In honor of the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Paramount has re-released the first three entries of the classic adventure franchise. They are now available on DVD, sold separately on the format for the first time, with featurettes not found in the box set. ***

Temple of Doom is the second film in the Indiana Jones series, first released in 1984. Actually a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the film follows Indy as he joins forces with an Oriental orphan and a nightclub performer. Indy's second adventure on the big screen (technically first since it's a prequel) once again takes him around the world, this time focusing on rescuing kidnapped children, and recovering a valuable gem. And once again, Indy crosses paths with the Nazis. ***

Temple of Doom is a fun film to watch, but there's no denying its place as the weak link in the Indy franchise. While there are still entertaining action scenes and characters, as a whole it just doesn't measure up to Raiders, or the third film in the series, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The film is noticeably darker than Raiders, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't change the fact that the film is the weakest link in the series. Just the same, though, it's still entertaining and worth watching. ***

The animated menus are not at all unlike those of the box set DVDs. It wouldn't surprise me if these menus were designed by the exact same crew. ---

Image And Sound:

From what I can tell, this is the same transfer Paramount used on the desk featured in the box set. And it's a fabulous transfer that more than does the film justice. The picture clarity is amazing throughout the film, with only a few little scenes here and there suffering from grain issues (and most of this is so small and unnoticeable you probably won't even see it.) Hands down, this is the best the movie has ever looked on a home video format. ---

The question on everyone's mind is “If I already bought the box set, should I buy these reissues for the sake of the bonus features?” I'll give my two cents on the issue after a brief explanation of what features are included in the set. ***

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - An Introduction by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas Each one of the reissued 2008 DVDs has a featurette with Lucas and Spielberg describing their experience on the film, and what things looked like going into the project. Here the twosome discusses their initial thoughts on creating a sequel to the beloved Raiders of the Lost Ark. ***

Creepy Crawlies It wouldn't be an Indiana Jones movie without snakes and spiders and all that good stuff. And that's exactly what the crew discusses in this featurette. You'll learn about their experiences working with and dealing with these loathsome creatures. ***

Locations Likewise, it wouldn't be an Indiana Jones movie without plenty of globetrotting and interesting locations to visit. Here the crew talks about the various locations that were visited, and their experiences throughout. ***

Storyboard Sequence - Mine Cart Each one of the new DVDs features a scene from the film, shown with accompanying animatics. In the case of Temple of Doom, the scene we revisit is the classic mine cart sequence. This is entertaining to watch, though it's difficult to read the text that goes along with the footage. ***

Galleries Four Galleries are presented on the DVD, which you can scroll through with your DVD remote. The galleries featured are illustrations/props, production photos/props, effects/ILM, and marketing. These galleries deliver what they promise, nothing less, nothing more. If you're at all a fan of Indiana Jones, you're going to enjoy checking this stuff out. ***

Lego Indiana Jones Trailer and PC Game Demo A brief, minute-long trailer of the forthcoming game is featured here, from the same crew at Lucas Arts who brought us the Lego Star Wars games a few years back. Additionally, if you have a PC with a DVD-ROM drive (and what PC these days doesn't?), there is a brief, playable demo. This same featurette appears on all three of the 2008 DVDs. **

And now, for the immortal question. Should you buy these discs if you already have the movies on DVD? While these are good features, I don't quite think they merit the double dip. Total, there's well less than an hour's worth of new features. If you bought the box set, there's no need to give in to the double dip, unless you're the most die-hard of Indy fan who must own every piece of information ever produced on the series. If you don't own the movies yet, though, I would recommend getting these “sold separately” versions over the box set, and buying the box set bonus disc separately from a used DVD store or a site like Amazon. I, for one, am sick of being double-dipped like this by Lucas, but I'm not going to turn this review into an anti-Lucas rant.

Final Words: