Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was everyone's first experience with "the man in the hat". I personally remember the summer this film came out like it was yesterday. I had read the book and went to see the movie literally dozens of times that summer because the matinee was cheap and I couldn't get enough of Indy. Harrison Ford's rugged good lucks gained him acclaim in Star Wars and fortunately for him, he didn't suffer the same spiral into movie obscurity that the other Star Wars cast members fell into when he was cast in the role of the inimitable Indiana Jones. In Raiders, we find Indy battling a rival treasure hunter named Belloq (Paul Freeman), both for a small treasure in the early parts of the film and later, when Belloq aligns himself with the Nazis in their search for the Ark of the Covenant. We get introduced to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Indy's past love, his dedicated Egyptian friend Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and his colleague, Marcus Brody (Denham Elliott), characters who will all show up in later films, although Marion won't pop back into Indy's life until the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Those who look sharp will even spot a very young Alfred Molina during his brief appearance on screen as Indy hunts the golden god statue at the very beginning of the film. Molina's character doesn't live for very long, though.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is actually a prequel to Raiders, taking place a year before. As is explained in a featurette, Spielberg and Lucas decided it was easier to do a prequel rather than having to explain Marion's obvious absence. The writers decided to go for a much darker overall tone with Temple of Doom, but the comedic relief is provided by Indy's young sidekick, Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and his annoying and loud-mouthed female lead, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), who later married Spielberg as a result of this movie. Widely known to be the least liked Indiana Jones film, Temple of Doom involves a cult in India which kidnaps young children and forces them to work in mines, while worshipping the evil Goddess Kali by drinking blood and removing the still-beating hearts of human sacrifices. There are some fun action scenes in this film, but it's my least favorite. While still worth watching, it can't hold a candle to the third installment, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Arguably the best of the three, and certainly the funniest, The Last Crusade showcases the acting talents of Sean Connery as Dr. Henry Jones, Sr., Indy's dad. We also get to see some backstory and a peek into how Indy developed his ardent fear of snakes via an adventure that a then teenaged Indy, played by the late River Phoenix, embarks on. We also get to see how he acquired the ever-present hat that has become Indy's trademark. The Last Crusade has Indy being dragged into yet another international mystery involving Nazis. This time, it seems his father was hot on the elusive trail of the Holy Grail, his lifelong passion, when he mysteriously disappeared. It seems Henry, Sr. suspected he was in danger because he mailed his diary, containing his life's work on the Grail, to Indy for safekeeping. Indy and the diary set off to rescue his dad and mishaps happen. My all-time favorite line comes from this film when Henry, Sr. realizes Indy has brought the diary straight into the hands of the Nazis. He states, "I should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers!" in utter disgust. This movie is chocked full of funny moments as father and son awkwardly engage in verbal sparring matches. It also stars Alison Doody as Dr. Elsa Schneider, the lovely Nazi spy who beds both father and son, and also brings a much heavier Sallah back, along with the hilarious-without-trying Marcus Brody.
Altogether, this collection is wonderful as it not only packages all three beloved (well, two are beloved, anyway) movies in one package to prep Indy lovers for the upcoming release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but also packages with the films some fantastic special features. After all, Indy fans probably already own these movies on DVD since the 3 were released as a DVD set a few years back. But The Adventure Collection has featurettes for each movie including intros on each film by Spielberg and Lucas, plus retrospectives by the two plus the actors, featurettes on the various creepy crawlies from the films, the infamous melting face from Raiders, and there's also one where Indy's leading ladies dish things out in a panel. Very nice. For those of you who are also fans of LucasArts videogames, there are demos of the upcoming release of the Indiana Jones PC videogame, three in all. We'll have a preview of those posting shortly.
Is it worth the purchase if you already have the movies on DVD? It depends on how big a fan you are. I absolutely loved seeing the actors now and hearing them talk about these movies that still live in my heart as the best adventure films ever. True fans should go ahead and invest in The Adventure Collection and pass their older Indy DVDs on to someone who doesn't have enough Indiana Jones-styled adventure in their life.
