Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray Review

It's here! One of the single most anticipated releases of the year has finally made it! But before we dig into Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures four-disc Blu-ray set, let's take a trip back through the series and discuss each film.

Among film geeks there's always been one big debate that's garnered much discussion: Which Indiana Jones film is really the best?

While no one would probably list Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as the absolute best of the saga, there's been some good arguments for the other three films in the series. But the first two sequels of the original Indy Trilogy have their strengths and their weaknesses, but more on that in a bit.

The Films:

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the perfect adventure film. Much like Jaws is the perfect shark film, and Jurassic Park is the perfect dinosaur picture, Steven Spielberg has a habit of crafting the “definitive” version of pretty much every movie he makes. Raiders is energetic and lively – layered with fun homage and nostalgia, and painted with colorful characters, a great story and some of the best action sequences in all of cinema history.

The film is perfection. It's gritty, violent, scary, funny and completely charming. And despite the three decades that have passed since the film was released, Raiders of the Lost Ark is still an engaging, exciting action picture with at least three more decades of replay value left in it. The film's narrative structure is awesome, and much like Star Wars, there's a sense of realism and true character to Indy's world – with nearly limitless potential for more stories to be told within the film's vast universe.

And to think, Raiders almost never happened. Or rather, Raiders might have been a Bond film had Steven Spielberg gone that route instead, and landed a job creating a new 007 picture. But instead, we got Harrison Ford as the whip-cracking archeologist, Indiana Jones, and the world was all the better for it.

Score: 10 out of 10

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an odd beast that's often referred as the “dark” Indy picture, and with good reason – it's gory and sometimes a bit mean-spirited. But to balance the darker side of the picture, Temple of Doom is also a bit goofier than Raiders, with slapstick comedy, a child sidekick and brazenly illogical action set pieces, like the plane crash in the first act, and the downright silly raft scene that ensues.

Temple is also a bit culturally insensitive, opting to gross out audiences with the deliciously nasty Indian cuisine. Monkey brains, anyone? It's an undeniably memorable scene – one of the best of the series – but slightly offensive it most certainly is. The film is also seasoned with a bit too many creepy crawler scenes, and it stacks them right on top of each other instead of spreading them out a bit better. Indy's sidekick, Short Round, can also get on the nerves at times. And Indy's love interest, Willie, is a bit too weak and whiny.

It's no secret that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were going through a tough time in their private lives during this era, and it's reflected in Temple of Doom. But even with it's flaws, there's a lot to love about the film. Cinematography is simply breathtaking, for one. And the darker, more selfish version of a slightly younger Indy is fascinating. It's interesting seeing this man before his encounters in Raiders, and it helps give context to who he is as an individual. So, despite the film's many weaknesses, Temple is a fun, equally action-packed adventure. It's darker, and not as enjoyable to re-watch, but the film definitely has its moments.

Score: 7 out of 10

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a return to form, and is often considered a near perfect sequel, matching the action and excitement of the first adventure, while adding more character development to Indy. We get to meet Indy's father, played with gusto by Sean Connery. We get to see many of the characters from Raiders. And we get another Nazi-centric set of villains.

But, despite the many strengths of Last Crusade, there's also a safeness to the picture. It doesn't take many chances, unlike Temple, and plays a lot like Return of the Jedi, swapping a more complex story for one that somewhat retreads the magic of the original picture. The film's love interest is completely bland. And, like Temple of Doom, the film sometimes relies a bit too heavily on silly humor.

But make no mistake, Last Crusade is a pretty awesome adventure, and the last great Indiana Jones film. Everyone's clearly having a great time, and that's reflected in the movie. The action set pieces are quite awesome, and the creepy crawler moments are far better spaced than before. While Last Crusade might be a tad more polished and neater than Raiders, it lacks that gritty charm of the original. But there's plenty of room to debate which film is better, and it all boils down to what appeals to you more.

Score: 9 out of 10

Ahh, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, you menace, you. It's true, the fourth and possibly final chapter in the Indiana Jones saga ends on a bit of whimper. The story, in many ways, represents a breakdown of communication between Lucas and Spielberg, with Spielberg largely disagreeing with his friend over creative choices. Ultimately, he simply bowed to Lucas' demands and we have the least fascinating, most frustrating chapter in the Indy saga.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is so hated by the fans that many consider it a cancer to this Blu-ray box set, and the sole reason why some will wait until individual releases are put out (which may never happen). But is the film really that bad? Well, yes and no. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a disappointment, riddled with bad choices in nearly every corner, but there is a hint of a good movie underneath the flying monkey and aliens, err, inter-dimensional beings.

