Young Indiana Jones appreciation thread

AnnieJones

New member
AnnieJones said:
I just remembered something that I think I should share with everyone here.It's a funny story about back when my sister and I were shopping for The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Volume 1 & 2 DVD set,most likely in late 2007,because that's when the first two volumes came out,or we could have been shopping for them in early 2008,after they were already out on DVD.
Anyway,we went to a video/DVD store in the mall and I asked the male clerk(who appeared to be in his 30s),"Does this store have the first two seasons of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles?" (I called them that,because at the time,I didn't know that the DVDs were called The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.)He had a confused and somewhat shocked look on his face and said,"What's that?" I said,"It's an Indiana Jones T.V. show." Then he responded,"I never knew they made a T.V. show about Indiana Jones?!" As it turned out,the store did have the first two volumes and the clerk was surprised to see them on the shelf(top shelf on the far left).
I recently discussed this event with my sister and she reminded me that we went to Best Buy first,then the mall.The guy who worked at Best Buy appeared to be in his 20s and gave us a similar reaction when we asked him if the store had those DVDs.She(my sister)reminded me that he was equally shocked when he saw that the DVDs were there on the shelf.But for some reason,I remember the incident from the mall,not the one from Best Buy.Anyway,there you have it.:hat:
 

Joosse

New member
I love the Young Indiana Jones series, allthough I have to admit I missed most of it when it was on tv at the time.

I had had a serious accident at the time and spent more than a year in hospital, so I am very happy to discover them on DVD now.

Also I believe that some credit has to be given to the documentaries included in the DVD's. They are great, educational and entertaining at the same time!

Excellent work! (y)
 

phantom train

New member
I can't say enough good things about the YIJC. I've been a fan since the show first came out on TV in 1992-1993, and saw all of the U.S. network (and later cable) broadcasts of the show at that time. The YIJC is a truly superb, entertaining, and educational TV show that really gives the viewer a good picture of much of the history that took place in the early 20th century. For example, WWI was heavily covered, and this is a very rare subject to see as the focus of a TV show (especially an American TV show). In addition to being a great history lesson, we also get to see the character development of IJ as a child/young man, and we see shades of the character that grows up to become the IJ of the films.
Also, the budget was huge for a network TV show - all of the costumes/settings, etc. were quite impressive, and as far as I know most of the show was filmed on location. It seemed to have the budget equivalent to a major Hollywood production, which was amazing for a TV show at that time.

I remember at the time the show was originally on, I was talking to a friend about it - they complained to me that, "The show would be great, if it wasn't so educational". What they didn't understand was that the educational aspect was the whole point! However, this aspect is the main reason the show didn't do well on American TV - I think it was truly too good for broadcast TV (at least broadcast TV at that time). I also think the audience was expecting a show that was an extension of the films, with all of the action, etc., and that wasn't at all what the show was supposed to be about.

Anyway, it's a shame the show didn't last longer - it would have been great to have seen a 3rd (and 4th, 5th, and 6th) seasons, in which IJ would have met Belloq for the first time, etc.

Kudos to G. Lucas for making the show, and for also eventualy releasing it on DVD for new fans to discover.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
I just started watching this series on DVD, and will work my way through chronologically (as I guess that's how the DVD set roughly arranges the series).

I've been trying to ignore Young Indy for years, having dismissed it as something barely associated with the big screen character. However, coming to the Raven and inadvertently reading high praise of the series from educated quarters, raised my interest.

The thing that immediately impressed me, apart from the quality of the acting, was the use of real locations. So many television series are so obviously fake that they aren't engaging (such as 'Relic Hunter' where it's a case of 'this week the local park will be Russia, next week it's going to be the Amazon').

The attention to detail, with regards to props and scenery, is fascinating.

I used to be put off by the idea that Indy would meet a famous person everywhere he went, but once you're engrossed in an episode it appears to be quite natural. Henry Sr. is travelling the world and moving in high society.
 
Montana Smith said:
I just started watching this series on DVD, and will work my way through chronologically (as I guess that's how the DVD set roughly arranges the series).

I've been trying to ignore Young Indy for years, having dismissed it as something barely associated with the big screen character. However, coming to the Raven and inadvertently reading high praise of the series from educated quarters, raised my interest.

I'm doing the same...if you want a nice Young Indy companion-piece listen to the next Indy-Cast,(specifically the trivia).;)
 

InexorableTash

Active member
Montana Smith said:
I just started watching this series on DVD, and will work my way through chronologically (as I guess that's how the DVD set roughly arranges the series).

As a warning, you'll probably enjoy a chronological watching more if you keep in mind two facets:

* The DVD/telefilms are, for the most part, comprised of two originally separate 45 minute episodes combined together to make the 90 minute telefilm.
* Each of the original 45 minute episodes has, rather intentionally, a distinctly different tone.

For example, when you get to "Espionage Escapades", don't be expecting either a continuation of the action/adventures of "Attack of the Hawkmen" or the suspense of "Adventures in the Secret Service". Expect two distinct stories; each humorous, but in unique ways - Barcelona is slapstick, Prague is dark humor.

As much grief as Prague gets, once you accept that it's explicitly a Kafka pastiche, a dark humor tale of futility against the system, it works. Well, it worked for me. Not my favorite, but not altogether deserving of the derision thrown its way.

Even the original two-parters, like "Phantom Train of Doom" have different qualities in the first and second half, emphasizing different characters and relationships, and teaching Indy independent life lessons.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
InexorableTash said:
As a warning, you'll probably enjoy a chronological watching more if you keep in mind two facets:

I was aware that there are problems with how the films were put together, and this was really apparent with the sudden ending of the first adventure, and in the next moment Corey has aged a few years. It was unsettling to see Corey growing older and younger within the same time frame.

The locations were amazing - apart from Russia with Tolstoy, where a lot of the buildings in the countryside were so obviosuly matte paintings. It stood out because the other episodes had so much attention to location.

I might have overdosed (watched too many in one go), as by China I was getting bored and using fast forward with the subtitles on. I was eager to get to the older Indy. However, when I did see the Edison episode with Flanery I was a bit disappointed. It seemed much sillier than any of the Corey episodes.

The Corey episodes were for the most part rivetting, not for their action, but for what there was to see in them - the attention to detail.

With Pancho Villa you can really start to see the character of the older Indiana Jones. I loved that episode - it's much more adult. Reminded me of Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.

Lt. Patton with his twin pearl-handled .45s was a great scene, there was even a bit of Spaghetti western 'opera of the eyes' going on.

The character of Remy was introduced in an unusual manner - twice ready to kill Indy, and twice dissuaded.

I'm really looking forward to the war years.
 

AnnieJones

New member
I found a really good video on YouTube.I love this video!(y)

Young Indiana Jones DVDs: Action Montage
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Montana Smith

Active member
Last night I was reading the Young Indy sections of Charles Champlin's book, George Lucas: The Creative Impulse (1992, revised & updated edition, 1997).

Whilst there are some gross inaccuracies in his description of the episodes, he did shed light on Lucas' creative process.

I knew that the Young Indy series was always intended to be educational, but I hadn't realized how far Lucas had been looking into the future with this project. Whilst this won't be news to many of you, it was new to me:

Champlin: "Lucas previously [prior to 1992] had founded the George Lucas Educational Foundation to explore and develop the possibilities of the videodisc combining text, sound, and both still and moving graphics, all at the user's command via the computer keyboard or mouse."

Lucas: "We were working on an idea called 'A Walk through Early-Twentieth-Century History with Indiana Jones,' and it turned into a television series."

Champlin: "Lucas was the executive producer of the project and generated all the basic stories. But the television format really was only the beginning of a bold three-stage evolution...These films will be available on video-tape as The Adventures of Indiana Jones As a Young Man."

Lucas filmed the Young Indy movies as the first stage of his grand project, knowing that he would have to wait for technological advances before the project could be completed.

Champlin: "Then, finally as the so-called DVD-format high-density discs with their great storage capacity become widely available, the movies will be further expanded into truly interactive, multimedia experiences - entertaining and painlessly educational."

Lucas: "It's all ten years ahead of its time, but I realized I had a chance to do part of it now, the biggest part of it. We'll add the rest when the new digital format is available. I don't consider anything ever really finished."

(That's two telling statements by Lucas: the DVD collections were ten years away (from the the date of the revised edition of Champlin's book), and Lucas doesn't "consider anything ever really finished", as evidenced by his tinkering with Star Wars).

Here are some facts and figures (or claims) about Young Indy from Champlin's book:

Rick McCallum: "We ended up shooting over 170 weeks - more than three years - on locations in twenty-five countries. It's the longest sustained period of shooting in the history of either film or television. We have 4 million feet of 16mm film; that's more than 750 miles worth, from New Guinea to Thailand to Greece, Russia, all of Europe, Turkey, North Africa, and Kenya."

Some of the films took more than three years to complete from first shot to last. The last of the shooting was completed in Morocco mid-1996.

Rick McCallum: "We were creating the world at the beginning of the twentieth-century and some of the effects didn't even play as effects. They involved painting out buildings and telephone wires..."

