Indiana Jones
4-Movie Collection
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review: The Basics
SCREENSHOTS FROM LUCASFILM
https://www.lucasfilm.com/productions/
DISCLAIMER
Indiana Jones: 4-Movie Collection 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray was bought by us at HD MOVIE SOURCE. The opinions in this review are my own.
Indiana Jones: 4 Movie Collection 4K Blu-ray
4K Ultra HD
Paramount Pictures | 1981-2008 | 4 Movies | 482 min | Rated PG-13 | Jun 08, 2021
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby Atmos
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH, French
Discs
4K Ultra HD (UHD)
Five-disc set (4x 4KUHD, 1 BD)
UPC 032429355546
This 4K bundle includes the following titles:
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Story: The Basics
Renowned archeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones, is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the ten commandments. Unfortunately, agents of Hitler are also after the Ark. Indy and his ex-flame Marion escape from various close scrapes in a quest that takes them from Nepal to Cairo.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: George Lucas, Philip Kaufman, David Koepp, Willard Huyck, Jeffrey Boam, Lawrence Kasdan
Starring: Harrison Ford, Pat Roach, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies, Ted Grossman, Cate Blanchett
Indiana Jones Official Trailer
Video: The Basics
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK 4K REVIEW
Right from the start Raiders looks good, very good, WOW this is impressive. I'm going to point out a few things I do like, and a few things I don't.
The 4K scan is superb and has been color graded absolutely perfectly. Black level detail is excellent with no instances of black crush, and great low-light detail. I'm not a person that typically compares to the lesser formats like Blu-ray, but the differences are huge in the color department from the SDR to HDR. The color grading work that has been done is truly superb and Dolby Vision shows this perfectly.
The detail is also excellent, and I think that the edge and ringing have been controlled very well. Ringing is minorly visible, but I wouldn't be surprised if they ran an anti-ringing filter to control it. It's smooth, and I like what they've done, it's not distracting, very good. I didn't see any raised sharpness levels, I'm happy with this. The resolution at times is pin-sharp, and there's so much detail in faces, walls, cars, dresses, etc.
Film grain is relatively consistent, but at times, I felt that the bit-rate was too low. I checked the bit-rates and they were in the 60 Mbps average which is too low for film grain like this. IMO, this movie needs the Django treatment of 94 Mbps average bit-rate. They used a 100 GB disc so there's honestly no excuse in my opinion. It's a small thing, but the film grains don't look perfect all the time. For raiders this is being very picky I know, (because it looks so good) but if the disc had a little more bit-rate I wouldn't be pointing it out. Again, why is the bit-rate in the 60s to 70s? Why not in the 90s? This is my biggest issue with many transfers, and bit-rates are simply not high enough. I want to see perfectly resolving film grain, this transfer is pinching a little on that stance.
Overall, a very good-looking disc, but bit-rates are inching towards being low, and in certain sections, I can see that.
VIDEO SCORE: 4.5 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: VERY GOOD, BUT NOT QUITE PERFECT
TEMPLE OF DOOM 4K REVIEW
It's not quite the same league as Raiders. There are issues with film grain consistency, and the bit-rate isn't high enough to resolve this. If the bit-rate was higher this could have cleared up many issues that I see with the film. The color grading is equally as good as Raiders, and I think all of them have been graded well, Temple of Doom is no exception.
There is also minor DNR scrubbing in the skies and some scenes with inconsistent film grain. I'm not happy about this, I don't think there's an excuse to use any DNR scrubbing or smoothing ever. This compounds the issue with the low bit-rate and makes it look digital. I want to see film as film (worts and all), when DNR and low bit-rates get in the way of that I tend to scream out. Many of you know, I don't like it, and I'm outspoken about things like this.
Overall, a good-looking disc, but certainly not amazing, could have been transferred better IMO.
VIDEO SCORE: 4.25 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: FILM GRAIN CONSISTENCY / LOW BIT-RATE
LAST CRUSADE 4K REVIEW
The Last Crusade suffers from DNR the most out of all the movies in the collection. In skies, and in scenes where they look the simplest. I'll be honest I cannot stand the DNR use on this movie, it looks digital and that's crossed the line for me. Its film, please make it look like film. I like the look of film grain, it's obvious to see that this movie has been adjusted to soften the film grain. Sorry, I'm not a fan.
Similar to Temple in many respects, but does feel more consistent, for good or bad. Resolution, color, and sharpness are all really good still. Ringing is kept at bay, I'm all fine with that. However, bit-rate and DNR work let this movie down, it's distracting and took away from the feel of the movie for me.
Don't get wrong, at times the movie looks excellent, but at specific parts it doesn't really look that good IMO. Let down by over-digitization. Is this the transfer itself or the new 4K master? I don't really know, whichever way around it is it's unforgivable I think. You never get this with Arrow or Blue Underground titles, and they look better for it, so why here?
