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In the interest of maintaining a capitalist society, we must accept the fact that sometimes we will make purchases that are frivolous, almost against our will, under the guise that it is for our own good. One continually frivolous purchase for movie geeks is the seemingly unending amount of “Special Editions” and “Collector’s Sets” that are released year in and year out by movie studios, forcing us to own 7 versions of King Kong (Peter Jackson’s version) and at least 3 copies of Michael Bay’s Transformers (okay, maybe that is just me).

These releases are usually scheduled around some sort of release that is closely related to the films in question — every time another Lord of the Rings film hit theaters, we got another 7 hours of bonus features for the previous film — it was as if they went back and shot more special features, just for the sake of selling DVDs.

In this vain, the folks at Paramount Home Video have announced that the original Indiana Jones trilogy is going to be re-released on DVD in new, special feature-laden fashion on May 13, a week before the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on May 22. For losers like me who do not yet own the original trilogy, this is a good thing. For everyone else, it is just another DVD Box Set that they will feel obligated to buy — and for good reason — I mean, it is Indiana Jones.

The brand new Special Editions will include the following:

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 2.0 Surround and Spanish 2.0 Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. The disc includes the following special features:

- Raiders of the Lost Ark: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas

- Indiana Jones: An Appreciation — The cast and crew of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pay tribute to the original trilogy.

- The Melting Face — A recreation of the amazing physical effect of the villain’s melting face in Raiders of the Lost Ark, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas commenting on the evolution of visual effects and CGI.

- Storyboard Sequence — The Well of Souls

Galleries:

- Illustrations & Props

- Production Photographs & Portraits

- Effects/ILM

- Marketing

- Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 2.0 Surround and Spanish 2.0 Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. The disc includes the following special features:

- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas

- Creepy Crawlies – Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Frank Marshall reminisce about snakes, bugs and rats.

- Locations — Travel across the world to discover where the films take place and where they were shot.

- Storyboard Sequence — The Mine Cart Chase

Galleries:

- Illustrations & Props

- Production Photographs & Portraits

- Effects/ILM

- Marketing

- Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 2.0 Surround and Spanish 2.0 Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. The disc includes the following special features:

- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas

- The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute — The three Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) reunite for a discussion.

- Friends and Enemies — Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Indiana Jones writers discuss how they created the most iconic characters in film history, including a look at new faces in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

- Storyboard Sequence — The Opening Sequence

Galleries:

- Illustrations & Props

- Production Photographs & Portraits

- Effects/ILM

- Marketing

- Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Game Demo and Trailer

So as you can see, it is a pretty full boat for bonus features — and right in time for you to get all caught up on your Indiana Jones lore right before the release of the fourth installment. How thoughtful of them… Now if only they would release this set on Blu-ray — that would be something.

Sound Off: What do you think? Are you ready to buy another Indiana Jones box set?