Lucas: "What we have are twenty-two feature films, done on a TV schedule, and that's what we set out to do. The films are very handsome, wth big action sequences, and they're all period. And the cost of each was under 4 million dollars. So we have twenty-two features done at a cost of one big movie feature today. They're now titled as movies; they'll play as movies."
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet...I think it's great that some Indy fans are beginning to appreciate the Young Indy series. Montana & Rocket (even Robyn and another Ravenhead, who wrote me privately) are getting interested.(y) Whether the show bears the name "Indiana Jones" or not, it was still an excellent television show, regardless of its association with the films.
Montana Smith said:
With Pancho Villa you can really start to see the character of the older Indiana Jones. I loved that episode - it's much more adult. Reminded me of Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.
The attack on "Ciudad Guerrero" is actually a COMPLETE rip-off of the film "Old Gringo" with Gregory Peck. (One day I'll post a side-by-side comparison and many Young Indy may be shocked/disappointed.:() Check out this thread for more of same: References to other films/TV shows in YI.
 
Stoo said:
Can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet...I think it's great that some Indy fans are beginning to appreciate the Young Indy series. Montana & Rocket (even Robyn and another Ravenhead, who wrote me privately) are getting interested.(y)

Truthfully, it was tough. I have ALWAYS been a hard-liner, (movies only). But between the Indy Cast and The Raven, (for better or for worse), I've become more open.

I'm just embarking on my Young Indy experience, but I'm pretty excited to see how things developed. Between Laird's reflections and the posts of fans like Junior Jones and yourself, I'm pretty excited to explore what's been produced so far. Thanks...
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
Can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet...

That's because you've been busy appreciating Young Indy in all the other threads - and it was your educated comments that got me thinking seriously about exploring this series.

Rocket Surgeon said:
Truthfully, it was tough. I have ALWAYS been a hard-liner, (movies only). But between the Indy Cast and The Raven, (for better or for worse), I've become more open.

...and it was reading that Rocket (the undisputed hard-liner!) had purchased the Volume 1 DVD, that sealed my fate. I've now watched all three volumes, and was really surprised at the high quality of the production.
 

IndyBr

Member
I really like Young Indy.
It's nothing like the movies, but it wasn't suposed to be.
I'm very interested History (as a matter of fact, this year i'm starting college, and I will do History) so it's cool to me seeing Indy in some real world History.
You do learn a little about the Great War, about religions (In the "Jorney of Radiance" episode), regions in the world, etc.
We also know a lot more about Indy's past and his relationship with his parents (including his fight with his father) because of the series.
There are some good episodes, my favorite is "Oganga: The Giver and Taker of Life", wich I think it's very beautiful.
The series is well done, no doubt about that.



I agree that there are some bad things about the series, but since this isn't the tread's subject, I will stay away from then.
 

AnnieJones

New member
I agree 100%,IndyBr.I like the show even though there are few things and episodes I don't like.But,for the most part,I love the show.

I remember someone saying that the show really didn't get into the whole father/son relationship going bad,but I think the show did get into that very explicitly.
1.In the British East Africa,September 1909 episode,Teddy Roosevelt said to Henry Sr. something like he had a good son and Henry looked at his son not even smiling at him.How cold.It would be normal for a parent to be smiling like crazy if someone,especially someone they hadn't spent much time with,would be bragging up their child.

2.In Daredevils of the Desert:palestine,October 1917,T.E. Lawrence said to Indy that he should keep in touch with his father,but Indy didn't want to hear it.

3.In Treasure of the Peacock's Eye,Indy was reading a letter Helen Seymour wrote to him before she died and she also urged him to keep in touch with his father,but yet again he didn't want to hear it.You would think he would listen to her of all people,she was his tutor after all.It was practically her dying wish.The scene he was reading her letter made me want to cry,because it meant a lot because they became such good friends and then she was gone.

4.In Winds of Change:princeton,1919,Indy went home to find his previous high school sweetheart,Nancy Stratemeyer,married to the high school bully,and had a baby.Anyway,the episode mainly had to do with Henry Sr. and Indy arguing most of the time and ended with Henry Sr. and Indy having one last argument.Now,every time I watch Last Crusade,where Henry Sr. says,"You left just when you were becoming interesting",I think of that scene when they had there last argument.

So,my closing argument is YES they DID get into a lot of father/son relationship problems in the show.(y)
That's one of the many things I did like about the show,is that it did have the background story as to why they,and how they,didn't get along and how they connected the show to the movies.

I also remember reading that someone didn't like the fact that Lloyd Owen didn't have an accent,when in fact he did.It might not have been very strong,but it was there none the less.From what I read about him,he is a British actor of Welsh descent,which means he does have an accent.
 
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Montana Smith

Active member
Lloyd Owen was a great choice for the younger Henry Sr - I had no trouble imagining him growing up to be Connery in Last Crusade.

The father/son relationship was shown very strongly, as you illustrate, AnnieJones. It became really intense in 'Winds of Change', and at that point you can understand that it's going to take 17 years to reconcile their differences. The difference between them is that Henry Sr seems firmly rooted in Victorian attitudes to children, whereas Indy is making his mark in the twentieth century.
 

lairdo

Member
Stoo said:
The attack on "Ciudad Guerrero" is actually a COMPLETE rip-off of the film "Old Gringo" with Gregory Peck. (One day I'll post a side-by-side comparison and many Young Indy may be shocked/disappointed.:()

The connection runs even one level deeper. The temp music we used to show the scene to ABC was from... wait for it... Old Gringo. So, Larry Rosenthal first saw a cut of the attack with Old Gringo music in it as well. (And by the way, the soundtrack to that film is quite good.)

Thanks for the link to the thread as well. I hadn't seen that one yet, and I was going to look for something like that. I think most episodic TV shows eventually hit the iconic movies. Star Trek certainly did this, as did other shows. You get your Great Escape episode, your Run Silent, Run Deep episode, your Towering Inferno episode, etc. I don't think that's all that bad per se - just common.

And appropriately speaking of Indy connections to other films, the Lighthorsemen score (Track 14, The Charge) has just come up randomly on my home music server. Another great score.

Laird
 

IndyBr

Member
Yeah, i agree with you two about it.
The last half of Wings of Change does a perfect job in showing us the "break up" between Indy and his father, it's very dramatic. And this episode has one of my favorite musics from the series, that sad music that plays when Indy sees the picture of his mother, and latter when he's going away from home I think, beautiful music. The music is no doubt another positive point for the series.
I also like the actor used to play Henry Jones Sr., an excelent choice in my opinion.
 

indyfan85

New member
I'm in the same camp as the OP. There are times when the show feels like a polar opposite to the movies but they did allot of good things with the series and it's just as well that it's educational and fun to watch.
 
It would have been nice to have given us at least two major cliffhangers an episode, (like the appearance of The Incredible Hulk :)sick: )), even if they didn't always directly involve Indy. That he was there to witness someone perservering and considering the alternative would have sufficed now and again...learning the lesson not to give up.
 

Lao_Che

Active member
AnnieJones said:
I agree 100%,IndyBr.I like the show even though there are few things and episodes I don't like.But,for the most part,I love the show.

I remember someone saying that the show really didn't get into the whole father/son relationship going bad,but I think the show did get into that very explicitly.
1.In the British East Africa,September 1909 episode,Teddy Roosevelt said to Henry Sr. something like he had a good son and Henry looked at his son not even smiling at him.How cold.It would be normal for a parent to be smiling like crazy if someone,especially someone they hadn't spent much time with,would be bragging up their child.

2.In Daredevils of the Desert:palestine,October 1917,T.E. Lawrence said to Indy that he should keep in touch with his father,but Indy didn't want to hear it.

3.In Treasure of the Peacock's Eye,Indy was reading a letter Helen Seymour wrote to him before she died and she also urged him to keep in touch with his father,but yet again he didn't want to hear it.You would think he would listen to her of all people,she was his tutor after all.It was practically her dying wish.The scene he was reading her letter made me want to cry,because it meant a lot because they became such good friends and then she was gone.

4.In Winds of Change:princeton,1919,Indy went home to find his previous high school sweetheart,Nancy Stratemeyer,married to the high school bully,and had a baby.Anyway,the episode mainly had to do with Henry Sr. and Indy arguing most of the time and ended with Henry Sr. and Indy having one last argument.Now,every time I watch Last Crusade,where Henry Sr. says,"You left just when you were becoming interesting",I think of that scene when they had there last argument.

So,my closing argument is YES they DID get into a lot of father/son relationship problems in the show.(y)
That's one of the many things I did like about the show,is that it did have the background story as to why they,and how they,didn't get along and how they connected the show to the movies.

I also remember reading that someone didn't like the fact that Lloyd Owen didn't have an accent,when in fact he did.It might not have been very strong,but it was there none the less.From what I read about him,he is a British actor of Welsh descent,which means he does have an accent.

I'll appreciate the father/son relationship aswell. It's the main issue of Winds of Change but you see insights across the other episodes about how their relationship works, some you've pointed out.

This is just my interpretation but Henry Jones's problem is that he can't show Indy that cares about him. And he does in Travels with Father. When Indy runs away (the time his mother scolds him aswell. Hm...) "I just want him back!" And when they are reunited his chance of showing it is destroyed when he's distracted by Tolstoy.

Obviously he does again when they hug in Greece. And I think you see, off-screen, another "I just want him back!" when he writes to Professor Levi (if I'm remembering it right) to say Indy doesn't have to attend Princeton.

Then there's "Because I know it's what your mother would have liked." Suuure, mother. "And I never told him anything. I just wasn't ready, Marcus."

Anna Jones on the other hand is a deceptive.. person. ;)
 
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