Trailer (HD)

Disc 2—Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 2.0 Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The disc includes the following:

- Teaser Trailer (HD)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Disc 3—Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 2.0 Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The disc includes the following:

- Teaser Trailer (HD)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Disc 4—Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The disc includes the following:

- Theatrical Trailer #2 (HD)
- Theatrical Trailer #3 (HD)
- Theatrical Trailer #4 (HD)

Disc 5—Bonus Features
Bonus features are presented in standard and high definition (as indicated below) in English with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

NEW – On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark
- From Jungle to Desert
- From Adventure to Legend

Making the Films
- The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981 documentary previously unavailable on DVD)
- 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 (HD)

Behind the Scenes
- 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 (with optional pop-ups)
- Travel with Indiana Jones: Locations (with optional pop-ups)
- Indy’s Women: The American Film Institute Tribute
- Indy’s Friends and Enemies
- Iconic Props (Crystal Skull) (HD)
- The Effects of Indy (Crystal Skull) (HD)
- Adventures in Post Production (Crystal Skull) (HD)

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