Post by Salzmank on Jul 14, 2018 18:09:35 GMT
Just for fun, ranking the episodes I’ve seen so far—all Flanerys, for better or worse…
I’ve found the acting, sets, locations, production values, etc., excellent for nearly every episode, in particular Flanery, who makes for a great Indy.
1. The Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye
I wrote some comments on this one above; it’s the first one I saw, which may be unfortunate as I haven’t seen one that has bettered it so far. As politicidal noted, it’s the closest to the movies, with Indy and his pal Remy tracking an ancient artifact, a lost temple, etc. Lots of fun—though, in spite of the fact that it was always planned as a complete whole, unfortunately the first half is much better than the second, which becomes a bit of a sluggish travelogue. With that said, the first half is grand, and all in all it’s good fun.
2. The Phantom Train of Doom
Again, another that was always planned as a complete whole yet in which the first half is far superior to the second. What a great first half it is, quickly paced and entertaining, good rapport between Indy and Remy, and Belloq himself, Paul Freeman, back in an Indy movie! The second half is shockingly dull, filled with good ideas badly executed. A huge disappointment, but the first half is definitely worth watching—and who came up with the idea for the Germans’ scheme? Very clever.
3. Masks of Evil
Rather surprised I was putting this one so high, until I realized that it seems I’ve only seen four Young Indy “movies”! Seems like many more, but I suppose that’s because they’re movie-length. There’s some very interesting material in the Istanbul segment, but unfortunately the direction is weak and the storytelling drags. The setting is great, though, and (as I noted earlier) Flanery’s emoting is surprisingly good. I severely criticized the Transylvania segment above, and I still hold to what I wrote there, but the build-up to Castle Dracula is superb—and, as someone noted in post I recently read on “The Raven,” it has similarities to Raiders (the government mission, the bar where he meets his companions) and Temple (Indy and companions seeing people do strange things and investigate the mystery of why, supernatural villain, gore, the drugging of Indy). I think I largely agree with these comparisons; together with Peacock’s Eye, I think it’s the closest to the movies, albeit in less obvious ways.
4. Daredevils of the Desert
Hm. Good parts, and Daniel Craig as a German and Catherine Zeta-Jones as a spy, but it’s really, really dull. I’d be interested in seeing what it was like as an hour-length episode, as it was originally intended, instead of the re-edited two-hour movie I saw. Serious question: why does Lucas feel the inane compulsion to rework all his old work?
I’ve found the acting, sets, locations, production values, etc., excellent for nearly every episode, in particular Flanery, who makes for a great Indy.
1. The Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye
I wrote some comments on this one above; it’s the first one I saw, which may be unfortunate as I haven’t seen one that has bettered it so far. As politicidal noted, it’s the closest to the movies, with Indy and his pal Remy tracking an ancient artifact, a lost temple, etc. Lots of fun—though, in spite of the fact that it was always planned as a complete whole, unfortunately the first half is much better than the second, which becomes a bit of a sluggish travelogue. With that said, the first half is grand, and all in all it’s good fun.
2. The Phantom Train of Doom
Again, another that was always planned as a complete whole yet in which the first half is far superior to the second. What a great first half it is, quickly paced and entertaining, good rapport between Indy and Remy, and Belloq himself, Paul Freeman, back in an Indy movie! The second half is shockingly dull, filled with good ideas badly executed. A huge disappointment, but the first half is definitely worth watching—and who came up with the idea for the Germans’ scheme? Very clever.
3. Masks of Evil
Rather surprised I was putting this one so high, until I realized that it seems I’ve only seen four Young Indy “movies”! Seems like many more, but I suppose that’s because they’re movie-length. There’s some very interesting material in the Istanbul segment, but unfortunately the direction is weak and the storytelling drags. The setting is great, though, and (as I noted earlier) Flanery’s emoting is surprisingly good. I severely criticized the Transylvania segment above, and I still hold to what I wrote there, but the build-up to Castle Dracula is superb—and, as someone noted in post I recently read on “The Raven,” it has similarities to Raiders (the government mission, the bar where he meets his companions) and Temple (Indy and companions seeing people do strange things and investigate the mystery of why, supernatural villain, gore, the drugging of Indy). I think I largely agree with these comparisons; together with Peacock’s Eye, I think it’s the closest to the movies, albeit in less obvious ways.
4. Daredevils of the Desert
Hm. Good parts, and Daniel Craig as a German and Catherine Zeta-Jones as a spy, but it’s really, really dull. I’d be interested in seeing what it was like as an hour-length episode, as it was originally intended, instead of the re-edited two-hour movie I saw. Serious question: why does Lucas feel the inane compulsion to rework all his old work?