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Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Blu-ray]

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#1 ·
Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Blu-ray]

Description:
Own all four Indiana Jones adventures in this Blu-ray collection. This collection includes: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.Raiders of the Lost ArkIndiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is no ordinary archeologist. When we first see him, he is somewhere in the Peruvian jungle in 1936, running a booby-trapped gauntlet (complete with an over-sized rolling boulder) to fetch a solid-gold idol. He loses this artifact to his chief rival, a French archeologist named Belloq (Paul Freeman), who then prepares to kill our hero. In the first of many serial-like escapes, Indy eludes Belloq by hopping into a convenient plane. So, then: is Indiana Jones afraid of anything? Yes, snakes. The next time we see Jones, he's a soft-spoken, bespectacled professor. He is then summoned from his ivy-covered environs by Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) to find the long-lost Ark of the Covenant. The Nazis, it seems, are already searching for the Ark, which the mystical-minded Hitler hopes to use to make his stormtroopers invincible. But to find the Ark, Indy must first secure a medallion kept under the protection of Indy's old friend Abner Ravenwood, whose daughter, Marion (Karen Allen), evidently has a "history" with Jones. Whatever their personal differences, Indy and Marion become partners in one action-packed adventure after another, ranging from wandering the snake pits of the Well of Souls to surviving the pyrotechnic unearthing of the sacred Ark. A joint project of Hollywood prodigies George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, with a script co-written by Lawrence Kasdan and Philip Kaufman, among others, Raiders of the Lost Ark is not so much a movie as a 115-minute thrill ride. Costing 22 million dollars (nearly three times the original estimate), Raiders of the Lost Ark reaped 200 million dollars during its first run. It was followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1985) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), as well as a short-lived TV-series "prequel." Temple of DoomThe second of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg Indiana Jones epics is set a year or so before the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984). After a brief brouhaha involving a precious vial and a wild ride down a raging Himalyan river, Indy (Harrison Ford) gets down to the problem at hand: retrieving a precious gem and several kidnapped young boys on behalf of a remote East Indian village. His companions this time around include a dimbulbed, easily frightened nightclub chanteuse (Kate Capshaw), and a feisty 12-year-old kid named Short Round (Quan Ke Huy). Throughout, the plot takes second place to the thrills, which include a harrowing rollercoaster ride in an abandoned mineshaft and Indy's rescue of the heroine from a ritual sacrifice. There are also a couple of cute references to Raiders of the Lost Ark, notably a funny variation of Indy's shooting of the Sherpa warrior. Last CrusadeThe third installment in the widely beloved Spielberg/Lucas Indiana Jones saga begins with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late River Phoenix), who, through a fast-paced prologue, gives the audience insight into the roots of his taste for adventure, fear of snakes, and dogged determination to take historical artifacts out of the hands of bad guys and into the museums in which they belong. A grown-up Indy (Harrison Ford) reveals himself shortly afterward in a familiar classroom scene, teaching archeology to a disproportionate number of starry-eyed female college students in 1938. Once again, however, Mr. Jones is drawn away from his day job after an art collector (Julian Glover) approaches him with a proposition to find the much sought after Holy Grail. Circumstances reveal that there was another avid archeologist in search of the famed cup - Indiana Jones' father, Dr. Henry Jones (Sean Connery) - who had recently disappeared during his efforts. The junior and senior members of the Jones family find themselves in a series of tough situations in locales ranging from Venice to the most treacherous spots in the Middle East. Complicating the situation further is the presence of Elsa (Alison Doody), a beautiful and intelligent woman with one fatal flaw: she's an undercover Nazi agent. The search for the grail is a dangerous quest, and its discovery may prove fatal to those who seek it for personal gain. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade earned a then record-breaking $50 million in its first week of release. Kingdom of the Crystal SkullSteven Spielberg and George Lucas bring you the greatest adventurer of all time in "a nonstop thrill ride" (Richard Corliss, TIME) that's packed with "sensational, awe-inspiring spectacles" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull finds Indy (Harrison Ford) trying to outrace a brilliant and beautiful agent (Cate Blanchett) for the mystical, all-powerful Crystal Skull of Akator. Teaming up with a rebellious young biker (Shia LaBeouf) and his spirited original love Marion (Karen Allen), Indy takes you on a breathtaking action-packed adventure in the exciting tradition of the classic Indiana Jones movies!

Details:
DetailValue
BindingBlu-ray
EAN0097361467641
LabelParamount
ManufacturerParamount
ProductGroupDVD
ProductTypeNameABIS_DVD
PublisherParamount
StudioParamount
TitleIndiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Blu-ray]
UPC097361467641
UPCList - UPCListElement097361467641
Languages - Original LanguageEnglish
ReleaseDate2012-09-18
FormatWidescreen
NumberOfDiscs5
AspectRatio1.85:1
AudienceRatingPG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Languages - SubtitledEnglish
French
Portuguese
Spanish
ActorHarrison Ford
Karen Allen
Paul Freeman
John Rhys-Davies
Cate Blanchett
DirectorSteven Spielberg
RunningTime481 minutes
 

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#2 ·
Overall excellent collection.

review by steve544

I received this collection for Xmas but have taken my time in watching all 4 films. I do have the first collection on Standard Def which was not a bad production at all. The Blue Ray Complete Collection is definitely worth having for a number of reasons. I generally do not provide plot summaries and opinions of acting, nor my opinions as to which is the best or worse. Many here have already done that.
However, the first film 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' is the iconic film of the series. Many did not care for the second film 'Temple of Doom' though I enjoyed it. 'The Last Crusade' I felt was much fun with the inclusion of Sean Connery as Indiana's dad and the final film 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', while panned by the press, was still an enjoyable popcorn movie.

Rather than split each films audio and video reviews separately, I will just say that ALL 4 Films, had an excellent transfer to video with great color resolution and contrast for all of them. In none, not even the first and oldest, was there any disturbing artificial grain, no artifacts or aliasing on any of the them.

The audio for all 4 films was DTS HD MA 5.1 and all 4 films fully utilized the complete sound system for both the soundtrack as well as foley and panning effects. With this lossless audio so well made use of, you will be happy to have invested in your home theater system. I will say that sometimes the soundtrack overwhelms what should be the directionality of the foley effects but the equally iconic music score was always meant to be a huge part of each film just like the Jaws soundtrack would come on when the shark was getting close.

The extras disc has a great many 'making of docs, the Women of Indiana Jones interviews, behind the scenes and many more which I have yet to watch.

The only real negative regarding this collection is the packaging itself. While neat and tidy in that it will save you some room on your shelf, similar to the Clint Eastwood 35 years, 35 films Collection, each separate disc is in its own smooth sleeve. I don't believe that the sleeve will harm the disc itself but it is impossible to remove any of the discs without touching the play side of the disc leaving any finger oils smudged on the disc. Some do not care about this but I do in that I take anal care of all my DVDs and CDs and do not like having to grab the edge of the BluRay with my thumb and forefinger. Yes, I could put each disc in its own separate DVD box but that is not the point. I would have much preferred the discs being held in place by the standard center hole holder that you see for most DVDS.

All my movie reviews are of this nature and focus only on the quality of the transfer to BluRay so check them and see if they are of help as well.
Hopefully, this review has been of some help to you in determining your purchase, hope I am on the correct path with a review of the transfer quality as opposed to providing plot summaries.
Thanks

ProsCons
lossless audio with good use of discreet directionality to surroundsNo 7.1 audio option, poor packaging.

Ratings
The Film / Movie0
Video Quality0
Audio Quality0
Special Features0
Overall5
 
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