DVD Reviews

The Adventures Of Indiana Jones

Slap on the Fedora, crack that whip and lets hit the road to adventure with the Adventures of Indiana Jones box set. Originally in theatres 22 years ago, the stories still hold their own. The original Raiders of the Lost Ark was loosely based on the Matinee serial adventures of the forties and fifties; thrilling adventures packed with intrigue, excitement and some well placed laughs. The Temple of Doom took everything that made Raiders so entertaining and multiplied it by twenty. Bad idea. This made for extreme overkill as well as a rather negative response from the fan base and critics alike. The Last Crusade revitalizes the series once again, covering some of the back-story on the main character thus bringing the fan base closer to the series than ever.

Picture quality reveals a very nicely done transfer. All three films have been given a fantastic once over and appear as though they were made only yesterday. Colours are extremely vibrant, blues especially in Raiders, almost cartoon like in perfection. The clean up of the picture enhances the rough edges on some of the blue screen special effects, which is a little disappointing (I recall that on the Superman DVD transfer, they actually cleaned up all the blue screen effects so that they were barely noticeable). Black level is ultimate black. You strain to see detail in shadows at times but these instances can be quickly dismissed. Detail and sharpness is fantastic, the beads of sweat on Indy's face being a fine example.

Soundtrack offers a quality re-mastering that stays true to the original film. I remember every sound in these films and they are all there, only more realistic and vibrant than before. Surrounds are effectively utilized, echoing caverns come alive and the low-level effects are thunderous. That rolling bolder has some REAL weight to it! Vocals are taken from the original tracks and do become slightly distorted at higher levels. Not much can be done there, though, outside of calling in the whole cast and redoing it from scratch. Ain't gonna happen.

A nicely animated, musically accompanied main menu has animated transitions to secondary menus. A fitting design and nicely done. The behind the scenes extras offer really great replay value for a change. Over two hours of behind the scenes stories, stunts and special effects. And even a few words from Lucas and Speilberg. Solid offering.

This is a definite buy for the fan base and action movie enthusiasts, a truly wonderful job and worth the wait. So why am I thinking that when the newly announced Indy movie comes out in 2006, there is going to be an "Ultimate" edition to top this set? Those marketing folks…

Review By Joey Chill