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Looking to tide folks over until the eventual release of the fourth Indiana Jones feature, Paramount Home Entertainment announced Tuesday that it finally plans on releasing the first three Indy films on November 4 as part of a four-disc DVD set.
Dubbed The Adventures of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection, the set will not only feature all three Indy flicks--1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade--but will also include a disc devoted to bonus material, including brand new interviews with director Steven Spielberg (news), producer-writer George Lucas (news) and star Harrison Ford (news).
"When we began, we kind of went on our own Indiana Jones archaeological dig in the Lucasfilm archives to see what we had and kind of hit a treasure trove of materials," says Jim Ward, vice president of marketing for Lucasfilm (which is producing the set with Paramount) and an executive producer of the DVD. "What we're trying to do right now is figure out what will go on that final disc...we have a lot of great never-before-seen things."
In the name of fortune and glory, the filmmakers didn't hesitate to raid the vaults. Among the goodies unearthed for the bonus disc: interviews with cast and crew members, new behind-the-scenes documentaries, featurettes on visual effects and music and hithtero unreleased footage cut from the original films.
One highlight is a deleted fight between Indy and a Cairo swordsman that Spielberg spent days choreographing only to have Ford--under the weather because of a stomach virus--improvise and just shoot the baddie, which wound up in the finished Raiders and was one of the best-remembered moments. The full scene has been resurrected for the DVD.
The Indy DVD set is expected to retail for approximately $50.
According to several DVD-centric Websites, the Indiana Jones movies rank behind only the original Star Wars trilogy as cinephiles' most-requested titles never released on the format.
And Paramount and Lucasfilm have not let them down in keeping up with the Jones.
Not only has each film been remastered in THX surround sound, but they have also been digitally preserved by Lowry Digital Images--the company behind the restoration of such classics as Paramount's Sunset Boulevard and Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Noticeably absent, however, are audio commentaries from Lucas, Spielberg and Ford. (Guess we'll have to wait for the next special edition for that one.)
Meanwhile, the three principals are still on board for the forever-in-the-works fourth Indiana Jones flick. Spielberg, Lucas and Ford committed to making the project a year ago but are waiting on the script, which is currently being written by Shawshank Redemption writer-director Frank Darabont (news).
"It's all a matter of aligning the planets with George, Steven and Harrison's schedules, but they definitely have the intent to do it," says Ward.
Little is known about the latest quest other than it will be set in the 1950s and focus on a more mature Indy. At 60, the AARP-eligible Ford will be dusting off the ol' fedora--and probably be getting a cortisone shot for those creaky knees.
The fourth adventure will reportedly reunite Indy with his dad, played in Last Crusade by Sean Connery (news), and possibly include a cameo by Temple of Doom's ear-splitting damsel-in-distress, Willie Scott, aka Mrs. Spielberg, Kate Capshaw (news).
Indy 4 is tentatively slated to start filming sometime in 2004 in time for a projected July 4, 2005 release.
Dubbed The Adventures of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection, the set will not only feature all three Indy flicks--1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade--but will also include a disc devoted to bonus material, including brand new interviews with director Steven Spielberg (news), producer-writer George Lucas (news) and star Harrison Ford (news).
"When we began, we kind of went on our own Indiana Jones archaeological dig in the Lucasfilm archives to see what we had and kind of hit a treasure trove of materials," says Jim Ward, vice president of marketing for Lucasfilm (which is producing the set with Paramount) and an executive producer of the DVD. "What we're trying to do right now is figure out what will go on that final disc...we have a lot of great never-before-seen things."
In the name of fortune and glory, the filmmakers didn't hesitate to raid the vaults. Among the goodies unearthed for the bonus disc: interviews with cast and crew members, new behind-the-scenes documentaries, featurettes on visual effects and music and hithtero unreleased footage cut from the original films.
One highlight is a deleted fight between Indy and a Cairo swordsman that Spielberg spent days choreographing only to have Ford--under the weather because of a stomach virus--improvise and just shoot the baddie, which wound up in the finished Raiders and was one of the best-remembered moments. The full scene has been resurrected for the DVD.
The Indy DVD set is expected to retail for approximately $50.
According to several DVD-centric Websites, the Indiana Jones movies rank behind only the original Star Wars trilogy as cinephiles' most-requested titles never released on the format.
And Paramount and Lucasfilm have not let them down in keeping up with the Jones.
Not only has each film been remastered in THX surround sound, but they have also been digitally preserved by Lowry Digital Images--the company behind the restoration of such classics as Paramount's Sunset Boulevard and Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Noticeably absent, however, are audio commentaries from Lucas, Spielberg and Ford. (Guess we'll have to wait for the next special edition for that one.)
Meanwhile, the three principals are still on board for the forever-in-the-works fourth Indiana Jones flick. Spielberg, Lucas and Ford committed to making the project a year ago but are waiting on the script, which is currently being written by Shawshank Redemption writer-director Frank Darabont (news).
"It's all a matter of aligning the planets with George, Steven and Harrison's schedules, but they definitely have the intent to do it," says Ward.
Little is known about the latest quest other than it will be set in the 1950s and focus on a more mature Indy. At 60, the AARP-eligible Ford will be dusting off the ol' fedora--and probably be getting a cortisone shot for those creaky knees.
The fourth adventure will reportedly reunite Indy with his dad, played in Last Crusade by Sean Connery (news), and possibly include a cameo by Temple of Doom's ear-splitting damsel-in-distress, Willie Scott, aka Mrs. Spielberg, Kate Capshaw (news).
Indy 4 is tentatively slated to start filming sometime in 2004 in time for a projected July 4, 2005 release.
