Starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Corey Carrier, George Hall, Lloyd Owen, Jay Underwood, Ruth de Sosa
Written By: George Lucas, Frank Darabont, Jonathan Hales, Jonathan Hensleigh
Directed By: Carl Schultz, Simon Wincer
Studio: Paramount
Buy on Amazon.com link

I remember watching some of the TV movies of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles when I was younger but I honestly don’t remember any of the story lines. Now that the next Indiana Jones movie is going to be released next year; Paramount thought it was a good time to start releasing the DVDs of the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. This is the first volume, and it contains a whomping 12 discs! So you better save up if you plan on watching these.

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones is about the early years of the heroic Archaeologist Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones. The series started off with a very young Henry Jones going on an Archeology dig and tags along & annoys T.E Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia). Henry discovers a cursed mummy and a dead person who was killed very recently. The young Indiana Jones is played by Corey Carrier and you might have remembered him from Steve Martin’s My Blue Heaven. The teenage version of Indiana Jones is played by Sean Patrick Flannery. Each movie, Indy runs into famous characters in history like T.E Lawrence, Teddy Roosevelt, Normal Rockwell, Pablo Picasso, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Edison, Pancho Villa, and many more! Besides seeing or hanging around many historic figures, Indiana Jones travels all over the world! He travels with family to Kenya to France to China to Egypt to Ireland and lots of other places. Does the kid ever sit home and just goof off with friends? I guess if you lived in New Jersey, you’d want to escape and go other places too. Other storylines in the first volume include: Indy goes on a safari with Teddy Roosevelt, Indiana falls for the young daughter of Archduke Ferdinand, novelist Leo Tolstoy and Indy go on the road and talk philosophy, Indiana and his girlfriend help Thomas Edison against German spies trying to steal his latest invention, and a Young Indy falls for women in England and Ireland. Ah good old Indiana, shacking up with women left and right.

When The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones came out, I thought it would have more adventures and exciting stuff that wasn’t in the movies. I remember now why I stopped watching it so earlier on when it aired between 1992-1999. The young Indiana Jones was freakin’ boring! Or at least the story lines involving Corey Carrier. When Sean Patrick Flannery was Indiana Jones, at least his stories weren’t so family oriented and kid-like. The whole series was intended for families but come on; no one got into Indiana Jones movies just by seeing him playing with some random Indian kids or someone from Kenya. We want to see him kicking some Nazi butts, even if it was on the playground. Even if there was some type of adventure in these TV movies, it was just too playful and kiddie for me. At least the teenage years doesn’t feel as kiddie. Maybe I just can’t stand Corey Carrier and think the kid was a bad actor. I just wanted to beat that kid up and take his lunch money.

I think by making these movies somewhat educational was clever on Lucas & company’s part, but at the same time it makes the movies extremely boring. Sure, kids can learn things about history but honestly, all the stuff in the movies weren’t 100 percent fact. I actually didn’t like Indiana Jones meeting all these different people because it makes it really unrealistic. One person would be lucky enough to meet one of these people, yet Indy meets like 50 important figures in modern history. Just doesn’t seem likely but then again, I’m talking about a fictional heroic Archaeologist who’s afraid of snakes and bangs lots of hot chicks.

The reason why they are so many discs (and expensive) is because there are so many documentaries included in this DVD set. There’s only 7 feature length movies in this set, and then there’s so many extras that I couldn’t possibly watch them all. This set would be great to show kids in a History class because the documentaries are put together really well. Each one is less than a half hour and it’s all about the people that Indiana Jones bumps into along his adventures. I particularly liked the one on Thomas Edison, even though the man stole stuff from Tesla. There’s so much stuff on here that you can be locked in your room with just this DVD and be entertained for a week straight. But I guess you would need some sort of bathroom in that room. Oh yeah, food too!

The Adventures of Indiana Jones Volume 1 is a fantastic DVD set if you loved the TV movies. You will also love this DVD set if you’re a fan of history as well. I thought a lot of these movies were really boring and not that exciting. But maybe that was the whole point? Maybe they just wanted us to learn some history in a new way? I’m just glad the Indiana Jones movies were never this boring. I did like some of the later movies but the earlier ones are a snooze fest to me. I’m hoping the 2nd and 3rd Volumes are a lot more exciting than the first batch.

Features:
Disc One:
My First Adventure
Companion Historical Documentaries:
Archaeology: Unearthing Our Past
Howard Carter and the Tomb of Tutankhamun
Colonel Lawrence’s War: T.E. Lawrence and Arabia
From Slavery to Freedom

Disc Two:
Passion For Life

Disc Three (Passion For Life bonus disc):
Companion Historical Documentaries:
Theodore Roosevelt and The American Century
Ecology: Pulse of the Planet
American Dreams: Norman Rockwell and the Saturday Evening Post
Art Rebellion: The Making of the Modern
Edgar Degas: Reluctant Rebel
Braque + Picasso: A Collaboration Cubed

Disc Four:
The Perils of Cupid

Disc Five (The Perils of Cupid bonus disc):
Companion Historical Documentaries:
Giacomo Puccini Music of the Heart
It’s Opera!
The Archduke’s Last Journey End of an Era
Powder Keg Europe 1900 to 1914
Sigmund Freud Exploring the Unconscious
Carl Jung and the Journey of Self Discovery
Psychology Charting the Human Mind

Disc Six:
Travels with Father
Companion Historical Documentaries:
Seeking Truth The Life of Leo Tolstoy
Unquiet Voices Russian Writers and the State
Aristotle Creating Foundations
Ancient Questions Philosophy and Our Search for Meaning

Disc Seven:
Journey of Radiance
Companion Historical Documentaries:
Jiddu Krishnamurti The Reluctant Messiah
Annie Besant An Unlikely Rebel
Medicine in the Middle Kingdom
Eastern Spirituality The Road to Enlightenment

Disc Eight:
Spring Break Adventure

Disc Nine (Spring Break Adventure bonus disc):
Companion Historical Documentaries:
Thomas Alva Edison Lighting up the World
I’vention and Innovation What’s Behind a Good Idea?
The Mystery of Edward Stratemeyer
Wanted: Dead or Alive Pancho Villa and the American Invasion of Mexico
General John J. Pershing and his American Army
George S. Patton American Achilles

Disc Ten:
Love’s Sweet Song

Disc Eleven (Love’s Sweet Song bonus disc):
Companion Historical Documentaries:
Easter Rising The Poets’ Rebellion
The Passions of William Butler Yeats
Sean O’Casey vs. Ireland
Ireland The Power of the Poets
Winston Churchill The Lion’s Roar
Demanding the Vote The Pankhursts and British Suffrage
Fighting for the Vote Women’s Suffrage in America

Disc Twelve: (Interactive Disc)
Special Features:
“Revolution” Interactive Game, based on “Spring Break Adventure” allows players to become Indy and make their own decisions based on Indy’s adventures. As well as entertaining, this game has educational elements.
Extensive Interactive Timeline that details the history and locations of Indy’s adventures and previews footage of the companion documentaries.
Historical Lecture: The Promise of Progress is an exploration of the people and events of the Industrial Revolution, spanning the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo

Video:
Standard 1.33:1 Color

Subtitles:
English

Favorite Scenes: I liked Travels with Father, Spring Break Adventure, and Love’s Sweet Song
Rating: NR
Running Time: 649 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: