Boxed Sets

The Adventures of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade) - Widescreen Edition

Indiana Jones, an archaeologist and adventurer, battles Nazis and travels the globe searching for rare and mystical artifacts.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 2-MAY-2006
Media Type: DVD

As with Star Wars, the George Lucas-produced Indiana Jones trilogy was not just a plaything for kids but an act of nostalgic affection toward a lost phenomenon: the cliffhanging movie serials of the past. Episodic in structure and with fate hanging in the balance about every 10 minutes, the Jones features tapped into Lucas's extremely profitable Star Wars formula of modernizing the look and feel of an old, but popular, story model. Steven Spielberg directed all three films, which are set in the late 1930s and early '40s: the comic book-like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the spooky, Gunga Din-inspired Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the cautious but entertaining Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Fans and critics disagree over the order of preference, some even finding the middle movie nearly repugnant in its violence. (Pro-Temple of Doom people, on the other hand, believe that film to be the most disarmingly creative and emotionally effective of the trio.) One thing's for sure: Harrison Ford's swaggering, two-fisted, self-effacing performance worked like a charm, and the art of cracking bullwhips was probably never quite the iconic activity it soon became after Raiders. Supporting players and costars were very much a part of the series, too--Karen Allen, Sean Connery (as Indy's dad), Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Denholm Elliot, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies among them. Years have passed since the last film (another is supposedly in the works), but emerging film buffs can have the same fun their predecessors did picking out numerous references to Hollywood classics and B-movies of the past. --Tom Keogh

Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection (Special Editions of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark / Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom / Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)

Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 13-MAY-2008
Media Type: DVD

The trailer that begins each of the three DVDs is indication enough that the release of Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection, a boxed set of the original trilogy of blockbuster adventure films concocted by director Steven Spielberg and executive producer-story writer George Lucas, was timed to coincide with the May 2008 theatrical release of the long-awaited fourth installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Whether that's a crass marketing ploy or simply good business is hardly the point, because considering the quality of the movies (in a word, they're good), the affordable price, and especially the raft of new special features accompanying the set, there's enough here to make this an appealing purchase for those who don't already own them and a tempting one for those who do.

The first of the three films, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), is also the best, a certified classic loaded with non-stop action, grand spectacle, a hero for the ages (played by Harrison Ford), a beautiful love interest, humor, horror, and a potent storyline that brings together a profound religious-archaeological icon (the Ark of the Covenant, nothing less than "a radio for speaking to God") and the 20th century's most infamous villains (the Nazis). Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), the second entry, is generally considered the weakest of the lot--certainly it is the most dark and disturbing--but it's still very entertaining, while The Last Crusade (1989) is closer to Raiders in many respects, with fine acting contributions from River Phoenix (as the teenage Indy) and Sean Connery (as Indy's father), a strong James Bond-type feel, and the return of the Nazis, who this time are competing for another antiquity of incalculable value and significance (the Holy Grail). Although the collection is missing the extra bonus disc (with a two-hour "making of" documentary) that accompanied the 2003 DVD issue of the films, all three discs include new and insightful introductions by Spielberg and Lucas; there are also storyboards from various scenes and photo galleries on each disc. Among the best of the other features are "The Creepy Crawlies" (about the thousands of snakes, bugs, rats and other scary critters that populate the trilogy), "Travels with Indy" (a look at some of the exotic locations where the movies were filmed), "Indy's Women" (a candid discussion with leading ladies Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, and Alison Doody), and a behind-the-scenes detailing of the "melting face" effect seen in Raiders' thrilling ark-opening scene. --Sam Graham

Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector's Edition

Includes all five Dirty Harry films: all special features on the Dirty Harry Special Edition and Deluxe Editions, plus additional special features and contents specific to the Ultimate Collector's Edition. Bonus Feature-Length documentary Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows; a 40+ page hardcover book; Wallet w/metal badge and removable laminated I.D. card; Five 5"x 7" Reproduction Lobby Poster Cards plus an exclusive UCE card; Scorpio Portrait of a Killer Poster-Sized (19" x 27") map of San Francisco detailing Harry's hunt for the killer; Never-Before-Seen Production Correspondence

