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INDIANA JONES and the 4K Restoration
Cinema’s greatest adventurer comes to Ultra High Definition in a 4-Film Box Set
The Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection is now available on 4K UHD and Standard Blu-ray. Please note the images in the article are purely illustrative and not captured from this release.
The Star Wars franchise may cast the biggest shadow from the wonderful wizards at Lucasfilm and ILM, but since discovering the Indy series (I came to it later than most, as a teenager), I fell in love with the eminent archeologist, his companions, and their thrilling, slightly horror-tinged pulp adventures.
The films are of course well known and pretty much universally beloved, so I won’t go to deep on reviewing them except to say that I adore them and if you’re reading this, then chances are, so do you.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Clarity
Unsurprisingly, these films look absolutely gorgeous. Well, Crystal Skull is still weirdly overlit with a lot of light bloom, but these presentations look remarkable. Except for a couple brief instances of what looks like camera shake (I think perhaps the digital cleanup tools had a hard time interpolating this kind of movement, and it looks a little wonky when it happens), the picture quality is really excellent.
There’s a famous little set design gag in Raiders in which heiroglyphics resembling R2-D2 and C-3PO can be seen carved into the structure behind Indy as he and Sallah discover and remove the Ark of the Covenant from its enclosure. On a large UHD TV in 4K, this little Easter Egg is much more discernible than ever before.
For this release, there has been an extensive cleanup effort to not only restore the film, but also to make it a UHD experience, cleaning up many of the aging effects. It looks terrific, but purists will certainly balk. Let’s talk about…
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Broom
A lot can be said, and has been, of this release and the discovery of certain cleanup and “tinkering” that has quietly taken place.
The terrific website movie-censorship.com has posted some very detailed comparisons of the 4K versions of Raiders and Temple of Doom against the Blu-rays which highlight some of these changes. These links are well worth checking out if you’re interested in this sort of thing (be advised you are likely to encounter NSFW materials and advertising on this site).
But to summarize my own experience, as a fan who has seen these films many times on VHS, DVD, theatrically, and on Blu-ray, I didn’t notice most of these changes. The vast majority of these alterations are very respectful and technical in nature, cleaning up aging effects: mostly fixing up choppily composited edges, or occasionally adding shadows where they were missing, or removing odds and ends that weren’t meant to be seen. No CGI song and dance numbers or “the swordsman in the square shot first” nonsense.
This kind of change isn’t new to the series, either — the famous reflection of the cobra in the safety glass in Raiders was digitally removed in prior versions. Though frankly, I miss seeing it, and I know many who love these films may feel the same way about these other little changes.
While I tend to prefer a canonical, “accurate” or “true” presentation (give us the real Star Wars already, George), but having watched these films in their new iteration, I have to say the overall effect was pleasing — they’re much more seamless now, and the changes don’t feel garish or intrusive — actually it’s the opposite effect, there’s less distraction from noticing the hard edges of the manual compositing. I would even go as far as to say that this is what the Star Wars special editions should have been.
The 4K restoration will be my go-to way to watch the films in the future, but even so, this makes it hard to let go of the prior Blu-ray collection and I think I’ll be hanging on to them and making sure my kids have the opportunity to see them that way.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Art
I’ve previously posted an unboxing pictorial which covers the physical package in great detail.
https://cinapse.co/unboxing-the-indiana-jones-4k-uhd-4-movie-collection-4a80b06b8a7f
Unfortunately the physical aspects of this release, a rather flimsy box printed on cardstock, with a reductive white design, don’t offer much incentive as eye candy to add it to your shelf. Particularly in comparison to the very beautiful Blu-ray edition, a compact, rigid, and gorgeously illustrated box set.
Indiana Jones and the Last Purchase Made?
Of course it’s obvious that with a fifth and reportedly final Indiana Jones film in production, another version of this set will soon materialize with all five films, and the somewhat disappointing packaging this go-round is likely a down-play to make it easier to repurchase this thing in a year or two.
We all know that waiting for that inevitable complete box set is the smart play here (see also: Jurassic Park), but for those who can’t wait, the new 4-Movie Collection is a marvelous add-on — though perhaps not a replacement — for your Blu-rays.
Special Features and Extras — Raiders of the Lost Ark 4K UHD
§ Teaser Trailer (1:04)
§ Theatrical Trailer (2:34)
§ Re-Issue Trailer (1:45)Special Features and Extras — Temple of Doom 4K UHD
§ Teaser Trailer (1:01)
§ Theatrical Trailer (1:26)Special Features and Extras — Last Crusade 4K UHD
§ Teaser Trailer (1:28)
§ Theatrical Trailer (2:13)Special Features and Extras — Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 4K UHD
§ Theatrical Trailer 2 (1:52)
§ Theatrical Trailer 3 (1:55)
§ Theatrical Trailer 4 (1:40)Special Features and Extras — Bonus Blu-ray Disc
This set carries over the bonus features from the prior Blu-ray release as listed:
· On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark
§ From Jungle to Desert
§ From Adventure to Legend· Making the Films
§ The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981 documentary)
§ The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark
§ The Making of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
§ The Making of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
· The Making of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (HD)· Behind the Scenes
§ The Stunts of Indiana Jones
§ The Sound of Indiana Jones
§ The Music of Indiana Jones
§ The Light and Magic of Indiana Jones
§ Raiders: The Melting Face!
