Rating: 
Summary: Horrible video transfer!
Review: Perhaps the worst video transfer I have ever seen on DVD, disappointing for such a good movie. I've seen reviewers giving the video transfer as excellent which means either (a) they are watching the movie on a tv smaller than 27" or (b) there are 2 different "copies" of the movie going around. I started watching the movie on my 8' screen and couldn't stand it; my wife immediately noticed as well. We moved to our smaller TV but noticed the same. Poor contrast, blocky image, and a bad aspect ratio. I don't think this DVD is anamorphic, as we had to watch the picture in "zoom" mode just to get the aspect ratio correct. We really hoped for more, especially after watching some much older classics which looked fantastic.
Rating: 
Summary: It's about time.
Review: It's about time that this series came out on DVD and after watching Raider's of the Lost Ark, I'm glad they waited. I bought the DVD and couldn't wait to get it home so that I could watch it. I turned off the lights, popped some popcorn and sat down to watch it. Besides getting greeted with a pristine picture, the sound was amazing. The arrows and stuff at the beginning of the movie came out from all directions and it felt like I was 12 again and watching the movie for the first time. It's a shame that this wasn't done sooner, but I can kind of understand why.Now if Mr. Lucas would release his other trilogy on DVD, I will be very happy.
Rating:
Summary: Still Waiting for RAIDERS
Review: I really thought about buying this boxed set of the Indiana Jones movies, but I can't justify it. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK is perhaps the greatest action movie of all time, a genuine thrill ride that hit all the right notes. But TEMPLE OF DOOM was horrible. It was horrible in 1984 and it's horrible now. In a recent article in Premiere magazine to coincide with the release of this set, every person interviewed--Spielberg, Lucas, Ford, etc.--distanced themselves from TEMPLE for its ugly violence, empty characters, and joyless storyline. ("George was going through a divorce," "leftovers from RAIDERS," etc.). Every action scene looks like a special effect.
I particularly disliked how they tried to change the character from the Indy in RAIDERS (scholarly, single-minded) to the sequel Indys (a dashing American James Bond). The kid was more annoying than the little brat from the Godzilla movies. I know she became Mrs. Spielberg after that movie, but the heroine was worse. What a mess. LAST CRUSADE was better since, basically, it wasn't as bad as TEMPLE. Not a high bar to jump. Sean Connery's scenes with Ford steal the movie. But the action has none of the energy and spontaneous thrills of the first film.
Does anyone else cringe when Indy says in the opening, "Too big for the likes of us!" I know there will be a single edition of RAIDERS someday.
That's what I'll wait for.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movies but that last disc....
Review: I recently bought this series, which is one of my favorite trilogies of all time, and I couldn't be more happy to finally have the series in my DVD collection. I was also kind of excited to see the making of stuff on the last disc. This, however, was a big dissapointment for me. Yes, it did have retrospectives and such, but they felt like they were forced, or that they had more to tell but ran out of time. What I really would have like is a trivia subtitle track that runs during the movies. I highly recommend this for the movies, widescreen of course, but not for the making of stuff. Get it and enjoy one of the best movies ever!
Rating:
Summary: Transfer Problems? Does it really matter?
Review: I didn't notice any, "problems". Mostly because I was just enjoying the films. The color didn't contrast right? Who cares? I don't. The films look perfect to me.. The Temple of Doom looks great compared to video. The sound is also really good. Raiders of the Lost Ark has the perfect sound, I didn't notice any dips, neither did my dad nor my sister. I really don't see what people are complaining about. "O there was .3 seconds of image bad transeric deteric definition, the transfer sucks!" Let me be honest, do not be put off by what people say. The movie looks great, and it sounds great. Raiders of the Lost Ark ---4.5/5
I loved it this time around, mainly because I never really watched it alot when I was a kid. I don't know why but I never got into it. Still, the action is like non-stop. The movie is a bit slow at times, but it is still great. The action, top notch. The story is about an archeolical dig for the ark. It is pretty cool. Mostly because the action scenes are some of the best. Temple of Doom ---4/5
I remember I saw it a long time ago when me and my dad rented it to watch the whole series. It isn't that good. There are alot of slow points in the film. However, the movie has some really awesome action. It feels alot different from the first movie, and the third movie is definitely more like the first, but this movie is still alright. Basically it is in a temple, where they do occult rituals. The action rules though. If you've ever seen the chariot race in Ben Hur, the run-away mine cart scene can almost live up to that. The Last Crusade ---5/5
The best movie of all 3. I watched it so many times as a kid. The movie is completely different from the temple of doom. The director and writers made the movie alot like raiders of the lost ark. It has some of the best action and characters. Sean Connery is great, especially with Harrison Ford(Indiana Jones!). I really love the movie mainly because it is such a great ending to a series, and it has(in my opinion) some of the best action and story from all 3 movies. Indiana Jones is one of the coolest dudes of all time. Like, Batman and him are in a draw for the coolest heroes of all time in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Review: Who in the HELL did the audio transfer on this! There seem to be dropouts and dips all over the place in voices and music, not to mention in general very low audio levels. Chapter 16 55min 40sec for example. Marcus Brody and Sallah are talking, along with crowd noise and music in the background. For no reason, the voices drop in level and the background crowd and music levels almost drop out. Hang onto your Laser Videodiscs of these movies- we're going need them if you want to watch with enjoyment.
Rating:
Summary: What Happen to the Transfere?