Birds of Prey: The Complete Series

Who will stand up to villains now that a heartbroken Dark Knight has mysteriously vanished? Never fear New Gothamites a trio of champions is ready to take wing ? and Helena the daughter of Batman and Catwoman is among them. She calls herself Huntress and crime is her prey. Teenaged Dinah is the youngest of the group learning as she goes and gifted in clairvoyance. And overseeing the awesome threesome?s high-tech nerve center is Batgirl. Left wheelchair-bound by The Joker she has reinvented herself as Oracle the team?s cyber expert. Huntress Dinah Oracle: They are the Birds of Prey. Fighting together. Living together. And soaring into adventure together in 13 breathtaking live-action episodes.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 883929012954 Manufacturer No: 1000037575

Jurassic Park Adventure Pack (Jurassic Park/ The Lost World: Jurassic Park/ Jurassic Park III)

Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg's 1993 mega-hit rivals Jaws as the most intense and frightening film he'd ever made prior to Schindler's List, but it was also among his weakest stories. Based on Michael Crichton's novel about an island amusement park populated by cloned dinosaurs, the film works best as a thrill ride with none of the interesting human dynamics of Spielberg's Jaws. That lapse proves unfortunate, but there's no shortage of raw terror as a rampaging T-rex and nasty raptors try to make fast food out of the cast. The effects are still astonishing (despite the fact that the computer-generated technology has since been improved upon) and at times primeval, such as the sight of a herd of whatever-they-are scampering through a valley. --Tom Keogh

The Lost World - Jurassic Park
In the low tradition of knockoff horror flicks best seen (or not seen) on a drive-in movie screen, Steven Spielberg's sequel to Jurassic Park is a poorly conceived, ill-organized film that lacks story and logic. Screenwriter David Koepp strings along a number of loose ideas while Jeff Goldblum returns as Ian Malcolm, the quirky chaos theoretician who now reluctantly agrees to go to another island where cloned dinosaurs are roaming freely. Along with his girlfriend (Julianne Moore) and daughter, Malcolm has to deal with hunters, environmentalists, and corporate swine who stupidly bring back a big dino to Southern California, where it runs amok, of course. Spielberg doesn't seem to care that the pieces of this project don't add up to a real movie, so he hams it up with big, scary moments (with none of the artfulness of those in Jurassic Park) and smart-aleck visual gags (a yapping dog in a suburb mysteriously disappears when a hungry T-rex stomps by). A complete bust.--Tom Keogh

Jurassic Park III
Surpassing expectations to qualify as an above-average sequel, Jurassic Park III is nothing more or less than a satisfying popcorn adventure. A little cheesier than the first two Jurassic blockbusters, it's a big B movie with big B-list stars (including Laura Dern, briefly reprising her Jurassic Park role), and eight years of advancing computer-generated-image technology give it a sharp edge over its predecessors. While adopting the jungle spirit of King Kong, the movie refines Michael Crichton's original premise, and its dinosaurs are even more realistic, their behavior more detailed, and their variety--including flying pteranodons and a new villain, the spinosaurus--more dazzling and threatening than ever. These advancements justify the sequel, and its contrived plot is just clever enough to span 90 minutes without wearing out its welcome.

Posing as wealthy tourists, an adventurous couple (William H. Macy, Téa Leoni) convince paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his protégé (Allesandro Nivola) to act as tour guides on a flyover trip to Isla Sorna, the ill-fated "Site B" where all hell broke loose in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. In truth, they're on a search-and-rescue mission to find their missing son (Trevor Morgan), and their plane crash is just the first of several enjoyably suspenseful sequences. Director Joe Johnston (October Sky) embraces the formulaic plot as a series of atmospheric set pieces, placing new and familiar dinosaurs in misty rainforests, fiery lakes, and mysterious valleys, turning JP3 into a thrill ride with impressive highlights (including a T. rex versus spinosaurus smack-down), adequate doses of wry humor (from the cowriters of Election), and an upbeat ending that's corny but appropriate, proving that the symptoms of sequelitis needn't be fatal. --Jeff Shannon

Rambo - The Complete Collector's Set (First Blood - Ultimate Edition / Rambo - First Blood Part II -Ultimate Edition / Rambo III - Ultimate Edition / Rambo - Special Edition)

The Adventures of Indiana Jones - The Complete DVD Movie Collection (Full Screen Edition)

