Product Details

• Actors: Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 21, 2003
• Run Time: 546 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (739 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009ZPU6
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,766 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #10 in	Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Series & Sequels > Indiana Jones
  #24 in	Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Action Directors > Steven Spielberg
  #30 in	Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Action Stars > Harrison Ford

• For more information about "The Adventures of Indiana Jones - The Complete DVD Movie Collection (Full Screen Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As with Star Wars, the George Lucas-produced Indiana Jones trilogy was not just a plaything for kids but an act of nostalgic affection toward a lost phenomenon: the cliffhanging movie serials of the past. Episodic in structure and with fate hanging in the balance about every 10 minutes, the Jones features tapped into Lucas's extremely profitable Star Wars formula of modernizing the look and feel of an old, but popular, story model. Steven Spielberg directed all three films, which are set in the late 1930s and early '40s: the comic book-like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the spooky, Gunga Din-inspired Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the cautious but entertaining Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Fans and critics disagree over the order of preference, some even finding the middle movie nearly repugnant in its violence. (Pro-Temple of Doom people, on the other hand, believe that film to be the most disarmingly creative and emotionally effective of the trio.) One thing's for sure: Harrison Ford's swaggering, two-fisted, self-effacing performance worked like a charm, and the art of cracking bullwhips was probably never quite the iconic activity it soon became after Raiders. Supporting players and costars were very much a part of the series, too--Karen Allen, Sean Connery (as Indy's dad), Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Denholm Elliot, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies among them. Years have passed since the last film (another is supposedly in the works), but emerging film buffs can have the same fun their predecessors did picking out numerous references to Hollywood classics and B-movies of the past. --Tom Keogh

DVD features

This long-awaited DVD set of the Indiana Jones trilogy is a classy set built for the fan. However, the DVD-extras junky will be disappointed because there's not a bevy of extras: no storyboards, galleries, commentaries, or long-rumored deleted scenes. The three films are the real star here, restored frame by frame and--blessedly--unchanged from their initial release (the first movie has been retitled on the packaging only). Anyone who has grown up with TV airings will be amazed by what they see, as everything seems to glow. The three hours on the bonus disc are quite entertaining, and far warmer then your standard PR piece. The newly produced 127-minute documentary is put together chronologically through each movie, so it works as a good substitute for the lack of a commentary track. Lots of behind-the-scenes footage is laced with new interviews of every major living actor and crew member including stuntmen and even a bit player (Alfred Molina, talking about his first role in Raiders). They tell us many things we have heard, and many we haven't (like how the film company became a rat breeder for Last Crusade). And Spielberg enjoys showing us how an editor can save a scene or--ironically--how much creative fun went into special effects before the computer took over. Rounding out the extras are featurettes on the music, sound, and--too briefly--special effects, and stunts. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete & Satisfying, October 18, 2003

By	G. Guberlal - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adventures of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade) - Widescreen Edition (DVD)

George Lucas produced something other than Star Wars? The younger crowd may not be aware of this, but anyone like me growing up in the 70's -80's would. The answer: Absolutely! (We can forget & forgive his mid-80's mistake "Howard the Duck.")

This collaborative effort from Steven Spielberg & George Lucas brought new life into the action genre. It is equally important to remember that the films also propelled Harrison Ford from Star Wars's loveable "scoundrel" to a silver screen staple. Here is my take on the series so far (barring Indiana Jones 4 which is on & off...hopefully off due to Ford's age and the closure in "Last Crusade.")

Raiders of the Lost Ark:
From the intro Paramount logo shifting into a real mountain, to the mishaps in recovering the golden idol from the temple, "Raiders" pretty much set a tone for what was to come -action. What it brought in after the opening sequence is something not often seen in action movies -story. Not just story, mind you, but intelligent story (dispelling the myth that audiences are stupid.) It is an awkward sight to see Jones transformed from the adventurer to the lecturer, until he is told of The Ark of the Covenant -supposedly holding The Ten Commandments and a source of ultimate power -and chases after it. The rest & former are long embedded in film history. The Nazi's are after it as well and Jones has the fight of his life.

