Reviewed by Carlos deVillalvilla

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When news came that Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas were joining forces back in 1980, movie fans couldn't help but rub their hands together in anticipation. After all, these guys were two of the brightest flames in Hollywood; Lucas with two "Star Wars" movies, Spielberg with "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

What nobody anticipated was that these two men, along with star Harrison Ford, would rewrite the book on adventure movies.

An homage to the great serial moviess of the '30s and '40s, Indiana Jones, trusty whip on the hip and battered fedora on his head, took the world by storm. The first Indiana Jones movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," was the box office champ of 1981 and spawned numerous imitators, clones and wanna-bes which persist to this day ("Tomb Raider," for instance). But nobody has even come close to the entertainment delivered by the Indiana Jones series. Now, for the first time, they are available on DVD in a marvelous collection, the "Indiana Jones Adventures."

"Raiders of the Lost Ark," set in the 1930s, introduces Indiana Jones, professor of archaeology and "how should I put it? -- obtainer of rare antiquities." An expedition to South America to retrieve a golden idol puts the tattered archaeologist through fiendish traps and less-than-loyal associates (Alfred Molina, in one of his first movie roles, meets a particularly gruesome end) to emerge from the cursed temple, idol in hand - only to have it snatched away by his nemesis, Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman), a French archaeolgist with fewer scruples than Indy.

George Lucas, Harrison Ford Karen Allen Steven Spielberg

Jones returns home to find Army intelligence waiting for him; they've interecepted a Nazi communique that is puzzling to them, but makes sense to Jones and his sponsor, museum curator Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot); they realize that Hitler's minions may be close to finding the resting place of the Lost Ark of the Covenant, which held the actual Ten Commandments Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. Realizing that this was something they had to prevent Hitler from obtaining, the Army sends Jones to go retrieve it.

In order to find the actual location of the Ark itself, Jones needs a staff headpiece that former flame Marion Ravenswood (Karen Allen) has. After going to her bar in Tibet to try to retrieve it, he foils a Nazi attempt to take it by force.

The two head down to Egypt, where they are aided by Indy's close friend Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), who helps Indy divine the correct location. However, Belloq (who is working with the Nazis), manages to steal the Ark that Indy found and takes it and the girl to a remote island, with Indy close behind.

Raiders sets the tone as a virtual roller-coaster ride, putting Indy in one perilous situation after another, with little let-up. Spielberg proves himself to be an absolute master of pacing -- editors Michael Kahn and George Lucas deserve a lot of credit here as well -- knowing when to ratchet up the thrills and knowing when to give the audience a chance to catch its breath. Using devices common to serials and adventure movies from the '30s and '40s, Spielberg creates a wonderful sense of the era without forgetting the modern sensibilities of his audience.

The result is a movie that can legitimately be called a classic, one that has lost none of its luster in the 20 years since its release.

"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" can only be kindly called a miscalculation. With Lucas wanting to go with a darker mood, which served him successfully in the "Star Wars" trilogy, writers Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz were brought in (Raiders screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan was unavailable) and came up with a dreadful mishmash that is set prior to Raiders.

Amrish Puri Jonathan Ke Quan Kate Capshaw Amrish Puri, Steven Spielberg

Indy is in China, trying to sell the remains of the first emperor of China to Lao Che, a Chinese gangster (Roy Chiao). When the gangster tries to kill Indy, the hero escapes, using unwilling accomplice (and nightclub singer) Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) as a shield, and a kid, Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan, as Ke Huy Quan, who also appeared in "The Goonies") as a driver. Indy's agent at the airport (Dan Aykroyd in a cameo) books Indy, Shorty and Willie on a cargo plane which turns out to be owned by Lao Che.

The pilot and co-pilot bail out over the Himalayas, causing the plane to crash in India.

After a thrilling bail-out, Indy, Willie and Short Round reach an impoverished village where the children have been stolen -- along with a sacred stone -- by the local maharaja (Raj Singh). Indy takes his team to a palace to try to retrive the stone, and uncover a hideous Thuggee cult, led by Mola Ram (Amrish Puri, one of India's top actors) which is using children as slave labor to uncover the remaining two Sankhara stones, to become tremendously powerful. Indy is briefly drugged and becomes a slace of Mola Ram, but Short Round saves him and the trio escapes, only to find themselves trapped by Mola Ram's troops.

