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Featuring: “Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark”, “Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom”, “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade”
Stars:
Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies,
Denholm Elliott, Kate Capshaw, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Philip Stone, Ke Huy
Quan, Alison Doody, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, and Sean Connery
Writers:
Lawrence Kasdan, Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, and Jeffrey Boam
Based
On “Screen Stories” By: George Lucas, Philip Kaufman, and Menno Meyjes
Director:
Steven Spielberg
Feature
lengths: 115 minutes/118 minutes/126 minutes/187 minutes
Extras:
Bonus DVD Containing Indiana Jones: Making The Trilogy Documentary, The Stunts
Of Indiana Jones Featurette, The Sound Of Indiana Jones Featurette, The Music Of
Indiana Jones Featurette, The Light And Magic Of Indiana Jones Featurette,
Original Trailers, Exclusive DVD-ROM Link
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and French and Spanish Language Dolby
Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Four Amaray Keep Cases Within A Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 31/31/36 minutes
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1981/1984/1989/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG/PG/PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
The second most requested trilogy of films (the original Star Wars trilogy is still the first), is finally available for DVD consumers to own in one box set entitled “The Adventures Of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection,” which features all three Indiana Jones big screen adventures as well as a fourth bonus disc containing a feature length documentary with all new interviews as well as rare behind-the-scenes footage from the Lucasfilm archives and more. The three feature films are being released in either anamorphic widescreen or pan and scan (full screen) versions with otherwise identical special features. Like the original “Star Wars” trilogy of films, the three Indiana Jones films are movies that benefit greatly by having the option to see them in their original anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratios because they not only preserve the manner in which the films were exhibited theatrically as close as possible for home video users, but the framing of the visual compositions are truly meant to be seen in a widescreen format. Some films since the advent of home video are either matted for theatrical release or shot in such a way so that all of the important visual information is in one area of the screen, leaving the rest of the space looking as if one was viewing an incomplete painting. Another method of preparing of home video releases is to shoot alternate takes all together of certain scenes specifically for (1.33:1) home video viewing and television broadcasts. It is obvious that the Indiana Jones films span the 1980s to a point that by the time the third film was produced, the sell through VHS market was already considered a viable sales decision in addition to priced to rent features. Just look at the amount of big summer feature films from 1989 that were released in the fall of 1989 directly as sell through VHS tapes instead of just priced for rental. “Batman,” “Lethal Weapon 2,” and “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade” were all three summer blockbusters that went directly to sell through at the same time video stores received copies to rent and this trend would grow with each passing summer throughout the 1990s until the arrival and subsequent success of DVD sales surpassed sell through tapes.
However even in the case of “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade,” the framing of the visual compositions are so stunning in widescreen that to watch it in any other manner is like seeing only half a movie. Films like the original “Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope” and Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” are the same way because back then no one was thinking about the framing with VHS in mind. So imagine how great it is to see the earlier classics of the generation before Lucas and Spielberg like “Ben-Hur” and “Lawrence Of Arabia” to name just two and I think almost anyone will agree that until they understood the whole nature of widescreen theatrical presentations that began with films like “The Robe,” through to the present that once you see a film on video in widescreen especially on DVD or high definition, you can’t go back to those old tapes again. This is especially true of all three Indiana Jones films, which I think were long overdue for restoration. After years of pan and scan as well as letterboxed videotapes and laserdiscs, one almost has to scratch their heads and wonder, why didn’t they do this sooner? I mean I saw the letterboxed Indiana Jones tapes, which were THX certified from 2000 and I have to note that they looked terrible. My father’s old pan and scan videos of the same three films looked better and this is no exaggeration. So through a long process of digitally scanning the film images frame by frame searching for imperfections as well as clearing up sharpness flaws and stabilizing the quality of the images to remove dirt, scratches, and flicker, we now have stunning new video presentations of all three Indiana Jones films. For these new DVD presentations Lowry Digital estimates removing 100,000 pieces of dirt per film and then further enhanced the quality of the images including the now dated effects sequences so that they remain true to the time in which they were made and do not alter the filmmaker’s vision or corrupt it by adding CGI enhancements that were not possible in the 1980s. In short, Indiana Jones unlike Han Solo still shoots first!
