On DVD: The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Volume 3

Directed By Billy August

Starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Clare Higgins, Jay Underwood

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones was a television series meant to chronicle Indiana's formative years, all taking place several years prior to the films.  Volume 3 is the final volume of the set completing the run of the show.

The Set

This final volume covers Indy's adventures from the end of WWI and  leading up to and through part of his first year in college.  If you aren't familiar with the series the basic idea is that Indy finds himself embroiled in many historical situations in an attempt to create an exciting adventure and an educational experience for younger viewers.  The series is meant to be a family experience.  For the most part it works.  High production values and globe trotting shoots help make this series timeless even if some music and production decisions are most definitely from the 90's and will continue to age as the years go by.

The problem I had with the series and this set in particular is that the educational aspects of many of the episodes were just too heavy handed.  Often I felt like I was watching an after school special rather than a television series prequel of the movies that I love.  This is the exception though, not the rule.  Most of the episodes successfully integrate the historical and educational elements into the adventure perfectly allowing older viewers to enjoy the episodes simply for the adventure.

I will say that this set is less consistent as far as hits and misses than the previous two sets.  There are more misses here than before, and not just to heavy handed educational elements although that is one of the problems.  Another issue is just how different this young Indy is than his older film self.  The two come off as almost two completely different people where young Indy should really be an evolving version of his older self in the films.  There mannerisms, there decisions, and most importantly their general motivations seem to be completely opposite each other.

Overall though, I have to say that this big volume of young Indy fun is just that; fun.  Once you accept that this isn't the Indy from the films you'll enjoy him here in these small screen adventures.

7/10

The Video

The full frame presentation here looks pretty great for a TV transfer.  The series was originally shot in 16 mm film rather than the standard 35 to allow more budget for locations and special effects.  Shooting in 16 still looks great but it's a bit grainier and slightly lower in detail and these issues do come through on this DVD transfer.  With that said the transfer is still so solid that it looks better than many series we've covered who's source was shot in 35.

7.5/10

The Audio

The audio is surprisingly only available in Dolby 2.0 stereo.  I'd have expected at least a Digital 5.1 presentation if not a THX one.  Hey this is Lucas!  At any rate, the audio we do get is clean and clear and dialogue comes through strong throughout the series.  Dynamic range is limited by the stereo presentation and lack of sub woofer use.  Explosions just don't make the impact they could have with a stronger mix.  It's solid basic TV audio here, nothing more, nothing less.

6.5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

The ten disc set is presented in a lavish cardboard foldout packaged inside a cardboard box.  The art is fun and it looks great on the DVD shelf beside my Indiana Jones film set.

The bonus features unfortunately are pretty dismal with the highlights being an interactive DVD-Rom timeline and a stale lecture on the historical elements of the season.

3/10

A deeper set of bonus features and stronger audio presentation should have been a part of this package but the video looks great and the episodes survive the test of time swimmingly.  The biggest problem with the series for fans is a price point that hasn't been common for TV series box sets in a few years. Hardcore fans shouldn't hesitate to pick this one up if they have the spare change though.

Overall (Not an Average) 5/10

The Review

The Series 7/10

The Video 7,5/10

The Audio 6.5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 3/10

Overall (Not an Average) 5/10

Suzie Lackey