Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection + The
Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Three – The Years of Change
(Paramount DVD Box Sets)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B-/A Films/TV Series:
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of
the Lost Ark
(1981) A
Indiana Jones and the Temple of
Doom (1984) B
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) A-
The Adventures of the Young
Indiana Jones: Volume 3 [Episodes] B+
Many
other critics often reference the Indiana
Jones films as downward spiral. Most
critics loved the first film, then thought the second film was dark/different
yet still ok, and finally they felt the third film was just one long ‘joke’
that kept throwing back to the previous two films for favorite moments. This reviewer is here to say that he whole
heartedly disagrees with those critics.
Each Indiana Jones film had
its own unique charm and never felt exactly like the previous film, but in many
ways that was intended. The entirety of
the Indiana Jones series is meant to
chronicle an epic hero’s best moments and adventures, just like old comic books
or even Flash Gordon.
In the
case of Indiana Jones, he is swinging back into action on DVD with the Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection DVD
box set; fans would be foolish to think that Lucas and Spielberg were not going
to double dip their Holy Grail (Star Wars excluded). Perhaps having drunk from the cup of eternal
life, the Indiana Jones films have
aged amazingly well and will most likely always remain cinema classics. Spielberg and Lucas’s pulp portrayal of the
past with historic events infused throughout has always been an audience
pleaser and an innumerable amount of films, to this day, copy its basic
styling.
It is
impossible to lump all three of the Indiana Jones films together as one cohesive
entity, because they are so different; but at the same time they lend very well
to each other and have created a trilogy of films that has allowed a hero to
evolve into a pop-culture firestorm. The
film series has been previously analyzed by other reviewers on this site to a
heavy degree for the three films use of darkness, adventure and humor; but
there are still a few comments left to be noted by this reviewer. Follow the
link below to previous reviews of the films:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/433/Indiana+Jones+Trilogy
Without
heavy synopsis, Raiders of the Lost Ark
(now Indiana Jones and the Raiders of
the Lost Ark) was a smash hit with its 1981 premiere and changed the face
of action/adventure cinema for all time.
Raiders is the best scripted
of the three films and perhaps has the most heart. The casting was strong, the plot was there,
the loose use of historical fact coupled with action and comedy was purely
serene and in the end a film was created that anyone could enjoy. Lucas was the main idea man when he
approached Spielberg in the late 1970s about doing a film based on the ‘old
Saturday Matinee serials’ that would be full of action, mystery, humor, and
rely on a slight cheesiness that would captivate rather than distract. Lucas and Spielberg delivered perfectly on
all fronts.
As the
largest grossing film of 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark managed to
make cinema be fun again by filling our minds with action and adventure all
while showing the hysterically funny side of Harrison Ford, who presents the
comedy of the film in such a deadpan manner that it in many ways has never been
duplicated. So that begs the question,
when did Harrison Ford lose his sense of humor?
As an interesting side note, the famous sword fighter scene in the film
was originally intended to be much longer and epic, but due to Ford just
getting over food poisoning he was not up to the challenge. Instead of a long winded battle scene Ford
suggested ‘Why don’t we just shoot the bastard,’ Spielberg agreed and it became
one of the best scenes in the film and possibly one of the top scenes in film
history.
Moving
along to 1984, Lucas and Spielberg decided that it was time to have some fun
again with their favorite action hero and created Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (originally Temple
of Death). Temple of Doom was written as a prequel to Raiders, taking place
one year earlier, and is by far the darkest film in the series. Whereas the first and third installments of
the Indiana Jones series had a great deal of humor throughout, the slight humor
that was in Temple of Doom was more
physical comedy that did not work as well and was massively overshadowed by the
darkness of the script. In Temple of Doom Indiana manages to get
himself wrapped up in a heap of trouble with a cult that is obsessed with
Goddess Kali and have enslaved the local children to mine for 2 of the lost
sacred stones (Sankara).
The cult,
headed by the evil Mola Ram, make human sacrifices and hope to rule the world
once they have obtained the other two Sankara.