Interesting points:
The beautiful Karen Allen (Starman) portrays Marion (who I personally would like to have seen resurface in later films) and the rolling boulder (reminiscent of the asteroid thundering through a starship in 1979's B-movie "The Black Hole.")

Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom:
For me, this was the oddball movie. Jones saves child-slaves from an evil cult. That's about as well as I can sum it up. It fails its predecessor and succumbs to mediocre "sequel fever." I don't expect everyone to share my view, nor do I want you to. All-in-all, it's a high action flick and will pass some time well, even with the miscast future Mrs. Spielberg -Kate Capshaw (Space Camp).

Interesting points:
The chase through the mine is an exciting thrill-ride and the tension of bridge scene afterwards makes up for the lower points of this movie.

Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade:
To place this movie alongside the first would be justice served. Here is the return of the intelligent story and type of action/drama mix that resurged the Jones Saga. It opens with young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix, "The Mosquito Coast") stealing a lost artifact from a band of robbers. Ultimately, he is too young to thwart them; however it reveals the character of Jones from an early age and introduces his father, Henry (Sean Connery). Now, fast forward to the Jones we have come to know and Jones is trying to find his father who went searching for the Holy Grail. The movie is a whirlwind trip through Biblical History and pure adrenaline pumped action. The chemistry between Ford & Connery shines throughout the exotic locations and explosions providing comic relief as much as back-story. I can't say enough about this film, so I will stop here.

Interesting points:
So much is revealed in this movie, from the origin of the name "Indiana," to the deepest parts of each character (something rarely seen in films -character depth.)

DVD Extras:
Fortunate enough to have seen it (and I admit I'm not that much of a fan of these DVD revelations on the making's of the movie because it oftentimes destroys the fantasy of it all) I have to bend and tell you it is worth it. The original trailers are laughable (they weren't at the time the movie came out and I mean that in no disrespectful way) and a trip down Nostalgia Lane. One thing that sets this apart is that the documentary is not boring. Most are in DVD Extra-discs (probably because new movies have no real history -save maybe for The Matrix.)

Final Note:
For the cost, quality (remastered, et al.,) this is one box set that I am happy to comment on and also, one that I believe was done right and released right. (Check out other trilogy box-sets, which I won't name here, and you'll find so many versions and "Director's Cuts" that you'll be baffled at what to buy. This set is complete...plain & simple. Enjoy

177 of 203 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enough already, November 29, 2003

By	K. Gittins (CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Adventures of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade) - Widescreen Edition (DVD)

I read the first 70 reviews of the DVD 4-pack. I would like to comment on some comments.

1. Defective disks? All 4 of mine played flawlessly - on a $60 player.
2. Bad sound and picture? Mine looked and sounded great (although only on basic stereo TV).
3. Paper label on back cheap? Yep. Pulled it off and threw it away. So? Some other expensive DVD's I've bought came the same way.
4. Missing rat scene? Mine had it. A particular reviewer gave a 1-star rating based on a "missing" rat scene.
5. No commentary or deleted scenes? Nope. Some people seemed surprised (after they bought it). If you can't read an advertisement (or cheap paper label) BEFORE you buy something, perhaps you should not be trusted with a credit card.
Truthfully, commentaries are over-rated in general, although I like them. The problem is that the commentor is constrained by time as the movie plays along - should he only make short 5-second comments about obvious and insignificant things ("this is where the head explodes"), or a 2-minute oration about some specific point while the movie leaves him behind? The documentaries on the bonus disk allow as much time per subject as needed (more or less).
6. One "reviewer" said nothing about the movies or DVDs themselves but instead went off on a diatribe about how full-screen movies are in fact some kind of rip off due to "widescreen only" TV's in the next few years. Apparently (I'm inferring) this will cause (gasp!) black bars at the side of the screen rather than top. OK...
7. Another "reviewer" who has not actually seen the DVD's wrote about having to return them because he bought the full-screen version by mistake, not knowing there was a wide-screen version. Hmmm. It has "widescreen" or "full screen" in the title, too.
8. Another "reviewer" complained that he likes full-screen formats because he has a 4:3 TV and apparently the bars on widescreen versions are annoying. Did you know that if you had a widescreen TV, you would have plastic TV at the top and bottom instead of black bars and glass? This one made no sense, but he was from France, so OK:-)
9. The one guy I CAN relate to claimed this set was a rip-off because he only wanted ROTLA and thought the other movies were bad. I would not call it a rip off - you don't have to buy it, dude - but I, too, was only interested in ROTLA, but figured the bonus material would be good enough to warrant the other disks. Just barely. ROTLA is excellent. TOD is almost unwatchable due to the character of the little kid. I thought LC was marginal, saved only because it had Nazi's again.