§ Indiana Jones and the Creepy Crawlies (with optional pop-ups)
§ Travel with Indiana Jones: Locations (with optional pop-ups)
§ Indy’s Women: The American Film Institute Tribute
§ Indy’s Friends and Enemies
§ Iconic Props (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) (HD)
§ The Effects of Indy (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) (HD)
§ Adventures in Post Production (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) (HD)
A/V Out.
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Screen Comparisons: Arrow’s Upcoming DAIMAJIN TRILOGY vs Mill Creek’s 2012 Release
Arrow Video’s Daimajin Trilogy release is set to arrive on July 27, 2021. This article contains several comparisons which contrast Mill Creek’s 2012 Blu-ray transfer with the new release from Arrow. The frames aren’t necessarily exact matches, but should give a solid indication of the visual differences.
Viewing tips: For gauging clarity and resolution, these images are best viewed on a large monitor with widescreen aspect ratio — if viewing on a mobile device, pinch-zoom for closeup inspection. Elements like color, brightness, and contrast are more easily compared in a narrow window or upright mobile.
Following in the footsteps of the Gamera franchise, another classic kaiju series is getting a second chance on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. Like Gamera, the Daimajin trilogy had a prior collected edition from Mill Creek which was proffered as an inexpensive budget release but went out of print and become quite valuable. We covered this release as part of our Kaiju series in 2014.
https://cinapse.co/mighty-kaiju-right-beside-you-daimajin-trilogy-1966-72b87d9578fd
The 2-disc Mill Creek release paired Daimajin and Return of Daimajin together on a single disc; a second disc housed the third film and bonus features. Arrow’s release gives each film its own disc (with extras), and a technical analysis of the files shows that the movie files average 40% larger than Mill Creek counterparts — even with added commentaries, a positive sign that the picture is either of a higher initial fidelity or simply less compressed.
In my review of the 2012 set I gave it a hearty recommendation, which I still stand by. The picture quality was quite good, especially for a budget release. Comparing both editions, I only see a slight improvement in clarity or resolution in Arrow’s offering. What does stand out to me, though, is the much improved color and crispier contrast.
A side note, the trailers included on the Mill Creek discs were extremely compressed, demonstrating very apparent noisy artifacts and chunky macroblocking. The trailers on Arrow’s release do not have these issues. I don’t want to get too sidetracked by taking screenshots of extras but here’s one comparison just to underline the massive and obvious difference in their quality.
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow OK, let’s get into it. Here are full 1080p captures from all three films — you be the judge.
Daimajin
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow Return of Daimajin
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow Daimajin Strikes Again
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow 
Top: Old Mill Creek / Bottom: New Arrow
A/V Out.
Except where noted, all 16:9 screen images in this review are direct captures from the disc(s) in question with no editing applied, but may have compression or resizing inherent to file formats and Medium’s image system.
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Two Cents Throws More Fuel on the STREETS OF FIRE
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick:
We often describe our cultier picks as being “one of a kind”, but believe us when we say that there is only one Streets of Fire.
Off the back of the blockbuster success of 48 Hrs. (aka the movie that made Eddie Murphy a movie star) writer/director Walter Hill was afforded the chance to indulge himself. And boooooooooy, did he.
The only real precursor to the peculiar DNA of Streets of Fire is Hill’s own The Warriors, which we recently covered. Like that earlier film, Streets of Fire is set in a cartoonish, stylized alternate reality (what the film’s opening credits define as “Another Time, Another Place”) that is nonetheless depicted with all the grit and grime you could possibly imagine.
A sort of…fairy tale/Western/comic book/two-fisted pulp action/musical grab-bag, this “rock’n’roll fable” opens with fledgling superstar Ellen Aim (a suuuuuuuper young Diane Lane) being kidnapped off-stage mid-concert by a biker gang led by the vampiric Raven (a suuuuuuuuuuper young Willem Dafoe).
The local law has no way to combat a gang so crazed and ruthless, so Ellen’s old friend calls her brother Tom Cody (Michael Paré) to come to the rescue. A former local troublemaker turned former soldier, Tom Cody is also Ellen’s old flame. He sets out to save the damsel in distress, teaming up with fellow hard-edged veteran McCoy (Amy Madigan) and Ellen’s slimy manager and new beau, Billy Fish (Rick Moranis).
Anchoring the film are songs composed by famed Meat Loaf collaborator, the late great Jim Steinman. Steinman, who never met a teenage heartache that he couldn’t turn into a 10-minute rock ballad of the most brilliantly overblown variety, proved to be the perfect fit for Streets of Fire, a film that isn’t so much style-over-substance as it is style-as-substance.
Streets of Fire was a pretty severe flop when it was first released, and critics largely shrugged at its music video stylings and “what if instead of characters, explosions?” methodology. But a cult audience has continued to grow exponentially each year, and today there is a large tribe who know that tonight is what it means to be young.
