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Post by Nalkarj on Oct 20, 2017 19:46:21 GMT
Believe it or not, I've never actually seen a full episode of this show, though I started watching "The Phantom Train of Doom" and enjoyed the small part I saw. So... Is it good? Thoughts?
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Post by politicidal on Oct 21, 2017 23:33:54 GMT
It's alright. I have the whole DVD collection;they were re-edited as nearly two dozen TV movies. 'Phantom Train of Doom' is one of the better ones. There are a few filler movies; such as one where he goes to Hollywood and meets John Ford & Erich von Stroheim. The best is 'Treasure of the Peacock's Eye' as it is the closest in tone to the original trilogy. The movies set during his service in WW1 are pretty solid solid.
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detour
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Post by detour on Oct 22, 2017 3:36:30 GMT
I saw a whack of the episodes, when they were first broadcast, and loved them. I picked up the complete series when it was released, but haven't cracked that yet (I think we all can relate), so I'm curious how they will hold up.
But, to be honest, I think I'll still enjoy them, as they capture the spirit of Indy, speaking of which, Sean Patrick Flanery does an excellent job of portraying a young Henry Jones. River Phoenix would be proud.
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Post by politicidal on Oct 23, 2017 16:45:59 GMT
I saw a whack of the episodes, when they were first broadcast, and loved them. I picked up the complete series when it was released, but haven't cracked that yet (I think we all can relate), so I'm curious how they will hold up. But, to be honest, I think I'll still enjoy them, as they capture the spirit of Indy, speaking of which, Sean Patrick Flanery does an excellent job of portraying a young Henry Jones. River Phoenix would be proud. I'm surprised he didn't become a bigger star after the show. I thought Boondock Saints would be his ticket as 'Fast and the Furious' was for Paul Walker.
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detour
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Post by detour on Oct 24, 2017 16:10:43 GMT
Same here, Politicidal.
Speaking of Boondock Saints, I was a fan of Norman Reedus, before it was cool to be a fan of Norman Reedus. And it was for more than just BDS.
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Post by kleinreturns on Nov 4, 2017 4:04:15 GMT
Interesting.
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Post by Nalkarj on Mar 24, 2018 21:30:07 GMT
At the risk of yet another Indy post from yours truly, is anyone interested in posting a list of favorite episodes? I pretty much know nothing about the show but just got the collection out (again) from the library—and I will finish watching “The Phantom Train of Doom” this time!
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Post by Nalkarj 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!
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Post by politicidal on Mar 25, 2018 12:29:43 GMT
You're welcome. Going back to your other post, my favorite episodes or "movies" include of course, THE PHANTOM TRAIN OF DOOM, TREASURE Or OF THE PEACOCKS EYE, DAREDEVILS OF THE DESERT, ATTACK OF THE HAWKMEN, and OGANGS THE GIVER AND TAKER OF LIFE. 1) 'Daredevils' is a lot of fun; it features both a young Catherine Zeta-Jones as the love interest and Daniel Craig as the villain.
2) 'Hawkmen' features the Red Baron as the villain and has some good action scenes. It's pretty amazing what Lucas & company did on a television budget even if it was clearly a ton.
3) Oganga is one of the more slower paced films but it's probably one of the most philosophical-as the series got anyway. It starts out as a war story in WW1 Africa. Then Jones meets Albert Schweitzer and starts to develop his humanist beliefs through him.
