Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Blu-ray] [1981] [Region Free]

If ever there was a must have Blu-ray box set this is it. With the exception of Star Wars , this box set is quite possibly the most sort after Blu-rays out there and I wasted absolutely no time at all when this dropped through my letter box and was in my Blu-ray player in under a minute!Can never decide which is my favourite Spielberg movie , Raiders or Jaws , but just glad that I now finally own them both on Blu-ray.Picture transfer is once again just breathtaking. Crisp , clear although the first thing that I noticed on Raiders was that the whole film seemed to have what can only be described as a "gold filter" over the camera lens , which has a noticeable effect with the colour compared to the VHS and DVD releases.This is by no means a bad thing , but I have read numerous (although somewhat exaggerated) complaints about it , but for me , it just makes the film feel more like the old action serials that it intended to be like , and the colours warm and more pleasing to the eye...For me anyway.Only have the one minor gripe about the transfer which is , ever since the introduction of Hi-Def images , particularly on older films , they do tend to show up flaws in camera work. Notably in Raiders , the scene where the tarantula runs across Alfred Molina's chest appears to be completely out of focus , and the scene where Indy is hiding behind some wooden crates before he steals the undersized uniform is really quite grainy (or speckling effect) , but these are the only flaws I've noticed with the first three films and if you blinked , you'd miss them , so will quite happily let it go.Truth be told , my real apprehension of this transfer was with Mr Lucas's itchy fingers attached to the films.Have to say , I was a little nervous about buying this box set before reading any reviews about it , but his involvement in the restoration is not apparent.Absolutely "Nooooooo" tweaking here , apart from the deleted reflection on the glass from Indy's encounter with the cobra that was done a few years ago , which I think is universally agreed is a good use of CGI tinkering and can't possibly believe anyone , not even a hardline purist , would complain about it.The sound is presented in 5.1 DTS master audio and sounds fantastic. John Williams , with yet another iconic score , just sounds staggering and the gunfight in Marion's bar sounds like Indy's firing a cannon with every gunshot.The almost cartoon-like "THWACK" with every punch , which was always purposely exaggerated , sounds even more so with the new sound and is definitely more satisfying to hear.Although I do find a little too much use of the subwoofer with this transfer which seems to be used on everything , which is more unusual rather than a complaint , but hey! Thats the neighbours problem !The extras are excellent and most die hard fans would have already seen the majority of the 7 hours worth , most of which have been transferred straight from the VHS and DVD releases , which again is not a bad thing as I like to have them all in one place rather than having to keep older formats just for a particular feature.The only new addition to the features that I've noticed is the "On set with Raiders of the Lost Ark" documentary with some rarely seen gag reels , deleted and alternative scenes which was an absolute joy to watch , and even though I consider myself a die hard fan of these films , I must have missed these over the years as I'd never seen them before.If , like me , you ever wondered how Indy survived the long journey atop of a submarine without drowning , then one of the deleted scenes gives you the answer... Kind of.I could waffle on about the other movies but will just say , ALL of them are beautifully transferred , and Temple of Doom is fully uncut for the first time on UK shores with a minute or so of extra gore and violence... And swinging through trees with monkeys aside , I like all the films.Not quite as good a transfer as Jaws or the Alien Anthology box set , which has set the bar very high indeed for quality in older movies on Blu-ray , but I really am talking about minuscule differences here and its very difficult to select the best quality out of those three.Its a shame that Paramount hadn't stuck to their guns as they had announced that all their films released on Blu-ray would be in 7.1 sound , and to be fair , every film from them that I've bought has been... this being the only exception so far , although this is probably down to Mr Lucas's bizarre reluctance to use 7.1.Still , in my humble view its perfectly fine and definitely deserves a very worthy 5 star rating for an outstanding transfer to Blu-ray , and think you'll be very impressed with this box set nonetheless , and for me , this is a definite purchase.

Why is this box set so expensive when trilogies, quadrilogies and antholgies of other film franchises are so much cheaper?I think the answer to that is that the films are still so popular and watchable time and time again.Indy Has become such a heroic figure over the years. Whilst the character of an adventurer was nothing new, the idea of a nerdy professor turning into a dashing gun-totting whip-cracking hero was totally different. Harrison Ford played the part perfectly and deserves a lot of credit for bringing the character to life.I don't think many would argue that the original film was the best, but there are a lot of arguments over the next few films. I didn't particularly rate the Crystal Skull, but at the same time it was a fix that the Indy fans needed, myself included.I took the plunge and paid out for the Blu-Ray versions and I am so glad I did. I have many films on DVD and I just know that they would be equally good/bad if they were on BR, but this set is so much better because of the higher resolution. There are many films that have had such a wow factor when they came out on BR and this is one of them. If you were to advertise the advantages of BR this film set would be in the top set. It is visually stunning, vibrant, bursting from the screen. Clarity of the characters faces and their expressions add life to the films.This really is a showcase set. If you are a fan of Indy and are contemplating DVD or BR, go BR you will be so much happier that you did.I don't comment on audio as I only have TV speakers and whilst the sound was clear and good, I am not in a position to say how much better it is than DVD.

I love all the Blu-rays that I bought. I had not intended to re-buy movies on blu-ray that I already had on dvd, but after buying the Harry Potter set at such a great price with prompt delivery. I bought seven of the "sets": Mission Impossible, The Mummy, Indiana Jones, Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, and the Bourne series. The prices were unbelievable and they all play fine. I am especially happy with the Toy Story series as I have waited a long time to buy it in the States and can't. I bought this set, and while the title didn't say Region-free, the detail did. And yes, it, along with all of the others played fine on my U.S. blu-ray (well, I just made sure the machine could read them). Delivery was another issue. They did not come when promised. I called Amazon and the were VERY good about it. They offered an immediate refund, no questions asked---except, I didn't want a refund. So, they changed it and resent it. I received Jurassic Park by itself, and as of 3/14/13, still have not received the other six. However, the original box arrived about 3 weeks late, ripped open, but will all of the blu-rays still there. Well, at least I got them, they all play, the price was FANTASTIC, and Amazon service gets an A+ for caring. I tell all my friends to order from the Amazon UK site. Oh, I was very surprised to to see that the price shown INCLUDES shipping, which I didn't find out until I ordered. Again, just make sure anything you order says REGION-FREE somewhere in the product.