The Adventures of Indiana Jones -
The Complete DVD Movie Collection

As the DVD medium continues to develop and mature, quickly becoming the dominant home video medium, the movies that early adopters have been impatiently awaiting for years are slowly but surely making their way onto silver platters. The three Indiana Jones movies, often referred to as a trilogy although there is no narrative development from film to film and a fourth film has been in the works for some time, made up the most commercially successful and most fondly remembered series of action pictures of the 1980s, and have topped many a Most Wanted List since DVD first became a medium to be reckoned with. Long delayed by the somewhat fickle Spielberg/Lucas creative duo, who have their own firmly held beliefs about what should and should not be included on a DVD release, the three films are now finally released by Paramount in a splendid four-disc set.

Available only as a box set, with each film on its own disc, and a fourth platter full of extras, The Adventures of Indiana Jones will please the films' fans with its gorgeoulsy restored film transfers and wealth of documentary material. Painstakingly cleaned up by industry standard-bearer Lowry Digital Images and given room-filling surround sound audio mixes, all three films look and sound incredible, with terrific detail and colors that leap off the screen. The extras are also well-produced, offering over three hours of documentary material that includes terrific new interview material with just about every major participant of cast and crew, all of whom are generous with their engaging recollections on all three productions. Special treats within these documentaries and featurettes include the rare screen test footage of Tom Selleck and Tim Matheson, and the wealth of behind-the-scenes footage of Spielberg, Ford and Lucas clowning around on the set, directing snakes, and stapling Indy's hat to his head. The only disappointment is that the extras are limited exclusively to these otherwise near-comprehensive documentaries, and that no deleted scenes, conceptual artwork, storyboards or movie posters have been included elsewhere. But the main attraction remains the films themselves, which will deliver for all those who have been awaiting them so long this holiday season.