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The Adventures of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark/The Temple of Doom/The Last Crusade) - Widescreen Customer Reviews (73 - 75 of 140 Reviews)

Textbook adventure that is often copied, never equalled.
God I love these movies.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark is unquestionably one of the most perfect pieces of adventure movie entertainment ever made. A bookish archaeologist dons a fedora and a bullwhip and dashes around the world in search of biblical treasure, and from the jungles of Peru to the snows of Nepal and the ancient burial chambers of Egypt, the air is ripe with excitement and adventure. Harrison Ford is young and his performance fresh and physical, while his sidekick Karen Allen is more Lara Croft than Angelina Jolie could ever be, a wide-eyed, kickass godess. This old-fashioned, spirited ride features cinema's favourite goose-stepping villains, the Nazis, in enjoyably cartoonish mode. With the Ark of the Covenant as its religious subject, the setting is given the weight of thousands of years of biblical mysticism. To go into it in much more detail would be to rob the first-time viewer of many surprises in store.

Not everyone is happy with the direction taken by the second episode, Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. I love the different, darker avenues it explores. While keeping the wisecracks of the imperilled title character and the spirit of non-stop adventure that first ignited his adventures, it presents a more hellish scenario of voodoo, doomsday cults and lava. Indy and his friends hurtle into hell in a runaway mine car, and you can almost smell the blood and sulphur.

Things lighten up once again for the third episode, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. Its critics would argue that it's largely a retread of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and they're not wrong. That doesn't stop it from being a soaring adventure on its own merits. The leading lady doesn't follow the same formula as twice before, and Sean Connery is brought in as Professor Henry Jones for some enjoyable father-son banter. You walk out of this movie remembering the line from its closing scenes -- "illumination!" -- and the final ride of the raiders into the sunset.

In terms of extra features this DVD set isn't the most stacked there has ever been, but this is one of the few times it hasn't concerned me. What is there is enough to give you a nostalgic look at the movies' production without you becoming too over-familiar to enjoy them. What there is is so beautifully assembled and presented that I can't imagine why someone would not be satisfied.

A great box set of three unforgetable films!!!!!!!!
Now that I own this box set,I am will review not only the films,but the extras,as well.

I will start with the films:Directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by George Lucas,the three films of Indiana Jones are Raiders of the Lost Ark,Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Raiders and Last Crusade are two films that I have nothing but praise for.Raiders of the Lost Ark is by far one of the greatest movies EVER made.The plot revolves around Dr. Indiana Jones(Harrison Ford),who is given a assignment by Army Intelligence to go to the city of Tanis,where the Nazis(this is set in 1936)have discovered a possible location to The Ark of the Covenant,where in biblical times,the Hebrews carried the the Ten Commandments inside the Ark.Indiana must get to Tanis and reclaim the Ark before the Nazis do.Luckilly,he has some assistance:a ex-flame,Marion Ravenwood(Karen Allen),who can hold her own in drinking contest,and an Eygptian digger named Sallah(John-Rhys Davies).Now,the three of them must get the Ark and keep it out of Indy's archnemesis Belloq(Paul Freeman) and the other Nazi's hands.Boy,this is a great film! It has some very exciting moments and it has great acting from the leads.All in all,after you finish this film,you WILL immeditely put in another Indy film. I give Raiders of the Lost Ark 5 stars.

The Last Crusade is also a five star film.The film begins in 1912 with one of Indy's first adventures(he being played by River Phoneix,due to the fact Indy is like 12 years old here),then the film picks up in 1938 when Indiana(Harrison Ford)is given a assignment by man named Walter Donovan to begin a quest for the Holy Grail,the cup that Jesus Christ drank from at the Last Supper.Indy also learns his father,who is the utmost authority on the Grail,is now missing.Indy starts on the quest to look for his father.Eventually,Indy locates his father(played brilliantly by Sean Connery)and Indy learns that Donovan and Indy's assistant and new flame Dr. Elsa Landcaster(Allison Doody)are working for the Nazis.Now,Indy,Henry(that's Indy's Dad),Sallah,who returns in this film,and Marcus Brody(also in Raiders,played by Denholm Elliot)must stop the Nazi from reaching the Grail in this amazing fantasy.This is the best of the trilogy by far.The acting,action pieces,score,etc.are simply the best of the trilogy and Sean Connery steals every scene he's in as Professsor Henry Jones,Sr.5 stars.

