Indiana Jones : The Adventure Collection [DVD]

By Clint Morris

The brainchild of George Lucas, meticulously executed by Steven Spielberg, the “Indiana Jones” series was a landmark moment in cinema. Much like Lucas’s “Star Wars” films, the films were structured like the old 1930’s serials, where villains were larger than life, heroes were as gallant as ever, cheese dripped from its lips, and the action adventure knob was turned to 11. Best of all – and the same can’t be said about some of Lucas’s later films, sorry – the movies were made ‘Old Style’ with no – or minimal – computer effects or CGI; simply an incorporation of plot, stuntmen, props and artistry. You can appreciate a gargantuan boulder chasing a lead character through a grotto a lot more than you can 70 naboo fighters scattering across a galaxy more so because it, the boulder, was made for real (fibre glass, I believe?).

“Raiders of the Lost Ark” was a colossal adventure, the likes of which we haven’t seen since. Laughs, romance, action, and primarily, a hard-to-hate hunky hero made of charm, cheekiness and pluck. Harrison Ford – straight off Lucas’s “Star Wars” series – is the 1930’s archaeologist and adventurer who globe-trots around the world hunting down precious antiques. And for the most part, Ford’s performance makes the movie. In this first film, Jones finds himself in the middle of a Nazi plot to use the mysterious powers of the Ark of the Covenant to win the war. The film is fun from start-to-end, an absolute joy…. And all these years later, “Raiders” still plays as good as ever.

“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” though good, was a lot darker in tone than the campy “Raiders” – as a consequence, many turned their nose up at it (Spielberg even mentions on the DVD’s making-of that its his least favourite, too). To this day, Lucas and Spielberg wish they’d dialled the drama down a bit. Set 10 years before the previous film, this one sees Indy (an even musclier Harrison Ford – must’ve made friends with Sly Stallone?) attempting to rescue stolen children from a pagan cult. There are still light moments in the film, but the overall dark theme of the film overshadows most of those fluffier bits.

Personally, I don’t have any reel beefs with “Temple of Doom” – well, perhaps the ‘Monkey Brain’ scene, that’s a bit unnecessary, and probably more suited to something found in Monty Python – I think it’s got some great moments in it… the bridge scene, the dash down the rapids, the opening nightclub scuffle…. The mine-car chase! Having said that, unlike “Raiders”, it isn’t one I feel the need to return to on a regular basis.

The third, “Indiana Jones and the last Crusade” was a little more in tune with the style of the first movie. This time, Indy’s now forced to get about with his Dad in tow - and who better to play his dad but Sean Connery! [Though in real life, Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford himself!]. Together, they go after the much sought after ‘Holy Grail’ (of course bickering all the way.)

In some respects, “The Last Crusade” might even be the best of the three films. Everything comes together. It’s epic. It’s fun. It’s riddled with adventure, and unlike the previous chapter it’s for the whole family. It’s hard to find a flaw in it.

Ok, but enough about the films we’ve all seen two dozen times on television, fifty times on video and thrice theatrically….how’s the DVD?

In a word: Excellent.

The transfers are super. From the impressive menu design to the first glimpse of that Paramount Logo, you can tell Lucas and Spielberg have ordered the best treatment for the series on disc. All films are in newly recorded 5.1 – the first two films were only ever available in Mono – with over 970,000 of the frames cleaned up for the new print.

Thing is, most of you already own the DVD set, right?

If that’s the case, you don’t really need to bother with this one – the extras are pretty much the same.

DVD EXTRAS There’s “The Making of the Trilogy”, the three part documentary covering every aspect of the making of the three films, that was found on the ‘Special Features’ disc of the original trilogy set. (A great doco by the way! Behind the scenes footage, outtakes, bloopers, audition tapes [you even get to see Tom Selleck and Tim Matheson doing screen tests as Indy!] and more, running for near three hours. It’s great that even folks who had the smallest of roles in the films – like Alfred Molina, who made his acting debut in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – turn up to talk. You don’t get to see any deleted scenes unfortunately, but this thing is sweeter than any frivolous cut sequence.)

There are also the four featurettes – running for about twelve minutes each – that cover sound, effects, stunts and music.

New are – well, not much – some new featurettes, introductions to each film by Lucas and Spielberg, and some interviews. Oh, and unlike the original DVD set, the extras are tacked onto each film, rather than separated onto a separate disc.

If this set had included a commentary track, it might have been worth the double-dip.

Still, if you’re a Die-Hard “Indiana Jones” fan like myself, you’ll no doubt want to add this to your tower regardless.