So let the revels begin! Let the fires be started! And let’s all of us dance for the restless and the broken-hearted.
Next Week’s Pick:
Next week, we journey from Walter Hill’s mean streets to the newest fantasy land from Disney Animation!
Raya and the Last Dragon is available on Disney+!
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests:
Austin Wilden:
As Highlander is to Queen, Streets of Fire is to the late Jim Steinman.
While he’s not the sole contributing songwriter like Queen were in the former case, Steinman’s style gets exemplified in the bookending concerts by Ellen Aim and the Attackers. The declarative, ballad style a perfect reflection for the earnest melodramatic nature of Streets of Fire. If “Bat Out of Hell” or “Total Eclipse of the Heart” were on this soundtrack, they would not sound out of place at all. (I bet anyone familiar with the movie could even name spots where they’d fit perfectly.)
Which isn’t to talk down the contributions of the other singers and songwriters on the soundtrack. The songs given to the Sorels standout as well, especially “Countdown to Love” being used as a way to punctuate the first moment of peace the characters get after their assault on The Battery.
What make “Nowhere Fast” and “Tonight is What it Means to be Young” stand out even among other solid music in this movie is that reflection of the film’s overall energy. We’re welcomed into the heightened environment, an evolution of the tone Walter Hill established with The Warriors, by “Nowhere Fast.” Its energy and lyrics reflecting Ellen’s emotions of being back home in Richmond performing, even if she admits later she didn’t write these songs that connection is still present in the film’s text. “Tonight is What it Means to be Young” works even better as the note the movie ends on. The original poster for Streets of Fire describing it as “A Rock ‘n Roll Fable” and the lyrics about ideal dreams of love versus the reality of living as “the desperate and the broken hearted” make sure no one forgets that this was indeed a fable of “another time, another place.”
As a member of Ellen’s road crew says while watching the final concert: “Love Live Rock ‘n Roll” (@WC_WIT)
Brendan Agnew (The Norman Nerd):
Kudos to Streets of Fire for not only opening with a show-stopping 5-alarm banger of a song in “Nowhere Fast” as a dope musical introduction to another time and another place, but also for calling its shot using the song?
To clarify, this film is a prefect circle. It begins and ends in the same place with the principal characters all back on their designated turf — physically speaking. And at 93 minutes, it damn sure goes “nowhere” fast. But as archetypal embodiments of Campbell-ian mythic structure go, it comes up wanting only against the likes of The Lion King in terms of “let’s just make this bit of the Hero’s Journey the literal text in the film” and swinging hard enough to pull that off.
I won’t be the first to pine for a stronger leading man (Paré is… fine), but the rest of the cast is an absolute treat and our hero swings a hell of a hammer, even if he doesn’t quite pull off looking badass in suspenders. And I cannot overstate how hard the soundtrack goes at the same time the production design is sprinting to keep up with the music (and keeping pace) that coalesces into a genre blend utterly unique and inviting.
Also, there’s a bit where our heroes blow the shit outta a whole squad of police cars, and that Walter Hill guy knew a thing or two. (@blcagnew)
The Team
From the moment Streets of Fire introduces Willem Dafoe’s villain with him slowly moving through a feverish concert crowd, backlit to an impossible degree so his figure is entirely dark silhouette, I knew I was in love.
And the film more than lives up to that exhilarating opening, unmoored from anything so boring as reality. This a world where every line of dialogue is snarled, where there’s an unnamed war that’s splashing up all kinds of ex-soldiers on the shores to go on valiant quests to save fair damsels, and where people settle their disputes with HAMMER DUELS.
I registered my complaints with The Warriors when we covered that film. For me, Streets of Fire has always been the Walter Hill movie that successfully turned his outsized, comic book visions of rain-slicked cities into a proper, propulsive movie.
The fly in the ointment is and has always been Paré as the film’s lead. Tom Cody needs to be a larger-than-life MAN who feels like he just strode out of a paperback and commands the center of the film through movie star machismo alone. Paré looks the part well enough, but he’s a flat blank as a screen presence, blown off the screen by every single supporting player.
If Tom Cody had lived up to his legend, Streets of Fire would be a classic of ’80s cinema. As is, it’s still a ludicrous amount of fun and an absolutely kick-ass way to spend 90 minutes at a pop. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
I’m gonna go to bat for Paré on this one. I understand the opinion of my cohorts that his performance here is uncharismatic, but he understands the assignment. He’s not the hero. He’s the angry, lonely drifter who won’t come out of this with a happy ending. From his first appearance, Tom Cody is all smoldering fire and sad blue eyes, with a war raging in with soul.
