As with George Lucas's other movie franchise, there's a vein of mysticism running through the Indiana Jones Trilogy. Watching all three back-to-back it's possible to unravel the chronology and chart the spiritual journey of our hero: the idealistic Young Indy ("It belongs in a museum", implores River Phoenix in the opening escapade of The Last Crusade) grows up to become a cynical fortune-hunter seen trading archaeological treasures with Chinese gangsters at club "Obi-Wan" in The Temple of Doom. From there we follow his path to redemption via three mystical religious... objects: respectively Hindu (the Shankara stones in Temple of Doom), Jewish (the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders), and Christian (the Holy Grail itself in Last Crusade). But that's just the subtext. Along the way, this knight-errant archaeologist undertakes improbable adventures (featuring spiders, snakes, rats, insects and Nazis galore), rescues damsels in distress (even when they really don't want to be rescued, such as Kate Capshaw in Temple of Doom), and still finds time to bond with his dad (Sean Connery, in one of cinema's great cameo roles as Dr Jones Sr.) Steven Spielberg revels in Lucas's recreation of 1930s cliff-hanger serials, infusing every scene with kinetic energy and infectious enthusiasm and creating any number of iconic sequences that have become touchstones of cinematic history. Director and producer are more than ably assisted by regular composer John Williams, whose swashbuckling Korngold-inspired "Raiders" theme casts Harrison Ford as a modern-day Errol Flynn. Although a fourth movie is promised, this trilogy plays like a self-contained whole that leaves nothing wanting: from the witty dialogue and breathtaking action choreography to the near-perfect casting, this is popular movie-making at its very peak. On the DVD: The Indiana Jones Trilogy four-disc box set, as has been widely noted, contains the slightly edited version of The Temple of Doom--1 min 6 seconds of cuts according to the BBFC--though this is exactly the same version that was originally shown in UK cinemas and released on video (missing is a bit of extra blood and gore during the heart-ripping scene). By way of compensation, the digitally remastered anamorphic 2.35:1 picture and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound for all three movies are joyfully impressive, the screen crammed full of colour and rich detail accompanied by one of Hollywood's most glorious soundtracks. The fourth bonus disc contains about three hours of additional material, most of which can be found in the new 127-minute documentary that takes the viewer chronologically through the making of the series and includes plenty of interviews and fascinating nuggets of background information. There are also independent featurettes "From the Lucasfilm Archives" on John Williams's music, the sound design, stuntwork and the special effects. There are subtitles in various European languages. --Mark Walker [show more]
Steven Spielberg directs these three good movies with care and effort. All of them are good, it is just that one wasn't quite as sugar coated as the other two.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK- good film starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Denholm Elliot and John Ryhs Davies and directexd by Steven Spielberg. Good film, good action, that's all I ever wanted. You do not want to over do a film which is what some directors do.
TEMPLE OF DOOM- best of the three. Loads of action. Children are dissapearing from India, and Indy must save these children. Starring Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw.
LAST CRUSADE- very good movie. Good action. Shame River Phoenix died because he could have earned so much more money. Starring Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliot, John Ryhs Davies and River Phoenix.
Hey, have you heard Indy 4 is coming out next May. Starring Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBouef, John Hurt, Karen Allen and Ray Winstone. I'm sure this will be as good as all the others.
GOOD MOVIES
8/10
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All three of Steven Spielberg's films featuring the exploits of adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) are collected together in a box set. In 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', Indy goes in search of the original Commandment tablets, while in 'The Temple of Doom' it is the sacred Sankara stone he seeks. 'The Last Crusade' sees Indy off once again, this time to find his father (Sean Connery), who has vanished while looking for the Holy Grail.
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