Review: 'Indiana Jones: Adventure Collection'
"Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection" won't be much of a thrill ride for owners of Paramount's previous "Raiders" DVD box set.
Audio and video appear identical to the presentations on the highly regarded "The Adventures of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection." Even the menus are the same.
The attractions here are the new extras, which are decent but don't add a great deal to what was revealed over three-plus hours on the supplemental disc from the 2003 Indiana Jones DVD set.
Still, "Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection
Basically, the new Indy set works for people who don't have the old set, don't care much about the mother lode of extras from '03 and aren't planning to get into high definition anytime soon. Or those who are obsessive about shelf space, since the new box is less than half that of the old.
To be fair, let's look at some recent history: January's collapse of the HD DVD format probably took some of the snap out of this promotional campaign, timed of course to the release of the fourth Indiana Jones movie. As HD DVD backer Paramount retools for Blu-ray, we're left with no high definition versions of the original three "Raiders" movies -- which would have come out right about now in the natural order of things. So it's back to DVDs.
Once again, the video and audio get off to a so-so start. "Raiders" (1981) looks OK, but it's a product of its time -- at least there are few visible signs of wear and images are reasonably clear. (The images do respond to upconversion, at least on my Blu-ray.) But it isn't until "Temple of Doom" (1984) that the high quality of these DVDs begins to emerge.
"Doom" is inevitably called "the darkest" Indy film, but from frame 1 it employs a robust color palette in telling its tale of slavery and black magic. The DVD delivers the goods, with rich blood reds and working-in-the-coal-mine blacks.
"Last Crusade" (1989) looks like a new film, with sensational, crystal-clear images.
All three movies are presented in widescreen (2.35:1) with the 16x9 enhancement.
Dialogue and music come across clearly on "Raiders," but its surround effects tend to muddy up and distract from the action. "Doom's" audio works better, with clear and discrete surround. "Crusade" sounds as if it were recorded yesterday. All of the films are in Dolby Digital (5.1).
Audio and video carry the THX endorsement, naturally.
The Lucas-Spielberg introductions run roughly 7 minutes each. The men are filmed separately. This time out, the old friends take a harder line on the disappointing "Temple of Doom," basically admitting it was a dog.
"The reviews were awful," director Spielberg says. "I like (the others) better," Lucas adds.
Kate Capshaw, who took a Yoko Ono-like beating over her "Temple of Doom" work, appears in another extra with the other two "Indy Women," saying her character was "not very appealing" as written. "It was a stereotype, this woman."
On one intro, Spielberg says, "I wanted to make a globe-trotting movie like James Bond." He succeeded wildly, based on the evidence presented in a cool 10-minute short with with producer Robert Watts, a locations specialist. Watts rattles off what was filmed in which exotic place and why, with pop-up text piling on information.
Another ace extra deconstructs "The Melting Face!" from "Raiders." Effects explorer Chris Walas tells how he made the Nazi creep's head ooze down onto his uniform. Meanwhile, on video, movie creature specialists re-create the gag step by step. After the melting face proved to be a gross-out sensation, Walas says, pros repeatedly asked him to explain the process. "Suddenly, everybody wanted to melt a head somewhere."
The rest of the extras are pretty standard, storyboards and more shorts.
The DVD set attends to its promo chores, with the same trailer for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" marching in front of each DVD. "An appreciation" of the "Raiders" movies turns out to be just the "Crystal Skull" gang looking back on the series. A Lego game demo appears on each disc as well.
The DVDs also are available separately.
" finds its audience on DVD.
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" tracks the flow of inside information swirling about a web of Vancouver law officers and organized crime figures. The series does not make for relaxed viewing. The cast is fairly large and the plotlines implode and explode real quick like. You don't want to wander off for long without hitting the pause button.
will want this one as well.
movie has its moments, no doubt, starting with the magnificent scenes shot in its to-scale version of the Forum, built on the plains outside Madrid. 
of "Fall of the Roman Empire" has the two discs that matter and saves you $10. 
," clocking in at 165 minutes, tells the tale of two families who head west for fortune and adventure in 1839. The saga continues over 50 years. The film won a couple of Oscars but didn't take the best picture nod. The film has its fans but I'm not one of them. It's just OK.