Between abusing children, tons of fire, bloodshed, and ripping the
hearts out of a living people Temple of Doom definitely managed to capture the
award for darkest Indy film and though the film is this reviewer’s (and most
peoples’) least favorite, the series would not be the same without it. The problem with Temple of Doom was that whereas we accept Indiana Jones films for
being a little off-center, humorous, and full action; the slight darkness of
Nazis, guns, and even faces melting off, never overshadowed the light hearted
action that the films brought to the table.
Temple of Doom, however, was
a tad too dark and not in quite the same vein as the other two films. For whatever reason, though, it worked and
does not seem so out of character that it disrupts the Indiana Jones epic
chronicles. If George Lucas was trying
to make Temple of Doom be his idea
of darkness for Indiana Jones like Empire Strikes Back was in the Star Wars series, he went a little too
far for it to be perfectly believable as an Indiana Jones installment. The film is no where near as memorable or
eventful as the other two films in the series, but is a heck of a lot better
than most films. If nothing else Short
Round is the same actor who played Data in the Steven Spielberg-produced Goonies…and that is just awesome.
If Temple of Doom was Lucas and
Spielberg’s idea of darkness, the third film falls at the opposite end of the
spectrum as a humor filled jaunt of lighthearted fun (for the most part). Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade is the most action filled and lighthearted
installment in the Indiana Jones
series and is this reviewer’s personal favorite. Whereas the first film is definitely the best
made and written film in the series (with Oscars to prove it) as even Steven
Spielberg says ‘Last Crusade is an
audience favorite.’ The entire film the
audience sits on the edge of their seats, laughing, and waiting anxiously in
anticipation to cheer when everything turns out ok. The film feels a lot like Raiders at times, but brings its own
charm to the series with a ton of deadpan humor and brilliantly staged action
sequences.
The
pairing of Harrison Ford with Sean Connery is probably one of the smartest
ideas ever. The duo worked incredibly
well off each other and whereas Connery was never exactly the feeble old man,
he did do an excellent job taking a step back from his normal powerful
Bond-like presence. This is not to say
Ford stole the show either; Connery and Ford worked so well as father and son
they almost seemed to be one entity. Who
would have thought Ford and Connery were the Peanut Butter and Jelly of
action/adventure cinema? It is also odd
to think that the father and son team are in reality only 12 years of age
apart. The film did an excellent job of
bringing humor to the table, yet not letting it go so off track that it was no
longer and action film. It is an
action/adventure film with a strong comic element; where else can you see the
Nazis portrayed in such a washed, stereotypical light?
Finally
we come to the Indiana Jones television series, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Three- The Years of
Change. Like the films, this
reviewer views the Young Indiana
series as one solid entity. Whereas many
other reviewers will say that Volume
Three has the least to offer with the later years being the least exciting,
the series must be reviewed as one cohesive piece. Though they are broken into
re-edited/volumized sets here on DVD the series episodes were truly just one
big venture for George Lucas and in the end were never meant to be picked
apart. Many criticize the Young Indiana series of being too dry
without enough of the action/adventure that we have become accustomed to from
Dr. Jones. The series does dance a thin
line between entertainment and ‘edu-tainment,’ but in the end pulls it off as
fun television.
The
series is most definitely history driven (especially since Lucas is such a huge
history buff) and is meant to have both elements of the character and his sense
mischievous adventure that we love, yet also bring more to the table by letting
the viewer experience the history that was unfolding around our favorite
hero. Lucas uses unending amounts of historical
fact for the series and in this final box set we finally get to experience even
more of the great editing Lucas uses of archival film footage that blends
Indiana into historical events; like the Treaty of Versailles. Some of the best episodes do appear on this
third volume, including ‘Peacock’s Eye’ and ‘Winds of Change,’ even a long
awaited reappearance of Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford, appears as a 50
something Indiana who reminisces about the past in ‘Mystery of the Blues.’ Because of Harrison Ford’s appearance,
‘Mystery of the Blues’ is also the only one of the feature length re-edits to
contain bookend sequences to the episode that in all other cases had been cut
out.
