Looking at the home media landscape, it’s easy to see why the market is leaning towards streaming. You pay your monthly fee, you get a collection of movies, and sometimes that collection will include classics you love like the Indiana Jones franchise. And then look at it from the perspective of physical media: If you’re like me, you purchased the Indiana Jones series on DVD. And then a few years later, you bought it on Blu-ray. And now it’s here on 4K, and at some point, you have to wonder, “Is this really worth it? If I already own these movies or if they’re floating around on some kind of streaming service, do I really need to shell out the money for the 4K version?” But after watching Raiders of the Lost Ark on 4K as well as Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull , I can tell you without any hesitation that if you are a fan of these movies, this is the new definitive edition, and it belongs in your collection.
A worry about new 4K transfers is that they’ll be so polished they’ll ruin the aesthetic of the movie. Raiders is already a film fashioned in the vein of a throwback as the movie pulls from adventures of the 1930s and 40s, and if you make it look like it came out recently, then you’ve lost not only the aesthetic that Steven Spielberg was going for, but you’ve also washed away the 1980s element as well. Thankfully, Paramount did an outstanding job with this transfer by cleaning it up, making it even more visually vibrant, really making use of the HDR, and yet it still feels like Raiders. It doesn’t feel like a glossy HD redo as much as it feels like a lovingly crafted version that will make full use of today’s high-end televisions.
Of course, Raiders as a film is a timeless classic, and it’s kind of stunning how rewatchable it is. You pop it on, and two hours flies by. The pacing on it is absolutely insane, and as a story, Raiders doesn’t really show its age. You never feel like this is a 40-year-old movie and perhaps because Raiders casts such a long shadow that it has earned a timeless quality so that nothing about it feels particularly dated. When you combine that with the pristine visuals, I’m surprised there’s not a cognitive dissonance where you feel like Raiders could have come out recently and yet it also retains its look and feel to where you don’t feel like you’ve lost the grit that Spielberg was going for. While your feelings may differ on the subsequent entries in the Indiana Jones series, the transfers for all four films are stunning, but Raiders definitely sets the bar in this set.
But is it that worth the price tag, especially since there are three other movies, and one of them is the generally reviled Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? And, after all, you can watch this on streaming (assuming you want to subscribe to Paramount+, which is where the film currently resides as of this posting). But I continue to make the argument that if you love a movie (and who doesn’t love Raiders of the Lost Ark?), you need to put it your own library. Plus, this set comes with digital copies so you can still take Indiana Jones on the go. But for those who have loved Indiana Jones since they were kids, this new 4K set is an easy recommendation. It’s packed with special features (although full disclosure, these are the same extras that were included on the 2012 Blu-ray set), and so if you’re thinking about adding Indiana Jones to your collection, the 4K set is a no-brainer. If you have the Blu-ray set and you’re on the fence about upgrading to 4K, I’d say that Paramount has earned the upgrade with this transfer.