Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 30, 2023

While it's often attributed to famed metaphysician and philosopher Yogi Berra, "nostalgia ain't what it used to be" evidently actually was the handiwork of writer Peter De Vries, at least in that particular formulation. Whoever was responsible for formalizing the underlying concept in writing (and/or speech), the concept itself may be germane to understanding some perhaps slightly perplexing reactions that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has engendered. It's probably hard for younger viewers in particular to completely understand the excitement that attended Raiders of the Lost Ark when it premiered in 1981, and if Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may offer examples of that oft quoted "law of diminishing returns", each of them, especially the first two sequels, had moments of excitement suffused with cheeky humor. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is ultimately a more melancholic affair, which while an interesting stylistic and story choice, may also tend to enervate a franchise that was at least initially meant to mimic the cliffhanger antics of old time serials of yore. All of this said, the film has some exceptionally well staged action sequences, and Harrison Ford gets to strut his stuff as both a geriatric Indy as well as two younger versions courtesy of a "de-aging software".

The understandably elegiac tone that suffuses the latter part of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny rather smartly has to wait around a half hour or so, as the first section of the film posits Indy toward the end of World War II, where he's on the hunt for a priceless relic (of course) with the assistance of a diminutive and fussy professor named Basil Shaw (Toby Jones). Suffice it to say there are Nazis involved, including the obviously arch villainous Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelson) who, like Indy, has a "taste" for historical curios with unbridled power. Also suffice it to say that after a whirlwind series of knockdown, dragout fights both in and on top of a train, Indy and Basil emerge victorious, supposedly with half of a "high tech" gizmo invented by Archimedes.

It's here that the story segues forward two or so decades to find an elderly Indy on the brink of retirement from Hunter College. It's later revealed that he's in the throes of a divorce from Marion (Karen Allen, who contributes a really emotion filled cameo at the end) after another family tragedy. Indy is almost instantly revealed to be the kind of crotchety old guy who would be screaming at kids to get off his lawn, if he had a lawn, though in this particular case he's screaming at teenagers to turn down "Magical Mystery Tour" on their stereo as they get ready to celebrate "Moon Day", the landing of the astronauts on our nearest satellite in July 1969. When Indy is suddenly contacted by his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the daughter of Basil, things get pretty deliriously chaotic rather quickly, as Helena wants Indy to help track down the supposedly lost Archimedes gizmo. Again suffice it to say, it turns out it's not lost, and Phoebe's reasons for wanting it, as well as the repeated intrusions of Voller, now a top rocket scientist for the United States (think of someone like ex-Nazi Werner von Braun), fills up the rest of this cartwheeling tale.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may not have the cliffhanger ambience that was part and parcel of at least Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it has homages aplenty to all of the previous Jones films, including several wonderfully visceral and often hilarious chase sequences. There are a number of what might be termed tonal callbacks as well to some of the more whimsically humorous moments in the previous Jones films, with "little" moments like an American bomb crashing through a Nazi stronghold and landing in carpet, not immediately detonating achieving some of the same "combo platter" of adrenaline rushes and laugh out loud comedy that were so memorable in other Jones films.

The bantering between Helena and Indy is obviously reminiscent of his relationships with other females in the prior outings, even if the relationship here is not romantic in any way. The addition of a ragamuffin pickpocket named Teddy (Ethan Isidore) will not doubt evoke memories of Ke Huy Quan's Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Aside from the aforementioned moving cameo from Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davis is also on hand as Sallah. The "device" is finally revealed to be something of a time machine, which then allows for a completely gonzo climax in ancient times as historian Indy gets to experience his subject matter maybe just a bit too "up close and personal".

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny cost a lot of money to make, some of which was probably devoted to the rather impressive "de-aging" software used in the film's opening half hour or so, as well as a typically luxe production design that spans several decades (and, ultimately, millennia). That may have contributed to the general sentiment that the film is at least a financial bomb, though I'm really kind of surprised at the negativity the film seems to have sparked in some. They say that growing old isn't for sissies, but Ford's geriatric Indy is still amazingly spry, and the film has droves of both the action elements and heart that were some of the best elements of the previous Jones films.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured with Alexa cameras and finished at 4K, this is another really winning Blu-ray presentation from Disney. While I recommend those with the appropriate setup opt for the 4K UHD version, this 1080 version boasts excellent detail levels and a consistently robust palette. The film is chock full of CGI, including the "de-aging" of Ford, and by and large, things look incredibly sharp and natural, and I have to say with regard to Ford's more youthful appearance, really rather amazingly well done (there are some small quibbles maybe to be raised when Ford moves his head suddenly and the face doesn't quite look completely "right", but these are mere nanoseconds in an otherwise very commendable attempt). There is some subtle yellow grading going on, and in that regard the 4K UHD version has a perhaps just slightly more orange tint to some of the yellow sequences. Other elements like the slate blue grading in the opening may not have quite the "thrust" as in the 4K UHD version, but look great removed from that context.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny features a wonderfully immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track , and while those with the proper setups may want to opt for the 4K UHD version with its Atmos track, I have to say honestly there isn't a gigantic difference between the two. There are some moments where the Atmos track really has a chance to shine, including the "whine" of a bomb descending from the skies in World War II, or the "echoes" in the cave late in the film and then even later during a calamitous set of airplane flights that include ancient Roman galleons firing flaming spears at what they think are "dragons". Those examples aside, the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 option on this disc regularly engages the side and rear channels for a host of whirlwind effects, with some other standout moments including a great skirmish atop a rapidly moving train the film's opening sequence, or any number of almost insane chases, like the horseback sequence in New York or the tuk tuk sequence in Tangier. John Williams' wonderful score, which makes good use of pre-existing motifs, also fills the surround channels winningly. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. The disc is authored to provide English subtitles for several German language moments, but even those can be turned off if desired, and the disc also offer "regular" optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score is presented in Dolby Digital Plus 7.1.


• The Making of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (HD; 56:46) is a really enjoyable five part documentary that has a lot of fun behind the scenes footage and a glut of great interviews with various cast and crew.

Disney provided their 4K UHD release for purposes of this review, but it looks like this standalone 1080 release offers a digital copy and a slipcover.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In terms of "nostalgia ain't what it used to be", the 1981 excitement of seeing Indy battle Nazis may in fact have cooled, but in another way, the nostalgia in this film is even more potent than in some of the previous installments, at least for those old enough to have experienced them all when they first came out. The film probably could have been shorn of at least 15 to 20 minutes, with a few less repetitions of various people in distress, and there's also a rather alarming body count of innocent bystanders which accrues as things progress, but this is an often hugely entertaining film which brings the series to a rousing close. Technical merits are first rate and both the isolate score and making of supplement are very enjoyable. Recommended.