I think 3.5 is harsh, so I gave it a 4 out of 5, but I was tempted to give 3.5. The only reason I didn't is that aspects of the movie look really good.
VIDEO SCORE: 4 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: GOOD BUT OVERUSED DNR
KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL 4K REVIEW
Somewhere in between The Last Crusade and Temple for me. Mostly looks quite good. Again, nice color grading and excellent detail. Dolby Vision has no issues with banding or color depth. This is consistent over the 4 movies.
It does suffer from some minor DNR smoothing and film grain smoothing issues. Why would you need to smooth any movie? Do you not like film grain? I personally don't get it, but that's my opinion.
A good-looking movie, let down by the small things, and the small things count.
VIDEO SCORE: 4 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: DECENT LOOKING / SOME MINOR DNR
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, a decent package. The color grading work is stellar, the detail and color are very good. Bit-rates on all 4 movies are leaning towards being low and I think it's visible. Anyone in the industry who thinks that any type of DNR work is acceptable is wrong. Picture quality is not about DNR or smoothing. Sure, things can be bought in-line or changed, but there are levels of quality that I will not abide by. When film looks digital, I say no.
With that said, never have these movies looked better, and I still recommend this pack even with its issues. The upgrade from Blu-ray is huge and there's no denying that. I want the best possible versions to watch and this is it. Perfect no, unfortunate, but it is what it is. When people read my review or just look at my scores for movies, I want them to see that there's value in my scores. As you know I don't review everything at 5 out of 5 reference like everybody else does. I see the minute differences between one movie to the next, and this is why I started writing my own reviews because I don't trust the rest of the industry's opinions on video quality. I hope you're like me:)
VIDEO SCORE: 4.2 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: OVERALL SCORE
Audio: The Basics
RAIDERS / TEMPLE / CRUSADE AUDIO REVIEW
I'm reviewing all 3 together because they have a very similar type of sound, and I didn't think the differences were all that different.
All 3 movies have low dialogue, around 1 to 1.5 db. I have to accept that mixing, levels, and everything was different back then. I raised the center channel 1.5 db and it sounded fine after that. Center channel dialogue is one of those things where mixes change from movie to movie. It's obvious that mixing engineers all mix at different levels. Tenet to this movie, and to 300, all different volume levels. This is also true for bass. However, with that said, I do love it when mixes get it right, but this is just a little low.
So, Atmos and heights, how's the upgrade? I'd say it's done respectfully. It keeps to the original integrity very well and adds some nice atmospherics and space to the movies. It's not state of the art, but considering its age and not wanting to take over too much, I think that they've done a really good job. Spikes crushing Short-Round and Indie sounds really cool and makes it sound like a new movie. Small and minor sounds just overheard are really nice and bring a 3D world to what's on-screen. It's not flashy, just good sound.
Sub-bass is limited, this is not Godzilla vs Kong, but there's some smoothness there. It's okay. The water running in Temple of Doom starts to get there, but never really delivers a punch. They could have pumped the bass a bit more here but I understand why they didn't.
Overall, they're nice-sounding movies. I enjoyed it, I think that they did well. It's not shockingly good, but good nonetheless.
AUDIO SCORE: 4 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: GOOD
CRYSTAL SKULL AUDIO AUDIO REVIEW
The difference in Crystal Skulls audio is obvious, it's actually quite good sound.
Dialogue volume is mixed quite well, has decent volume, I'm happy with this.
Surround sound and Atmos use has certainly stepped up for this release. Sound now tends to fly around a lot more than the first 3 movies, and it's really enjoyable (shame the movie was not that enjoyable:). The use of sub-bass is also very impressive, it actually goes down pretty deep. A really good-sounding movie, very nice.
Pretty good sound upgrade overall, I might have to demo some of those end scenes again soon.
AUDIO SCORE: 4.5 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: NICE BASS AND GOOD SOUND
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, for its age, it's a pretty good-sounding set of movies. The first 3 sound pretty standard, with nice upgrades, but nothing flashy. Crystal Skull is flashy, and lots of fun. Yeah, pretty good.
AUDIO SCORE: 4.1 OUT OF 5
THE BASICS: OVERALL SCORE
HOW I REVIEW THE BASICS
REVIEW SCORES
2 - POOR
3 - AVERAGE
4 - GOOD
5 - EXCELLENT
5+ - REFERENCE
EQUIPMENT I USE TO REVIEW
- POWER CONDITIONER - FURMAN ELITE-15 PF I
- DENON - X6500H (DOLBY ATMOS, DTSX, AND AURO 3D)
- ELAC - UNI-FI FLOORSTANDERS UF51
- ELAC - UNI-FI BOOKSHELF UB51 (INCLUDING DOLBY ATMOS)
- ELAC - UNI-FI CENTER SPEAKER UC51
- ELAC - TWO SUB3030 SUBWOOFERS
- PANASONIC - UB9000 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY PLAYER
- LG - C9 77 INCH - (ISF CALIBRATED - DOLBY VISION)
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