I remember the "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" only very vaguely. They consisted of being largely historical, fact-based dramas rather than the knockabout adventures of the movies with Indy meeting and learning from people such as Picasso, Tolstoy and Freud. It didn't interest many people, and consequently the series never quite reached completion and many stories were never filmed.
The impending release of the fourth Indiana Jones movie has reignited interest in them, not least in their recent DVD releases. I checked them out in the "Star Wars" website which looked in-depth at the individual episodes as well as the documentaries produced to back them up. The series has been reorganized for DVD now, and the episode bookends, with an older Indiana Jones narrating each episode, have been removed and the stories are now told entirely in complete chronological order. I made it down to my local Blockbuster and rented out Volume One of what's now renamed "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones".
Whilst it's probably unrealistic to think Indiana Jones met so many people who would later figure strongly in the history books, doing it this way makes for a richer and interesting background that for the most part does work as a drama. Occasionally it does get a bit too dull and talkative, but most of the time a thread of adventure is successfully weaved into the action.
We begin looking at nine year-old Indiana Jones (Corey Carrier) as he accompanies his father Henry Jones Sr (Lloyd Owen) as he travels across the world on a lecture tour. Indy travels to Egypt, France, Russia, Greece and China among other places and later as an older teenager, played by Sean Patrick Flanery, he joins the Belgian Army and fights in World War One.
Corey Carrier maintains interest well as a carefree, risk-taking Indy as he braves the Egyptian pyramids and Parisian backstreets with enthusiasm and spirit. He is well supported by Margaret Tyzack as his typically stern tutor Miss Seymour, as well as Lloyd Owen filling for Sean Connery as Indy's bookish, well-mannered dad. Sean Patrick Flanery picks up the thread later on, playing an older but no less adventurous Indy who falls in love and gets to take on the world. It should be no surprise that Flanery's adventures are more action-packed with considerably more interesting characters and relationships.
Here are the best of the first few episodes of "Young Indiana Jones". If I manage to see further instalments, they will be reviewed separately: "My First Adventure": Young Indy climbs the Egyptian pyramids and gets involved in a murder mystery with Laurence of Arabia.
"The Perils of Cupid": Young Indy needs advice from Sigmund Freud when he visits Austria and develops a crush on a princess. There's a brilliant scene with Indy sneaking around a castle, climbing walls and evading guards, in order to reach his friend.
"Love's Sweet Song": Intending to join the Belgian Army, a teenage Indy crosses the Atlantic Ocean, stopping off in Dublin, Ireland where he gets involved in a local uprising and meets controversial Irish playwright Sean O'Casey.
The series is definitely worth a second chance in the new DVD format. "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" can bought or rented from local DVD stores in the UK.
The impending release of the fourth Indiana Jones movie has reignited interest in them, not least in their recent DVD releases. I checked them out in the "Star Wars" website which looked in-depth at the individual episodes as well as the documentaries produced to back them up. The series has been reorganized for DVD now, and the episode bookends, with an older Indiana Jones narrating each episode, have been removed and the stories are now told entirely in complete chronological order. I made it down to my local Blockbuster and rented out Volume One of what's now renamed "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones".
Whilst it's probably unrealistic to think Indiana Jones met so many people who would later figure strongly in the history books, doing it this way makes for a richer and interesting background that for the most part does work as a drama. Occasionally it does get a bit too dull and talkative, but most of the time a thread of adventure is successfully weaved into the action.
We begin looking at nine year-old Indiana Jones (Corey Carrier) as he accompanies his father Henry Jones Sr (Lloyd Owen) as he travels across the world on a lecture tour. Indy travels to Egypt, France, Russia, Greece and China among other places and later as an older teenager, played by Sean Patrick Flanery, he joins the Belgian Army and fights in World War One.
Corey Carrier maintains interest well as a carefree, risk-taking Indy as he braves the Egyptian pyramids and Parisian backstreets with enthusiasm and spirit. He is well supported by Margaret Tyzack as his typically stern tutor Miss Seymour, as well as Lloyd Owen filling for Sean Connery as Indy's bookish, well-mannered dad. Sean Patrick Flanery picks up the thread later on, playing an older but no less adventurous Indy who falls in love and gets to take on the world. It should be no surprise that Flanery's adventures are more action-packed with considerably more interesting characters and relationships.
Here are the best of the first few episodes of "Young Indiana Jones". If I manage to see further instalments, they will be reviewed separately: "My First Adventure": Young Indy climbs the Egyptian pyramids and gets involved in a murder mystery with Laurence of Arabia.
"The Perils of Cupid": Young Indy needs advice from Sigmund Freud when he visits Austria and develops a crush on a princess. There's a brilliant scene with Indy sneaking around a castle, climbing walls and evading guards, in order to reach his friend.
"Love's Sweet Song": Intending to join the Belgian Army, a teenage Indy crosses the Atlantic Ocean, stopping off in Dublin, Ireland where he gets involved in a local uprising and meets controversial Irish playwright Sean O'Casey.
The series is definitely worth a second chance in the new DVD format. "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" can bought or rented from local DVD stores in the UK.