190 of 219 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars genre perfection, November 15, 2003

By	William Sommerwerck "grizzled geezer" (Renton, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Adventures of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade) - Widescreen Edition (DVD)

Saturday-morning serials were, on the whole, awful. Cheaply made, with numbingly unimaginative and repetitive plots, they were filler that encouraged weekly movie attendance. A 15-part "thriller" could be cranked out for $100K to $250K (the total running time was rarely more than 90 minutes), so it easily returned its investment.

The worst thing about them was that, as "cliffhangers," very little actually hung over the cliff. The near-fatal situation the hero found himself in at the end of each episode was revealed at the beginning of the next to be not particularly threatening, as he (or she -- think of Pearl White) had gotten out of the way _before_ the explosion, gun shot, rock fall, car crash, etc, etc.

In one Buster Crabbe serial there's no way he can _possibly_ escape death -- and, indeed, the opening of the next episode is a complete reshoot that allows him an escape! Yet the kids never seemed to learn, and came back week after week. The two Superman serials -- why hasn't Warners reissued them on DVD? -- are well-above-average in this respect, as Supes could save the victim from just about any danger. Not to mention getting into a few tight spots himself.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" was the Saturday-morning cliffhanger serial millions of kids deserved, but never got. It's the epitome of this genre, and is unlikely ever to be exceeded, let alone equalled. It delivers the real thrills those cheap serials didn't, and remains a hoot, especially when the Nazis get what they so richly deserve at the end.

Opinions on the sequels vary. "Temple of Doom" is a terrific adventure film, but many viewers objected to its dark tone (which was Spielberg's and Lucas's intent -- they didn't want to repeat the first film). Its real problem isn't the violence (it's no more violent than "Raiders," which initially received an R rating for Belloc's head explosion), but its lack of any dramatic substance. It's 95% action -- there's little personal interaction or conflict. (Classic-serial fans will note that most of the "gags" are taken from a Republic serial, "Manhunt of Mystery Island." Which is one of the serials trashed in Firesign Theater's "Hot Shorts." It, too, deserves a DVD issue.)

Anyone who doesn't enjoy "The Last Crusade" is nuts, because we have the great fun of seeing Sean Connery as Indy's father. Connery is that rare combination of a really good actor _and_ a legitimate "movie star," who steals every scene he's in. "Crusade" lacks the startling novelty of "Raiders," but it's the best-plotted of the three films, tightly connecting the Grail search with Indy's and his father's lives.

The transfers are wonderful, especially "Raiders," which has never looked so vivid and rich. Spielberg and Lucas haven't altered the films, not even changing the title card of the first (which now "officially" has the "Indiana Jones and the..." prefix). Nor, alas, have the special effects been redone. You can still see the matte/Rotoscope lines, which are especially noticeable in the "supernatural" effects at the end of "Raiders." Considering the extensive (and sometimes unwelcome) changes Spielberg made to "E. T.", this is surprising.

The Indiana Jones movies are three wonderful excuses for fattening yourself on popcorn. The real stuff, not microwave.