On DVD: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Directed By Steven Spielberg

Starring Harrison Ford

A few years ago we were finally treated to an Indiana Jones box set and the fan's excitement could be heard around the world. Now, just in time for the fourth film, a new slimmed down version of that box set is hitting stores with all new special features. Is this double dip worth your dollar?

The Movie(s)

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark attempted to bring back the feeling of classic Saturday morning serial adventures, and it succeeded. This film had such a different feeling than any other film that had come before it (at least in the previous 20 years or so). No film has been able to capture the magic of Raiders and its sequels. One could argue that Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow comes close here and there during its running time. This is why I fear for the fourth film. Can the super soft Lucas and Spielberg do it again after all these years? We’ll know soon enough.

Indy is a teacher and archeologist, not a fighter but his gripping need to recover artifacts often puts him in the line of fire. In this first film he is recruited by the Army to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do. Indy travels to Patan, Nepal, where he reunites with the beautiful and daring Marion Ravenwood – who is still bitter over their failed love affair. She reluctantly joins forces with Indy to combat the Nazis on his trail.

I remember seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time so many years ago. Indy was introduced slowly, first through shadows. Then the crack of the whip and there he was in all his glory. But soon he would nearly be killed and have his artifact yanked from him by a member of one of the greatest groups of bad guys ever on screen. From there we learn that our hero tends to get in a little over his head and we cheer him on even more.

Watching Raiders of the Lost Ark took me back to when big action movies didn’t also mean stupid. It takes me back to a time when everything wasn’t shaded in green or blue and when everything looked real, because it was. No CGI here baby. Don’t get me wrong, I love contemporary action films, but few of them have the heart and passion that this film exudes in every frame. The acting is spot on, the action sequences are still exhilarating even after more than twenty years, the gags are actually funny, and the story telling is tight. The secondary characters aren’t just fodder for action sequences or for romantic scenes. This is the first time I remember seeing John Rhyes Davies in film. Danny Devito was the original choice for the role. Although he surely would have been great, I think this role was meant for Davies. Karen Allen was a strong leading lady in an earthy believable way. She didn’t have to wear tight leather and do Kung Fu to be tough, this character was real. This movie is perfect.

Indiana Jones was a template for a more believable hero that audiences could identify with. He was a super hero but an imperfect one. He often fell into action and bumbled his way through though scenes unlike other heroes played by the likes of Arnold and Sylvester that came off as invincible. You couldn't have a John McLane without Indy creating and perfecting the formula of the every man hero.

10/10

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

The second film brought us a darker tone and a much edgier story. Part of why Lucas and Spielberg have been making more cotton candy films over the past few years is obvious when you hear them talk about Temple of Doom. They both put the movie down as being the worst in the series and that they regret some of the choices they made. IN the Introduction to the movie Spielberg actually places the blame on Lucas and Lucas comments that he's "more of a humor man". That’s complete garbage, just proof that they have lost their edge and that they’ve sold out their story telling to the politically correct drones that run Hollywood. I don't know how this will effect the new film...

The year is 1935. Following a crazed brawl inside Shanghai's Club Obi-Wan, adventurous archaeologist Indiana Jones finds himself saddled with an unwilling companion, bombshell American singer Willie Scott. Now they're on the run from a nefarious Shanghai mob boss with Indy's sidekick, 11-year-old Short Round. In the high action escape Indy, Short Round, and Willie find themselves in a small village.

A native shaman explains that the village has been under a curse ever since its sacred Sankara stone was stolen by the Maharajah of Pankot. He begs Indy to help the suffering village and its lost children – who have disappeared into the night.

After one of the most memorable meals in film history, the trio finds themselves deep within the fiery, subterranean Temple of Doom, lorded over by the evil Mola Ram, High Priest of a secret and horrifying cult called the Thuggees. His vicious followers, experts at human sacrifice, protect three glowing stones – Sankara stones, which, according to legend, can bestow preternatural powers on their possessor.

If you watch some of the old serials the themes in Temple of Doom are all over the place. This “dark” story has been told before. I’m unbelievably frustrated at how Lucas and Spielberg put this movie down. I think that not standing by their art says a lot about their character. It means they are more eager to please rather than tell a truly honest from the heart story. Lucas was going through a divorce during the writing of this movie so since he was going through a dark time, the movie was darker. That’s honest storytelling but all they seem to want to due is apologize for it. Lucas made the middle Star Wars film a dark one but he stands by it because the critics and fans alike love Empire Strikes Back. Since Temple of Doom got weak critical reviews when it originally hit theaters they don't stand by it. Even during the introduction they mention that the film got poor critical reviews.

Don’t get me wrong this movie isn’t perfect, but not because the story is too dark and scary. The problem is the villains in Temple of Doom had big shoes to fill due to the fact that the original villains were so good. The villains here just aren't as charismatic and interesting. I also feel like the mine car scene hasn’t held up over the years as being as exciting as say the tank scene from Raiders. So the mine car scene is a bit less effective but the life raft scene is still fantastic!

Critics do complain about the Willie character always screaming and being so annoying. This does have merit, she is really annoying, but she’s supposed to be. Not every woman is super strong like Karen Allen in the first film. There are women who are spoiled and not always ready for a fight, such as Kate Capshaw as Willie in this movie. Kate is great and has many funny scenes. But this is just nitpicking. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is still better than 95% of the schlock out of Hollywood today.

8/10

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

A little more time passed between Temple of Doom to Last Crusade than between Raiders and Temple of Doom so Spielberg and Lucas had more time to decide what direction to take their now iconic adventure hero. So, they decided to bring in a new relationship for Indy. In the first film we saw Indy deal with an early relationship that didn’t work out. In the second film we saw Indy as a father figure to Short Round, and in the third we see Indy reconcile a broken relationship with his own father.

