The better young Indy: River or Sean?

McSeem said:

Phoenix was more smart, rogue, more Ford-ish type of hero. Yup, his hairstyle isn't great, but his acting style is much better. I prefer River.

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Damn right

I prefer SPF. Something about River just didn't do it for me

I really like them both for different reasons. SPF for the sense of youthful adventure, and River for the darker personality and depth of character. Lame response, but it's true. They're both awesome in different ways.

In other words River portrayed Indy more how he should be than Spf,not to bag on Spf but River did have that Harrison Ford edge to him,the Indy we all know and love,Spf was too sensitive

River by far!

I'm convinced little kids can't act since seeing the Phantom Menace.

YIJ with River would of been awsome

Jonesy9906753 said:

In other words River portrayed Indy more how he should be than Spf,not to bag on Spf but River did have that Harrison Ford edge to him,the Indy we all know and love,Spf was too sensitive

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"more how he should be"

I don't know, I grew up watching SPF as Indy and loving him because I was a kid and really liked that kind of softer, fun Indy. I like him today because he's sorta nostalgic. However, as an adult I really appreciate River's depth of character and edge (didn't really appreciate this as much when I was younger). More how he should be...well, how should he be? I guess I can't really answer that, thus my difficulty in naming one over the other as the "better" young Indy. Another lame response to a really, really good question.

Interesting how "most" of those who support River as a better Indy than Sean Patrick tend to have very little exposure to "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles".

Lets see...
1____________________________________________
River had 15 or so minutes of Movie screen time.

Sean Patrick had close to 33 hours of Screen time.

2____________________________________________
River showed Indy as a Boy Scout in Utah and Son of Henry Sr.

Sean Patrick Showed Indy as a Revolutionary, a Soldier, a College Student, and last the Son of Henry Sr.

3____________________________________________
River had to emulate the physical/vocal gestures of Ford

Sean Patrick had to emulate the persona of Indiana Jones created by Harrison Ford by taking his character to a younger age and literally developing Indy into an adult. (anyone ever watched the WAR YEARS.!?!?!?)



My respects for River, he was good for the role he was given
But realistically Sean Patrick Flannery is a powerhouse on the character.

McSeem said:

Flannery was kinda soft, I can hardly imagine how his character transforms to Harrison Ford's sharp character.
Phoenix was more smart, rogue, more Ford-ish type of hero. Yup, his hairstyle isn't great, but his acting style is much better. I prefer River.

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Well put!

I vote River as well despite his California surfer/skater hair!

HovitosKing said:

"more how he should be"

I don't know, I grew up watching SPF as Indy and loving him because I was a kid and really liked that kind of softer, fun Indy. I like him today because he's sorta nostalgic. However, as an adult I really appreciate River's depth of character and edge (didn't really appreciate this as much when I was younger). More how he should be...well, how should he be? I guess I can't really answer that, thus my difficulty in naming one over the other as the "better" young Indy. Another lame response to a really, really good question.

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i mean more how he should be in the sense that River embodies the tougher persona of indy that we see in Indy in the films,the one we know and love

Both are good, though I think Phoenix is the better actor.

But all the criticisms levelled toward Flanery in this thread have more to do with the script and other factors than the question 'who plays the better Indy'.

I think both are great. It should be noted the differences between the circumstances of their portrayals are not just significant but profound - aside from the aforementioned vast difference in the amount of screen time they have, they're simply playing Indy at different ages, and have to reflect the man at different points in his life - points not actually all that far apart, true, but at ages when he's undergoing major events and experiences in his life, and growing and changing extensively in just a few short years. The Indy played by Sean is meant to incorporate the experiences of, and build upon, the one played by River (while further pointing the way to the one played by Harrison).

I will say River has the clear edge in terms of physical resemblance to Harrison, if that's the metric, but that's not really a performance issue. I do think both were terrific at playing the character.