My quick review of the Young Indy Vol 1 set... I'll post a more in depth review later:
Picked up the set Tuesday.... FANTASTIC! Great transfers, clean and detailed with vibrant colors, which is great considering the show was shot on 16mm.
Amazing volume of extras. Now bear in mind the documentaries included are geared toward educating kids and getting them interested in history, so they are not exactly super in-depth. But they are well made and will give kids some insight into the episode they just watched. The interactive features on the Bonus Disc are just insane, Lucas really outdid himself... great stuff.
Now some observations: WOW I've forgotten how good this show was, even the early episodes starring Corey Carrier. Carrier is a solid child actor and really holds his own against the adults. The shows are well scripted, well directed, and have outstanding production values. Having said that, Young Indy is not going to be everyone's cup of tea... no fistfights with Nazis or mad Indian cultists, no boulder death traps. Nope Young Indy is more of a coming-of-age show about the events of the early 20th Century which shaped OUR lives.
Yes the Old-Indy bookends are gone... frankly I could care less. For those that claim Lucas is again indulging in revisionism of his work I would suggest you look at what was happening to the show back in 1992-93. By the second season ratings were dropping off precipitously, and in an effort to revitalize the show Lucas and ABC presented three episodes as big TV event "movies" on Sunday night. Those episodes were "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues", "Young Indiana Jones and the Scandal of 1920", and "Young Indiana Jones and the Phantom Train of Doom". The third season would have kicked off with yet another two-hour movie, "Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies" which aired on the Family Channel.
So it's clear Lucas was moving AWAY from 1 hour episodic television, and moving toward the "made for TV movie" format. Ultimately this mish-mash of 1 and 2 hour episodes would make packaging for syndication difficult. So either you cut the 2 hour episodes in half and create new bookends, or you drop the original bookends and put two 1 hour episodes together as a movie. Ultimately I would like to see the Bookends included as a bonus feature on the final disc set, as well as the original opening credits... we'll see.
Just a note on the first disc movie "My First Adventure," which includes the episode "Egypt, May 1908" and the unaired "Tangier, 1908". Tangiers was actually shot years after the first episode, so Corey Carrier is OBVIOUSLY much older. In fact Lucas shot the sequence which bridges the two episodes in 1997 in Tunisia while shooting TPM. But the Tangier episode is very good... a pretty frank look at slavery in the Middle East, which gets a little dark toward the end... good stuff.
One of the things that has really struck me, having not watched the show in quite a while, is just how good Lloyd Owen is as Indy's dad. Solid actor with great comic timing. He's especially good in "Travels with Father".
My favorites from this set are Vienna 1908 which is part of "Perils With Cupid" and England 1916 which is part of "Love's Sweet Song". Both of these episodes were very well written and directed, and the performances were top notch. In fact, I would even venture to say England 1916 is one of the most well written hours of episodic television I've ever seen. Elizabeth Hurley and Sean Patrick Flannery are exceptional in this episode, and their brief affair feels very genuine.
Also, Princeton 1916 from "Spring Break Adventures", is a favorite and is a great light hearted mystery in the vein of Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.
So glad I picked up this set... now I can't wait for Vol 2... bring on the War Years!!!
Yancy