Twenty-six years ago, young Indiana Jones was thwarted in an attempt to retrieve the legendary Cross of Coronado from the hands of robbers. But an older, wiser and stronger Indy has finally returned the jewel encrusted Cross of Coronado to his boss, Marcus Brody. In the flashback we see a young River Phoenix playing Indy and it's thrilling. Looking back now I wonder if River could have replaced Harrison in the franchise after he aged his way out of the character.

Almost as soon as he arrives back at his quiet, New England college, though, Indy is whisked away by representatives of multi-millionaire Walter Donovan, who has unearthed a mysterious stone. Indy recognizes it as the first of three long-buried markers that reveal the location of the Holy Grail itself.

But the man who found the stone tablet has gone missing: Dr. Henry Jones, Indy's long-estranged father and the world's foremost Grail expert. Journeying to Venice, Indy meets Dr. Elsa Schneider, Donovan's colleague, who helps him track down his father.

Dr. Jones Sr. and Dr. Jones Jr. find themselves chased through the streets of Berlin, through the skies above Germany and through the deserts of Turkey.

The Last Crusade had the biggest budget so of course it looks the coolest and it’s well written and funny. The thing is I wasn’t as blown away by the action sequences. When I hear in the extra footage that some scenes were added later because the film didn’t seem to have enough action it all makes sense. I just felt like something was missing in this respect. I liked seeing the back-story of Indy as a kid but I can’t help but feel it went a little long. I guess I feel that way because I feel like Indy has to share so much screen time with other characters. These movies are supposed to be about our hero with secondary characters being “secondary” but what we get is this long intro on young Indy then the rest of the film is split between Indy and his father played by Sean Connery. The Last Crusade is almost an ensemble character film rather than an action hero film.

The Last Crusade did make for a fantastic bookend to the first film. You walk out knowing a little more about where Indy comes from and why he makes the decisions he makes in all three films. They even explain the scar on his chin! The more personal story of the Jones family is an important one to tell but like Return of the Jedi it almost gets too family friendly.

8.5/10

The Video

The video is excellent on all three films with the third being the best. All three films are presented in widescreen anamorphic. The first film looks the worst of the three probably due to its lower budget and the age of the source material. The worst thing you’ll see is some minor grain during matte shots and the flesh tones seem a little dark in Raiders. The Last Crusade transfer is virtually perfect.

Raiders of the Lost Ark 8.5/10

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom 9/10

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 10/10

The Audio

The first two films were released before there was a Dolby Digital or positional audio. So there wasn’t a lot to work with. Surprisingly, the audio transfer for both Raiders and Temple of Doom are surprisingly nice. The surrounds are used to a great degree. Pay special attention to the boulder chase at the beginning of Raiders. The only real issue I have is the lack of any real bass response. That boulder should have been slamming the subwoofer but it just wasn’t there.

Now The Last Crusade was released to theaters in stereo surround and you can tell. The surrounds just seem to spring to life throughout the film. The bass response is a little better in this film as well.

Raiders of the Lost Ark 8/10

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom 8/10

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 9/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

Each film appears on its own disc inside a thin amaray case with all three of those presented inside a cardboard box. The packaging is slim but very attractive and space saving.

Each disc features a small cache of new bonus features not found on the original box set. Each disc has an intro from Spielberg and Lucas. These Introductions are more like short making of featurettes. Within the featurettes are interviews with Lucas and Spielberg, and some of the actors and crew for the films. There's also a bit of behind the scenes footage mixed in for flavor. All of these introductions are great with the one for Raiders being the longest, most detailed, and most interesting. There are brief featurettes on the friends and enemies of Indiana Jones, specific special effects, and even an AFI interview with the women of Indiana Jones.

Within the interviews several actors that are appearing in Indy 4 comment on their experiences with seeing the films and they share some very minor bits of information about the new film. Mysteriously absent was Kate Capshaw. The only appearance from her comes from AFI archival footage. Why would she not come in and talk a bit about her character and her experiences making the film? We get a little of it from her in the archival stuff but why not a new interview just for the DVD's? Karen Allen talks plenty, but well, she gets to be in the new film. There's also some storyboard to screen sequences and photo galleries.

Some of this new exclusive stuff is good and will be a real issue for Indy fanatics because they already have the previous box set. Fans that buy just one or two of these films will feel like the special features are incomplete though. Often the bonus features don't focus just on the movie they are packaged with. It's obvious that these featurettes are supposed to be viewed together from the box set. If you just buy Temple of Doom for example you may find yourself wondering why so much time is spent talking about the other movies in the special features.

7/10

The movies are just re-issues of the transfers created for the previous box set so don't buy this box set hoping for even better transfers. There are some new bonus features but they aren't as extensive as the feature length documentary found in the original box set. If you don't own the original box set and you want all three of these movies at a budget price this might be the way to go. The other issue is that the new movie is hitting theaters shortly and a few months after that there'll probably be a new box set with all four films and by the holidays there'll probably be another premium set. Finally there'll probably be some sort of amazing Blu-Ray box set that brings all of these bonus features together plus give us hi def transfers.

This set is really for fans who want to experience the films again before hitting the theater for Indy 4.

Overall (Not an Average) 8.5/10

The Review

The Movies

Raiders of the Lost Ark 10/10

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 8/10

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 8.5/10

The Video

Raiders of the Lost Ark 8.5/10

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom 9/10

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 10/10

The Audio