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Post by Nalkarj on Mar 29, 2018 20:56:21 GMT
Unfortunately, yesterday I took a look not at one of the ‘movies’ politicidal recommended but, rather, at Masks of Evil. It was—well, I don’t know. Parts were quite good, and other parts were terrible. The two episodes that make it up have nothing to do with each other, and the transition was remarkably forced. The first episode, set in Istanbul with Flanery’s Indy masquerading as a Swedish journalist, was a bit slow and didn’t feel very Indiana Jones-esque. Some decent moments, but the acting wasn’t as good as Peacock’s Eye—though Flanery gets a chance to emote and does a good job with it. Some of the shots of Istanbul were lovely… …as were the shots of Venice for the second episode. (Did they actually go to these cities to film? It seems like it, and—boy—that Lucas money…) I rather wish the whole story were set in Venice, as the director did an excellent job in these parts. There’s one particularly good sweeping pan that impressed me for a TV production. The opening shots of Venice, the ominous scene with the fortune-teller, the introduction Col. Waters (played by a guy who looks like he could be William H. Macy’s brother), even the build-up to the mission—all excellent. Even when they get to Transylvania, we have a great Castle Dracula, a fair amount of foreboding, a good jump-scare with the impaled corpses, and two nice horrific rooms, one that drips blood. The build-up is so good, in fact, that the last quarter of the episode is all the more disappointing. Bob Peck’s Vlad is laughable, as is the blatant insertion of the supernatural; with this kind of episode, we should be unsure if the man’s actually a vampire or just off his rocker. The climax seems a bit of a cop-out (“I don’t drink before dinner”?), and it’s too graphic—not fun at all. But the opening’s excellent. Ah, well…
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Post by politicidal on Mar 29, 2018 21:44:34 GMT
Mask of Evil is one of the worst 'films'. It's really just two episodes lumped together. Which happened frequently and sometimes it worked, like Spring Break Adventure which combined a mystery involving Thomas Edison and Jones' girlfriend of the week (a Nancy Drew parody) with a sojourn to revolutionary Mexico and an encounter with Pancho Villa. EDIT: Nalkarj yes, by the way, they really did shoot on location. I think it was like twenty, thirty countries they ended up visiting.
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ravi02
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Post by ravi02 on Apr 12, 2018 18:28:56 GMT
The show had nice locations and I respect them for using it as a way to teach younger viewers about history, but I found a lot of the episodes to be dull.
I didn't care for the contrivances of Indy randomly stumbling into every major historical figure or event. It made him feel more like a plot device than the multi-dimensional hero of the films.
Check it out as a curiosity (like one of those Star Wars animated films), but view it separately from the actual films.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 24, 2018 15:44:41 GMT
politicidal, I finally finished Phantom Train of Doom (yeah, that one I started in October) last night and liked it a lot, though I preferred the first episode to the second. The German hiding place for the train was quite clever, and Flanery is at his most River Phoenix-esque; there were points when I could well imagine Phoenix delivering the dialogue in the exact same way. Unfortunately, the second half was slow-going, and I think the script was just wacky, overemphasizing the wrong elements and skipping over what could have been very entertaining. There’s a girl playing a German pilot who’s particularly underused. But the first part’s good, and it was great to see Paul Freeman in Indiana Jones again! Thanks for the thoughts, ravi02. I’ve liked parts of all the episodes I’ve seen, but I’ve yet to see a single masterpiece in the show. While I agree in theory about the contrivance of Indy stumbling into every historical figure/event, so far it’s been inoffensively done here, and the series focuses on Indy, not on anyone else. I get the “dullness,” as I’ve felt it myself, but as I say there have been some very good parts.
