First of all, what was the MPAA like in the past?  This movie has a PG rating?  As I heard someone say recently, “PG in the 80s translates to a light R now.”  Nazi faces melt off, a man gets cut into pieces by a propeller blade, there are innumerable corpses and there’s a foul-mouthed broad smoking and drinking … if I was 10 years old I would be losing my mind right now (with excitement).  Actually, my current self was pretty excited, too.  Raiders of the Lost Ark caught me immediately with a classic, old Hollywood shot of Our Hero Indy (Harrison Ford) emerging from the shadows.  The music, the shot — everything was a classic set up of “this is the good guy, and he’s going to save the day.”  What’s not to like?  Then there are three corpses in the first ten minutes.  Bring me some more popcorn.  This just got real.  Hit the jump for why I love snake barbecue. 

So here it has happened again, another strange gap in my movie knowledge has been uncovered: I’ve never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies.  Like with Star Wars, I’m not sure I have any explanation beyond that my parents aren’t that into movies, and I was busy watching a lot of TV.  And on the whole, based on my straw poll research, in my day [reaches for cane] girls weren’t really steered towards those kinds of movies; at least, before they became such huge hits.  In any case, I remedied some of this cinematic gap starting in high school, and ended up minoring in film in college.  What you may not know about many film programs though is that they tend to end their discussion of cinema around 1968 (it took so long to get to talkies in my semesters of film history that when Al Jolson spoke actual words in The Jazz Singer we clapped and wept).

In summation: what they don’t teach you, usually, in film history is about Indiana Jones.  What’s a girl to do?  I’m always looking to learn, so better late than never, right?  Hit the jump for what I already know about the films (pretty much zilch) and what I hope to accomplish with this series.

Every time there’s a new home video format, there are always a couple of films that wait years to hit the market. But what better way to get people excited about buying something they’ve already owned (and perhaps multiple times)? And so finally in 2012, we get Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures on Blu-ray. It comes with all three Indiana Jones films and this other film on Blu-ray with an additional disc of bonus features. All things told, the supplements don’t warrant an upgrade, but the picture and sound quality make this a must have. Our review of the Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray set follows after the jump.

I love it when classic movies come back to the big screen (like our Atlanta screening of The Princess Bride).  Last week, Paramount released Steven Spielberg‘s Raiders of the Lost Ark into IMAX theaters for one-week.  However, the popularity of the release has caused the studio to extend the film’s run by releasing the re-mastered version into 300 digital theaters across the United States and Canada starting today.  The re-release accompanies the film’s trip to Blu-ray, which will be released alongside the other Indiana Jones films in the Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures box-set.  The Blu-ray box set will be available to own on September 18th.

In other re-release news, John Carpenter‘s Halloween will return to theaters for one night only on October 25th.  The screening will be preceded by a showing of Justin Beahm‘s documentary You Can’t Kill the Bogeyman: 35 Years of Halloween.  Keep an eye on this page [via Dread Central] for a list of participating theaters.  Hit the jump for the press release regarding Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

If you’re a fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, September is a great month.  Not only did Raiders of the Lost Ark get a special one-week IMAX release, but the entire franchise hits Blu-ray next week and the box set is loaded with incredible behind-the-scenes extras.  For a full list of what’s included, click here.  But trust me when I say, this is a set absolutely worth owning.  Click here to order Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures on Amazon.

To help promote the release, I recently got to visit LucasFilm in San Francisco and participate in a group interview with Sound Designer Ben Burtt and Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren.  They talked about their thoughts on how the films hold up, the visual effects, their favorite moments, how Burtt came up with some of the signature sounds, if anything changed during the restoration process, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what they had to say.

Starting today, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark makes its way back into theaters for a limited one-week IMAX re-release (buy tickets here).  While you might be wondering if it’s worth it, the film has undergone a complete restoration and it looks and sounds incredible.

In addition, you can also bring Indy’s adventures home on Blu-ray with the Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures collection available starting September 18th (pre-order on Amazon here).  Hit the jump to see how you can win a free Blu-ray, along with a fedora and a whip to complete your Indiana Jones cosplay costume!

Yesterday, we told you that Raiders of the Lost Ark would be returning to screens in an IMAX re-release this September.  The extensive conversion process from the original 35mm film to the 70mm IMAX version was done during the reformatting for Blu-ray (this is all part of a run up for the release of Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures, which debuts on Blu-ray September 18th).  Apparently, the conversion has gone so well that even Steven Spielberg was impressed with the results after initially being skeptical.  Hit the jump to see what Spielberg had to say and for details on how you can get your tickets to see Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX this September! [Update: Now AMC Theaters are hosting an Indiana Jones marathon!  Hit the jump for details.]

The good news is that The Complete Indiana Jones Blu-ray Collection is on its way; the GREAT news is that you’ll soon be able to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX!  As the films were prepared for the Blu-ray conversion, Paramount and Steven Spielberg worked with IMAX to reformat the first film in the trilogy into the 70mm version. Raiders of the Lost Ark will be re-released in IMAX starting Friday, September 7th to September 13th.  Look for details in the next few days as to which theaters will be showing the IMAX re-release.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer for the Blu-ray collection and an informative session on how movies are converted into IMAX.  [Hit the jump for an update, including new details, comments from Spielberg and news on an Indiana Jones Marathon.]

