It’s an Indiana Jones blitz: First comes today’s AP story that the trailer for the new film is going bonkers online. Now comes Paramount Home Entertainment/Lucasfilm’s announcement that the original trilogy will be reissued as special-edition DVDs on May 13, nine days before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens in theaters. (When does the countdown to the Indiana Jones Happy Meal begin?)

Of course, the original trilogy — Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — famously debuted on DVD in late 2003. Then, though, the movies were available only as a set, with a fourth disc devoted to a feature-length making-of documentary. The new special editions for each movie will be available separately ($26.99 each)  and as a set ($49.99).  The transfers of the films are expected to be the same, so you’re pretty much buying them all over again to get the new extras:

Raiders:

• Raiders of the Lost Ark: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas
• Indiana Jones: An Appreciation—The cast and crew of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pay tribute to the original trilogy.
• The Melting Face—A re-creation of the amazing physical effect of the villain’s melting face in Raiders of the Lost Ark, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas commenting on the evolution of visual effects and CGI.
• Storyboard Sequence—The Well of Souls
• Galleries
  • Illustrations & Props
  • Production Photographs & Portraits
  • Effects/ILM
  • Marketing
• Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer

Temple of Doom:

• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas
• Creepy Crawlies—Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Frank Marshall reminisce about snakes, bugs and rats.
• Locations—Travel across the world to discover where the films take place and where they were shot.
• Storyboard Sequence—The Mine Cart Chase
• Galleries
  • Illustrations & Props
  • Production Photographs & Portraits
  • Effects/ILM
  • Marketing
• Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer

Last Crusade:

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas
• The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute—The three Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) reunite for a discussion.
• Friends and Enemies—Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Indiana Jones writers discuss how they created the most iconic characters in film history, including a look at new faces in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
• Storyboard Sequence—The Opening Sequence
• Galleries
  • Illustrations & Props
  • Production Photographs & Portraits
  • Effects/ILM
  • Marketing
• Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer

Paramount said nothing about a Blu-ray release of the original trilogy, which is surely what fanboys want more than new extras on old DVDs. Paramount’s high-def output is in flux since it recently abandoned HD DVD to go back to Blu-ray (after recently having abandoned Blu-ray to go to HD DVD). Besides, Lucasfilm is probably holding back on high-def versions of the original trilogy until Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hits DVD. Then you can buy the first three films all over again.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 1:39 pm and is filed under DVDs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.