Young Indiana Jones appreciation thread

Montana Smith

Active member
Lao_Che said:
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. ;)

To get a bit Freudian...

I see the relationship as that of a Victorian father and a twentieth century boy. Henry Sr strikes me as someone who didn't have a very close relationship with his own father, so he doesn't really know to deal with Indy. Most of the time everything is formal and proper, but occasionally, his defence breaks down and he's able to become a real father. His refusal to open up and accept the difference between himself and Indy is as much about Henry Sr's inadequacies as it is about Indy's rebellious nature.

Winds of Change was pretty powerful - you feel like shouting at the screen for Henry Sr. to do something positive to stop the inevitable.

Watching the relationship develop and collapse throughout 'Young Indiana Jones' really sets up the believability of the conflict and reconciliation of Last Crusade.
 

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).
AnnieJones said:
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:
Sit and think of this for a second.You are watching the first episode for the first time and let's say you didn't know that there was such a thing as a Young Indy show.Anyway,you kind of forget to look at the opening credits as you're watching this and the story unfolds before you.
As your watching and listening to the story,you realize that there are a lot of things that sound familiar,like Jones,my dog Indiana,archaeology,and so on.You quickly put the pieces together and realize you are watching Indiana Jones in his childhood!You think(or say out loud),"Wow,I never knew they made an Indy show!"(y)

That's how I always imagine it when I'm watching the first episode.Like I never knew it existed and I'm seeing it for the first time or that I'm the person I'm showing it,to who never knew it existed,and is seeing it for the first time.(y)
I think the reason I do that is because of the experience I mentioned earlier.
 

AnnieJones

New member
Here are two pictures I found and I've never seen these before.I really like these pictures.
Has anyone else seen these before?
2986683639_5d22ebf21d.jpg
MotB-1.jpg




Here is the one I always see.
I see it almost everywhere.
indyblues.jpg
 
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lairdo

Member
Hi,

Those are great shots, and I do recall seeing them at the time we did the episode from the PR people. But now that you show them, I can't remember ever seeing them outside of that context.

Laird
 

AnnieJones

New member
I found some great pictures of Catherine Zeta Jones from Daredevils of the Desert - 1917,although,the top left one looks a little funny.lol
youngi.jpg
 
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lairdo

Member
AnnieJones said:
the top left one looks a little funny

That one looks like a screen grab from a VHS tape and is an interlaced image. The rest look like production stills.

Nice finds.

George had her, Anne Heche and Elizabeth Hurley in YIJC long before they were big stars. And Daniel Craig too for that matter.
 

Raiders90

Well-known member
Young Indy: Lucas' Last Great Masterpiece

Does anyone else agree that the YIJC is the last GREAT thing that Lucas' produced? Sure, KOTCS was a good, fun romp; the SW prequels had some merit, but IMO, Young Indy is a perfect mix of the fun romp of the first two and the depth of something like LC. It's really like an adventure--A life's worth of it. I don't think he's done anything quite as great or genuinely deep since.
 

Crack that whip

New member
Raiders112390 said:
Does anyone else agree that the YIJC is the last GREAT thing that Lucas' produced? Sure, KOTCS was a good, fun romp; the SW prequels had some merit, but IMO, Young Indy is a perfect mix of the fun romp of the first two and the depth of something like LC. It's really like an adventure--A life's worth of it. I don't think he's done anything quite as great or genuinely deep since.

I agree, myself; in fact, I'd go a little further and say it's one of the absolute greatest things Lucas has ever done, and certainly both his greatest work since at least the early '80s, as well as the finest part of the Indy canon aside from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

deckard24 said:
Maybe one of you die-hard YIJC fans can tell me this, does Indy(as played by SPF) in the very last few episodes start to show some signs of him maturing into the Indy we know circa 1935? I've only seen a handful of the CC Young Indy episodes and the same for the SPF ones. SPF's portrayal is what made me lose interest in the series, because he never came across to me as a younger version of Ford's Indy. So since I gave up early on the series, does he mature into a closer resemblance of the Fortune and Glory Indy?

Well, there's some difference of opinion on that...

Violet said:
No. He doesn't turn into a mercenary. Not even a resemblance. I would say closer to the "That belongs in a museum!" Indy. But at the same time, they never got making Season 3, which had scripts more akin to the films with characters such as Abner and Belloq and a certain skull made of crystal, which would have allowed the development of a resemblance of the Fortune and Glory Indy. I think it would have happened had Fate and a certain TV channel allowed it but I guess that won't ever happen now.

See, I do see the beginnings of his mercenary tendencies, even as they're tempered by his youthful idealism; his experiences in the war really help bring about the mixture of cynicism and idealism that shape the flawed but essentially heroic character he develops into in the movies.

I'm probably a bit more forgiving of Sean Patrick Flanery's portrayal than many others here, but for me I think he actually does work beautifully as a younger, earlier version of the Harrison Ford Indy. I suspect the resistance to his portrayal really comes down to the fact he simply doesn't particularly closely resemble Harrison physically, either facially or vocally. However, his actual performance nails it perfectly - there are so many subtleties in his mannerisms, inflections and so on that really draw upon Harrison's performance, that I have absolutely no trouble buying him as the young version of the character we see Harrison play in the features.
 

lairdo

Member
Shameless plug...

Please check out the latest IndyCast where we look at and listen to the music of Young Indy in this 20th anniversary special.

