HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

I don't think Spielberg is hard to work with because everyone does their best to kiss his butt and give him what he wants. Not that I'm saying thats bad, because clearly he is one of the few directors that deserves such status, but when you get a director as powerful as he theres usually no problems because no one is there to oppose him in the first place, and his films generally run smooth because he usually gets what he asks for. On the crew its very draining behind closed doors because everyone works twice as hard because no mistake can be made and one slip up and the production manager fires you, but as far as personal issues I've never heard of anything. Actors are usually the most unpredictable factor but its not like people keep quiet about tensions because a director is powerful, if theres yelling and screaming it usually comes out. I think Spielberg just knows how to get the job done.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

that is a 7 minute making of poltergeist

here is another.
at about 50 seconds it changes from the first video above to what appears to e TCM footage.

then about 65 seconds in the doule hat is there on Speilberg, really hard to see what it says.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

or what condition a certain director was in.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

This has always been my impression as well. James Cameron's on about equal status, but there's a been a lot more said about his on-set behavior. Of course, some of that might just be the overall ordeal of some of his productions, but that's another thing about Spielberg...I think he learned enough from his first couple films not to stretch himself or his crews to the breaking point. Later on, when he started producing, it took him another couple films to figure out what that role was (compare the stories behind 'Poltergeist' to those from 'Back to the Future'). The 'Twilight Zone' incident, though, is it's own whole mess that involves a LOT of people.

Anyway, back to the discs at hand, I know I'll probably end up getting these. The Lucas camp seems to have this annoying-yet-consistent methodology of "pay twice and build your own comprehensive boxed set."

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Dunno about that last part but FWIW--SpikeHD showed SW Ep.3 last night...picture was shown at 1.78. Maybe it's OAR only when broadcasted on premium channels (e.g., HBO)?

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

As worked up as I am over the new film, I'll give this set a pass. Here's hoping the Blu-Ray set comes out this Christmas with all four films (like the Batman Blu-Ray set WB has promised when Dark Knight hits dvd).

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Not kidding at all. Tobe Hooper didn't direct a foot of Poltergeist according to the Production Designer of the film. The story goes that Hooper was having personal problems at the time, and Spielberg didn't want to fire him and ruin his career because they were friends. Also union rules wouldn't allow Spielberg to finish directing one film, E.T. and start on another, Poltergeist, less than a week later and take credit for both.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Its very telling that in all of that video, you never see Hooper telling anyone to do anything.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

I think if Hooper had been a functioning director on the set on day one, Spielberg would probably have let him alone to do it. After all Spielberg had produced 3 films for other directors before that and had never taken over the production. But he wasn't about to let the production come to a halt because the director was having personal problems, so he took over. I don't know what else he could have done other than fire him and hire another director, which would have killed Hooper's directing career.

Spielberg had almost no involvement in the Twilight Zone accident at all. Landis and his producer were totally in charge of that part of the production. There is a very good book about the incident called Special Effects by Ron LaBrecque that really gets into the details of that production.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Sorry, Travis but that would be rather weak reasoning on Paramount's part in my view. Apparently, Warners has no such qualms, look at the editions of Bladerunner, Bonnie and Clyde, etc. - released in BOTH BD and DVD.

However, as Paramount was one of the last studio holdouts switching from HD DVD to BD, maybe it is being unnecessarily cautious here and in HD releases for some time to come.

I hope they change their minds sometime soon. Those of us "early adopters" have to be patient I guess. When they do start more consistent efforts in the BD format I hope they won't forgo extras! Lord, BD backers have been hawking its ample capacity since the beginning. Start using it guys! Stop shafting the public!!

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

I think I said it in one of the HD threads but LFL has about dozen titles that they own (Paramount has no say in a Blu Ray release of Indiana Jones) but Warners owns thousands so they don't have to 'worry' about maximizing their money as much as LFL does.

Whether I or you or anyone else likes it and whether it's right or wrong, waiting for more players to sell is almost definitely the reason that they're waiting. What other reason could there possibly be?

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

On an unrelated note, I just saw a TV commercial for this. No mention of the box set, it just said the films were now available as special editions, with a shot of the three individual cases.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Good info, Doug...I'll have to hunt that book down at some point. I've previously only read Joseph McBride's Spielberg bio, which I think pulled a lot of speculative info from 'Outrageous Conduct' regarding that specific incident. Even then, the impression I got was that his involvement was practically nil.

