Well at least we were spared George Lucas messing with his and Steven Spielberg's trio of films that pay homage to the adventure serials/films of the 30's/40's. In preparation for the new and last Indiana Jones adventure featuring Harrison Ford we get the trio of films re-released individually for the first time. ***

A blockbuster when it was first released, "Raiders" continues to be one of the best examples of updating a genre for a new audience. Its success also spawned a number of imitators including the recent "National Treasure" movies. Highlighted by a witty screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan based on a story by Lucas and Philip Kaufman, "Raiders" works so well because of the breezy direction of Spielberg (at the top of his game) and the strong performances of Ford, Karen Allen, Freeman, John Rhys-Davies and in his first role Alfred Molina. ***

Archeologist Indiana Jones (Ford) scours the world for the latest artifact to save for posterity and finds clues to the ultimate one--the Arc of the Covenant that carried the 10 Commandments. Indy races against a rival archeologist Belloq (Paul Freeman) who is working for the Nazi's trying to obtain it for Adolph Hitler. Indy discovers that the arc is much more than a simple artifact but may provide a direct link to God. ---

Image & Sound:

Although this is a new transfer, they could have just ported over the original transfer as this doesn't look significantly different. "Raiders" looks extremely good. The film had to undergo restoration as the colors had faded. Colors look good and the images are sharp with a nice surround track a highlight of the set. ---

We get some new special features that highlight this individual release. "Raiders of the Lost Ark: An Introduction" by Spielberg and Lucas opens the new special features. ***

"Indiana Jones: An Appreciation" features the cast and crew from "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" discussing the original trilogy. ***

"The Melting Face" breaks down the scary sequence at the conclusion of the film where evil comes**face to face** with the ark. ***

We also get the storyboard sequence for "The Well of Souls" sequence as well as photos of props and other marketing materials created for the film. Finally we get the "Lego Indiana Jones" demo for the came and a trailer for the game. ***

We don't, however, get an audio commentary. I'm not surprised since Spielberg dislikes doing them. It's a pity. We also don't get the rumored deleted scenes. Personally, I would wait for the Blu-ray if you can. ---

Final Words: