The adventures of a young Henry Jones Jr., the dog was called Indiana, finally make their way onto DVD in this first set. He would later grow up to thrill us in Raiders of the Lost Ark. These episodes educate us as well as entertain us, or so creator George Lucas hoped they would.
George Lucas gave us as taste of the Young Indiana Jones adventures with a 13-year-old Indy (played by River Phoenix) attempting to keep plunderers from stealing a valuable artifact in 1912 in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Lucas would expand that trip down memory lane into Indy’s youth with this television series that ran from 1992 to 1996.
His goal was to educate as well as entertain the viewer as they passed through historical event and met historical figures along with Indy. The series would usually begin with reminiscence by an elderly Jones (George Hall) being reminded of some adventure that he had and telling his companions about it. We would then either flash back to when he was 10-years old (Corey Carrier), and traveled with his father Henry Jones Sr. (Lloyd Owen), mother Anna (Ruth de Sousa), and tutor Miss Seymour (Margaret Tyzack), or when he was 17-years old (Sean Patrick Flanery).
In 1999, Lucas edited the 45-minute episodes together to form a series of feature length films. In the editing the elderly Indy portion was removed and only one of the films kept the flashback structure and that was because Harrison Ford played a middle-aged Indy looking back (I think that episode should be in volume three).
This DVD set also replicates the “movie” versions of the episodes. I seem to recall that the first season would jump back and forth between the young and teenage Indy, at least until the adventures of the teenage Jones dominated the show. These movie versions provide a more chronological look at the adventures.
Making the films in to movies doesn’t really bother me, but what I have a problem with is the exclusion of George Hall’s contributions. I have a vague memory that he was good in the role and wish those contributions wouldn’t have been banished to the waste bin (technically, I doubt that Lucas destroyed the footage).
Others may disagree since the old Indy is not exactly how we want to see the adventurer since he was also used as a tool to fill in the less than historically knowledgeable (which the special features now do). The adventures are still rather good, but still feel abbreviated in the movie version.
In fact, the first adventure was a combination of a young and teenage Indy and now those episodes have been attached to different ones. It’s really quite strange in “My First Adventure” at how much older Corey Carrier is in the second half of the adventure even though they’re basically in the same time period.
Originally the first episode continued the story of the relic from the Egyptian episode in an older Indy episode. The episodes include the telefilms My First Adventure (Disc one), Passion for Life (Disc two), Perils of Cupid (Disc four), Travels with Father (Disc six), Journey of Radiance (Disc seven), Spring Break Adventure (Disc eight), and Love’s Sweet Song (Disc ten).
My First Adventure: While on an archeological dig in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, Indy uncovers an ancient mummy and fresh corpse. With the help of T.E. Lawrence (Joseph Bennett), the legendary Lawrence of Arabia, Indy solves an intriguing murder mystery only to find himself thrust right back into danger when he is kidnapped by slave-trading brigands.
Dragged on a terrifying journey across the burning sands of North Africa to the slave markets of Marrakech, Indy finds that he must rely on his courage and wits to survive the brutal ordeal.
Passion For Life: The beautiful Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya is the locale as Indy goes on safari with former President Teddy Roosevelt (James Gammon). When he becomes lost in the savage African bush, Indy finds that he must fight for his life against all manner of exotic and dangerous wildlife. Exotic wildlife of another kind awaits him in Paris when he accompanies a young Norman Rockwell (Lucas Haas) on a rollicking tour through the bohemian world of Parisian fine art.
Wild parties, wilder women and artist temperament are on full display as Pablo Picasso (Danny Webb) and Edgar Degas (Jean Pierre Aumont) clash over their contrasting styles of painting, while painting the town red at a gaudy late-night soiree.
The Perils of Cupid: In beautiful Vienna, Indy falls for the lovely young daughter of soon-to-be assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. But the course of true love does not run smoothly and he must seek advice from two of the founding fathers of psychology, Sigmund Freud (Max Von Sydow) and Carl Jung (Ernst Hugo Jardegard). Romantic complications of another kind turn up in Florence, Italy, when Indy and his mother meet the great opera composer Giacomo Puccini (George Corraface).
Dismayed to find his lonely mother succumbing to the sensuous charms of the charismatic Puccini, Indy frantically looks for a way to reunite his parents and rekindle their love before it's too late.
Travels with Father: A trip to Russia takes Indy from the opulent palaces of the
Realizing that there's no place like home, Indy rejoins his mom and dad and travels with his father to an isolated Greek monastery perched high on the peak of a mountain. The arduous journey, including a harrowing trip in a tiny cage up a thousand-foot mountainside, brings father and son closer together.
Journey of Radiance: A jaunt through the mystical Far East takes Indy to the Holy City of Benares where he befriends the lonely and isolated young leader of the Theosophy movement, Jiddu Krishnamurti (Hemanth Rao). Surrounded by supplicants and hangers-on, Krishnamurti struggles to have faith in himself and to fulfill the destiny decreed for him by his worshippers.
In the process he shows Indy just how strong the power of faith can be. Indy's mother also learns a lesson in faith and trust when she must rely on some poor Chinese villagers and their traditional medical techniques to save the life of her son who lies perilously close to death with typhoid fever.
Spring Break Adventure: Indy and his girlfriend Nancy Stratemeyer (Robyn Lively), whose father created the Nancy Drew mystery series, visit the fascinating laboratory of inventor Thomas Edison (Richard K. Olsen). The two must contend with dangerous German spies as they struggle to keep Edison's top-secret new invention out of the hands of hostile enemy agents.
To keep him from getting into any more trouble, Indy is sent to visit his Aunt in New Mexico. While there, he is kidnapped by Pancho Villa (Mike Moroff) and swept up into the Mexican Revolution. Chaotic, free-wheeling border towns, a "Wild Bunch" style train robbery and a colorful barroom encounter with a young George Patton (Stuart Milligan) make for thrilling entertainment in this action-packed movie.
Love's Sweet Song: Landing in Ireland right before the Easter Rebellion, Indy mixes romance and revolutionary politics when he falls for a beautiful young colleen whose brother is mixed up in the Irish resistance movement.
Across the waters in England he encounters a similar problem when his love affair with a strong-willed young woman is derailed by her fervent belief in the women's suffrage movement and her need for independence. Violent street brawls, a terrifying Zeppelin raid and a seriocomic dinner party with Winston Churchill (Julian Fellowes) provide plenty of thrills in this exciting, romantic adventure.
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones is presented in fullscreen as they were originally aired on television. Special features are spread out over the twelve discs (with some discs being entirely devoted to the special features and the telefilm on another disc.
Each episode has a selection of documentaries about the historical figure or events that Indy encounters. Disc one has the 19 minute “Archeology – Unearthing our Past,” the 22 minute “Howard Carter and the Tomb of Tutankhamun,” the 36 minute “Colonel Lawrence’s War – T.E. Lawrence and Arabia,” and the 30 minute “From Slavery to Freedom.”
Disc three has the 30 minute “Theodore Roosevelt and the American Century,” the 24 minute “Ecology: Pulse of the Planet,” the 24 minute “American Dreams: Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post,” the 26 minute “Art Rebellion: The Making of the Modern,” the 22 minute “Edgar Degas: Reluctant Rebel, and the 23 minute “Braque and Picasso: A Collaboration Cubed.”
Disc five has the 25 minute “Giacomo Puccini: Music of the Heart,” the 29 minute “It’s Opera!,” the 20 minute “The Archduke’s Last Journey: End of an Era,” the 26 minute “Powder Keg: Europe from 1900 to 1914,” the 21 minute “Sigmund Freud: Exploring the Unconscious,” the 19 minute “Carl Jung and the Journey of Self Discovery,” and the 26 minute “Psychology: Charting the Human Mind.”
Disc six contains the 31 minute “Seeking Truth: The Life of Leo Tolstoy,” the 26 minute “Unquiet Voices: Russian Writers and the State,” the 21 minute “Aristotle: Creating Foundations,” the 23 minute Ancient Questions: Philosophy and Our Search for Meaning.” Disc seven has the 26 minute “Jiddu Krishnamurti: The Reluctant Messiah,” the 26 minute “Annie Besant: An Unlikely Rebel,” the 26 minute “Medicine in the Middle Kingdom,” and the 29 minute “Eastern Spirituality: The Road to Enlightenment.”
Disc nine has the 26 minute “Thomas Alva Edison: Lighting the World,” the 22 minute “Invention and Innovation: What’s Behind a Good Idea?,” the 26 minute “Mystery of Edward Stratemeyer,” the 28 minute “Wanted Dead or Alive: Pancho Villa and the American Invasion of Mexico,” the 28 minute “General John J. Pershing and the American Army,” and the 29 minute “George S. Patton: American Achilles.”
Disc eleven has the 25 minute “Easter Rising: the Poet’s Rebellion,” the 27 minute “The Passions of William Butler Yeats,” the 25 minute “Sean O’Casey vs. Ireland,” the 26 minute “Ireland: The Power of the Poets,” the 33 minute “Winston Churchill: The Lion’s Roar,” the 27 minute “Demanding the Vote: the Pankhursts and British Suffrage,” and the 31 minute “Fighting for the Vote: Women’s Suffrage in America.” Disc twelve has a 41 minute “Historical Lecture: The Promise of Progress” by Professor H.W. Brands from the University of Texas at Austin.
This disc also contains the DVD-ROM features of an interactive timeline and a game.
It may be a little too convenient that a great deal of famous historical faces happens to intersect with Indiana Jones, but it does make for entertaining history lessons. This set does the show one better and includes enough documentaries to make sure that you’ll at least score a “B” on the next history quiz. The set comes highly recommended as both entertainment and education. Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
meNov 10th, 2007 - 00:29:00
river phoenix was not in these. he played young indie in the 3rd movie.
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