River Phoenix vs. Sean Patrick Flannery

[thefumegator]

Which one would you rather see as THEE young Indy?

I, for one, really like River Phoenix's acting. Very Indy-esque.

Well, whaddaya think?

Wes

[Indy_Martin]

I think River Phoenix was a great Indy. Too bad he died from a drug overdose. :(

[Indy Smith]

I find that a hard question. River Pheonix's short performance of Indy was great, but we had a whole series for young Indy with SPF and well I quite liked him. So I'm going to sit on the fence on that question.

[Jock]

I think Rivers was very similar to Harrison Ford (he was his son in "The Mosquito Coast"). Sean is a good transition between both of them. But River gots an aspect that Sean did little in the series. He gots the brand, the character of Harrison´s Indy, his arrogance and roguish. The play of Sean (well the truth is thath it depends of the chapter of young Indy in wich we see him), in general, is more vulnerable. So my favorites young Indy chapters are "Espionage escapades" and "The phantom train", because i think in those his play is more similar to Indy´s films.
But finally i prefer River Phoenix.

[Indy_Martin]

This could be a poll on TheRaider.net

[Alexandreta]

I am going for River because he is what I would imagine Indy as a young boy.

[Indy_Martin]

It's practically unanimous (sp?). River Phoenix wins over Sean Patrick Flanery hands down.

[Aaron H]

River Phoenix...Sean was ok, but not the best.

[Pridebowler]

They both have their good points I think.

As has been stated, we don't have much to judge River by, but he was fantastic in TLC.

[Fedora Man]

I also think that River was better than SPF. As you pointed out earlier River plays Indy more similiar to Harrison than Sean.

What if River would have played Indy in the Young Indy Chronicles instead?
Do you think that Lucas asked River if he wanted to play the part, but that he didn´t want to be in a TV-series, so that they asked SPF instead.

[Aaron H]

It was in River's contract to do the YIJC...but unfortunately he OD'ed on Halloween 1990 (or '91 I can't remember exactly what year). So they tried to find someone who at least vaguely looked like River.

[Fedora Man]

River died 1993, so he was still alive when the production of YIJC started. Why didn´t he play Indy there then?

[nikita]

I always thought River Phoenix was an awesome actor, but truly Sean plays the role of young Indy much better. Flannery has the same charm and charisma that Harrison Ford has, and that same half smile. River seemed to have played the character too serious. If River had starred in the tv series he wouldn't have brought humor to the character like Flannery did. Phoenix, in a way, is too depressing to watch in playing young Indy. Flannery brought the right amount of humor and intrigue to the role. I think everyone is highly under estimating him. Like I said, Phoenix is a cool actor, but Sean Patrick Flannery is better as young Indy.

[Raffey]

I like River Phoenix--he even RAN like Indiana Jones!!!

Hi, Nikita!! Welcome to the Raven!!! :D :D

[Zharah]

River Phoenix...'nuff said.

[AJ]

This is only my opinion (obviously), but it seems fruitless to compare the one effort Pheonix had at the part, to Flannery's entire series, which like someone else said before this, explored so many more aspects of the young indy character. Pheonix never got the chance to show the humourous, young and often naive side of indy. Lets not forget SPF, as was Pheonix, was being directed by Lucas, who obviously wanted the character to develop in a certain way. Towards the end, we saw some great action come out of him with so much more maturity shown through the character. He came a long way from beginning to end. I think Sean Patrick Flannery did a fantastic job right off the bat in what must have been an overwhelming task when he started. By the series end, he really showed us what an accomplished actor he is. Not to detract from his skills, but not to mention how much of enjoyment he was to watch through the series - make 12 more I say! ;-)

[Raffey]

Hello AJ!...just wanted to Welcome you to the Raven!!! :D :D

[Zharah]

Yeah...sure. Raff just wants to be the friggin' welcoming commitee...;) J/K Welcome Aboard, AJ!

[AJ]

Hi guys! thanks for the welcome, so great to jump in! This site is fantastic in both design and content, looking forward to dropping in! AJ

[Raffey]

If you ever get the chance try the bashes don't worry about the writer's speak. Just chat. It's alway nice to get to know another Indy fan!!! :D

[Grimace]

SPF represent!

[G_Knotti]

River Phoenix was better by a nudge...SPF was alright!! I'm just glad no one's voting for the kid...sorry kid you s**ked!

[nikita]

Hey Raffey, thanks for welcoming me. Sorry I'm still holding firm on Sean Patrick Flannery. Guess i was never one to follow the band wagon. I didn't want it to come down to this, but Sean Patrick Flannery is just way hotter than River Phoenix. Flannery and Harrison Ford are so similar. I love Harrison too.

[nikita]

A.J. you said it. Great argument. I agree that Phoenix does not have much to be judged on, and that is not always fair when compared to someone who acted the part for years. I guess for me I got more accustomed to Flannery playing the role because he did so for a much longer time. It was just easier envisioning Flannery as young Indy because of the many adventures he went through, and character developments, as compared to Phoenix's one run.

