Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

I'm just glad it's not me taking this down the dirt road. I only want to see it on 11!! :)
 
Easily one of the best action/adventure films ever made. And although the opening sequence sets the bar high, very high, one the best filmed, directed and "sustained" action sequences takes place in the middle of the film with Indy fighting (Spielberg favourite and former wrestler) Pat Roach in front of the flying wing Nazi plane and then continues to the vehicular chase, via fist fights, gunshots and dodgy van front grilles!

Proper good old fashioned close up stunts and not a second (as far as I know) of any CGI. Just made it ultra realistic and real edge of your seat action.

And apparently this whole sequence was not filmed by Spielberg but by the 2nd unit/assistant director if I remember rightly, from watching the Making of DVD (yes DVD) from years ago!

I kind of feel Mr. Cruise takes his inspiration for some of his stunts and set pieces from Raiders.
 
If you want to see how good this transfer is, just look at the original trailers on the main disc.
It’s incredible, visually and sonically.
Film is great fun, not the best Indy adventure though.
 
What a total waste of words this review was. Seriously it just needed 6.

It's Raiders
It's 4k
Buy it

Imagine having this film on your CV as director or composer, and for it to be legitimately argued that it's not your best work. Spielberg and Williams are just insane.
 
@Casimir Harlow I fixed your review for you - It was broken.

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One thing that may have been forgotten, is that at this time, VHS video rental libraries were the popular method of seeing films that had been gone from the cinema for a while.

At that point a genuine VHS movie was around £ 80 and back then that was an awful lot of money.

Raiders of the The Lost Ark was the first big studio movie to be released in VHS for the home at a reasonable cost - £ 12.99 IIRC, and they sold bucketloads of them. So you could say this film kickstarted the Home Video market.....
 
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Raiders of the The Lost Ark was the first big studio movie to be released in VHS for the home at a reasonable cost - £ 12.99 IIRC, and they sold bucketloads of them.


They soon realised that packaging them in buckets wasn't really approprate and it wasn't long before they started using library cases instead of buckets :lesson:

Raiders was the first video to sell over one million units. The Betamax and VHS editions actually retailed for the then-low price of $39.95 and the videodisc editions for $29.95 when released in December 1983. Its first letterboxed edition was on a remastered LaserDisc release in 1992 and it was subsequently released on DVD in 2003 and then on Blu-ray Disc in 2012.
 
They soon realised that packaging them in buckets wasn't really approprate and it wasn't long before they started using library cases instead of buckets :lesson:

Raiders was the first video to sell over one million units. The Betamax and VHS editions actually retailed for the then-low price of $39.95 and the videodisc editions for $29.95 when released in December 1983. Its first letterboxed edition was on a remastered LaserDisc release in 1992 and it was subsequently released on DVD in 2003 and then on Blu-ray Disc in 2012.
I remember buying my copy from W H Smiths.......
 
Sounds like they must have had some kind of bucket list.....


They also had an obsession with trying to offload shatterproff rulers onto unsuspecting bypassers. Many's the time I've gone out to get a newspaper and inexplicable returned with a shatterproof ruler, a roll of selotape and a box of stapless. I hadn't even got a stapler.
 
I'm just glad it's not me taking this down the dirt road. I only want to see it on 11!! :)
Well if youre that bothered its made by Schott! :D

And yeah all four plates go to 11. Not 10. Not 12. 11!
 
I still remember watching this at the cinema. When Indy shot the guy with the sword instead of fighting him the cinema audience clapped and cheered! I don't think I have ever seen that since.
 
Does anyone know if this set includes re-mastered 1080p blu-rays or if the 1080p blu-ray set scheduled to come out on the same day are re-mastered or just the same prior blu-ray transfer? I know it mentioned in thereview they were remastered, but Imhearimg differently. Thanks, guys.

Erik
 
Great reviews @Casimir Harlow but you didn't have to sell me on getting this collection once again . I do not purchase to many discs these days ( last was The Gentleman) but there are a certain few that are must own . Hope it arrives today as Raiders is perfect Sunday afternoon viewing .
 
Saw the Lost Ark today on itunes in 4k and what a diference from HD! Lovely upgrade indeed, even in streaming.

For me only the Lost Ark got updated to 4k.
 
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Great review Cas as always.

Would love to buy this but I'm not paying for all that remake crap. I love Indiana Jones and The Raiders of The Lost Ark (seen it at the cinema twice) but I don't love it that much.

Oddly they've rereleased ROTLA as a standalone Blu-ray at the same time but no UHD or Steelbook (which save my life on Back To The Future UHD).

I will have to be patient.
 
Does anyone know if this set includes re-mastered 1080p blu-rays or if the 1080p blu-ray set scheduled to come out on the same day are re-mastered or just the same prior blu-ray transfer? I know it mentioned in thereview they were remastered, but Imhearimg differently. Thanks, guys.

Erik
I also want confirmation of this... are the new blurays updated or remastered in any way? Thank you guys! :)
 
Saw the Lost Ark today on itunes in 4k and what a diference from HD! Lovely upgrade indeed, even in streaming.

For me only the Lost Ark got updated to 4k.
I saw this today on iTunes for £7.99.

Just wondering if its worth the purchase or wait for a standalone disc for Raiders, as I don't really want the other films
 

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