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New Indiana Jones DVD's - No Blu-Ray

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http://www.starwars.com/community/news/films/news20080222.html

Classic Indy Rides Again On DVD

According to the American Film Institute, he's the greatest action-adventure hero of all time -- and his unforgettable exploits can be relished by fans old and new as never before when all three Indiana Jones movies debut as individual Special Edition DVDs and in an all-new box set on May 13.
Released by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Paramount Home Entertainment, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Special Edition DVDs boast all-new, exclusive bonus features that dig deeper into the making of these cinematic milestones than ever before. All three were originally restored and remastered in 2003. Created with fans of all ages in mind, the bonus features provide never-before-seen explorations of the making of these classic movies and showcase the characters, action and extraordinary visual effects that have made the movies indelible cinematic treasures.

Each film makes its DVD debut just days before the highly anticipated return of the "Man in the Hat" in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

"An entire generation of movie lovers will get to see these classic films in a digital format that makes them even more amazing than when they were first in theaters," said Howard Roffman, Vice President of Lucasfilm Ltd. "These new, individual DVDs are a fantastic way to introduce young audiences to the unforgettable, action-packed adventures of the most daring archaeologist in the world."

Directed by Steven Spielberg from stories by executive producer George Lucas, the three Indiana Jones movies earned six Academy Awards® and nearly $1.2 billion worldwide. From the groundbreaking excitement of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) to the sinister mysteries of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and the father-son adventure of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), the heroic Dr. Jones continues to delight audiences with his thrilling on-screen exploits.

Previously available only in a trilogy box set, the three films of The Adventures of Indiana Jones were newly restored and remastered to deliver an exceptional viewing experience to existing enthusiasts and a whole new generation of fans. All-new bonus content delves into the making of the legendary series as the filmmakers and cast look back and a new world of adventure opens up with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and others offering hints about what to expect in the newest installment.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 2.0 Surround and Spanish 2.0 Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. The disc includes the following special features:


Raiders of the Lost Ark: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas
Indiana Jones: An Appreciation -- The cast and crew of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pay tribute to the original trilogy.
The Melting Face -- A recreation of the amazing physical effect of the villain's melting face in Raiders of the Lost Ark, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas commenting on the evolution of visual effects and CGI.
Storyboard Sequence -- The Well of Souls
Galleries
Illustrations & Props
Production Photographs & Portraits
Effects/ILM
Marketing
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 2.0 Surround and Spanish 2.0 Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. The disc includes the following special features:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas
Creepy Crawlies -- Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Frank Marshall reminisce about snakes, bugs and rats and hint about what 'creepy crawlies' to expect in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, including an interview with a snake wrangler.
Locations--Travel across the world to discover where the films take place and where they were shot.
Storyboard Sequence -- The Mine Cart Chase
Galleries
Illustrations & Props
Production Photographs & Portraits
Effects/ILM
Marketing
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 2.0 Surround and Spanish 2.0 Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. The disc includes the following special features:


Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas
The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute -- The three Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) reunite for a discussion.
Friends and Enemies -- Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Indiana Jones writers discuss how they created the most iconic characters in film history, including a look at new faces in .
Storyboard Sequence--The Opening Sequence
Galleries
Illustrations & Props
Production Photographs & Portraits
Effects/ILM
Marketing
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark has a running time of 115 minutes and an MPAA rating of PG. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has a running time of 118 minutes and an MPAA rating of PG. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has a running time of 126 minutes and an MPAA rating of PG-13. For even more information about the adventures of Indiana Jones, visit http://www.indianajones.com.


I'm weighing up whether I want to buy these. The last box-set was garbage. Though I do own it because well the films are great, but the dvd extras are lacking and the cover art is pretty lame. But since when has Lucasfilm been able to do a box-set right?

I'm not interested in Blu-Ray at the moment, but it's interesting that Lucasfilm is ignoring the format on this release.

So who is going to double dip?

