Indiana Jones and the Blu-rays of awesomeness
As our illustrious Norman Wilner recently pointed out, the new Indiana Jones blu-ray discs are really, really good.
The restored films look amazing and they're filled with great extras and behind the scenes content that will make any film-geek drool. And it's the perfect way to get your kids or friends into the series if they aren't already -- or an incredible holiday gift for the geek/cinephile in your life.
As part of the build-up to their release, I had the unbelievable opportunity to travel to California and visit the legendary Skywalker Ranch to preview the discs, see Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX -- incredible! -- and to see some of the props that were used in the films. Needless to say, I was pretty excited as I have been a fan of both Indiana Jones and Star Wars for basically my whole life.
The visit definitely didn't disappoint, as I got to see pretty much every essential prop from the Indiana Jones films you can imagine, including Indy's iconic fedora and leather jacket, the Ark of the Covenant, the Sankara stones from Temple of Doom, the Holy Grail from Last Crusade and the Crystal Skull from, er, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. On top of all the a-list props, there were also models, maquettes and matte paintings from the films that rounded out the whole experience.
Also, we got to be a part of a presentation that included a conversation with Lucasfilm sound effects titan Ben Burtt and visual effects wizard Dennis Muren on some of the secrets behind the franchise. My favourite takeaway? What goes into making an Indiana Jones punch. Turns out many of the iconically huge brawling sounds started out from Burtt and his team putting a croquet ball in a sock and beating a pumpkin to a pulpy mess. Awesome.
You can pick up the Indiana Jones Blu-ray now.
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