Link Here
 

WWI Era Indy

New member
I loved the series. I mean, look at my user name! :D

I thought the years with him as a kid were okay, but once SPF stepped into the role the series really took off for me. I loved most of those adventures, especially all the stuff in WWI. Oganga the Giver and Taker of Life was probably my favorite, but there were a ton of them I enjoyed, like Phantom Train of Doom, Attack of the Hawkmen, Trenches of Hell and Masks of Evil. It was cool to get so much insight into Indy's formative years.
 

foreverwingnut

New member
I loved the Young Indy series. I didn't like the hideous, grissled, old Indy that introduced several of the earlier episodes in the original television run, so I was happy to see that he was omitted in boxed sets. Seeing Harrison Ford introduce "The Mystery of the Blues" was such a treat and I'd love to customize a 12 inch figure to look as Ford did in that episode. If I had to pick a favorite episode, I would say it is "Attack of the Hawkmen", which also has the best DVD history docs. The trench battles in this series were the most epic I'd ever seen and would have been just as incredible if it were seen on the big screen. I liked the guest stars, too. When Catherine Zeta-Jones made her steamy appearance on this series, I knew she was going to be a mega-star. The only guest star I didn't like was the actress who played Mata Hari, who bore no resemblance whatsoever. The real Mata Hari was dark haired with dark eyes and had easily convinced everyone that she was an Indian princess. The actress in the series was fair-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed and honestly not very attractive- very bad casting.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
foreverwingnut said:
I loved the Young Indy series. I didn't like the hideous, grissled, old Indy that introduced several of the earlier episodes in the original television run, so I was happy to see that he was omitted in boxed sets.

So you wouldn't like Stoo's Old Indiana Jones Chronicles.
monk31.gif


foreverwingnut said:
Seeing Harrison Ford introduce "The Mystery of the Blues" was such a treat and I'd love to customize a 12 inch figure to look as Ford did in that episode.

But you'd probably like Hemble's great custom Mystery of the Blues Indy.

His whole thread is worth a good look.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
WWI Era Indy said:
I loved the series. I mean, look at my user name! :D

I thought the years with him as a kid were okay, but once SPF stepped into the role the series really took off for me. I loved most of those adventures, especially all the stuff in WWI. Oganga the Giver and Taker of Life was probably my favorite, but there were a ton of them I enjoyed, like Phantom Train of Doom, Attack of the Hawkmen, Trenches of Hell and Masks of Evil. It was cool to get so much insight into Indy's formative years.
Welcome to The Raven, WWI Era Indy! You have good taste.:) From what you've written, I can tell that you must have first seen the series on DVD which makes me all the more happy that they were released. It's always nice to hear of more people appreciating the show.
foreverwingnut said:
I loved the Young Indy series. I didn't like the hideous, grissled, old Indy that introduced several of the earlier episodes in the original television run, so I was happy to see that he was omitted in boxed sets. Seeing Harrison Ford introduce "The Mystery of the Blues" was such a treat and I'd love to customize a 12 inch figure to look as Ford did in that episode. If I had to pick a favorite episode, I would say it is "Attack of the Hawkmen", which also has the best DVD history docs. The trench battles in this series were the most epic I'd ever seen and would have been just as incredible if it were seen on the big screen. I liked the guest stars, too. When Catherine Zeta-Jones made her steamy appearance on this series, I knew she was going to be a mega-star. The only guest star I didn't like was the actress who played Mata Hari, who bore no resemblance whatsoever. The real Mata Hari was dark haired with dark eyes and had easily convinced everyone that she was an Indian princess. The actress in the series was fair-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed and honestly not very attractive- very bad casting.
Foreverwingnut, I agree that Domiziana Giordano doesn't bear any resemblance to the real-life Mata Hari but I'm curious about how you knew that Catherine Zeta-Jones was going to be a "mega-star" after seeing her in this series. Her episode didn't air in the U.S. and by the time it was released on VHS in 1999, she had already become a big name in the business.

That said, yes, the trench battles are very well done and even though "Attack of the Hawkmen" isn't my hands-down favourite, it's VERY CLOSE to the top of my list!(y)
JuniorJones said:
Is Montana actually Stoo! Prephaps they had a Freaky Friday moment!
Ha! Which one of us is Jodie Foster?:confused:
Montana Smith said:
Okay, I admit it. I tried on his pith helmet and something weird happened...
Does this mean I'm going to start collecting Indy dolls?:eek:
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
...Catherine Zeta-Jones...

Was the best thing in The Darling Buds of May.

I longed to see more of her.

It was quite a few years later when I realized it was already possible to do so in Les 1001 nuits.

Stoo said:
Ha! Which one of us is Jodie Foster?:confused:

A Jodie Foster timeshare...

Stoo said:
Does this mean I'm going to start collecting Indy dolls?:eek:

And I have to go and live in Switzerland?
 

Raiders90

Well-known member
For a long time I went back and forth on this series. Sometimes loving it, sometimes hating it, sometimes being utterly torn...This series was an amazing achievement, and a wonderful expansion of Indiana Jones' story. Even if you divorce Indy's name from it, it's still a wonderful series and truly underrated. Rewatching the whole series recently has given me an even more profound respect for George Lucas that I hadn't had before, and while he wasn't River Phoenix, I feel Flannery did a great job as Indy. It also has ignited my interest in the history surrounding the time period covered in the series - especially the Carrier years. And I deeply wish the George Hall segments in the 1990s hadn't been cut.
 
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