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Post by politicidal on Apr 24, 2018 16:51:31 GMT
politicidal , I finally finished Phantom Train of Doom (yeah, that one I started in October) last night and liked it a lot, though I preferred the first episode to the second. The German hiding place for the train was quite clever, and Flanery is at his most River Phoenix-esque; there were points when I could well imagine Phoenix delivering the dialogue in the exact same way. Unfortunately, the second half was slow-going, and I think the script was just wacky, overemphasizing the wrong elements and skipping over what could have been very entertaining. There’s a girl playing a German pilot who’s particularly underused. But the first part’s good, and it was great to see Paul Freeman in Indiana Jones again! Thanks for the thoughts, ravi02 . I’ve liked parts of all the episodes I’ve seen, but I’ve yet to see a single masterpiece in the show. While I agree in theory about the contrivance of Indy stumbling into every historical figure/event, so far it’s been inoffensively done here, and the series focuses on Indy, not on anyone else. I get the “dullness,” as I’ve felt it myself, but as I say there have been some very good parts. That's right, I forgot he played Frederick Selous in that episode. It's too bad he didn't gain greater notoriety than that.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 26, 2018 16:28:06 GMT
That's right, I forgot he played Frederick Selous in that episode. It's too bad he didn't gain greater notoriety than that. And a very good performance, at that. It is curious that he didn’t gain greater notoriety; he’s a very good actor. If I have one main criticism of Raiders, it’s that not enough was done with the Belloq character: the “anti-Indy”/“shadowy reflection” idea is very intriguing, but outside the scene in the café (where Indy looks and acts more like Bogey than in any other part of the movie—I think that was the original characterization?) that concept simply doesn’t come across. One thing that’s interesting about Raiders is how Indy comes in fully-formed, with a backstory we don’t really (or detailedly) know: the fear of snakes, Belloq, Jock, Sallah, even the Marion backstory. It makes it feel like he has a lot of history, and we’re only seeing one part; I appreciate that.
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Post by politicidal on Apr 26, 2018 16:30:24 GMT
Agreed. It's enough for the audience to get the gist w/o being bombarded with 5 minutes of exposition and a flashback every ten minutes.
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Post by vegalyra on May 11, 2018 21:03:09 GMT
I came to this thread late but it's a wonderful show. I do wish that the shows had retained their "old Indy" beginning and ending sequences but I understand why Lucas made mini films out of the episodes. The second series of films is the strongest from the DVD box sets (I believe it's titled "The War Years") but most are indeed excellent. The one about Vlad the Impaler was easily one of the worst though.
I understand the frustration of Indy meeting so many famous characters, but I believe (I could be wrong) that the show was intended to be a starting point for young viewers as exposure for further research into actual historical figures. I believe that mission was furthered when the DVD box sets were released as their are some amazingly well done documentaries that accompany the features.
In a lot of ways the show reminds me quite a bit of the old Voyagers series where the heroes go back in time to correct a mistake in time (I don't remember what was causing the alterations to history). In that show the pair of heroes similarly meet historical figures and interact with them. I believe a lot of the same figures pop up in Young Indiana Jones (like Thomas Edison).
Back to the episodes, the Travels With Father was a pretty good film, the part where Indy goes with his Father to the Greek Monastery was fun. I agree that Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life is an excellent one as well. Parts reminds me of Heart of Darkness.
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Post by Nalkarj on Jul 14, 2018 0:53:13 GMT
Watching Daredevils of the Desert now. Some really good moments, but like many of these episodes it's way too long and gets bogged down in its longueurs. As you wrote, politicidal, it's incredible what Lucas et al. could do with a TV budget. But this show, while having great moments, has a tendency to be fairly dull. Don't know when I'll watch again...maybe one of the ones with Indy as a little kid. As usual, very disappointed Flanery's career didn't go anywhere after this. He's great.
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Post by Nalkarj 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 EyeI 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 DoomAgain, 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 EvilRather 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?
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Post by Nalkarj on Jul 14, 2018 18:39:33 GMT
Some more Young Indy stuff I found interesting:
*Carrie Fisher wrote an episode, “Paris, October 1916,” which was later combined with “Verdun, September 1916” and re-edited into Demons of Deception. But Lucas didn’t like her dialogue and changed it. Heh.
*I’m reading a fair number of criticisms of Flanery’s performance, which surprises me: I think the performance is superb, as I’ve written here more than once. Perhaps because he doesn’t really look like Ford, or because he comes off more as the honorable Indy we see in Last Crusade as opposed the more mercenary Indy in Temple of Doom? Not mercenary, perhaps, but still a fine characterization with the right amount of idealism and cynicism, albeit leaning to the cynical, that we see in Raiders.
*The cancelled third season sounds great—it would have involved appearances by Belloq, Abner Ravenwood, and crystal skulls. It seems that the intent was to make it more like the movies… Ah, what would have been.
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