Streets Of Fire is the ultimate companion to The Warriors in my opinion. Both opt for a unique urban setting that’s unquestionably “gritty” but separated from reality through a veil of fantasty and rock & roll. Even though they’re quite different, as have a lot of the same motifs and showing up: themed gangs, extended chases, subways, street fights, a fractured romance, and a showdown on the home turf. For some reason it never found quite the same audience as The Warriors, but it seems people have started discovering it in the last few years for what it is: one of the best films of the 80s. (@VforVashaw)
Get your Ellen Aim and the Attackers “Tonight is What it Means to be Young” shirt from our friends at RoughCut!
https://roughcutfanclub.com/products/ellen-aim-and-the-attackers-pre-order
Further reading:
https://roughcutfanclub.com/products/ellen-aim-and-the-attackers-pre-order
Next week’s pick:
https://roughcutfanclub.com/products/ellen-aim-and-the-attackers-pre-order
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RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT: Spotlight on a Legend
The documentary, which played at Sundance last year, opens theatrically this week
Multifaceted performer Rita Moreno has been entertaining for more than 75 years, starting with a preadolescent dancing career that led to her being cast in her first films. Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It provides a spotlight for the legendary Latina actress who had to find her way amidst sexual harassment in a racist studio system and dozens of brownface roles as island girls and natives to get to a point where she could be cast as Anita in MGM’s West Side Story.
This documentary provides Moreno an opportunity to recall past traumas and how a lack of self-worth in her younger years led to certain decision making. “I thought so little of myself,” she says, as she admits she kept working with her agent even after he raped her. I haven’t read her memoir, so there were several bombshells like this that Moreno drops during the documentary which left this viewer stunned. Director Mariem Pérez Riera interviews friends, family, academics and several Latinx performers influenced by the amazing expanse of her career. The historical context provided by a few of the interviewees grounds the film.
We are shown scenes of modern-day Moreno prepping on the set for One Day at a Time, watching the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford as she does so. The Senate hearing testimony serves as a kind of parallel for Moreno’s own lifetime experience. Besides the careful thought behind this storytelling choice, the format of the documentary tends to adhere too strongly to a timeline. This makes Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It less remarkable than it could have been, and more pedestrian in form.
Which is not to diminish the impact of seeing a frank Moreno speak with love for the family and the home she left behind in Puerto Rico to move as a child with her mom to New York, or hearing her consider her younger tendencies towards relationships with controlling men, or the marvel of glimpsing her on the set of the upcoming film adaptation of West Side Story. It’s slightly disappointing that the documentary isn’t quite as original in style as the star at its center, but Ms. Moreno really is one of a kind.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It opens in theaters Fri, June 18 (and will eventually air on PBS, as WNET helped produce it).
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Two Cents Exorcises THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick:
Whether or not you believe in the real-life demon-slaying exploits of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the onscreen version of the couple has been at the center of one of the most consistently popular horror franchises in a long while.
James Wan’s 2013 chiller The Conjuring spawned not only a direct sequel but an Annabelle spinoff that produced two sequels of its own, plus another direct spinoff in The Nun, plus that kinda-sorta spinoff The Curse of La Llorona.
La Llorona director Michael Chaves made the jump to the main series with the third installment of the ghostbusting franchise led by Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren.
Drawing once again on the rough details of a “true” supernatural story, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It opens with the Warrens in mid-exorcism. As they try to free young David (Julian Hilliard) from possession, the Warrens are unable to stop the demon from hopping out of David and into Arne, (Ruairi O’Connor) David’s sister’s boyfriend.
Under the control of the demon, Arne murders his landlord and is quickly arrested. He pleads not guilty by reason of demonic possession, leading the Warrens to take it upon themselves to prove the presence of a supernatural agent.
Whereas the first two Conjuring films were haunted house rollercoasters, The Devil Made Me Do It functions as a detective story, as the Warrens work to uncover the sinister motivation behind not only David and Arne’s plight, but a connected series of possessions and murders.
The Conjuring series is unique among horror franchises for being about the continuing adventures of heroic figures, rather than a recurring villain being the main attraction (the only other franchise that would seem to fit the bill is maybe Evil Dead). Yet with each successive film, the real-world duplicity of the Warren couple and the negative ripple effects of their con artistry becomes harder and harder to divorce from the saintly duo embodied by Wilson and Farmiga.
But people still seemed happy to welcome the Warrens back to the big screens and onto HBO Max when The Devil Made Me Do It dropped last week. So dim the lights and grab your crucifix, because we’re ready for a spooky good time.
Next Week’s Pick:
Tonight is what it means to be young.
Get ready for a rock’n’roll fairy tale like no other.
Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire is available to stream on Netflix Instant.
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
The Team:
The Conjuring films, as well as the second and third Annabelle films, are among my favorite big studio horror films in recent years. It helps that my son is a huge fan, as well. However, this latest installment is not amongst the best in the series.
I still enjoyed it and it hits some good scares and story beats, but it really doesn’t compare to the first two films in the series very favorably.
However, I will say that I truly love spending time with the on screen Warrens. The fantastic actors and fantastic characters are a big part of what works in this series. It’s sad that these on screen heroes are based on two truly awful hucksters, but I choose to divorce the Warrens on screen from the real life duo of charlatans. With that in mind, Farmiga and Wilson remain a bright spot in this one.
In short, this is lesser Conjuring, but still worth a watch. You can listen to me on The Film Board podcast episode about this film here. (@thepaintedman)
I think I’ve reached the end of the line with the cinematic Ed and Lorraine Warren, at least if James Wan is going to remain busy elsewhere.