Edit: Note to Lucasfilm - the first film is not called Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The opening title proves this.

Actually going through the SE dvd extras and the bonus disc for the previous release, this release pales in comparison. It's not much more than an advertisement for the lego game and Crystal Skull. I do love the cover art though, especially on Temple of Doom. I may purchase these when they are clearanced.

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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I don't cater to double dipping. If I own it I own it and I am done. Kind of dumb that this is being released in a rapidly dying format. Kind of shows this to be exactly what it is, a quick rush job of a chance to sell more discs in the hype of the movie. Had this really had some care and planning behind it they would have remastered them for Blu-ray. But then again they know the Blu-rays will sale regardless of a new IJ movie in the theater or not, so in the long run they make more money this way.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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It's obviously a cash grab otherwise they'd have waited until the fourth film was ready for a DVD release. - which wont actually be too far from now anyway.
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This is simple an invidual film release; rather than just releasing the single-disk versions they added a few extras, which seem somewhat disposable. As far as double-dips go this one is okay because I think the main draw is buy the films individually instead of in a set. I still won't be buying them though--no deleted scenes or commentaries. I might give them a rent.
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Those so called extras sound pretty lame. Without any deleted scenes or commentaries, forget it. I'm more than happy with the box set.
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Yup, the consensus on the Home Theater Forum is that the extras on these releases are lame. The documentary from the boxed set isn't even carried over, so these DVDs are probably only going to be of interest to anyone who didn't buy the 2003 set and/or anyone who's only interested in buying one movie (Raiders, presumably).

The Blu-ray is coming, don't worry.

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And then, just in time for Christmas, we'll have the Indiana Jones 'Quadrilogy Boxset' containing all 3 of these 'Special Edition' discs plus the new movie.

I don't own any Indy DVDs so I will consider buying these when they are inevitably put on sale (I learned my lesson the hard way with the 'Limited Edition' Star Wars DVDs that you can now pick up for next to nothing in every DVD shop in the country).

War does not make one great.

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Originally posted by: Yoda Is Your Father
And then, just in time for Christmas, we'll have the Indiana Jones 'Quadrilogy Boxset' containing all 3 of these 'Special Edition' discs plus the new movie.

This is when I expect a BR release. If I'm right, then yes, this is another lame LFL cash grab.
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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Originally posted by: ADigitalMan
Originally posted by: Yoda Is Your Father
And then, just in time for Christmas, we'll have the Indiana Jones 'Quadrilogy Boxset' containing all 3 of these 'Special Edition' discs plus the new movie.

This is when I expect a BR release. If I'm right, then yes, this is another lame LFL cash grab.


I don't know about this. I remember that everyone on here was expecting a Star Wars Mega-super-special 30th anniversary release this year or a "Saga edition" that would be released when ROTS came out on DVD, and we got nothing. For some reason, Lucasfilm seems to be really stingy with their special features. Which is part of the reason why we have been able to get so many preservations here. I'm not expecting a Blu-Ray Indiana Jones anytime soon, knowing Lucasfilms track record. DVD was well-established for several years before either Star Wars or Indiana Jones got released.
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I probably won't get these (I have the old DVD's) because the extras are lame and its all on one disc--which will seriously compress video quality. But I have to say, the cover art is incredible. It's basically the original posters, which I think is a first for Lucasfilm. Go to the digital bits and you can see the cover art. It's cool. I never thought I'd see the day when Lucasfilm would use an original poster for cover art. Kudos indeed...
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This is as good a time as any to ask:

Has anyone documented the rumored alterations/fixes that were made to the movies for the '03 dvd release? The reflection in the snake pit is the only one I know about.
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I think they changed Indy's whip to a walkie-talkie.