I saved the worst film for last:Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.The story revolves a year before the events of Raiders where Indiana Jones(Harrison Ford)nearly escapes a Shaghai night club,then along with songbird Willie Scoot(Kate Capshaw) and Indy's sidekick Short Round(Ke Huy Quan)are on a plane that they barely escape from it crashing.They meet this India village,who have had the sacred stone they worship taken from their village,along with the children from a evil cult who are using the stone for their own evil purposes and using children as slaves.Now,Indiana has to stop the villians,get the stone back,and save the children before it's too late.While this film is as exciting as the other two,Temple of Doom is gross.A guy gets his heart ripped from his body,then his body dropped into a fiery pit.Also,there is dinner scene,where people eat baby snakes,bugs,and chilled monkey brains.But the biggest problem:this film,like I said,happens BEFORE Raiders,which means there is no point in being scared for Indy's safety,because Raiders happens right after this film's events,even though Raiders came out three years before.Still,Temple of Doom is a good film and give it three stars.

Now the extras:This film features great extras.There is a two-hour documenty discussing the making of the trilogy.It is a great documenty that will answer some of the questions you will probably have after watching the three films.There are four featuretts:The Sound of Indiana Jones,discussing the sound of the trilogy,The Music of Indiana Jones,which discusses the classic Raiders March theme composed by John Williams,along with all the other themes,The Stunts of Indiana Jones,which discusses the fantastic stuntwork on the three films,and The Light and Magic of Indiana Jones,which discusses how Industrial Lights and Magic did all the visual effects on the trilogy.Also included is trailers for all three films,a preview for the new video game,Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb,and a link to the Indiana Jones website.I give the extra features four stars.

All in all,a fantasic box set that I recommend to fans of Indiana Jones,Steven Spileberg,George Lucas,or fans of adventure films in general.A fantastic set.Buy it as soon as you spot a copy!


Great Movies, Disappointing DVDs
Never did I fathom posting such a negative review for this series, but, unfortunately, it is necessary. Steven Spielberg, in my opinion, is one of cinema's finest storytellers, but when it comes to pleasing the fans (especially in this day and age when the capabilities of DVDs are never-ending), he continually falls short. 'Saving Private Ryan' remains as my favorite film of all time, yet the DVD gives us little...as is the same with the Indiana Jones box set.

There is a fourth disc, yes, and it does include special features, yes, but for a series as famous and well-known as this, Spielberg could have done better. There is no director's commentary over the films themselves, which I found incredibly disappointing, and while I did enjoy the near-hour long 'making of' features (actually, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' is the only that comes close to an hour--the others are barely half an hour), there isn't enough to please fans waiting for so long.

I refuse to review the films themselves. If I'm willing to pay for a boxed edition, I'm obviously a fan. The transfers are nice, don't get me wrong, but I continue to use 'The Lord of the Rings' as an example while viewing these films. I do believe that, in twenty years, 'LotR' will be referred to--in the same breath--as both 'Indiana Jones' and 'Star Wars,' but already 'LotR' is producing more enchanting DVDs. ('Star Wars' is not even available on DVD yet, but I heard May, 2004.)

It sounds as though I'm rambling, but I've waited just as long as other die-hard fans for these films on DVD, and came to expect an abundance of special features to keep me satisfied for days. To my dismay, I watched the entire disk in only a few hours.

George, do better with 'Star Wars.' Take a page out of Peter Jackson's book.

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