The Devil Made Me Do It isn’t terrible or anything like that. Farmiga and Wilson continue to be at the top of their game, the detective story structure is a solid change from the previous haunted house scenarios, and Chaves faithfully recreates the atmospherics and aesthetics that made the first couple films so potent.
But the spark seems well and truly out. Chaves might nail the look that Wan established, but gone is Wan’s exacting sense of timing and geography, and gone is the exuberant, naughty enthusiasm with which Wan threw creeps and freaks at the screen. The Devil Made Me Do It ultimately ends up feeling like an expensive episode of Supernatural, plodding through its procedural beats to get to the next scare section. Which are generally not very scary.
The real bummer is that there’s one genuinely great and original fright setpiece, the waterbed attack, but not only did the trailers show the entire sequence in full, but it occurs as a flashback after we’ve already seen that the characters involved are perfectly unharmed, effectively deflating any even theoretical tension.
So, not a bad entry in the series, but the Conjuring movies either need a major shot of new blood, or the Warrens might need to be put on ice for a bit. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
I haven’t really dived into the various spinoffs in the “Universe” that revolved around The Conjuring, but I’ve enjoyed each of the mainline series. The chemistry between Wilson and Farmiga has anchored the series as a sort of overarching love story told as chillingly effective horror stories. That continues and is even amplified in their third outing, which bolsters the importance of their love to the narrative, while putting them up against a new threat.
The newest entry is perhaps the weakest of the three, and the least “believable” , but nonetheless a solid outing with plenty of spooky fun. As characters at least, the Warrens are a really fascinating duo and I continue to enjoy their weird adventures. (@VforVashaw)
More on The Conjuring 3:
https://cinapse.co/podcast-the-film-board-the-conjuring-the-devil-made-me-do-it-130cd82807e9
Next week’s pick:
https://cinapse.co/podcast-the-film-board-the-conjuring-the-devil-made-me-do-it-130cd82807e9
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Unboxing the INDIANA JONES 4K UHD 4-Movie Collection
Rediscover the famed whip-wielding archeologist and obtainer of antiquities as he swings into Ultra High Definition
It’s hard to believe, but after years of development and delays, filming began last week on the fifth and, according to producer Kathleen Kennedy, final Indiana Jones film.
As excitement starts ramping up for Indy’s final adventure, it’s a great time to revisit the franchise (heck, it’s always a great time). On June 8, Paramount released “Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection”, a new 4K UHD edition of his four adventures. I’ll be reviewing the discs soon, but for now here’s a detailed pictorial of the new box set.
The set is housed in a slipbox, with the discs in a trifold keeper. The back cover has a removable card with the shelf details and UPC. The backer card is sized such that you can keep it stored inside the box, if desired. Removing the backing reveals artwork below.
In The Box
There are two inserts, a folded poster and digital copy sheet. One note of interest; these are Paramount digital copies, not Disney. They are not Movies Anywhere compatible, and you’ll be prompted to select a digital vendor to redeem them with. The digital copies are four separate codes rather than a single collected code — I always appreciate this method; if I happen to own any of the films digitally already I can pass on the extra one to a friend.
Here’s a look at the disc box — Please note the diagonal colorations on some of the images below aren’t part of the design, but rather an effect of sunlight from a nearby window.
Discs
Each of the four films is contained on their own UHD disc, with an additional Blu-ray disc for bonus features.
Foldout Poster/Fieldnotes
The double sided foldout poster displays “fieldnotes” on the first side, showing a world map chronicling Indy’s movie adventures with photos and timeline notes.
compacted view 
Detail views — this is actually pretty cool and I would definitely have put this on my wall as a kid.
The reverse features an assembly of original poster art for all four films, by Richard Amsel and Drew Struzan.
reverse foldout — poster gallery Conclusion
While it’s extremely exciting to get these wonderful films on 4K, in terms of shelf presence it’s hard get excited for this box set which employs a minimalistic “plain white” design and feels flimsy, mostly made of thin cardstock.
Unfortunately in design terms it’s a big step down from the prior Blu-ray release, especially for something that’s initially priced at around $90. By contrast, the 2012 box set featured an elegant rigid slipbox, with embossed titles and glossy graphics on metallic foil matte. The book-style disc keeper was generously illustrated and the entire package felt like a gorgeous prestige edition of superior construction. The DVD and VHS Trilogies featured similarly handsome editions.
My guess is that with a fifth and final film coming, Paramount is pumping the brakes a bit in order to put out a more attractive Complete Collection in 2022 or 2023.
A/V Out.
Get it at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3g7xkUa
If you enjoy reading Cinapse, purchasing items through our affiliate links can tip us with a small commission at no additional cost to you.All package photography was taken by the reviewer.