The simple notion of Indy feeling empty, like his life is coming to close only to discover it's really just beginning, is heartwarming, and the stuff of Spielberg greatness. And a few of the action set pieces are pretty damn fun. The opening act is pretty good, especially the car chase. And the fight with the ants is also intense, harkening back to classic Raiders action. But then there's the CG crap, the bad sidekicks, Shia LaBeouf, the awkward plotting, the not-so-villainous villains and, well, pretty much everything else. If you can put on your blinders (or hide yourself in a fridge) and just focus on the story of Indy finding his greatest treasure – a family – the movie isn't so bad. But you'll really need to forgive the film of a mountain's worth of shortcomings.

Score: 6 out of 10

The Blu-ray:

The Indiana Jones: Complete Adventures Blu-ray arrives courtesy of Paramount and Lucasfilm. Let's just start out by saying that, to my knowledge, all four films have remained untouched by the fingers of CG-crazy visionary known as George Lucas. Even the added CG mountain shots from the 2008 DVD version of Raiders have been restored to the old matte painting version. Keeping Spielberg's original vision and intentions seemed to be key here, and fans should have no worries about any inorganic sound effects, added “Noooos!” or CG blinking. The only tweak noticed was the deleted reflection on the glass from Indy's encounter with the rattle snake, and pretty much everyone agrees that this was a good fix. Alas, all the terrible CG from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still intact, monkeys and all.

The discs themselves are housed in a digibook case, with a hard cardboard slipcover, similar to the Star Wars Blu-ray set, with one exception – the discs are slid between the pages.

While this looks nice, it can lead to unwanted scuffs and scratches on the discs themselves, even with the scratch guard that's standard on all Blu-ray discs. The set does look nice, at least, but when it comes to big sets like this, practicality should be considered over design. People want this stuff to last. They don't want the discs to get scratched. With that in mind, it would have been better to see standard BD cases instead. They're durable and they don't mess with the discs at all.

The case is also missing any information about the discs. What are the special features on disc four? You'll have to plop the disc in your BD player to see. What are the specs for the set? Well, if you've already thrown out the little slip that advertizes the set, you won't know until you play the films. We get a two-page spread dedicated to the cast and crew credits, but why not the disc specs? The old Indy DVDs included a booklet! So did the Star Wars Blu-ray set. It's a minor pet peeve, but seriously – would it have been that hard to include some specs and bonus feature info on the inside box? Come on.

Each of the classic Indiana Jones films have been meticulously restored and remastered, presented in 1080p/AVC and mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The first three discs in the set include no bonus features, other than trailers and teasers for each respective film. Other than a slight audio update, Crystal Skull appears to be the same Blu-ray from the last release, so we'll be skipping over that one for the bulk of this review. Besides, there's probably not many buying this set hoping to see that film. If you want to know more about that Blu-ray, you can read our previous review here.

The discs are fresh on the market and already there's been quite a bit of debate over the transfers, namely issues with aliasing, contrast, softness and color correction. Much of the debate started when Raiders screened in IMAX early in September, and the debate will inevitably continue now that the set is available (on Sept. 18, 2012).

So, are the problems enough to completely ruin this set's potential? No. In fact, all three classic Indy pictures boast terrific transfers. A natural haze of grain is retained throughout all three pictures, and the restoration yields a flawless image, with no dust or dirt specks in sight. Similar to Star Wars, the films practically look brand new, and will likely be the finest transfers out there for any of the three films for some time. The first film favors the worst of the bunch, though, but that's to be expected. Of the classic productions, Raiders was always the grimiest, grittiest and most guerrilla of the three. The opening sequence in particular is really musty and dirty, but it's always looked that way. There's simply nothing a restoration can do to fix that.

With that in mind, some of the hiccups fans have noted are, in fact, present. Contrast does seem to run a little high throughout all three films, and colors are just a touch more faded than expected. All three films underwent a pretty intensive restoration process, and color correcting and timing was likely used to create the best versions of each film. As such, colors can sometimes vary from the DVD masters to this HD version. To be frank, most fans won't even notice the color and brightness hike, but some videophiles might. Whether it will bother you might hinge on your personal preferences.

