Indiana Jones: The Complete Collection (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) [DVD]

Raiders of the Lost Ark

For all the criticisms George Lucas has received in recent times, we must remember that he did manage to come up with this gem of an idea for a perfect action film, and in doing so he created one of the most iconic action hero's that cinema has ever seen. A role perfectly played by its star, Harrison Ford.
The script, written by Lawrence Kasdan, is expertly directed by Steven Spielberg, who by this stage of his career was firing on all cylinders. He takes Kasdan's script and perfectly balances the dialogue with the action creating a finely tuned fast paced action film.
The opening scene and the `Truck Scene' showcase Spielberg's uncanny ability to create stunning set pieces within his movies. This is something that really sets him apart from other directors, and makes Raiders of the Lost Ark not just one of the best action films of the 80' but one of the finest action films of all time.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Second time round for Indy and in my opinion the third best Indiana Jones movie.
At the request of George Lucas, scriptwriters Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz turned in a far darker and more foreboding script than the previous movie. George felt that the second film should be a lot darker, following in a similar vein to the second Star Wars film, `The Empire Strikes Back'.
With a lot of script ideas left over from `Raiders' the film certainly wasn't short on creativity or action set pieces. But, it seems Spielberg wasn't entirely comfortable with the direction George had decided to take the franchise. Dealing with a lot of the darkness Spielberg wisely injected a lot more humour into the script, which is handled very well by performers Ford and Ke Huy Quan, creating some very amusing scenes. Kate Capshaw's performance as Willie Scott is routinely criticised. Admittedly there is a lot of screaming, but in my opinion I feel she gives a well balanced performance that doesn't really detract from the other actors, or from the actual film.

My main criticism is that a great deal of the movie is spent within the Temple itself and I felt the film could have benefited had they made more out our hero's escape. I'm every bit as grateful as our intrepid action hero to see daylight after so many hours spent in the doom and gloom.

Although this is one of the weaker films in the cannon, it still remains a thoroughly enjoyable, extremely fast-paced, exciting action epic, knocking spots of any imitators to the throne. Thus proving that, even Spielberg on a bad day is better than most directors on a good day.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Perfectly balanced sequel, with some fine comedic chemistry from Ford and Connery.
This remains my favourite Indy sequel/prequel. Spielberg gets a firm grip on the reins and delivers what are to some, the finest of the Indiana Jones films.
The real genius of this sequel lies in the addition of Sean Connery playing Indy's Father. It works well and provides some great on screen chemistry, creating some, laugh out loud comedic moments between Ford and Connery. Harrison routinely pulls faces and shrugs shoulders as his dad continually undermines him. I have always felt that Harrison Ford's comic ability is greatly underappreciated, and it should also be noted that Ford is one of cinema's finest physical actors, reacting to kicks and punches like no other actor, and in doing so, adding tension and excitement to one of the films most exciting set pieces, the `Tank Scene'.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Nineteen years in the making and five different screenwriters that had Ford, Spielberg and Lucas all banging heads trying to agree on the films overall direction. Was it worth the wait?
I found the opening sequence thoroughly exciting, and after Raiders, it remains probably the best opening sequence of the franchise. There have been criticisms of the flying fridge scene, and although it is 'over the top', it is by no means anymore unrealistic than Indy leaping out of a plane on a life raft, or a mine cart jumping thirty foot over the breaks in the tracks and landing perfectly on the other side.

Harrison Ford, although grey haired and obviously older, manages to deliver a decent performance as the ageing Indiana. Only on the removal of his hat do you remember that this is a man in his sixty's. Where the film falls down for me is with the other main characters; Shia LaBeouf fails to shine. Ray Winstone's character feels underdeveloped and the film misses out on what could have been a great performance. Karen Allen reprises her role as Marion Ravenwood and lights up the screen with her arrival, but doesn't seem to do much else through the rest of the film. John Hurt is completely wasted and Cate Blanchett delivers a boring two dimensional performance.

The negatives aside, the film is rather enjoyable. The two hour running time just flew by. My main criticism is that the `Jungle Chase' lacks tension due to the CGI, and that overall, the film could have done with another action scene.

I have to say that the main problem is with the script. David Koepps script lacks intrigue and character motivation, only an amateur script writer would have a double agent reveal himself in the first five minutes of the film.
Having read Frank Darabont's `City of Gods' script, there is no doubt it would have been the better movie, and it is a terrible shame it wasn't the script that ended up as the final movie.

I got this DVD box in Chistmas and I must say, this box set is very well done. Along with Star Wars, Indiana Jones is my favorite movie saga.

Everyone knows what these films are all about.
My favorite is probably the first one, Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was just so entertaining and exciting, perfect would be the correct word to describe.
The Temple of Doom was very good as a movie too, but if I had to choose the "worst" Indy film, it would probably be the Temple of Doom (though I really enjoyed it) since I didn't like the darker theme that much.
Last Crusade was very close to the Raiders when it comes to quality, and it's my second favorite of the Indy films. And the humour was hilarious, I laughed about half the time of the movie. Connery and Ford are just perfect together.
Many have said that Crystal Skull is a weak Indy film, but I really loved the whole movie. There are also a couple of surprises in the movie and dammit, Harrison Ford's performance was just as good as in the original Indy films! You just have to give some credit to a man who still does, in his sixtys, something like this.

The quality of the films is great. I don't have anything bad to say about the picture and sound quality. The box art is very nice too.

The special features are very interesting, but it's kind of strange they didn't include the Bonus Features disc from the 2003 Indy box for this one. There are about 30 minutes of bonus features and some photo galleries for each of the original Indy films.
It was a very big plus they put a two-disc edition of Crystal Skull in this box set, as the bonus disc for Crystal Skull has several hours of bonus features.

If you already have the 2003 box set, you should just buy the two-disc edition of Crystal Skull, but if you don't have these movies already on DVD, go ahead! These movies are a piece of film history. Steven Spielberg did a great job directing these, and let's not forget George Lucas, who is the creator of Indy, and the executive producer of these films.

Great fun, good laughs, excellent action sequences and entertainment over four nights. A couple of moments that my wife won't watch in each film, which is great to watch her expressions.
Exactally what you want from a boxed set!