Moviehole.net
Clint Morris
21st October 2003
Harrison Ford, Sean Connery,
Denholm Elliot, John Rhys-Davies, Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw,
Alison Doody
There’s only a few movie-series filmbuffs would go so far as to
vend their souls if it meant getting them out on DVD - one was the
“Back to the Future” trilogy, released late last year, another
would be “Star Wars” – rumoured to be getting a release late
next year – and last but not least, the three “Indiana
Jones” movies. Knowing how shielding he’s been about the
original “Star Wars” trilogy and putting on the backburner its
release on DVD time after time, no one really expected Producer
George Lucas to let “Indy” get the digital treatment, but
thankfully, he has – at long last – and boy has it been worth
the wait.
Amazing what a few zillion beseeching emails can accomplish
isn’t it?
The brainchild of Lucas and the conception of Steven Spielberg,
the “Indiana Jones” series was a landmark moment in popcorn
blockbuster entertainment. 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, and action adventure came in profusion. Best of all – and
the same can’t be said about some of Lucas’s later films –
the movies were made ‘Old Style’ with no – or minimalist –
computer effects and simply an incorporation of plot, stuntmen,
props and artistry. The authenticity of the films in turn dates
back to just how skilfully they were put together. You can
appreciate a genuine 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 was in reality done.
Looking back at the three “Indiana Jones” movies it only makes
you sit and think why on earth Mr Lucas ever thought computers
could take the place of good old fashioned moviemaking. But
let’s not dwell on that…let’s appreciate the fine work he
and Spielberg did from 1982 to 1989.
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” was a colossal adventure the likes
of which we will have been lucky to have seen since. Quest,
laughs, romance, action, and predominantly an extraordinary male
protagonist you could well and truly root for. In it, Harrison
Ford – straight off Lucas’s “Star Wars” – plays a
1930’s archaeologist and adventurer who globe-trots around the
world hunting down precious antiques. This time 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 adventure is never ending and the stunts have to be seen to be
believed. 20 odd years later the film still plays magnificently
well. In fact, near flawless.
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” was the imminent
sequel. Though good – make that very good – the film’s
darker tone didn’t appeal as much as the lighter,
adventure-driven pitch of the first film. Set 10 years before the
previous film, this one sees Indy attempt to rescue stolen
children from a pagan cult, and though much scarier and violent,
has just as much grand-scale adventure and over-the-top action
sequences to keep pernickety viewers intrigued. Spielberg, on a
documentary on the disc [see below] says it’s his least
favourite of the three – he’s probably not alone – but
he’s glad he did it because it introduced him to his wife,
actress Kate Capshaw, who was playing leading lady, Willie Scott.
The third, “Indiana Jones and the last
Crusade” was a little more in tune with the first movie in
the fact that it went back to the lighter, more popcornish-venture
style. The kicker this time was that Indy’s now forced to get
about with his Dad in tow, and who better to play his dad but Sean
Connery [though 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.
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. There’s no extras on any of the
discs containing the movies – yep, that means no audio
commentaries unfortunately – but the fourth disc, a bonus disc
choca-bloc with bonus features, is better than anything we could
have hoped for.
“The Making of the Trilogy” is a three part newly-recorded
documentary covering every aspect of the making of the three
films. It’s just superb. 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 any of the films – like Alfred Molina – turn up to
talk. You don’t get to see any deleted scenes unfortunately, but
this thing is sweeter than any frivolous cut bit.
There are also four featurettes – running for about twelve
minutes each - cover sound, effects, stunts, and music. Best of
all, these are - like the doco – newly recorded featurettes, and
although a lot of it’s been said in the aforesaid ‘Making of
Trilogy’ doco they still make for pleasant and informative
viewing.
To cap off the set, there’s theatrical and teaser trailers, a
commercial for the video game, and DVD-Rom Content which takes you
to the official site where you can access galleries, storyboards
and posters.
Easily one of the best – if not – the best and most exciting
DVD Release of the year, “The Adventures of Indiana Jones”
will hopefully add assurance to Mr Lucas that it’s time to
introduce that ‘Galaxy Far, Far Away’ to the medium.
Buy
Adventures of Indiana Jones on DVD Here
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