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UNDINE Explores the Depths of Love and Longing
Christian Petzold’s latest exploration of romantic and social identity wades into mythic waters
With his last three films Barbara, Phoenix, and Transit, Christian Petzold has engaged in a fascinating reckoning with the shifting identities of his native Germany–both on a personal and societal level. All three feature relationships torn asunder by geopolitical, fascistic conflict: Barbara features a Doctor seeking to flee East Germany to reunite with her lover in the West, only to have her relationships tested by her fellow coworkers. Phoenix reunites’ Barbara’s Nina Hoss and Ronald Zehrfeld in a Vertigo-shaded story of a woman who, rendered unrecognizable by Nazi camp experimentation, takes on her assumed-dead identity to reunite with and understand the motivations of her scheming and oblivious husband. Transit, inspired by a Wartime novel but transposed into modern day (with little else changed), features Franz Rogowski as a German refugee seeking to flee through France under the identity of an author who’s committed suicide–only to end up falling in love with the author’s unsuspecting widow.
Each film in Petzold’s loose trilogy bears sharp critiques of a past Germany has long sought to either atone for or move on from–with the sins of the past bearing consequences that his characters must pay for with their relationships. The true motivations of many of Petzold’s characters remain elusive even beyond their final frames–but what remains strikingly clear throughout is how the malleability of one’s personal or national identity reveals in itself a riveting conflict between a passionate need to connect with others and an equally instinctual drive for self-preservation.
Petzold’s latest film, Undine, bears a remarkable evolution in his examination of these recurring themes. Here, passionate romances and the history of a nation are connected with a mythic underpinning that is all at once tragic and transcendent.
Undine (Paula Beer) is a historian and guide in the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development, delivering insightful monologues about Berlin’s ever-evolving architectural styles and how they reflect shifting social politics through history. Recovering from a recent breakup with an unfaithful lover, she crosses paths with Christoph (Franz Rogowski), a professional underwater welder. It’s love at first sight, and both Undine and Christoph are quickly inseparable. They share in each other’s passions with matched intensity–from dreamlike dives underwater to Christoph’s rapt attention to Undine as she rigorously memorizes her next set of tour facts. But much like the blurred line between Past and Present reflected in Berlin’s architecture, Undine’s troubling past begins to reveal unintended conflicts in her present. As she navigates the detritus of her previous relationships before they can affect Christoph, Undine’s life shares similarities to the myth that bears her name–of a Water Nymph who is doomed to bring death to the lovers that wrong her.
“Modern architecture theory teaches us that the design of a building can be derived from the best possible realization of its intended use. Form follows function. In the center of Berlin now stands a museum built in the 21st Century…in the form of an 18th-Century ruler’s palace.
The deceptive part lies in the hypothesis that this makes no real difference, which is the same as claiming that progress is impossible.”
Phoenix literalizes the shifting identity of Germany in its heroine’s illusory transformation, and Transit transposes its World War II storyline to modern day to reveal just how timeless hatred and conflict truly are. With Undine, Petzold melds these two fascinations into the journey of his star-crossed lovers, reflecting on just how people (like places) are unable to let go of their pasts despite the facades of change they may adapt over time. Constantly throughout Undine is a tension between the thrill of a seemingly endless new relationship–Undine and Christoph are often intertwined in public as they are in private, as if compelled to join together as one like something out of Aristophanes. But just as pervasive is the regret of letting a past relationship go–whether it’s Undine with the lover who wronged her, or eventually Christoph as he struggles to understand Undine’s true nature. Both lovers repeatedly visit the places with the strongest memories of each other–as if a return will mean a re-experience of those moments and emotions, hopefully bringing with it a further clarity to a murky past.
It’s fitting that such a passionate romance at the core of Undine sees one of Petzold’s most effective star pairings reunite. Rogowski and Beer are just lovelorn and mysterious here as they were in Transit, sharing a remarkable tenderness that feels as if it’d be impossible for them to keep secrets from one another–making it all the more striking as Undine’s mythic past grows to overshadow whatever future they may have together. At the same time, it’s bewitching to watch the pair together as they truly get lost in each other’s company–for better and for worse. As Undine concludes the above monologue, it’s as if the crushing pessimism is totally lost on Christoph–it’s more about the musicality of Undine’s voice, a siren song meant only for him in that moment.
The film’s shifts in tone, as conflicts to rise to the surface, finds Petzold exploring something that only existed on the fringes of Phoenix and Transit. Phoenix culminates in an inevitable yet remarkable Hitchcockian twist of fate, and Transit dares to unstick its plot out of time to create a unsettling relevancy to today’s politics–only to continue pushing the limits of time and space to a spiritual finale. Both films inched towards the realm of the fantastic–and by drawing inspiration from Greek and German folklore for Undine, Petzold elevates this romance to an equally timeless and mythic stature.
Undine is now playing in limited theatrical release and on VOD courtesy of IFC Films.
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EXPLORERS Soars on Blu-ray
Joe Dante’s homegrown sci-fi adventure takes to the stars in a definitive Collector’s Edition from Shout Select
Ben (Ethan Hawke) and Wolfgang (River Phoenix) are pre-teens whose dreams and waking lives are riddled with aspirations to reach beyond the stars. Buried in Sci-fi novels, comics, and re-runs of George Pal movies by day to avoid the attention of bullies and oblivious parents, Ben and Wolfgang’s only escape seems to be in their dreams of alien life and distant worlds. But lately, Ben’s been having wild recurring visions of a massive circuit board — seemingly beamed into his brain from parts unknown. When Ben and Wolfgang team up with mechanically-minded fellow outcast Darren (Jason Presson) to bring this dream to life, the trio realizes the sky’s no longer the limit when it comes to fulfilling their dreams of exploring outer space.
