The Indiana Jones trilogy is finally making an entrance into the DVD arena. Paramount Home Video will release the long awaited The Adventures of Indiana Jones–The Complete DVD Movie Collection Oct. 21.
The four-disc box set includes Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The fourth disc contains some four hours of bonus features produced especially for the collection and possibly some deleted scenes from the three films.
“The fourth disc explores every facet of how the films were made–from stunts to visual effects to the music and sound,” Jim Ward, VP of marketing at Lucasfilm, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We take viewers around the world to explore the history behind the Indiana Jones legends.”
Ward added there would be no director’s commentary tracks on the three discs containing the films. “We felt that because of bandwidth issues and, more importantly, the amount of information provided on the fourth disc, it would be redundant to include a director’s commentary track on the title discs,” he said.
Producer George Lucas, director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford also provide a great deal of input in the collection, as do other members of the cast and crew.
Lucas and Spielberg are currently working on the fourth installment in the series with Ford set to reprise his role as archeologist Indiana Jones. The story, which will take place in the 1950s, sees Indy travel to the lost city of Atlantis. The film is set to begin production early next year and is aiming for a July 4, 2005 release date.
According to the Reporter, the Indiana Jones films have consistently ranked among the top 10 most-requested titles among DVD consumers since DVDs first hit store shelves in April 1997.
The box set, which will be available in both wide-screen and full-screen versions, could easily become the biggest selling DVD collection–at least until Lucas decides to release the original Star Wars trilogy. Although the collection has no suggested retail price, it is expected to be available for approximately $50 in the United States.
