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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 Indie'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 due soon), 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
Special 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
