Indiana Jones - The Complete Adventures Blu-ray Set

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On September 18, 2012, almost a year after Lucasfilm Limited (LFL) and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray, LFL and Paramount Pictures released Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures, a five-disc box set which, for the first time ever, includes all four Indy films in the Blu-ray format.

Like its Star Wars counterpart, Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures features each of the George Lucas-produced, Steven Spielberg films (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) on its own Blu-ray disc, along with a fifth disc which contains a mix of all-new extra features and "carryovers" from the 2003 and 2008 DVD sets.

I've been a fan of "the Man in the Hat" since Raiders was released in June of 1981, and even though I already own the four films of the series and the three Adventures of Young Indiana Jones DVDbox sets, I pre-ordered The Complete Adventures Blu-ray set back in April.  The box set arrived last Friday, and though I have only watched one film in its entirety (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) and some of the extra features, I can report that:


  1. The packaging resembles that of the 2011 Star Wars: The Complete Saga in its basic design: each Blu-ray is stored in a sleeve-like page of a  package which resembles a small hardcover book.  The "book" fits into a sturdy cardboard slipcover; both feature a Drew Struzan illustration done in the style of the late Richard Amsel, the artist who created the original poster for Raiders of the Lost Ark back in 1981.  
  2. The four Blu-ray discs which contain the features don't offer too many extras. Unlike Star Wars: The Complete Saga, the Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures set doesn't have any audio commentary tracks (Spielberg never does audio commentaries on any DVD or Blu-ray of his filmography).  They do, however, have the trailers for each of the four films, a feature not included in the Star Wars Blu-ray sets.
  3. Though most of the extra features on the bonus disc are "holdovers" from the series' previous DVD releases (2003 and 2008), viewers will see an all-new documentary titled On Set - Raiders of the Lost Ark, as well as The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark, a 1981 "making of" featurette which was not released in the DVD format. 
Because I haven't had much free time to watch all the Indy movies on Blu-ray, this "review" is only a preliminary look at one of the best-selling Blu-ray releases of the year.  So far, though, I have not had any playback issues with the Blu-ray discs, and the one film I did watch in its entirety both looks and sounds great on my HDTV set. 



Special Features
  • NEW – On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark
    • From Jungle to Desert
    • From Adventure to Legend
  • Making the Films
    • The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981 documentary previously unavailable on DVD)
    • The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark
    • The Making of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    • The Making of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
    • The Making of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (HD)
  • Behind the Scenes
    • The Stunts of Indiana Jones
    • The Sound of Indiana Jones
    • The Music of Indiana Jones
    • The Light and Magic of Indiana Jones
    • Raiders: The Melting Face!
    • Indiana Jones and the Creepy Crawlies (with optional pop-ups)
    • Travel with Indiana Jones: Locations (with optional pop-ups)
    • Indy's Women: The American Film Institute Tribute
    • Indy's Friends and Enemies
    • Iconic Props (Crystal Skull) (HD)
    • The Effects of Indy (Crystal Skull) (HD)
    • Adventures in Post Production (Crystal Skull) (HD)

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