My Blu-ray budget is about to expand significantly as we inch closer towards the holiday season, and the Steven Spielberg trifecta kicks off this month with the Jaws Blu-ray, followed by E.T The Extra-Terrestrial and Indiana Jones: The Complete Collection in the ensuing weeks.  A full list of the special features included on the four-film Indiana Jones Blu-ray set has now been released, and it appears that only one new documentary will be on the set.

Nevertheless, the two-part “On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark” boasts nearly an hour of rarely seen footage from the set and archival interviews, and the collection also includes a 1981 making-of documentary for Raiders that was previously unavailable on DVD as well as all the bonus features that appeared on earlier home video releases of all four Indiana Jones films.  Hit the jump to check out the entire list of what the set entails, including specifications.  Indiana Jones: The Complete Collection hits stores on September 18th.

As we reported last month, all four Indiana Jones movies will be making their way to Blu-ray on September 18th (Crystal Skull was already available).  A new trailer for the box set has gone online, and this trailer will presumably play on a loop at the Lucasfilm Pavilion on the exhibition floor (booth #2913), which is where there will also be a Well of Souls “live snake pit”.  We still don’t know exactly what will be in the seven hours of bonus features, but it looks like there will be rare behind-the-scenes footage and the primary players looking back on the movies.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The 2012 San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 12 – 15th.

It’s gonna be one hell of a Blu-ray season this fall for Steven Spielberg fans.  Jaws comes to Blu-ray for the first time on August 14th, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial hits the format in October, and now a release date has been set for Indiana Jones: The Complete Collection.  We previously learned that Indy would be getting the HD treatment back in February, but now Lucasfilm and Paramount Home Entertainment have announced that the set will hit stores on September 18th.  The collection includes remastered versions of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as well as a completely restored version of Raiders of the Lost Ark supervised by Spielberg and sound designer Ben Burtt.

The discs will include documentaries, interviews, featurettes and “new bonus features,” though it hasn’t yet been announced what these new features entail.  I’m pulling for an extended, candid retrospective with Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford, but that seems unlikely.  Hit the jump to check out the artwork, read the press release, and watch the previously released Blu-ray trailer.

The first three Indiana Jones movies will finally make their way to Blu-ray this fall.  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is already available on Blu-ray, but who cares?  We want the good movies in the series, and they’ll be available in one box set.  Crystal Skull will also be in there, but no one’s going to force you to watch it.  As for extras on the Indiana Jones box-set, “there will be a ‘best of’ collection of documentaries, interviews, featurettes and a few new surprises”.  Presumably, we’ll be getting everything that was on the Adventures of Indiana Jones DVD box set.  If Lucasfilm and Paramount Home Media Distribution were smart, they would throw in Jamie Benning’s unofficial Raiders of the Lost Ark “filmumentary,” but unfortunately that will probably never happen.  Still, I’m not going to nitpick over getting Indy in HD.

Hit the jump for the press release and the trailer for the Blu-ray set.

Back in November, we told you about Jamie Benning‘s unofficial Raiders of the Lost Ark “filmumentary”, Raiding the Lost Ark.  Rather than a traditional documentary, Benning wove together old interviews, production notes, and behind-the-scenes footage to create a feature length film that runs alongside Raiders of the Lost Ark.  The first 17 minutes were terrific and now the full 2 hour, 23 minute movie has gone online.  Hit the jump to check it out along with Benning’s comments on how he developed the feature.

Jamie Benning has previously put together “filmumentaries” where he goes along with a movie and adds interviews as commentary and production notes and behind-the-scenes footage that runs concurrently with the motion picture.  He has now turned his attention to Raiders of the Lost Ark and while his work is unofficial, I doubt any official documentary will be able to match what he’s put together, especially since Steven Spielberg doesn’t do audio commentaries.  The first 17 minutes of his new filmumentary, Raiding the Lost Ark has gone online and it’s a must-see.  It reminded me that it’s been too long since I last watched Raiders and how many details I missed or forgotten.

Hit the jump to check out the first seventeen minutes of Raiding the Lost Ark.  There’s no word on when the full documentary will be released, but Benning will put it online when it’s finished.

With the craziness that is the Toronto International Film Festival winding down this weekend, things around Collider are slowly shifting back into normalcy (whatever that means). Although I’ll talk more about TIFF after the jump, I’d like to take this space to give Steve, Matt and Phil a big “thumbs up” for a job well done in covering the event. Especially our own Mr. Goldberg who, by my last count, has turned in an impressive 33 film reviews over the last nine days. Kudos, gentlemen. Now, enough with the backpatting…

In this week’s installment, you’ll find our recap of the Raiders of the Lost Ark Los Angeles screening with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, the first look at Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins in Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, interviews with Drive‘s Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn, an exclusive with Megan Fox where she discusses (among other things) whether or not she has seen Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and all of our TIFF 2011 coverage in one place. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.