Post by Salzmank on Mar 25, 2018 3:24:29 GMT
So… It’s not The Phantom Train of Doom, which I still have to finish, but I did just watch my first complete Young Indy episode, The Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye, which politicidal recommended early on. (I’ve switched over to italicizing rather than quoting these titles: they are more mini-movies than they are TV episodes.) I liked it a lot; it reminded me less of Indy and more of a cross between Hergé’s Tintin comics (complete with a Belgian character!) and the Roger Moore Saint, but I love both Tintin and The Saint, so that’s fine for me! 
I absolutely loved that this episode had the production qualities and values of a movie—it was shot on film, not videotape? And the locations, and the sets, and the quality of the acting… Merveilleux—must be that Lucas money! Carl Schultz directs the whole thing rather pedestrianly, but he manages a few effective flourishes and handles his actors well. I particularly liked how Howard Carter’s appearance doesn’t feel like a ‘wink-wink, nod-nod’—though E.M. Forster’s in the same scene is a bit contrived.
I’m not sure that the story works, though. It’s divided into two parts that feel nearly completely different. I liked the first part a bit more because I prefer the Egyptian/African setting, and the second part—what can I say? It felt less like a treasure hunt and more like Robinson Crusoe—and I love Crusoe, but the tonal whiplash between the two parts is too much. And I can’t stand Indy’s choice: one can understand it for character reasons, but it’s a shockingly unsatisfying cop-out for storytelling reasons. Too bad.
The acting’s excellent. Ronny Coutteure’s a joy as Remy, all the minor roles—from Pip Torrens as Howard Carter to Alice Lau as a Chinese pirate to Tom Courtenay as Bronislaw Malinowski—are perfectly cast. I’m usually a sharp critic of television acting, even when it’s good, but this—this is spot-on. The weakest actor is Adrian Edmonson as the villain, but everyone else does a great job. Again, this really feels like a big-budget Hollywood movie. And Sean Patrick Flanery… Wow. He’s tons of fun, I can definitely see him growing up to be Indy, and—what can I say except that I find his performance quite endearing? He doesn’t look as much like a young Harrison Ford as River Phoenix did, but he perfectly grasps the essence of the character. As detour so accurately wrote, Phoenix would be proud. The heroine, pretty Jayne Ashbourne’s Lily, doesn’t get much of an opportunity to strut any acting chops, but there’s a lovely moment in which she calls Flaney her knight in shining armor. Reminded me a bit of The Rocketeer and Sky Captain. OK, OK, so I’m a romantic at heart…
There are structural problems here, but I still greatly enjoyed this. Thanks, everyone!
I absolutely loved that this episode had the production qualities and values of a movie—it was shot on film, not videotape? And the locations, and the sets, and the quality of the acting… Merveilleux—must be that Lucas money! Carl Schultz directs the whole thing rather pedestrianly, but he manages a few effective flourishes and handles his actors well. I particularly liked how Howard Carter’s appearance doesn’t feel like a ‘wink-wink, nod-nod’—though E.M. Forster’s in the same scene is a bit contrived.
I’m not sure that the story works, though. It’s divided into two parts that feel nearly completely different. I liked the first part a bit more because I prefer the Egyptian/African setting, and the second part—what can I say? It felt less like a treasure hunt and more like Robinson Crusoe—and I love Crusoe, but the tonal whiplash between the two parts is too much. And I can’t stand Indy’s choice: one can understand it for character reasons, but it’s a shockingly unsatisfying cop-out for storytelling reasons. Too bad.
The acting’s excellent. Ronny Coutteure’s a joy as Remy, all the minor roles—from Pip Torrens as Howard Carter to Alice Lau as a Chinese pirate to Tom Courtenay as Bronislaw Malinowski—are perfectly cast. I’m usually a sharp critic of television acting, even when it’s good, but this—this is spot-on. The weakest actor is Adrian Edmonson as the villain, but everyone else does a great job. Again, this really feels like a big-budget Hollywood movie. And Sean Patrick Flanery… Wow. He’s tons of fun, I can definitely see him growing up to be Indy, and—what can I say except that I find his performance quite endearing? He doesn’t look as much like a young Harrison Ford as River Phoenix did, but he perfectly grasps the essence of the character. As detour so accurately wrote, Phoenix would be proud. The heroine, pretty Jayne Ashbourne’s Lily, doesn’t get much of an opportunity to strut any acting chops, but there’s a lovely moment in which she calls Flaney her knight in shining armor. Reminded me a bit of The Rocketeer and Sky Captain. OK, OK, so I’m a romantic at heart…
There are structural problems here, but I still greatly enjoyed this. Thanks, everyone!