Explorers is one of those films that seemed to burrow its way into every other family’s VHS collection growing up. An initial disappointment at the box office when released, Explorers slowly found an audience as the format allowed other would-be blockbusters crowded out by the likes of Back to the Future or The Goonies to have a second chance on the small screen. Hot off the heels of Gremlins, Explorers sees Joe Dante’s wily sense of humor meld with an earnest love of sci-fi and boyhood adventure. However, comparisons with E.T. and other recent spectacles ran rampant, and the film’s tonal roller coaster between the fantastic and the fantastically tongue-in-cheek left some audiences more bemused than exhilarated.
On home video, though, the exploits of Ben, Wolfgang, and Darren feel…well, more at home. Dante and screenwriter Eric Luke truly capture the electric feeling of sneaking off in the dead of night to get up to all sorts of mischief, and translate just as well the impossibly complicated mechanics of creating one’s own spaceship into something that feels like an achievable weekend project with the right amount of bubble gum and elbow grease. It’s the perfect Saturday matinee for another rainy afternoon at home–which is how I first fell in love with this movie growing up.
As an adult, it’s a pleasant surprise to see how Explorers hasn’t lost its charm. It’s hard not to feel like part of the gang with the natural chemistry between the film’s three leads of Hawke, Phoenix, and Presson. All three break the mold of “Disney-fied” child actors of the period, to borrow a phrase from the film’s Special Features–they’re not afraid to be crass, bored, or blunt, and don’t feel the pressure to play up a hipness imposed on them by out-of-touch studio execs. As a result, all three feel like next-door-neighbors as much as protagonists.
This approach also lends Explorers’ unabashedly goofy sense of humor a great deal of sincerity–sure, it’s a film that’s super self-aware of its place among other recent sci-fi and “kids on bikes” Amblin films, but it reveres that subject matter because the characters at its core revere them too. It makes everything that plays out feel more like a kid’s wild-eyed attempt at making their own Hollywood dream picture–with all the weird, silly offhand details that come with the territory. Here, we get to have The Thing’s Rob Bottin design colorful aliens that spout off Bugs Bunny and Humphrey Bogart in one spliced sentence, as well as gargantuan guard robots that spout sniffing tubes like an overexcited puppy, all accompanied by then-cutting edge special effects by Star Wars pioneers Industrial Light & Magic. It’s a hell of a gateway sci-fi film for younger audiences while also giving their older co-viewers a healthy amount of nostalgia and thrills to disappear into themselves.
In a surprise presentation of both the equally sought-after Theatrical and Home Video cuts of the film, Shout Select brings Explorers back to home video in a stacked Collectors’ Edition release.
Video/Audio
Shout presents both cuts of Explorers in a 1080p HD transfer in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, accompanied by 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo DTS-HD Master Audio tracks. The slightly-shorter Home Video cut of the film (106 minutes) is presented as the preferred version of the film on Disc One, with the Theatrical Version (109 minutes) presented on Disc Two. English subtitles are available solely for the feature films.
Both presentations of Explorers retain a warmth and washed-out quality that amps up the nostalgia factor, while still presenting a healthy amount of detail that utilizes all the advantages of a Blu-ray upgrade. Details from the bric-a-brac of Wolfgang’s basement to the designs of Rob Bottin’s creatures are well-represented, though a significant amount of dust flickers and other signs of age (especially in VFX shots) suggest this is more of a high-definition transfer of an aged print rather than a full-on restoration. However, such appearances are few and far between, and enhance the film’s nostalgic qualities than serve as any kind of distraction.
Audio channels are clear and distinct, almost a near opposite of the visual transfer’s negative qualities. Heavily favored sonic aspects are Jerry Goldsmith’s lush, soaring score and the quirky, vibrant foley work–especially noticeable in the trio’s first experimentation with alien technology as well as onboard a climactic alien craft.
Special Features
The special features below are replicated across both discs in this set.
- A Science Fiction Fairy Tale–The Story of Explorers: A new, feature-length documentary about the production and legacy of Explorers, featuring interviews with Director Joe Dante, Screenwriter Eric Luke, Paramount Production Executive David Kirkpatrick, Paramount Junior Production Executive Darlene Chan, Sci-Fi Author & Explorers Superfan Ernest Cline, and Star Ethan Hawke. This is a surprisingly in-depth doc, full of glowing interviews and unexpected anecdotes–Wolfgang Petersen and Steven Spielberg were in the running to direct before Dante came aboard, and a who’s-who of 80’s child actors (like A Christmas Story’s Peter Billingsley and the Lost Boys’ Coreys Feldman & Haim) tried out for the lead before a zero-credits Ethan Hawke won the role. Everyone also speaks candidly about the fast-paced production (to meet a studio-demanded Summer date) and the surprising initially negative reception of the film–before it eventually found a cult audience over the following decades on VHS.
