Indy swings into the Blu

Tuesday's DVD release of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" also marks the high-def debut of the swashbuckling archaeologist on disc.

The Blu-ray version is a treat for longtime fans who have loved the Harrison Ford character ever since he arrived in theaters in 1981 with "Raiders of the Lost Ark." But while many welcomed Indy's return to the big screen this summer after a 19-year hiatus, the film received mixed reviews.

The hodge-podge plot -- a Cold War romp through the jungle in search of an artifact tied to alien visitors -- was partly to blame. Reviewers also complained that "Indy IV" didn't have the dazzle of the first three adventures from the '80s by director Steven Spielberg and writer/producer George Lucas.

Producer Frank Marshall takes the criticism in stride.

"You can't please everybody," he said recently from his Hollywood office. "George warned us about this from his experience on redoing 'Star Wars.' There are some people who are going to want certain things and not want certain things; it's a no-win situation. So we just tried to make the movie for ourselves and make it as fun and exciting as the other three. ... I think we achieved that."

They certainly succeeded with American moviegoers, who made "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" the highest-grossing Indiana Jones movie, with $317 million in tickets sold. The DVD -- available from Paramount as a single disc ($30), a two-disc set ($40) and Blu-ray ($40) -- will be a big seller, too.

The latter release is particularly exciting for Marshall, who described screening the Blu-ray version of "Crystal Skull" as "a breakthrough moment for Steven."

Marshall said he's excited about the high-def format. Recent Blu-ray releases of his productions include "Twilight Zone: The Movie" and "The Sixth Sense," as well as Tuesday's release of "Poltergeist" and the upcoming high-def rerelease of the "Bourne" movies after a successful stint on the obsolete HD DVD. The 2006 film he directed, "Eight Below," also is out on Blu-ray.

"I am a big champion of trying to have the movies presented in the way we intended," he said. "Very few people get to see that, mostly because of the exhibition -- there's scratches, there's light on the screen, there's a speaker out, whatever. When you're putting up the Blu-ray, you're seeing the film the way we saw when it left our hands. That's exciting."

He said he also loves the background material that DVDs offer. The two-disc set and Blu-ray version of "Crystal Skull" have reams of it, including a feature-length, blow-by-blow production diary of the shoot. Marshall even shot some footage, including the first day of filming as Spielberg began work on his fourth Indiana Jones movie.

"Those are moments that you can never stage, that you can never get again," Marshall said. "So it's great to have the ability to then put that into a DVD feature where you see the real side of what it's like to be on a movie set. ... I think a lot of people are fascinated with that."

Other featurettes explore the film's special effects, which proved liberating for Ford, who was able to do high-flying stunts with the help of wires.

One typical extra that fans won't find is a commentary track, which Spielberg doesn't like to do.

"I think Steven likes to live it in the moment," Marshall said. "I think he doesn't feel he has to do commentary because you're seeing so much of it happen in the behind-the-scenes stuff."

The Blu-ray release also provides tantalizing high-def glimpses of the classic Indiana Jones films -- "Raiders," "Temple of Doom," "Last Crusade" -- in various extras. So when will Blu-ray versions of them be released?

"Everything has been focused on getting No. 4 out," Marshall said. "I have to talk to Paramount about when the first three will come out -- because I don't like to promise something that I can't deliver -- but I can promise you that they're going to come out."