![]() ![]() #INDIANA JONES SCREENIT SERIES#Nonetheless, it's the recreation of history that shines in the series – and even in the fullscreen, standard definition format there is plenty of eye candy. It is a shame the series wasn't shot in the widescreen format, because the stories and the locations would have truly benefited. #INDIANA JONES SCREENIT TV#However, this volume, like the first, has been re-mastered so that it looks as good as you can possibly expect for an aging TV series. This isn't the set you want to show off your home theater. As for the episodes, the series was originally shot on 16mm film, so you're not going to get HD quality here. Score: 8 out of 10 Video and Presentation A great series of well designed menus will get you around easily from the episodes themselves to the included documentary bonus features. The series falters occasionally, but on the whole it remains entertaining and well worth the time invested. It's a series that illuminates history through the lens of grand adventure. It's far more ambitious in scope and technical achievement than most films, let alone something meant for a smaller screen. The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones has no real comparison anywhere on television, whether past or present. The best of the bunch would be "Trenches of Hell," and "Demons of Deception" featuring Indy's experience on the front, "Attack of the Hawkmen" for some great aerial combat imagery, and "Adventures in the Secret Service" as Indiana Jones working as a spy turns out to be a good fit. Not every episode is a complete winner, but all offer up enough action and historical drama for the curious. "Daredevils of the Desert": Romance and adventure in the ancient city of Beersheba, "about 50 miles south of Jerusalem." "Espionage Escapades": Indy becomes a ballet dancer in Barcelona (!) and meets Franz Kafka in Prague. "Adventures in the Secret Service" is written by Frank Darabont of The Mist and Shawshank Redemption fame. His adventures bring him into contact with the Hapsburg royalty and the Bolsheviks of Russia. "Adventures in the Secret Service": Indy fights the war in a different way, this time as a spy. "Attack of the Hawkmen": Star Wars sound effects wizard Ben Burt directs one of the more thrilling and technically impressive episodes of the series, which focuses on the air war over Europe and has Indy meeting the Red Baron. "Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life": Indy leaves war-ravaged Europe for war-ravaged Africa and meets Albert Schweitzer. "Phantom Train of Doom": A Guns of Navarrone style adventure featuring Indy and a group of commandoes set to destroy a German super-weapon. "Demons of Deception": Indy matches wits with ruthless commanding officers (echoes of Paths of Glory here) and has an affair with a notorious spy in Paris. The set includes the following feature length episodes: "The Trenches of Hell": featuring Indy as a soldier fighting for the Belgian army in the trenches of France and then serving as a prisoner of war and mounting a daring escape. Nothing against actor Corey Carrier, but Indy works better as a man than he does as a precocious young boy. This certainly works in the set's favor, as opposed to the first set which featured a 10 year old Indy. This volume, "The War Years" focuses entirely on the 17 year old Jones (as played by Sean Patrick Flannery) and his experiences fighting in the First World War. This format is arguably the better of the two, as you're not pausing for commercial breaks and there is little overlap as one episode ends and the other begins. It must be noted that this is not the from of the original series as it aired, but rather the re-edited feature length "episodes" that George Lucas released beginning in 1996. Instead, we get a solidly entertaining series of historical adventures that feature some of the best production values ever seen on a television series. Trying to translate the inherently big screen antics of the adult hero would have come across poorly. ![]() The series is decidedly different, and this original approach to the character is far more suited to the small screen. It's this immediate lack of similarity that hurt the series when it originally aired, but it deserves a fresh look. And the series is a lot of fun, even if it never quite captures the feel of the movies. But this series of coincidences and "right time, right place" moments is half the fun. When you add it all up, Indiana Jones not only has the most wildly adventurous and improbable life – he also ends up being possibly the most important supporting player in the history of the 20th century. The fantasy resides in the fact that the young Indy manages to be a part of so much history and to meet so many famous historical figures. ![]()
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