The Adventures of Indiana Jones

After seeing the new "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" movie, I got on a kick to read some of the older Indiana Jones books that had been released in previous years. These consisted of mainly the movie novelizations, as well as the 14 book series from writers like Rob MacGregor, Max McCoy, etc. This book basically collects the first three Indiana Jones movies adaptions, which I'd actually read as a young teenager back when they first came out. It was neat to reread them again, and here's my thoughts on each. 1. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - There's something about this one, and I don't know if it's the way Campbell Black writes or just the fact that the original Indiana Jones story was so memorable that it's hard to screw it up, but I liked reading this adaption. The closest I can come to describing it is that it was like watching a "Special Edition" dvd of one of your favorite movies, only in book form. You get to read all of the "deleted scenes", as well have have certain things added. For instance, we get to see a bit more of the rivalry between Indy and Belloq, or at least their thoughts about the rivalry. We get to find out how Marion survived her father's, (Abner's), death in Tibet and Nepal, and how she came to own the Raven's Nest bar. You'll also see how it came to be that Belloq was hired by the Nazi's. Some of the action scenes are shortened, like the truck chase, yet still feel fast paced and interesting. We also get surprises, like the fact that Toht doesn't live to see the Ark opened like in the movie, he's one of the guys that get snuffed when a car goes over the cliff during the truck chase. We also get to see how it was that Indy survived the submarine ride to the Nazi island base. (Which is something this novel and the Marvel Comics adaption explained, but that otherwise we were left guessing at!) 2. INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM - A lot of people think of this movie as the weakest of the original trilogy. If you're one of those, reading the novel probably won't persuade you to think more highly of it. I enjoyed the fast pace of the movie and still like it today. However, the book really doesn't add a whole lot to the reading experience like "Raiders" did. We don't know much more about Short Round other than we do get to see how he kills a little bit of time before meeting up Indy at the Club Obi Wan. Something that got annoying to me was that Shorty constantly mentions Chinese deities in his thoughts, sometimes the same one more than once. It doesn't add much to his character or purpose. It's enough for me to know he's an oriental street kid who's a part time thief hanging around Indy now. It's almost like the author, James Kahn, researched Chinese lore and then tried too hard to fit in certain things he learned. Once or twice would've made the point. Also, one of the things I've never understood was how a small kid could "karate kick" and knock out some Thuggee guard who was pretty oblivious to pain due to being unde

When I was 10years old ,I saw the film(Indiana Jones Trilogy). It was the fantastic adventure stories,I love it so much.Now I'm seeing this book ,recalling the past times which gave me lots of inspiration.

It's been years since all these paperbacks covering Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade have been on bookstore shelves -- so it's great to have them all in one volume! They also contain scenes and back stories left out of the final films. It's a must have for any Indy fans library. So if you want to brush up on the stories before seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, start reading now!