Very interesting info on 'Poltergeist' as well. It amazes me how there is always new info still coming to light about that production.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Last night, I realized that my Indy collection from '03 was on my "pending" shelf i.e. I hadn't watched them yet! So, I broke out "Raiders" and figured I watch them all again. These DVDs held up pretty well for being 5 years old. There were several occasions in the beginning (one I recall being when Indy discovers the snake "Reggie" in the sea plane) when the film gets blurry almost like it was shimmy-ing back & forth. Those few occurrences aside, they look pretty good. That being said, I see not reason to double dip on this new set...well, not until the BR version comes out. The sound was pretty good as well, with some of the explosions sounding quite good.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

The blurring you are talking about in the "reggie" scene was actually visible in the theater as well. It is a result of the vibration from the airplane itself that the camera was mounted to, not any problem with the transfer of the film.

There is another shot in The Last Crusade where Indy, Sallah and Marcus are driving in a car just before the tank scene that has the same kind of vibration. I remember seeing the film in the theater and thinking there was something wrong with the projection, until I realized it was vibration coming from the camera mount.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Thanks, Doug, that's good to know!

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

I've always noticed that focus issue in the car scene as well, although I don't think it was caused by vibration, but was rather a depth of field problem. I believe the lens being used could not keep all of the characters in focus at one time, and they had to rack during the shot to focus upon whomever was talking.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

It does look a little like a rack focus shot on video, but in the theater you could see that the whole image was going in and out of focus rather than focus shifting. It might have been more than just vibration from the camera mount, it might have been a badly mounted aperture plate holding the film in place in the camera.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Interesting to see that LFL has dropped the THX Optimizers from this release. Wonder how they're expecting us to callibrate our systems to stablize Indy's fleshtones now?

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Possibly it could be the flange depth minutely shifting if the film is actually vibrating as it goes through the gate of the camera but most of Raiders was shot with Panaflex's, which should not have this issue. On the other hand, vehicle mounts in the Amazon might use smaller, less stable gear like Arris. It might be a mixture of both. But if its vibration from the plane/car/vehicel it would be a constant softness because the vibration is so extreme, it shouldn't be phasing in and out. I don't recall the shot itself but it sounds more like a depth of field than a focal flange issue.

EDIT

Taking a look at the shots, the plane shot in Raiders is just vibration from the plane blurring the image. The car shot in Crusade has the same problem but there is also focus racking. The focus is on Salah for most of the shot, which causes a bit of sotfness on Indy and Henry Jones sr., and then when Henry Jones speaks the focus racks back to him, making Salah slightly soft and Indy softer, and then when he leans forward the focus racks with him and all three become reasonably sharp. But there is a phasing bluring throughout from the vibrating engine/terrain.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

I bought the bonus material disc for $3. I'm watching the extras on the new set now. not too impressive. did enjoy watching Raiders again though.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

I looked at it again and clearly there is a rack focus going on in the car shot in Crusade, however there is also a weird vibration going on. You can see it clearly on Sallah's test pattern tie regardless of his being in focus or not. I think it maybe an intermittent vibration coming from a vintage car, and ether a bad aperture plate, badly mounted camera, or badly mounted lens. Maybe some combination of all three.

You are probably right that the car mount cameras are probably Arri's or Moviecams, however they aren't particularly known for low quality movements or lens mounts. I think particularly the shot in Crusade is likely the result of a malfunction that was not discovered until they watched the dailies. By that time its likely they couldn't go back to the location and had to live with the shot as it was.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Lucas no longer owns THX so I don't know if their association has been cut as well or not. I notice fewer and fewer THX discs in general.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

These new Indy releases feature a new THX logo before the main feature begins.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Oh I agree there is the vibration on top of the racking, but its just caused by the car itself. The intermitten and random nature of it shows its just variations in the engine/terrain--you can see the same thing in the "Reggie" scene. An improperly seated lens would be shook right off the camera body, and in either case improper mounts look different from the phenomenon you see here--its the same as when, if you hold a powerful hand drill and close one eye you get the same "blurring" effect.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Oh I see they just took off the optimizer?

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

True. Actually I was thinking of a vibrating lens element rather than the lens mount.

The fact that the vibration effect is more pronounced in the side shot than on the front on and the POV makes me think there was some issue with the camera or mount on that particular setup. There is virtually no vibration in the other two shots.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

Yeah, thats true. Possibly that side shot is mounted via an arm of some kind attached to the wing, which would transfer more vibration. I'm not sure how else you could have a mounted shot from that kind of profile angle.

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

A car of that age probably has a running board. It maybe attached to that or even bolted to the frame from underneath.

Doug

Re: HTF DVD REVIEW: Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection

I meant the plane in Raiders.