THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES - VOLUME THREE

Starring: Sean Patrick Flannery, Corey Carrier, Harrison Ford, and George Hall Produced by George Lucas Available at Amazon in the U.S to pre-order for it's April 29th release for $78.99. Available at Play.com in the U.K. to pre-order for it's April 28th release for £33.99. Not yet available to the rest of the world just yet. Probably will closer to the release date of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Review by Ray DeRousse Films:

rating:3

DVD Set:

rating: 4.5

The tail end of the eighties saw a dip in the cash flow of Lucasfilm enterprises. Following Return of the Jedi, George Lucas steered his company headlong into an expensive seven year research of new entertainment technologies. To offset the expenses, Lucas made some disastrous decisions, like selling off his Pixar division to Steve Jobs for $5 million bucks. Dumb, Georgie ... really dumb. By the time the nineties rolled around, Lucas had a bevy of wondrous toys at his disposal, and very little product to move for increased profits. So he began a phase of entertainment production we might generously call hedged-bet experiments, films and television shows with built-in audience appeal that would allow him to turn profits and still perfect his technical wizardry. His capitalist eye turned toward the recently completed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Its opening sequence, which details a young Indy's first adventure masterfully brought to life by River Phoenix, seemed like a perfect project for extrapolation and expansion. And so it was that The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles came to be on television between 1994 and 1996. If I sound a little cynical in my timeline recap, it's because I am. This series was, although unbeknownst to us at the time, the beginning of the end of Lucas as a creative force. It's the first time we see Lucas pillaging older material purely for profit and acclaim. It's the first time we see Lucas revisit characters by giving us limp prequels - I mean, remember when we didn't even know what a prequel WAS?? The word was invented for Lucas and his pocketbook. But enough of my soapbox humping. How do the films stack up today? THE FILMS This third set of discs, subtitled (as Lucas loves to do) Years of Change, showcases nine feature-length films culled from the final episodes of the series. Like the other films in the series, the show endeavors to teach as well as entertain. The show bounces around in time, featuring Indy as a young boy (Cory Carrier), a teenager (Sean Patrick Flannery), and a very old man (George Hall). The adventures weave together many strands of history during the turbulent years between 1905 and the 1930's, including many famous names of this time period. As an educational tool, the films overall manage to function as a "slice of life" taste rather than a "remember these facts" primer. Historical figures like Al Capone, Louis Armstrong, Erich Von Stroheim, and Ernest Hemingway weave around through these stories, while tasty bits of background noise inform the viewer about topics like Prohibition and jazz music. However, as an adventure series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles falls flat. Despite the high budget for each film - $1.5 million dollars - and the expansive palette of locations and special effects, the adventure inherent in the name of cinema's famous action hero is sorely lacking. Unwisely trying to pack a widescreen punch on a television canvas, the series fails to utilize the intimacy of the medium. I remember feeling underwhelmed by the series during its initial run, and seeing it again only reinforces that opinion. Both Carrier and Flannery carry themselves well in the title role, although neither one could ever hope to capture the magic Harrison Ford effortlessly brings to the role. This fact becomes painfully obvious when Ford makes an appearance on the show during Mystery of the Blues. He captures the screen magically. Like far too many television shows, the direction is lifeless and flat, and therefore matched perfectly to the obviousness of the writing. Much of the series fails to distill the love of serials that inspired and informed the movies. Since the show existed primarily as a way for Lucas to hone his digital tools - rather than as a love of adventure - this lifelessness is, sadly, highly appropriate. THE EXTRAS WOW. All I can say is WOW. Five years in the making, this set could probably teach God a thing or two. Each of the nine films is accompanied by an extensive features package, including at least three long documentaries on each disc that highlight various subjects covered in the accompanying movie. For instance, the seventh movie in this set, Mystery of the Blues, includes long documentaries on Jazz music, Al Capone, Prohibition, Eliot Ness, Louis Armstrong, Ben Hecht, and Hellfighters. Other terrific documentaries include Ernest Hemingway, Edith Wharton, Bronislaw Malinowski, Dracula, the Ataturk Revolution, and a nice examination of Hollywood Moguls. The stunning amount of information here nearly masks the hum of the constantly-whirring machinery of the Lucasfilm corporate money-sucker; each of the documentaries included here were commissioned to play on the History Channel in order to promote the series. And now the whole thing is packaged in time to release in the months prior to the new Indiana Jones movie. Corporate synergy, thy master is George Lucas. Still, the extras in this collection are well-thought out and researched, and perfectly complement the accompanying films. This might be the best set of extras I have ever seen on a DVD - my highest compliments go to Lucasfilm and all of the craftsmen involved in this series of documentaries. WELL DONE!!!! OVERALL The series itself is fairly ordinary and unremarkable, which is itself remarkable considering the talent and money behind it. However, the stunning and wonderful amount of extras in this collection make it a must have for anyone remotely interested in this period of history. Not only is the show an interesting diversion; it also becomes a fascinating glimpse into a diverse and interesting time.