Marketing Adventure: Indiana Jones on DVD

IT'S BEEN NEARLY 20 years since the last "Indiana Jones" movie hit theaters. That's a long time to wait for a follow-up, but the fourth installment, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," is due out later this month. To commemorate the resurrection of the franchise, Paramount is releasing all three movies in a three-disc "Adventure Collection."

But it's been only five years since the studio released its previous collection of these films, with more in-depth documentaries and exhaustive features. In fact, the "Adventure Collection" will soon be obsolete: When "Crystal Skull" arrives on DVD, there will surely be a new and more thorough set of the quadrilogy.

As a result, the set feels more like a marketing endeavor than a cinematic one. Still, the new interviews with cast and crew (including, curiously, actors in the new film) reveal new trivia for die-hard fans, and short, informative documentaries re-create the movie's pre-CGI special effects. Toht's melting face in "Raiders"? Yarn and gelatin.

In a way, perhaps this cursory approach is apt. At heart, these films are summer blockbusters that mingle entertainment and art. The first film, now officially retitled "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," and the third, "The Last Crusade," both portray the adventure-seeking archaeologist as a very different sort of action hero, perpetually outnumbered and outgunned, but rarely outwitted.

Spielberg directs "Raiders" with an enthusiasm and wit that transcends the story's pulp origins, and in the "Last Crusade," Sean Connery, as Jones Sr., proves an ideal foil for Harrison Ford.

While these two hold up, the second film, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Disturbing Stereotypes" — I mean, "Doom" — remains all but unwatchable, thanks to its dark tone, terrible effects, and a shrill Kate Capshaw. That's the only booby trap in this set full of movie relics.

Written by Express contributor Stephen M. Deusner
Photo courtesy Paramount