When the first three Indiana Jones films were first released on DVD, they were accompanied by a nice bonus disc packed with brand new documentaries reflecting on the production 20 years earlier. Frequent Spielberg editor Michael Kahn got to say some interesting things in the three part 'Making the Trilogy', while sound whiz Ben Burtt and music maestro John Williams both got a short subject of their very his own: 'The sound of Indiana Jones' & 'The Music of Indiana Jones' respectively. This time around, all three are crammed into one featurette, with M. Kahn again getting the short end of the stick: he's only in the first minute or so.
With editing out of the way, the documentary moves into sound design: Ben Burtt hired his son, Bennie Jr. to catalog all the old tapes from the original trilogy while Chris Scarabosio did a lot of work on the motorcycle chase. For Mutt & Spalko's sword-fight, Burtt Sr. went out and found some classic rapiers as heard in his favorite Errol Flynn swashbuckler 'The Adventure of Don Juan' to record. He also reveals that the ominous buzzing sound that radiates from the crystal skull was coincidentally found when passing a broken lamppost on his way to his car. Luckily he always carries some recording equipment with him, so the buzz was captured on the spot.
Just when Burtt and Scarabosio begin to wrap up their segment (the point at which these documentaries usually go into a short montage, a fluster of background music and then fade) Steven Spielberg comes in to gush over John Williams. It really does seem like producer/director Laurent Bouzereau stuck two separate short subjects together here. However there is a thematic reason to group these subjects together (besides the obvious connection in the soundtrack). John Williams explains how he too was inspired by Errol Flynn, this time by 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' in creating the themes for Mutt. He even went so far as to title it 'The Adventures of Mutt' on the soundtrack score. Amazingly enough, this single track won him yet another Grammy Award even though it's one of the less thematic new pieces on the score. Those Grammy and Academy voters sure have a soft spot for old Johnny.
Williams also mentions his delight in returning to 'Marion's theme' from Raiders and touches on the other two themes he composed for the picture. The Crystal Skull theme itself is an homage to 50's Sci-Fi picture music, while Spalko's theme is sexy (or 'saxy') forties Film Noir Femme Fatale music. In a rare and candid behind the scenes bit, a boyish Williams goes on record stating Irina Spalko is 'his kind of babe'. Haha that old dog. Finally John receives an official Indy fedora from Spielberg (after all, we have already seen that costume designer Bernie Pollack had a whole bunch of them made up). Spiel makes a little speech about his pal Johnny being one of the few people worthy of wearing it, yet in the 'The Compete Making of Indiana Jones' book it turns out he was handing out hats to several prominent cast and crew members, including of course his favorite young version of Errol Flynn/Marlon Brando: Shia LaBeouff. This to the chagrin of all of us who were relieved Harrison stopped Shia from trying on his hat at the end of the picture.
7 out of 10
With editing out of the way, the documentary moves into sound design: Ben Burtt hired his son, Bennie Jr. to catalog all the old tapes from the original trilogy while Chris Scarabosio did a lot of work on the motorcycle chase. For Mutt & Spalko's sword-fight, Burtt Sr. went out and found some classic rapiers as heard in his favorite Errol Flynn swashbuckler 'The Adventure of Don Juan' to record. He also reveals that the ominous buzzing sound that radiates from the crystal skull was coincidentally found when passing a broken lamppost on his way to his car. Luckily he always carries some recording equipment with him, so the buzz was captured on the spot.
Just when Burtt and Scarabosio begin to wrap up their segment (the point at which these documentaries usually go into a short montage, a fluster of background music and then fade) Steven Spielberg comes in to gush over John Williams. It really does seem like producer/director Laurent Bouzereau stuck two separate short subjects together here. However there is a thematic reason to group these subjects together (besides the obvious connection in the soundtrack). John Williams explains how he too was inspired by Errol Flynn, this time by 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' in creating the themes for Mutt. He even went so far as to title it 'The Adventures of Mutt' on the soundtrack score. Amazingly enough, this single track won him yet another Grammy Award even though it's one of the less thematic new pieces on the score. Those Grammy and Academy voters sure have a soft spot for old Johnny.
Williams also mentions his delight in returning to 'Marion's theme' from Raiders and touches on the other two themes he composed for the picture. The Crystal Skull theme itself is an homage to 50's Sci-Fi picture music, while Spalko's theme is sexy (or 'saxy') forties Film Noir Femme Fatale music. In a rare and candid behind the scenes bit, a boyish Williams goes on record stating Irina Spalko is 'his kind of babe'. Haha that old dog. Finally John receives an official Indy fedora from Spielberg (after all, we have already seen that costume designer Bernie Pollack had a whole bunch of them made up). Spiel makes a little speech about his pal Johnny being one of the few people worthy of wearing it, yet in the 'The Compete Making of Indiana Jones' book it turns out he was handing out hats to several prominent cast and crew members, including of course his favorite young version of Errol Flynn/Marlon Brando: Shia LaBeouff. This to the chagrin of all of us who were relieved Harrison stopped Shia from trying on his hat at the end of the picture.
7 out of 10