- Deleted Scenes: Newly unearthed by Director Joe Dante from a personal betamax work print, this is the real treasure of Shout’s collector’s edition. Over half-an-hour of unfinished, watermarked deleted scenes are presented, with incomplete VFX and rough on-location audio. Most scenes focus on the trio’s home life on Earth, as well as scenes fleshing out Amanda Peterson’s Lori and Dick Miller’s Charlie. Joe Dante provides an optional commentary, detailing how these scenes ended up on the cutting room floor (and which ones deserved to end up back in the final cut).
- Interviews: Newly-filmed interviews with cinematographer John Hora and editor Tina Hirsch. John Hora reminisces fondly on his first reactions to Rob Bottin’s creature designs, and has an unexpected visit from Dick Miller (RIP). Tina Hirsch reflects on her first impressions of Joe Dante and the fun chaos of Explorers’ rapid production process.
- Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible Art with original poster art and new art by illustrator Ryan McGrath.
Explorers is now available on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory.
Get it at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vdsLfr
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Unboxing Severin’s THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE Box Set
A pictorial of the new collection honoring the horror legend, packed with five films, a TV anthology series, a CD soundtrack, and numerous extras
New on Blu-ray from Severin, the “Eurocypt of Christopher Lee” collection is an incredible box set featuring several rare films and a television series in stunning presentations (each featuring 2K or 4K restorations), along with numerous bonus features. It’s an assemblage of pretty exclusive and elusive material: Many of these titles are getting their first proper home video release, unavailable on DVD, or only in extremely poor quality or compromised editions.
Here’s our comprehensive pictorial of the box set and everything in it.
Outer Box
The contents are encased in a rigidly constructed topload-style box with a removable lid.
Contents
Book
Christopher Lee: The Continental Connection by Jonathan Rigby, illustrated throughout with international photos and artwork in both full color and black and white.
Blu-rays
The movies (and television program) are packaged in 6 black Blu-ray cases. Extras vary from slim to generous, but all titles include at least one bonus feature, at minimum a promo, trailer, or commentary.
Castle of the Living Dead
In addition to the Blu-ray, this package also includes a CD soundtrack, the tracklist of which is printed on an insert card.
Challenge the Devil + “Relics from the Crypt”
The “Relics from the Crypt” bonus features disc shares a case with the Challenge the Devil Blu-ray, along with an insert listing its contents. (If you’re like me, you’ll immediately feel compelled to swap the placement of these discs).
Crypt of the Vampire
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Theatre Macabre (TV Anthology)
The Torture Chamber of Dr Sadism
A/V Out.
Available for purchase directly from Severin Films!
Or get it at Amazon: https://amzn.to/34N52b3
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PLAN B Is a Funny, Feminist Trip of a Film
Natalie Morales directs your new favorite teen comedy
Look at Natalie Morales, who directed two films during the pandemic. Her bilingual video-chat drama Language Lessons premiered at SXSW in March, and now her second feature, Plan B, debuts on Hulu this week. Based on a screenplay from iZombie writers Joshua Levy and Prathi Srinivasan, the raucous comedy follows two teens in their quest for a morning-after pill in South Dakota.
Sunny (Kuhoo Verma, The Big Sick) and Lupe (Victoria Moroles, Teen Wolf) are best friends who confide in each other about everything… well, almost everything. During a spontaneous party thrown while her mom is out of town, Sunny has sex and is hesitant to admit to Lupe who it was she lost her virginity to. Meanwhile, Lupe has been messaging someone named Logan who may not be at all what Sunny expects. Before they admit these secrets to each other, they have to head on the road to Rapid City to find Plan B after a hometown pharmacist (Jay Chandrasekhar) refuses to sell to the teens.
Of course their journey is not an easy one (that would make for quite a dull movie), but the girls’ antics in this road trip film are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Bonus points go to character actress Edi Patterson for making the role of gas station attendant Doris distinctly memorable. Verma and Moroles have such a sweet chemistry that this viewer got a bit teary-eyed in a touching moment as Lupe and Sunny acknowledge the depth of their friendship.
The consensual, sex positive nature of Plan B is refreshing, and I was pleased to see an intimacy coordinator among the film’s credits. The raunchy film treats the girls as sensual beings, but refrains from objectifying any of the characters. Sunny’s cute crush Hunter (Michael Provost, Insatiable) is allowed depth; even over-the-top Christian Kyle (Mason Cook, Speechless) isn’t treated as a complete joke.
Comparisons might be made to Booksmart, but there’s enough here that makes Plan B its own unique work. Sunny and Lupe are women of color living in a majority white rural town. Both girls deal with daily racist microaggressions — we hear a few examples — and are overly concerned about the expectations their parents have for them. Lupe rebels in some ways against her father’s strict rules, but until the party, Sunny has been a dutiful daughter.
The writers making a morning-after pill be the goal of the girl’s journey is incisively relevant, as I write this in a state whose lawmakers have recently signed a restrictive anti-abortion law. The urgency of their trip won’t be lost on most viewers. Plan B is a rollicking good time, but the tight deadline the girls have to work within reminds us of these very real and impractical restrictions around reproductive choice in much of the nation.
Plan B starts streaming on Hulu Friday, May 28.
