Posted on: October 24, 2008 Posted by: Jay NeuFutur Comments: 0

Pretty much everyone that I know went to see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull when it first came out, so I’ll dispense with a lot of the description of the film. Paramount has made one of the strongest cases that it could for the Blu-Ray format in its release of Kingdom on Blu-Ray, giving viewers a panoply of bonus features while providing a sharper picture and audio than could conceivably be present on either the film or DVD versions. The bonus features on this addition have something for everyone: for those more in tune with their artistic side, the numerous galleries (broken into divisions where “The Adventure Begins”, “Cemetary and Jungle”, and “Akator” are present) will give viewers hours of fun. For those that like to see the transformation of 21st-century actors into 20th-century characters, featurettes go into the makeup process for the warriors, while the creation of some of the film’s most visible objects (the titular skull, for example) is shown in extreme detail.

The production diary offers insights into the scale of the film’s production, especially when it is broken into the different locals (New Mexico, Connecticut, and Hawaii), and how footage shot from all three places had to be weaved together to create the film as it exists today. However, the best featurette in my opinion has to be the pre-production piece that is present, really showing how much the actors invested into this film. For example, Shia LaBeouf had to risk life and limb to learn how to realistically swordfight, a process that is captured in this featurette.

The documentary / promotional piece “The Return of a Legend” is the perfect pregame type of piece, ensuring that viewers will be pumped up before they begin to watch the film. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a great film on its own merits, but the packaging that Paramount has created in regards to the countless featurettes and bonus features on this Blu-Ray ensure that this film will be unforgettable. If you are a fan of Indy in the slightest , make your way out to the local video store on onto your favorite web site and purchase this presentation of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Rating: 9.4/10

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Blu-Ray) / 2008 Paramount / 122 Minutes / http://www.paramount.com /

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