Indiana Jones back in action

Paramount’s “Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventure Collection” brings together all four of Indy’s movies, in their latest and greatest versions.

This collection adds the new Indy film to the box set released in spring 2008. The first three movies are the quality as the DVD versions put out then and in 2003. The big difference is the addition of extras on the individual titles, great for fans of the series. Plus, of course, there’s the latest installment: “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” (Read the “Crystal Skull” DVD review.

All four movies are presented in widescreen (2.35:1), enhanced to look great on 16×9 TVs. Only “Crystal Skull” comes on Blu-ray. Audio and video carry the THX endorsement, naturally.

The new extras on “Crystal Skull” feature Steven Spielberg and George Lucas talking about how they decided to revive the franchise even though star Harrison Ford was way past action-star age.

Spielberg says Ford’s age was a major concern, of course, with the filmmakers wondering if he could pull off the role at age 55 — his age when they started to talk about a fourth film.

Now, Spielberg says, of course Ford could do it. And he did it in his middle-60s.

The main “Crystal Skull” making-of docu runs 80 minutes, covering the domestic locations, shooting in Hawaii and the extensive set work done on the Universal lot for the ancient city of Akator.

On Blu-ray, the video presentation is state of the art, although the TrueHD 5.1 audio came across too tame — a playful surround sound stage would have worked wonders. The DVD version of the film looks and sounds just fine, especially upconverted.

The documentary extras are in 1080i (on the Blu-ray), crisp and clear. Disc 1 of the Blu-ray has an interactive time line, which tracks the production as well as the history of the events cited in the film, a mix of reality and fiction. You can click on a dead poet’s profile to find out what John Hurt’s crazy professor was reciting in the jungle.

Pre-production, galleries, HD previsualization sequences and effects breakdowns fill out the package. The DVD (only) has an Xbox 360 demo of the tie-in Lego game.

Perfect gift for: Action fans, older boys, Baby Boomers