[J.J. Jones]

What kind of name is River Phoenix anyway????? Duh
Too bad the kid kicked over.......:(

[Indy 4]

Sean Patrick Flannery I think is the better between the two Young Indy's. For two main reasons, one as others mentioned River Phoenix was only Young Indy for a about 15 minutes or so. SPF REALLY was the one who built up the Young Indy character, he showed us Young Indy's thoughts, feelings, and changes throughout Indy's young life.
River Phoenix was basically there to show you how Indy got his trademark features. His hat, the scar, and a intense fear of snakes. Also he showed the rift Henry Sr. and Indy use to have. Overall River Phoniex was the foundation for Young Indy, SPF was the one who built on the character's young life from there.

____________________________________
"Cornado's dead and so are all of his grandchildren!"

"This should be in a museum!" Young Indy:Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

[AJ]

I haven't seen all the episodes cos my tightass video store won't stock them all (waaaahhh!) but in what episode did they go into indy's fear of snakes?
AJ

[young indy]

Sean! just because i didnt like the fat boy scout with the buggle what were they thinking.

[yep_yep _yep]

You are all going on about how good they acted, who brang more character to Indy etc, but what about the basics! Sean is so much better looking and, most important, ALIVE. No matter how brillent an actor you are it is really hard to act from 6 feet under.

[QueZTone]

River Phoenix! I like his name hehe


and he runs funny LOL. Plus he has the exact scream like Harrison. You know in the train when he falls in the train of snakes. He screams. Exactly the same like Harry screamed: "MARION!!" "MARION!" or at other occassions Harry also screamed like that :)

anyway they're both great but i like phoenix more cause he was in the movies ;P

[Stoney]

River Phoenix was a good actor, and would have become even better if he hadn't died.
The name came from his New Age parents. I think his sister is called Summer Rain, and of course, there's his brother Joaquin (Commodus in Gladiator) who used to go by the name 'Leaf' (I guess because he felt left out of the whole 'back to nature' thing...) Anyway, he gave that up when he started acting 'cos he realised Leaf is a pretty stupid name after all.

[Finn]

Jeez... <i>O tempora, o mores...</i>

[Stoney]

Cicero? fama semper vivat!

[westford]

*sigh* more Latin... :D:D:D

River Phoenix, but just cos he was in the film. Anyone know why he didn't take the part in the Young Indy series?

West

[Magda]

Originally posted by westford
*sigh* more Latin... :D:D:D

River Phoenix, but just cos he was in the film. Anyone know why he didn't take the part in the Young Indy series?

West

River Phoenix died of a drug overdose in 1993.

[westford]

Originally posted by Fedora Man
River died 1993, so he was still alive when the production of YIJC started. Why didn´t he play Indy there then?

Yeah Ameera, at the Viper Room I know, but I was going by this post...

[Stoney]

Originally posted by Stoney

The name came from his New Age parents. I think his sister is called Summer Rain, and of course, there's his brother Joaquin (Commodus in Gladiator) who used to go by the name 'Leaf'

Just checked up on this:
River's name was inspired by the River of Life in Hermann Hesse's novel Siddharta. He had 3 sisters; Rain Joan of Arc (later Rainbow), Liberty Butterfly, and Summer Joy, and his brother Joaquin. Phoenix wasn't the family's original name; they adopted it in 1977.
River was offered the lead role in the Young Indy series, but turned it down, I think to concentrate on his film career. After Last Crusade he was in I Love You To Death (1990), Dogfight (1991), My Own Private Idaho (1991?), Sneakers (1992), The Thing Called Love, (1993) and Silent Tongue (1993).
He died outside the Viper Club in Hollywood on 31/10/93, after overdosing on heroin and cocaine. He had been halfway through filming Dark Blood, and his estate was sued after his death for $5.5 million for breach of contract due to the use of illegal drugs. Just say no, kids...

Stoney

[00Kevin]

Let's give some mondo grail water to this epic thread.

I've gatta go with River Pheonix.....

I don't know what it is, but sean just seems to have dull moments or something, mabey it's the writing, or directing, but I don't think Sean had alot of great moments, he was a good actor, but perhaps in the shadow of HF.........only River has pulled it off

[Webley]

I really want to say that Sean Patrick Flannery is my favorite and I think he is but in certian episods of YIJ he seems to be such a SALLY. Wheras River Phoenix appears to be much braver playing Indy at an earlier age.

[Webley]

Originally posted by 00Kevin I don't think Sean had alot of great moments, he was a good actor, but perhaps in the shadow of HF.........only River has pulled it off
Dont forget the old fart who played Jones in the TV show.

[00Kevin]

yeah, George Hall or something who was cut from the tapes because people didn't like seeing indy as an old fart who annoys the heck out of people!

[Rumpled Fedora]

I'm gonna go with River Phoenix.

:eek: My first post in the Young Indy table!

[Randy_Flagg]

I'll go with RP over SPF, but it might not be a fair comparison really. Consider the role RP had in Last Crusade-- it was action-oriented, just like the real Indy should be. Then look at SPF's role-- altruistic, dull and very un-Indy-like. Given the story lines contained in YIJC, it would be impossible to make the character really seem like Indy. Hell, even Harrison Ford could barely pull it off when he had a cameo in one episode.