This aside, while I strongly urge consumers to buy the widescreen box sets, I am not going to tell anyone that they’re wrong if they choose the other because in the end, people like what they like regardless of what I or anyone else says and there are people who for reasons, such as being legally blind, find it difficult to full appreciate a widescreen image even on a big screen TV. The one thing I can say without reservation though is this is definitely the best presentation of the three Indiana Jones films in terms of both picture and sound to ever be made commercially available regardless of which format you buy so if you are a fan of the series, you got to go out and buy whatever presentation you choose because Indiana Jones’ cinematic exploits have never looked and sounded better outside of a movie theater.
Have no fear because although the title on the box says “Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark,” the opening credits and film’s original title “Raider’s Of The Lost Ark” remains unchanged as viewers are first introduced to Dr. Jones and his adventures searching for the lost Ark of the Covenant in an effort to keep it from falling into the hands of the Nazis. Interesting to note is in “Raiders Of The Lost Arc” the character of Marcus Brody (Denholm Eliot) is not at all the bumbling comic relief character he is portrayed as in “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.” “Indiana Jones And the Temple Of Doom” takes place one year before the events in the first film and has Dr. Jones, and two companions searching for the lost Shankarra Stones and discovering a sinister cult of Kali worshippers, who have enslaved children and sacrificed innocent people to their god. “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade” is not so much about Indiana Jones search for the Holy Grail, but his quest to reconcile with his estranged father played by Sean Connery. I realize these are about as concise as the loglines you might read in “TV Guide,” but the older I get the more I find that some of the best films can be described in just a few words. This is not to say that long discussions of film subtext, anecdotes, and whatnot are not important. I just find that there is a certain simplicity to the Indiana Jones films that I guess comes from the style of the old pictures that inspired Lucas and Spielberg when they were young and so on. I also feel that a long synopsis for each film in a DVD review is not necessary since odds are if you are reading this, you probably are more than familiar with the trilogy already.
I looked at all three films closely and I just could not truly find an instance of grain or some other imperfection at all. The films just look great and the new English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks are also impressive. They are definitely better than the Stereo Surround Soundtracks that accompanied previous releases. I think fans will be very pleased by the picture and sound quality for all three films, which are THX Certified complete with the THX Optimizer program for picture and sound calibration. French and Spanish Language Dolby Surround Soundtracks are encoded onto all three-feature films on DVD while all four discs in the box set feature English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired as well as French and Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as options. All four discs also feature DVD-ROM web links accessible for PC users with Windows 98SE or better with a DVD-ROM drive. This link is supposed to take the user to an exclusive site only accessible for those who have the DVD to find out the latest news and special possible Internet events to be announced. There is also an official website anyone can visit at www.indianajones.com.
All of the bonus features are presented on the fourth DVD. Documentary Filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau directed all the documentaries and featurettes on the bonus DVD. “Indiana Jones: Making The Trilogy” (126:58) is a feature length documentary featuring new videotaped interview clips with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, and many other cast and crewmembers from the three films and also features exclusive behind-the-scenes filmed clips from all three feature film productions as well as never-before-seen audition footage with Tom Selleck, Sean Young, and Tim Matheson who were all considered at one point for roles in the first film as well as items from the Lucasfilm archives, such as beautiful matte paintings and concept drawings. This documentary can be viewed as one reel or in three parts pertaining to the individual films. There is no mention of the “Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” TV series that followed the trilogy on this disc. I guess we’ll learn all about those adventures whenever they come to DVD. The documentary is supported by featurettes covering the stunts (10:56), sound (13:20), music (12:23) and visual effects (12:20). Collectively this equals over three hours of bonus materials exclusive to the DVD set.
For whatever reason, the theatrical trailers for “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” (2:34) and “Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom” (1:26) are the only ones presented with full Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The other trailers are either presented in Stereo or Surround Sound. These other trailers include the teaser (1:04) and re-issue trailer (1:40) for “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” and the teaser (1:29) and theatrical trailer (2:13) for “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.” A trailer for LucasArts Entertainment Company’s “Indiana Jones And The Emperor’s Tomb” (1:47) is also included. Unfortunately there are no galleries or extended footage of deleted scenes and whatnot included on the fourth disc.
The
interactive menus are nicely rendered with animated transitions and full motion
scene selections for all three films and all are easy to navigate. As a whole I
think this is a solid DVD set and a good value for fans of the series. “The
Adventures Of Indiana Jones: The Complete Movie DVD Collection” box set is
available now in either widescreen or full screen versions, which are sold
separately at retailers on and offline from Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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