As with Star Wars, the George Lucas-produced Indiana Jones trilogy was not just a plaything for kids but an act of nostalgic affection toward a lost phenomenon: the cliffhanging movie serials of the past. Episodic in structure and with fate hanging in the balance about every 10 minutes, the Jones features tapped into Lucas's extremely profitable Star Wars formula of modernizing the look and feel of an old, but popular, story model. Steven Spielberg directed all three films, which are set in the late 1930s and early '40s: the comic book-like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the spooky, Gunga Din-inspired Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the cautious but entertaining Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Fans and critics disagree over the order of preference, some even finding the middle movie nearly repugnant in its violence. (Pro-Temple of Doom people, on the other hand, believe that film to be the most disarmingly creative and emotionally effective of the trio.) One thing's for sure: Harrison Ford's swaggering, two-fisted, self-effacing performance worked like a charm, and the art of cracking bullwhips was probably never quite the iconic activity it soon became after Raiders. Supporting players and costars were very much a part of the series, too--Karen Allen, Sean Connery (as Indy's dad), Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Denholm Elliot, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies among them. Years have passed since the last film (another is supposedly in the works), but emerging film buffs can have the same fun their predecessors did picking out numerous references to Hollywood classics and B-movies of the past. --Tom Keogh

Hawaii Five-O - The Fourth Season

Filmed entirely on location in Hawaii the show followed Jack Lord as he played Steve McGarrett head of an elite state police unit investigating "organized crime murder assassination attempts foreign agents felonies of every type." James MacArthur played his second-in-command Danny ("Danno") Williams with local actors playing members of the Five-O team.System Requirements:Running Time: 1215 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368920743 Manufacturer No: 892074

Could it be that with Hawaii Five-O's fourth season, a third of the way into its remarkable '60s-'70s run, the show has gotten... well, cool? Actually, there are signs throughout this six-disc set of 24 digitally-remastered episodes that point to yes. Let's not get carried away here; Five-O is still basically as square as Tiananmen and Trafalgar, and as long as Steve McGarrett (portrayed, as ever, by Jack Lord) is in charge, its groove factor will never rival that of, say, CSI: Miami, or any other glossy new millennium cop drama. Indeed, the show's corniness and utter lack of irony remain integral to its charm. But there are a few interesting developments in this '71-'72 season. There's a good complement of snappy dialogue (one particularly large perp is "so big he could go bear-hunting with chopsticks"). And although the pacing can be pretty stodgy, the editing is a bit more deft; many scenes flow more naturally, and in at least one instance ("I Want Some Candy, and a Gun that Shoots," wherein a sniper is picking off cops on a coastal highway), the entire episode is more exciting than the Five-0 norm. The direction and lighting are also more stylish, while the music (not just Morton Stevens' classic theme song but the incidental sounds as well) and location scenery, two elements that have always been among the series' strong suits, are as good as ever; in fact, the islands look so lush and inviting that one wonders why the bad guys can even get motivated to commit their dirty deeds.

But they do, of course, and McGarrett and his faithful team (James MacArthur as Danno, Kam Fong as Chin Ho, and, in what remains one of the great TV credits ever, "Zulu as Kono") are there to stop 'em. This time around they're dealing with everything from a big money travelers check scam ("3,000 Crooked Miles to Honolulu," with Jed Clampett... er, Buddy Ebsen as a guest villain), eco-terrorism ("Is This Any Way to Run a Paradise"), political assassination ("Rest in Peace, Somebody"), and racism-rape ("Skinhead"), along with the usual murders and encounters with Red Chinese nemesis Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh). McGarrett is for the most part still as stiff as his hair, but Lord occasionally displays considerable passion, as when he breaks down in tears upon being informed that a nasty car accident did not leave him paralyzed (in "The 90-Second War," a two-parter). As always, bonus material is limited to brief, previous-week promos for each episode. --Sam Graham

Robin Hood - Season One (5DVD)

People's hero war hero romantic hero and leader of the world's most famous resistance group...Robin Hood is known and loved by millions around the world. His fight against a corrupt government and greedy officials is something we all can connect with. Fun modern and intelligent the BBC's Robin Hood is guaranteed to appeal to today's sophisticated viewers and is set to be as popular as the new Doctor Who. Sharp witty scripts by Dominic Minghella and a striking new look set the tone as the BBC updates this popular legend for all the family.Running Time: 585 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 794051400222 Manufacturer No: E4002

Every generation gets the Robin Hood it deserves. After a dashing adventure (The Adventures of Robin Hood), a ponderous retelling (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), spoofs (Mel Brooks' When Things Were Rotten and Robin Hood: Men in Tights), and even a cartoon (Disney's Robin Hood), this thoroughly modern 2006 BBC series brings cheeky wit, exuberant action, and fierce fencing and special effects-enhanced archery to the party. Scruffy Robin (Jonas Armstrong) returns home from the Crusades war-weary and "changed." But when he finds the countryside under the taxing grip of the brutal (he crushes birds with his bare hands!) Sheriff (Keith Allen) and his glowering lieutenant, Guy of Gisbourne (Richard Armitage), he takes up his bow and arrow against the injustice.

