They aren’t even ashamed about it: The first thing that plays when you start up any of the three DVDs from this new Indiana Jones box set is a trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It’s a pretty blatant reminder that this DVD set, which came out on Tuesday, exists for two reasons: First, to cash in on the fact that there’s a new Indy movie coming out, and second, to make sure everyone goes to see the aforementioned new Indy movie. Part cash-in and part promo, the box set would still be a solid-enough buy for Indy fans—or it would be, that is, if a superior box set didn’t come out in 2003, and was still available online. (Which it is.) When compared, the new box set’s pretty crappy when compared to 2003’s box set.

All the same, I’d be very surprised if a ton of people don’t pick up this set anyway—so if you’re thinking about doing so, you should at least know what you’re getting (and not getting) for your money. Details on the new box set are after the jump.

It’s not that this new box set--dubbed “The Adventure Collection” is bad, really, so much as it’s just kinda superfluous. All three films are included on these three discs, along with a few special features on each disc.

Raiders, like each of the films, boasts a new “introduction,” which is basically a short doc with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, et al. talking about how Raiders came about. This disc also boasts a featurette on how special effects technicians achieved that infamous face-melting effect for the film's climax, as well as “The Indy Trilogy: A Crystal Clear Appreciation” (ugh, that title), in which the cast members of Crystal Skull look back on Raiders. Not surprisingly, this feature feels pretty flimsy and bland and publicist-approved, with no real insights or new realizations. (Then again, if you're desperate to hear Shia LaBeouf talk about how he and his dad watched Raiders back in the day, well, here you go.)

Temple of Doom is the most interesting of these discs, if only because it’s interesting to watch Spielberg and Lucas dodge around in this film’s introduction--basically, Spielberg spends all his time trying not to come right out and say that he doesn’t like Temple of Doom very much (he never explicitly says as much, but it's pretty evident he doesn't--and might not have even liked it while he was making it), and he also implies that everything that's wrong with Doom is Lucas’ fault. Lucas, meanwhile, defends this film's darkness, but grudgingly admits that he likes the other Indy films more. (He also drops the interesting reminder that the villains of the film, the Thuggee cult, were previously used in George Stevens’ 1939 flick Gunga Din.) There’s also a featurette on the various creepy animals featured in the trilogy, and a featurette that looks at all the different locations the trilogy shot in. (A few trivia bits here are interesting: That Temple of Doom’s tone was influenced by The Empire Strikes Back, and that the same submarine used in Raiders was the one from Das Boot.)

Last Crusade boasts another introductory/reminiscing featurette, plus selected clips from an American Film Institute panel that featured the female stars of the trilogy (that Nazi chick from Crusade bears a serious grudge against Sean Connery, for dubious reasons), and a featurette on Indy’s enemies and sidekicks. Crusade's disc has a few interesting trivia tidbits, too, most notably Spielberg talking about how the casting of Sean Connery made perfect sense, as Indiana Jones was inspired by James Bond, and Lucas crediting Crusade's success to the fact that it’s “essentially a character piece with some action in it."

In addition, each of the discs contains storyboards from the film (which play alongside the relevant sections of the films), galleries of production stills, concept art, props, and marketing elements, and--if you’ve got a PC--a demo for the Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures videogame. (That PC only business is LAME, but I’m mostly just saying that because I have an Xbox and not a PC, and I really want to play this Lego Indiana Jones business.)

All of the short documentaries here are put together by longtime Lucasfilm and Spielberg historian Laurent Bouzereau, and they’re perfectly fine, but just… meh. Most of the interesting info and trivia that's in these discs I've mentioned above (you're welcome!), and a lot of the other content feels like filler. (That is, with the exception of the galleries, which are interesting: From the production artwork to the production stills, there’s some cool stuff here that hasn’t been made available before.)

Honestly, picking up this set would be a fine decision, and money well spent, if the 2003 box set wasn’t still available for pretty much the same price. This new version reuses those films' transfers and recycles that set’s DVD menus, but doesn’t really add anything that interesting. Most importantly, 2003's set included an excellent, two-hour-long documentary on the making of all three films, which provided a far more in-depth and nuanced look at the trilogy. This set's fine, I guess, if you're not interested in tracking down the 2003 set, or don't really care about special features--but if you're looking to get your money's worth, the 2003 box set is where it's at. This one feels at best like a rehash and at worst like an extended, $35 ad for Crystal Skull.