The Indiana Jones Trilogy

I enjoy reading the cover of this set: "The Complete DVD Movie Collection," because Indiana Jones Meets Aliens in the Kingdom of the Crystal Turd and the Treasure is Knowledge is not included. I can pretend it doesn't exist, because I'm still disappointed.

Originally just called Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first film is one of the best adventure movies ever made, and easily one of Steven Spielberg's top five best directorial efforts. Much has been written about Raiders, so I'll skip most of the lip service. Raiders is an iconic adventure film — one that I come back to often, and one I can't resist watching if I find it playing on television.

In my comic book collection, I have a copy of Marvel Super Special, Issue #18. While it's not a valuable item, it means a lot to me because I'm pretty sure I snagged it from my grandma's garage sale when I was maybe 7 or 8 years old. No idea how she got it.

I got the comic before I saw the film, so my perception of Raiders is strongly affected by that comic adaptation. In the comic, the Ark is described as having a low humming sound, like a great energy building up throughout the film. Once that energy was released in the climactic scene, the Ark went back to a lower, less intense hum. I always liked that touch, but I've always been disappointed to not hear the hum in the film. There were other changes, some bigger than others, and they're detailed here.

To establish greater continuity, the creators agreed to re-title the first film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is maybe the wisest change to any George Lucas or Spielberg project. I've never had a problem with the title change, just like I've never really had a problem with Lucas re-naming Star Wars to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Makes for better continuity.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom comes next. A prequel before most people knew what a prequel was, I found the film confusing when I was a kid. Where were the Nazis? Where was Marian? And why is the blonde woman screaming so much? These were important questions. At least there was a kid in the film. I always wanted to help Indiana Jones.

Once I got older and understood Lucas and Spielberg's motivations behind this film, I could get on board with the prequel concept. I still can't deal with Kate Capshaw screaming constantly, though. Capshaw is, hands down, the most annoying part of the Indiana Jones series, and I'm even including Shia LeBeouf. "The biggest trouble with her is the noise," Indy says at one point, making the most amazing understatement of the whole series.

The best part about Temple of Doom being a prequel is this: You can watch Raiders and Last Crusade back to back, ignore Temple of Doom, and not miss much.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade should've been the last Indiana Jones film, but Lucas and Spielberg couldn't resist going back to squeeze the dusty udders of the cash cow one more time. Let's forget about that for a moment.

Wisely going back to Judeo-Christian archaeology, and including Nazis and a Belloq-type as the antagonist(s), Last Crusade is a spectacular finale to the trilogy. The addition of Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. makes for one of the best father-son dynamics ever put on film.

When junior and senior, along with Sallah and Brody (who were back for this one), literally ride off into the sunset at the end of the third film, they had the perfect ending to a perfect Indiana Jones film. Indy and his father had drunk from the grail, ensuring everlasting life, and they could live on together, having adventures and saving precious religious artifacts from evildoers (or just retiring to quiet lives of lectures and campus life). Really, after the Holy Grail, there's not much more worth finding.

Like Raiders, I can't resist watching Last Crusade if I find it playing on television. For some reason, I always seem to pick up the film during the tank scenes. I still watch to the end.

How about River Phoenix channeling Harrison Ford? What a loss. The "Young Indiana Jones" TV show had some merit, but there's only one true young Indy, and River nailed it.

I love the Indiana Jones films because they're timeless. Even if the special effects look dated now, I don't care, because Lucas and Spielberg wanted to pay tribute to old, cheesy adventure serials. They ended up creating something far better.

In fact, these three films are still better than any imitator before, during, or since. All those Romancing the Stone, King Solomon's Mines type films couldn't compete, and neither could the contemporary TV shows like "Tales of the Gold Monkey." Even now, the National Treasure films seem thin and silly by comparison. Nothing else comes close — not even a fourth Indiana Jones film.

I wish Lucas and Spielberg had taken Henry Jones' advice and "let it go" after the third film, but they reached for the Grail anyway. They chose...poorly. Rather than go on a tirade about all that was wrong with the fourth film, I just like to imagine they left it alone instead.