Review: I love these movies but what happened to the contrast / color? I played them on two different TV/DVD player combos cause I thought I had a problem. These have to be the worst professional transferes I have ever seen. Extremely dark. I've done better transferes with my home movies. Hold off buying this set until you have seen them and judge them for yourself. These may not be worth the $45.00+ for them. The stills on the covers are better then the movies. Very Very Bad!!!!! This bothers me that someone of this talent would allow this to hit the street in this condition. Lucas / Spielberg are suppose to be the best in the market. You can't prove it by this set. I've seen bootlegs better than these. What are you people thinking? Didn't anyone proof these when you got done? I can't believe it took this long to get this garbage out. Is this a ploy to force people to buy the new remastered/redigitized/recolored deluxe set in 2 years?
Rating: 
Summary: Great movies, poor transfer
Review: I only give this movie set 3 stars because the movies are awesome and get 5 stars, but the image transfer stinks -- it gets 1 star. I'm not going to wax rhapsodic about the movies; every other reviewer has done that for you. The problem with this set is the image transfer. I have the widescreen laser disc and it was transferred beautifully. In the widescreen DVD version, it has way too much contrast and the color balance is far off. For example, at the beginning of Raiders, the shadows of the forest are nearly black; there is no shadow detail (otherwise known as the gamma). In the scene in Nepal in the bar, if you look at the faces in several shots, the skin tones are super reddish (the color saturation is cranked way too high). My observations are not merely those of a movie geek; my girlfriend made the same comments as me, and she is happy watching scratchy duped VHS tapes. One would think that Paramount, Lucas, and Spielberg would put a little more effort in the moviegoing experience, especially when it is advertised as THX sound, digital quality image, yada yada yada. Anyway, be forewarned. I'm really unhappy with the image quality, and all those looking to buy should keep this in mind. Perhaps Paramount will fix this in the near future... but probably not.
Rating:
Summary: Buy Set for the Films. Forget the Bonus DVD.
Review: As an experience, two of the three films rate a 5, and true fans of the films know which films we have REALLY wanted all this time. Rating the DVDs based on their features and value, I have to rate the boxed set a 3. While the boxed set doesn't contain the words, "Collector's Edition" or "Director's Cut Special Edition," I was surprised at the lack of features on the much-hyped "Bonus Material" DVD. No story boarding section, no deleted scenes, no director's or actors' commentary...you get the idea. What is on the Bonus DVD isn't much more than a few cursory featurettes and 1-hour teasers of each film. Even worse, one of the major features, "Exclusive Access to the Indiana Jones DVD Website" only runs on computers with Microsoft Windows. Forget it Mac users--once again, as with other LucasArts products, they are only Windows friendly. This DVD set could have been so much more. I kept trying to remind myself that these films were made between 15-22 years ago, and it may be that getting the now high-priced actors and even higher-priced director and producer to do a full length film commentary on something that old might be difficult. But, on the flip side, I kept thinking they made all that money for the films and now the DVD set, and THIS is all they give the fans? What viewers of the DVDs are stuck with (I'll bet there will be a "Special Director's Cut Edition" just before Indiana Jones 4) are a bunch of snipettes of interviews, on-location photography, short diatribes on the filmmaking process and the standard "this is how we rig a car to explode and make the stunt man go into the air" segments--the same thing every other action/adventure DVD has. What is missing from the DVD set experience is exactly what made fans love the character and the stories: the sense that the family of characters had souls and filmmaking was elevated to more than just a 1980s re-do of old classic b/w serials.
Rating:
Summary: Artistically Commercial Classics!
Review: There are directors that are considered true artists, who craft their work as lyrically and poetically as any writer, musician or painter.Tarkovsky,Fellini,Bunuel,Bergman,and Truffaut are just but few names who have influenced a whole generation of filmmakers and have enriched cinema with a timeless output.
Yet these directors make very personal films, almost detached from the mass audience: for they are an intimate look into their world, thoughts and style.There is also another breed of directors who are also true artists with vision, but who do not shy away from the word 'commercial', and who have the viewer in mind: to stimulate him intellectually yes..but as equally important to entertain as well in the process,and Steven Spielberg falls directly into that category.
Spielberg has successfully managed over the years to make films that are considered all time classics, but who had had very popular appeal globally,from his much imitated 'student excercise' Duel,the unapologetically sentimental and heart warming ET, to instilling fear of the oceans in so many with Jaws.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of the Doom and The Last Crusade are the Indiana Jones trilogy he yet again managed to direct with the eye of an artist but aimed at the 'masses'.
They say all good things come to those who wait, and while this statement is largely an overbearing cliche, it might very well ring true to the DVD release of this trilogy.
I will not go on too long about the films themselves, as they do not quite require a long review: they are simply good old fashioned,action and humour packed entertaining films that you can watch dozens of times and still get the same degree of enjoyment.
Harrison Ford turned out to be a perfect Indie,
all three leading ladies fit their roles beautifully, while the casting of Sean Connery in the Last Crusade was nothing short of a very inspired choice.
I just want to say how impressed I was with the bonus DVD. It has an over two hours long 'making of' feature that covers all three movies, and is extremely interesting to watch, an insight into the creative process of moviemaking like no other documentary managed to capture.
This DVD collection is a wonderful addition to any movie lover's library, a solid proof that you can be a creative and artistic director and still entertain people around the world.
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