DVD Review: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection
In my life I have met two people who have never seen an Indiana Jones movie; not surprisingly, they live together and are best friends. Despite that odd occurrence, I would bet money (not real, obviously) that you’ve seen at least one of the Indy movies, if not all four of them. The original trilogy remains a classic, and contains some of cinema’s most memorable scenes.
With the release of the new Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, things just wouldn’t make sense if we didn’t have tie-ins galore. LEGO Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford’s face plastered on any buyable item you can imagine (from French fries to socks), and of course, a new, updated collection to allow people to catch up on everyone’s favorite archeologist.
The new Adventure Collection is the second Indy box set, the first coming out several years ago. For the most part, it’s the same as always; the movies are identical, have no new scenes, and are (as far as I can tell) identical in video presentation. They feature the same slightly grainy and aged visuals that many movies from the 80s sport, although I will admit they seem to stand up a lot better to the test of time than other 80s era movies on DVD.
What will get many Indy fans salivating are the new extras featured in the collection. Each disc includes a roughly 10 minute introduction by Spielberg and Lucas, talking about the filming process, and all sorts of interesting facts about what happened on the set.
Each disc also includes its own unique set of extras, although they’re rarely related specifically to that movie. For example, Raiders features a reminiscing look back at the series by the crew behind it, while Last Crusade features a piece titled The Women, which pays respect to the women of the Indiana Jones trilogy.
Despite the new and (for the most part) very entertaining extras, I feel like an opportunity was missed out upon, as the set pulled a Princess Bride, neglecting to feature extras on the previous DVD release with the new ones. That means people who love Indy will be stuck holding onto their old DVD set as well, or picking which of the two has the better features. (A tough decision to make in all cases.)
The Adventure Collection doesn’t contain anything for casual Indy fans if they already own the last boxset. For newcomers to the series, I’d recommend it above the previous release. The packaging is more slim and streamlined, and the extras are just slightly better. Of course, diehard fans and trained archeologists like yours truly will end up having both in their collection, even if we know that we fell for the attempt to take more money out of our wallet for the Indy franchise. Such is the timeless power of Dr. Jones.
CONTENT: 5/5
Indiana Jones remains a classic. It’s impossible not to give this boxset a perfect score, purely because it contains the first three movies. The extras make it go beyond perfect, but I can’t exactly give a 6/5.
VIDEO: 3/5
80s, 80s, 80s. It stands out amidst other recent releases, and there’s little (if any) noticable upgrade to the video quality from the previous boxset. During action sequences, it’s especially obvious.
AUDIO: 4.5/5
How did people the first time around love Indy as much without 5.1? The surround is fantastic, and hearing the Indy theme blare to life with a nice system supporting it is an awesome moment.
REPLAY: 4/5
How many times have you watched the Indiana Jones movies in your life? And how many people rewatched them all before Crystal Skull? They have tremendous staying power, even for multiple viewings.
EXTRAS: 4/5
The extras are good, and entertaining. They could have used some more length (most come in at 10 minutes or so), but even at the short time I’ll take them. The only bad news is in a money grubbing scheme, you don’t get past extras in the new collection. If you want those, you’ll need to buy the old set, too.
OVERALL: 4.5/5
Indiana Jones is a classic. It inspired most of the people I know in archeology to go into archeology, and even at his age, Ford has managed to draw a whole new generation of little boys into the Indy Club. Still, it wasn’t too long ago that we had an Indy boxset on DVD, and this features nothing new other than some new extras, which happen to be at the expense of the old ones. It’s an obvious scheme to cash in on the new movie, but you know what? I don’t care. It’s a great collection for those who never had Indy on DVD, and if you did, you may want to consider picking this one up and gifting your old set to someone who doesn’t have it yet.
Want more Indy action? Check out Billy’s hands-on preview of LEGO Indiana Jones at GamerNode here!
Like this post? Subscribe to Filmplosion!
Leave a comment