Series 1 depicts how Robin of Locksley becomes "Robin of the Wood" and then "Robin Hood," robbing from the rich and, well, you know the drill. "The peasants' hero," this Robin is a tad vainer than previous screen incarnations. As his former servant and wisecracking sidekick Much (Sam Troughton, who can be a bit much himself), observes, Robin likes to linger after his good deeds to see the looks of gratitude. Marian (Lucy Griffiths) is another revelation. The daughter of Nottingham's former sheriff, she doesn't exactly welcome Robin back with open arms. "Five years and you're still peddling the same drivel," she says after he spouts some romantic tripe. A formidable fighter and champion of justice herself, she has a surprising moonlighting gig best not revealed here. We also see the gathering of Robin's men (none call them "merry"), including hulking Little John (Gordon Kennedy), Allan-a-Dale (Joe Armstrong), and Will Scarlett (Harry Lloyd). Beautifully filmed in Hungary (what; England was booked?), Robin Hood is mostly grand escapist adventure, but there are unnerving scenes of violence that raise the stakes. In one episode, a peasant who won't reveal Robin's whereabouts has his tongue cut out, (mercifully offscreen). In another, a child is the victim of a sniper's arrow. . Robin Hood takes liberties with the oft-told story of the legendary folk hero, but it's so well played and rousingly entertaining, few should mind. --Donald Liebenson

Back to the Future - The Complete Trilogy (Widescreen Edition)

Experience theiComplete Trilogy!Presented by Steven Spielberg directed by Oscar® winner Robert Zemeckis and starring time travelers Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd the phenomenally popular Back To The Future films literally changed the future of the adventure movie genre. Now this unprecedented Back To The Future DVD Trilogy immerses you in all the breathtaking action outrageous comedy and sheer moviemaking magic of one of the most brilliantly inventive wildly entertaining motion picture triumphs in Hollywood history!System Requirements:Starring: Michael J. Fox Christopher Lloyd Crispin Glover Elisabeth Shue and Lea Thompson. Directed By: Robert Zemeckis. Running Time: 344 Min. (Total) Color. These films are presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2002 Universal.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 025192212123 Manufacturer No: 61022121

Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis topped his breakaway hit Romancing the Stone with Back to the Future, a joyous comedy with a dazzling hook: what would it be like to meet your parents in their youth? Billed as a special-effects comedy, the imaginative film (the top box-office smash of 1985) has staying power because of the heart behind Zemeckis and Bob Gale's script. High schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox, during the height of his TV success) is catapulted back to the '50s where he sees his parents in their teens, and accidentally changes the history of how Mom and Dad met. Filled with the humorous ideology of the '50s, filtered through the knowledge of the '80s (actor Ronald Reagan is president, ha!), the film comes off as a Twilight Zone episode written by Preston Sturges. Filled with memorable effects and two wonderfully off-key, perfectly cast performances: Christopher Lloyd as the crazy scientist who builds the time machine (a DeLorean luxury car) and Crispin Glover as Marty's geeky dad. --Doug Thomas

Critics and audiences didn't seem too happy with Back to the Future, Part II, the inventive, perhaps too clever sequel. Director Zemeckis and cast bent over backwards to add layers of time-travel complication, and while it surely exercises the brain it isn't necessarily funny in the same way that its predecessor was. It's well worth a visit, though, just to appreciate the imagination that went into it, particularly in a finale that has Marty watching his own actions from the first film. --Tom Keogh

Shot back-to-back with the second chapter in the trilogy, Back to the Future, Part III is less hectic than that film and has the same sweet spirit of the first, albeit in a whole new setting. This time, Marty ends up in the Old West of 1885, trying to prevent the death of mad scientist Christopher Lloyd at the hands of gunman Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson, who had a recurring role as the bully Biff). Director Zemeckis successfully blends exciting special effects with the traditions of a Western and comes up with something original and fun. --Tom Keogh