This movie never feels quite right. For one thing, instead of retrieving the Lost Ark of the Covenant, he's basically after three rocks that have some power that is never really defined. Capshaw's character whines so much that she's become truly despised by many fans of the trilogy. Having the precocious kid save the hero's bacon also smacked of cliché. And, many of the elements that made "Raiders" so wonderful were missing here. Yes, there were some dark moments in "Raiders," but nobody was ripping anybody's heart out, and in fact, without the support system of Brody and Sallah, Indy seemed a trifle lost.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" -- third in the series -- featured the return of Sallah and Brody, and the duo of Spielberg and Lucas wisely returned to the elements that made the first movie great. The movie opens with a prologue that shows Indy as a teenager (played by the late River Phoenix) trying to foil grave robbers from stealing Coronado's Cross. Much of Indy's story is explained.

Harrison Ford Spielberg, Lucas, Ford Alison Doody Spielberg, Ford, Connery

Later, at the university, Indy receives a strange package from his father. When summoned by wealthy industrialist Walter Donovan (Julian Glover), Indy learns there is an expedition underway to retrieve the Holy Grail itself. That expedition's leader has disappeared; and the leader turns out to be Indy's father (Sean Connery). Indy and Brody go to Venice, to meet up with Dr. Schneider (Allyson Doody), who turns out to be a she, and together they find the missing information needed to locate the resting place of the Grail.

First, however, Indy is determined to rescue his father, whom he discovers is being held in a castle in Austria. Indy arrives there only to discover that not everyone he has been trusting should be trusted -- some of them are in league with the Nazis (them again). Once again, with Brody and now Sallah (who has met up with Brody in the Middle East, where the Grail lies), Indy and his father set out to rescue the grail in a race against the Nazis.

The chemistry between Connery and Ford is absolutely awesome; the two often communicate with merely a glance or a stern look. Their relationship becomes so well defined it seems almost real. Screenwriter Jeffrey Boam (who to that point had done "Innerspace" and "The Lost Boys") gives Ford and Connery a slambang story to work with, and the two run with it. Spielberg provides some stunning visuals, and John Williams provided one of his best scores ever.

The third installment of the Indiana Jones Adventures is almost as good as the first, and in some ways, better.

"The Indiana Jones Adventures" -- The DVD package is extensive, led by a brand new two-hour long "Making of the Trilogy" feature. The remaining features, which focus on elements of the trilogy (music, stunts, special effects) are shorter but no less fascinating. These are some of the most entertaining and riveting DVD featurettes I've seen, particularly "Making the Trilogy." The digital presentation of the movies themselves is absolutely fantastic, having been restored frame-by-frame to THX standards. The movies may actually look better than they did when they were initially released.

Buy the set at Amazon.com.

Those who have only seen any of the three on video or on television will be more than satisfied by the DVD version; it's eye-popping.

On the negative side, there are no commentaries on any of the films. Spielberg has been loathe to do commentaries for any of his movies. There are also no deleted scenes (although there are some audition tapes, including Sean Young and Tom Selleck), although they are mentioned. Another disappointment is that there is little news about the forthcoming fourth installment of the series, but that may be merely because there wasn't yet a lot to report.

At one time, it was rumored that the Indiana Jones boxed set was going to be set chronologically, with the "Young Indiana Jones Adventures" TV episodes plugged in to make it a complete Indiana Jones set. That may well come out after the fourth movie is made, since -- given Ford's advancing age -- it is unlikely we will see more than one more trip for Indiana Jones into the realm of cinematic adventure. Still, despite the things that aren't here, this boxed set works because of the things that are in it. Mainly, the most-welcome DVD version of the movies, for which fans have been waiting -- none too patiently, I might add -- for years. The excellent features don't disappoint. This is one of the best DVD collections out there. Every movie fan ought to have it.

See cast, credit and other details about
"Raiders of the Lost Ark"
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"
"Indiana Jones 4"
at the Internet Movie Data Base.