Notes
DVD Picture:
"Raiders Of The Lost Ark": The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1-framed DVD picture looks fantastic! Well worth the wait, the restored images are sharp and detailed, with nicely rendered depth and clarity to highlight the intricate sets and locations. There are, however, a few shots that exhibit a soft focus. Colors are richly saturated, with lush greens and vivid hues, natural fleshtones, and deep blacks. A discriminating eye may notice the occasional edge enhancement in some scenes, but its presence is quite minimal. Contrast and shadow delineation are nicely balanced, with satisfying visual information in the darker scenes. Of course, the opening sequence is a bit dark, but that is to preserve the mysterious man in the shadows until his on-screen debut. The source element is quite clean, with little in the way of dirt or film grain. There are occasional instances of pixelization, shimmering artifacts, or moiré patterns, which can cause minor “digital” artifacts. The superb restoration work was performed by Lowry Digital Images and incorporates digital “clean-up” and includes what may prove to be controversial: the removal of some arguably objectionable items (such as a snake reflection in Chapter 19, and support beams in Chapter 30).
"Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom": The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1-framed DVD exhibits a colorful picture with fully saturated, well balanced hues, generally accurate fleshtones, and deep, solid blacks. The jungles of India are lush and green, while reds and golds abound in the Pankot Palace. At times, however, fleshtones can appear a bit hot. The picture is sharp and nicely detailed, with very satisfying clarity and definition. Very few scenes appear soft or smeared. Contrast and shadow delineation are quite capable of delivering a natural visual experience in the film’s many darker scenes. Viewing in a completely blackened room is recommended. There are some minor moire patterns, shimmering details, and pixelization that all contribute a “digital” appearance to an otherwise nicely rendered picture. Edge enhancement is not much of a problem, but the distraction is present at times. Overall, this is a great visual presentation of a highly anticipated movie.
"Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade": The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1-framed DVD exhibits a sharp and detailed picture, impressive definition and clarity, perfectly following through with the look of the first two movies. Textures in clothing, facial features, and sets are nicely rendered. Colors are rich and fully saturated, occasionally even bordering oversaturation, but hues are well balanced with accurate fleshtones and deep blacks. Contrast and shadow delineation are excellent, with superb visual information in the darker scenes. The source element is quite clean with no distracting dirt and little in the way of film grain. There are some minor distractions in the way of shimmering artifacts and pixelization, which are especially noticed during camera pans that add a “digital” appearance that can be undesirable at times. Edge enhancement is also a slight problem, but only those who have a keen eye for it will find it obtrusive. (Suzanne Hodges)
Soundtrack:
"Raiders Of The Lost Ark": The remastered Dolby® Digital 5.1 soundtrack (which, according to sources at Paramount, is EX-encoded as well) is excellent, conveying of course the original creative nuances and offering an updated, discrete sound mix that offers a lot of sonic entertainment through an active, engaging soundstage and impressive dynamics. The audio is expectedly somewhat dated in fidelity, yet the aged sonic characteristics should not negatively affect the overall experience. The soundfield is consistently wide and involving, even during more quiescent moments, with the effective dimensional spread of atmospheric effects. The John Williams music score really wraps around the listener. Dialogue is presented at a comfortable listening level, sounding fairly natural with the expected limitations of the dated production. But of course, it’s the heightened action moments that really sell this new sound mix, with aggressive surround engagement (and some stereo separation) and lots of enhanced, often intense deep bass to boot with prominent LFE channel activity. (In Chapter 29 you’ll get some pretty powerful low frequencies from just the surrounds!) This sonic repurposing stands up rather well to current productions in terms of the effectiveness in leveraging the 5.1 audio palette to the film’s storytelling advantage.
"Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom": The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel remastered soundtrack, as was the case for the original, is outstanding, fully involving the listener throughout with an impressive, downright engaging soundstage presence. Also inherent to this new audio, of course, is the creative essence of the original production. This sound mix is so effective because the 5.1 palette consistently delivers that sense of being absorbed into the action, or “lost” in the movie. Atmospheric effects impart a notably panoramic presence across the screen with depth into the surrounds. There’s also discrete placement of effects all around the listening space. Like the original installment, the John Williams music score fully wraps around the listener. The surrounds frequently are prominently engaged, and there’s some left-right separation despite the apparent preponderance of the original mono surround content. The audio overall is somewhat dated, but should not be objectionably so, and the dialogue sounds reasonably natural and integrated with the visuals. To a certain extent, voices and certain on-screen Foley effects are directionalized. Deep bass is distinguished, articulate, and powerful at times with very low frequencies all around, as well as prominent LFE channel engagement. Like Raiders Of The Lost Ark, this new soundtrack is an absolute winner.
"Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade": The Dolby® Digital 5.1 repurposed soundtrack, once again, offers a superlative listening experience, if only for the very reason that it offers engaging, purely involving surround sound. Fidelity is somewhat dated, but certainly sounds more recent than the first two installments in the Indiana Jones trilogy. John Williams’ orchestral score once again is prominently placed throughout the listening space. Deep bass is characteristically clean and articulate, especially with the music, offering powerful low-end extension in all channels, including the LFE. There is also the presence of some directional on-screen Foley and dialogue. Like the first two installments, atmospheric effects have been impressively placed all around. The original mix was created with stereo surrounds, and the surround left and right channels for this soundtrack are certainly separated. During the many periods of active, intense activity, such as the shootout in Chapter 28 is one mere example, the soundtrack dramatically enlivens and really excites the listening experience. This new sound mix serves as the final part of an outstanding, fully engaging trilogy of very well-created, very well-remastered movie soundtracks. (Perry Sun)
This Disc Contains The Following WSR-Rated Superb Qualities:
Reference Quality
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