The prints also exhibit a hint of aliasing at times, but unless you scour through every single frame of the Blu-ray, you'll be hard pressed to notice this issue when watching the films at regular speed. The odder issue is the lack of sharpness. Each film runs a tad softer than expected. This could be the result of degraded film prints, DNR or general remastering procedures. While all three films are clean, with fine textures, details and plenty of striking depth – more so than any other home video release – there is just a hint of softness that surprised on occasion.

It's worth reiterating – most fans will not notice the slight flaws in these transfers. And even for those who do, it's hard to deny that Indiana Jones looks better than ever.

The same can be said for the less controversial 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks found on each film. The tracks have been organically upgraded and remastered to modern specs without adding any additional audio elements or effects. Unfortunately, though, the mixes are only presented in 5.1. For a time, Paramount was embracing 7.1 mixes, but they seem to go back and forth on fully embracing the 7.1 sound field. It's possible, since this release is focused on the director's original intentions, that a 7.1 update was nixed in favor of something more organic, but it's hard to tell.

Regardless, each mix is praise-worthy, with atmospheric effects, lively action and John Williams' classic themes roaring through nearly every scene. Dialogue is clean and pristine, with no noticeable hiss, crackles or other intrusive distortions. Surrounds are put to good use as well. Fans will find it hard to pick a favorite mix as all three are quite terrific. Crystal Skull also sounds amazing, though there wasn't much of a detectable boost between the TrueHD mix of the first Blu-ray and this DTS-HD mix.

Disc Four of this four-disc set is where fans will find all the bonus materials, roughly seven hours total. Oddly, there's very little that's new here, though this Blu-ray does port over most, but not all, of the bonus features from previous DVD releases. Goodies are broken up into three sections: “On the Set of Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Making the Films” and “Behind the Scenes.”

“On the Set” is, sadly, the only “new” addition to the Indy bonus features collection. The documentary is broken into two parts – From Jungle to Desert (30 minutes, HD) and From Adventure to Legend (30 minutes, HD). Both give host to a wealth of outtakes, deleted scenes, on-set fly-on-the-wall home movies, gags and production discussions. There are no canned interviews or retrospective insights – this is just raw behind-the-scenes awesomeness. Be sure to stick around through the whole documentary for about five minutes worth of deleted scenes, outtakes, gags and behind-the-scenes footage from Temple, Last Crusade and Crystal Skull.

“Making the Films” features the original two-hour making-of documentary, broken up by film, found on the 2003 DVD release of the classic Indy trilogy, and presented here in standard definition. There's also a really awesome hour-long archival documentary from 1981. Don't skip it because it's old. There's a TON of slick production insight and behind-the-scenes stuff to munch on. This section also includes a truncated half-hour making-of documentary for Crystal Skull, presented in HD.

Unfortunately, close to two hours of documentaries and interactive goodies from the Crystal Skull two-disc Blu-ray set are either chopped down here or axed completely, so hardcore fans will want to hold on to that release for the complete collection of bonus features. It almost seems like adding Crystal Skull to this set was an afterthought, and it shows in what's missing. Fans probably wouldn't have minded if it were nixed completely from the set in favor of more classic extras. That in mind, the set appears to be missing a few minor featurettes and storyboard extras from the 2008 DVDs.

“Behind the Scenes” is loaded with about two-and-a-half hours of archival featurettes, most of which were found on the 2003 and 2008 DVD sets. A few featurettes from Crystal Skull have also been ported over. All told, there are 12 featurettes here, and a wealth of fascinating info. The 2003 material is presented in SD whereas the 2008 material is presented in HD.

The Verdict:

If you love Indiana Jones, then picking up this Blu-ray box set is pretty much a no-brainer. The transfers have their minor problems, but it's not nearly enough to warrant skipping this set. Audio is outstanding, and pretty much all the extras have been ported over. It would have been nice to see a few more newly crafted goodies, all the old bonus features, and maybe an isolated deleted scenes section. Regardless, Indiana Jones on Blu-ray is a sight to see, and the meticulous time and effort that went into this set is more than commendable.

"Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities." Become a friend of R.L. Shaffer on Twitter, Facebook or MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and more!

Source : ign[dot]com