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I remember the
first time I walked into a theatre, ready
to see “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
I figured I would be in for a good time.
I mean I already knew it was fashioned after
the old serials of the 1930’s and
40’s. I had no idea that I was going
to have such a rousing good time. It had
everything a great movie should have, action,
adventure, romance and comedy. The entire
audience held their collective breath as
Indiana Jones walked up to the idol in the
beginning of the film. We all knew moving
it was a bad idea, but move it he did. And
the rest is, as they say, history.
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” was
as perfect a movie as it could have been.
It was the brainchild of George Lucas and
Steven Spielberg, who at the time could
do no wrong, and it hit every note with
audiences becoming a monster hit. The Indiana
Jones theme by John Williams is probably
one of the most recognized themes in the
world, second only in my opinion to the
“Jaws” theme (also by Williams).
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Harrison Ford, hot off of his stint as Han Solo,
portrayed Indiana Jones not so much has a hero,
but as an archeologist who just happens to find
ways to escape some of the worst situations imaginable.
He didn’t have any superpowers, unless you
could call stubborn determination and the ability
to stay conscious after a severe beating, superpowers.
Karen Allen as Marion, had that great look that
was part tomboy, part girl-next-door and a charismatic
personality that just leapt off the screen. It
is really a shame she didn’t have a more
prominent career afterwards.
In the wake of the immense popularity of “Raiders
of the Lost Ark,” it was, of course quickly
determined that a sequel was in order. Next came
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
The story in this film took place before “Raiders”,
and dealt with the Thuggie cult, complete with
child slavery, monkey brain eating and a high
priest with a penchant for ripping the hearts
out of living sacrifices. Needless to say that
despite some of the humor present, “Temple
of Doom” was a decidedly darker film than
the first. Though still somewhat successful, audiences
and critics alike just didn’t seem to enjoy
this outing as much as “Raiders.”
Of course, being ‘odd man out’ I
still enjoyed the latest Indy adventure immensely,
with one exception. Kate Capshaw. I realize that
she went on to be Mrs. Spielberg, and the Spielberg
Police will probably come knocking on my door
after this is posted (was that a knock on the
door already?), but her character was one of the
most annoying female leads I have ever seen. I
was actually hoping that Lucas, in his never ending
mission to ‘improve’ his films, would
have utilized CGI to replace Capshaw with Allen
on the DVD, but alas no such luck.
This brings us to the final (?) installment of
the Indy saga, “Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade.” This film was more of a return
to what made the original so good. It was far
more light-hearted, and though it didn’t
have a really strong female lead, what it did
do was re-unite Indy with his father, played by
none other than Sean Connery. The two played off
of each other extremely well, and once again audiences
connected with the characters.
Fans of the Indiana Jones Trilogy have been clamoring
for the films to be released on DVD for so long
that I was beginning to think the title for the
upcoming fourth film was going to be “Indiana
Jones and the Search for the Holy DVD Set.”
Over the years it had truly become the Holy Grail
of sets. But now that wait is over. This month
marks the release of (are you ready?)… “Indiana
Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection.”
All three films have been meticulously re-mastered,
and after sitting through all three, I can honestly
say they did a fantastic job. The studios went
through frame by frame and cleaned up every blemish.
Even the matte work that looked so horrible on
the VHS release of “Last Crusade”
looks much, MUCH better.
When I first heard about the re-mastering, I
was concerned that changes would be made to the
film in the wake of the release of “E.T.”
I almost expected the Nazis in “Raiders’
to be holding cell phones instead of machine guns
(“Stop, or I’ll call you…”).
But thankfully these types of changes were nowhere
to be seen (though I still would have liked seeing
Allen instead of Capshaw in “Temple”).
As to any other changes, I honestly can’t
tell you if there are any. I haven’t seen
the Indy films in years, and my memory for details
is not what it used to be. What I can tell you
is that the films look and sound spectacular and
I enjoyed them every bit as much as I did when
I first saw them. One thing I found odd though
was that they are now calling the first film “Indiana
Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,”
I guess to help newer audiences make that connection.
“Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie
Collection” offers up all three movies in
one big 4-disc package. Oh wait, did I say 4-disc?
Hmmm, seems I did. The set includes a fourth disc
brimming with extra features. Of course I say
brimming, but the one thing missing here is audio
commentary on any of the films. Wouldn’t
you know, one of the few times I really want a
commentary and no dice.
However all the extras on the fourth disc more
than make up for it. The main feature, and certainly
the most impressive, is the feature length documentary
on the making of all three films. The documentary
was supervised by Spielberg and Lucas and they
leave no stone unturned as far as delivering the
goods. It includes outtakes from the films and
interviews with just about everyone that ever
worked on them. And if you ever heard the story
about how Tom Selleck almost became Indy, his
screen test is included here. Considering that
this awesome documentary runs a little over two
hours, you’d think that would be it, but
no.
There are four shorter featurettes that focus
specifically on the music, stunts, sound and ILM’s
work on the films. They are all under 15 minutes,
but the additional information is priceless.
After such a long wait, Paramount has given fans
more than they bargained for with this set. Though
I do find it a little amusing that they’ve
released it as the “Complete Collection”,
when there is a new Indy adventure on the horizon.
Hmmm, I guess I’ll need the ‘Ultimate
Collection’ in a year or so!!
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring:
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” - Harrison
Ford. Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey,
John Rhy-Davies, Denholm Elliott
“Temple of Doom” – Harrison
Ford, Kate Capshaw, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth,
Philip Stone, Ke Huy Quan
“The Last Crusade” – Harrison
Ford, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhy-Davies,
Julian Glover, Sean Connery
Extras: Feature Length Documentary “Indiana
Jones: The Making of the Trilogy”, The Stunts
of Indiana Jones, The Sound of Indiana Jones,
The Music of Indiana Jones, The Light and Magic
of Indiana Jones, Original Theatrical Trailers,
Exclusive Access to the Indiana Jones DVD Website
Specifications: Widescreen Versions Enhanced for
16:9 Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound,
French and Spanish Dolby Surround
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 10/21/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Raiders PG / Temple PG / Last Crusade
PG-13
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We'll give The Indiana Jones Collection an A+.
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