George
Lucas cut out all of the bookend sequences of Indiana as an elderly man,
probably for future continuity’s sake; you know just in case they need to wheel
out a 90 year old Harrison Ford to shoot some footage later. Lucas likes to forget about and change the
past, but in he somehow forgets we all still remember; Star Wars Christmas Special anyone?
The series is well worth completing with this final box set and along
with the seven great episodes there are also 31 in-depth documentaries and an
interactive timeline.
The
technical features on the new Indiana
Jones: The Adventure Collection and The
Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Three - The Years of Change have
not changed much since previous releases as far as picture and sound but the
extras on the aforementioned sets are a mixed bag. The picture on the Adventure Collection is presented in the same 2.35 X 1 Anamorphic
Widescreen that was nicely restored for the previous The Adventures of Indiana Jones DVD set that was released. The picture has practically zero dirt or
debris, nice color with only few issues here and there with skin tones, and
little light/dark issues. The sound is
once again presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound that was converted
from a mono track to a stereoized track for the first two films and Last Crusade was already presented in a
stereo surround when it was upgraded.
The sound on the first two films comes heavily from the front, but they
still remain to be solid tracks.
The third
film has a much bigger punch with the sound quality being more fluid as it
projects from the surrounds. Between the
three discs for the three different films there are 12 all new special features
added that are nice, but not as great as the extras disc that was included in
the previous trilogy set. Extras
included in the new Adventure Collection include New Introductions to each film
by Spielberg and Lucas, The Indy Trilogy: A Crystal Clear Appreciation, The
Mystery of the Melting Face, Snakes Alive, Storyboards, Creepy Crawlies,
Discover Adventure on Location with Indy, Indy’s Women Reminisce, Indy’s
Friends and Enemies, and Photo Galleries.
The great special features that were available on the previous set are
not present here and it is sad because it makes this set a not very worthy
upgrade (hang onto your old sets).
The
technical features on The Adventures of
the Young Indiana Jones: Volume 3 are once again excellent and their
amazing quality can and will only be improved once they are put onto a better
quality, High Definition format. The sound and picture on this set have
been remastered from the best quality masters LucasFilm could find, and it
shows. The picture has had its original 16mm footage cleaned and is
presented here in a 1.33 X 1 Full Screen format, which is accurate.
Though this reviewer would have liked a nice Anamorphic Widescreen presentation
and it might be possible to make it that way in a future 1.78 X 1 HD release.
Even
block style, I must admit the picture is crisp, clear, color balanced, and is
basically fantastic for DVD. The sound is presented once again as a crisp
Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo soundtracks that decodes to standard surround
and remains excellent and balanced, though DTS would have been nice.
Overall, LucasFilm did an amazing job remastering the picture and sound of this
epic series cleaning it up and making it look better than it ever has.
Lucas had used the show as a ground to experiment for future digital work on
feature films and you can see that at times too.
There are
once again a multitude of extras and documentaries available on this set.
Volume One offered fans 38 in depth
documentaries and Volume Two offers
up 26 more and now the final and third volume offer 31 more in-depth
documentaries. The documentaries are interesting as they chronicle the
moments and figureheads of history that are featured throughout the various
episodes of the series. These documentaries only further George Lucas’
original intention of the series to act as a teaching tool as well as
entertainment to younger generations. The new documentaries feature such
historical figures as Ernest Hemmingway, Dracula, Woodrow Wilson, and many,
many more. The special features once again include interactive timelines
(another attempt to organize the poorly edited sets), a videogame, and few more
special tidbits that are sure to excite, teach, and entertain.
There is
not anything to dislike about the Indiana Jones series. All of the Indiana Jones films are ranked in
this reviewer’s favorite films of all time and they only seem to get better
with age. So get your whip and dust off
your leather jacket, because there is a lot more adventure to be had.
- Michael P Dougherty II