I'm definately not buying this set. I already have the box set. Although if the covers are as cool as they look on the Digital Bits, I might scan em and upgrade my set. Minus the "Indiana Jones and the Raiders..." bulls***, of course.
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*sigh* why does this feel like a stupid Lucas decision? That pisses me off... maybe he had it in mind all along to rename the trilogy, but didn't have the photoshop technology to do it LOL
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Hasn't it been titled 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' since the later VHS releases? It isn't a new change. I guess the thing being complained about at present is that it is the original poster art?

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Originally posted by: C3PX
Hasn't it been titled 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' since the later VHS releases? It isn't a new change. I guess the thing being complained about at present is that it is the original poster art?


oops... XD I've only seen the old vhs cover... ^_^; I thought it was new, because I saw the first post in this thread. However, it's still wrong. The cover art is pretty cool though.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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Originally posted by: C3PX
Hasn't it been titled 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' since the later VHS releases? It isn't a new change. I guess the thing being complained about at present is that it is the original poster art?


Yes it has, which is why it's so annoying.

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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Originally posted by: Sluggo
I'm definately not buying this set. I already have the box set. Although if the covers are as cool as they look on the Digital Bits, I might scan em and upgrade my set. Minus the "Indiana Jones and the Raiders..." bulls***, of course. Originally posted by: bkev
*sigh* why does this feel like a stupid Lucas decision? That pisses me off... maybe he had it in mind all along to rename the trilogy, but didn't have the photoshop technology to do it LOL
Yeah, that title definitely has GL's stink all over it.

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Originally posted by: Fang Zei
This is as good a time as any to ask:

Has anyone documented the rumored alterations/fixes that were made to the movies for the '03 dvd release? The reflection in the snake pit is the only one I know about.


As far as I'm aware the alterations are the digital removal of the glass as you mentioned, the removal of "production equipment" and I've heard the rails that the boulder runs on have also been removed. I also think there might be some sound changes.

I've found it's hard to find a list of the changes because they are few and far between.

I seem to recall some minor changes to the removal of the heart scene in Temple of Doom. But this was done for the home video release not specifically for dvd. Maybe someone else can confirm this?

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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Originally posted by: see you auntie
Originally posted by: Fang Zei
This is as good a time as any to ask:

Has anyone documented the rumored alterations/fixes that were made to the movies for the '03 dvd release? The reflection in the snake pit is the only one I know about.


As far as I'm aware the alterations are the digital removal of the glass as you mentioned, the removal of "production equipment" and I've heard the rails that the boulder runs on have also been removed. I also think there might be some sound changes.

I've found it's hard to find a list of the changes because they are few and far between.

I seem to recall some minor changes to the removal of the heart scene in Temple of Doom. But this was done for the home video release not specifically for dvd. Maybe someone else can confirm this?


No, TOD is intact, it was only Raiders that was tweaked, as mentioned above. They are really so invisible that its not even worth noting. The only exception is maybe the cobra reflection--I sort of miss seeing that, but thats the purist in me.
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This is kind of OT:

Hey zombie84, I've been wondering, do you post on theforce boards under the name zombie ? I'm not a member, I lurk now and then to read old messages, quite fun.
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damn, forgot to ask this other question while I was at it:

I remember reading somewhere (might've been on these very boards) about how Lowry restored the movies at 4K resolution. This true?
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I have never seen that before. Definately from the U.K. Most quad posters are.

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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Personally, this is somewhat good as I have all along want to buy Raiders by itself. The other two movies have no particular interest to me, whereas Raiders is a classic.

But still, Blu-ray would be better so I might leave it still (have a Laserdisc...)
Darth Lucas: I am altering the trilogy. Pray I don't alter it further.
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It would be nice if it was released on both formats (DVD and Blu-ray) and not just being rereleased to tie in with the new Indy film. This really smacks of LFLs practice of rereleasing the Star Wars movies everytime something Star Wars is going to come out. If you want to send a real message, don't buy this. Personally, I got the boxed set when it came out a few years back. I'll rebuy it when it comes out on Blu-ray and not until then.

We can only hope they release all the movies on Blu-ray after Indy 4 has its theatrical run.
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