Customer Reviews

Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Chapter 6 - Spring Break Adventure [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These comments are based on the entire series as they have been currently released on video. When this show was first broadcast, it was loved by a certain 12-year-old boy (me). It had everything: adventure, love, history, interesting locations. I especially liked the "bookends" of 92-year-old Indy, where people always looked at him as just some old man, and they had no idea the amazing life he had lead.

So I decided, in a fit of nostalgia, to find the series on tape/DVD. I was shocked. There can only be one word for what they have done: asinine. None of the early 8-year-old episodes were published. Young-young Indy was even excised from what was originally the pilot and replaced with the Nancy Drew bit. While it was nice having new content, why waste it "erasing" old content? Even as a teenager and adult, episodes are skipped, so that what was once a more seam-less story of him traveling the globe jumps about with little explanation. Even 92-year-old Indy bookends are gone.

This is not the work of the Lucas of Star Wars. It is the work of the Lucas of Episode 2, and Guido shooting first in the cantina. (Can they really be the same man?)

The series has never been released on DVD, so there may still be hope. It would be nice to see the DVD box set be an attempt to archive ALL of the original series and later TV movies. If it was, I would be first in line and with money in hand.

This movies marks the beginning of the Sean Patrick Flannery Young Indy adventures. The movie begins with Indy, still very naive, in high school. Whilst attempting to fix his transport for the high school prom, Indy and his girlfriend Nancy Stratemeyer become involved in a plot to steal secret plans from Thomas Edisons laboratories. It comes as no surprise that this half of the movie owes much to the old Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys style of mystery. Following the solving of the case, Indy does what most students do over spring break and heads down to Mexico, pretty much for the same reason as students do nowadays. Whilst crossing the border he is caught by Mexican bandits and idealistically decides to join their cause, seeing it as being more important than high school. Whilst in Mexico he also encounters an old enemy, Demetrius, who had stolen the sacred egyptian jackal in the very first episode of the series, My First Adventure. It is here that he also meets Remy. When they both realise their mistake at joining the revolution they embark upon a journey together to europe to fight in the great war, and so the adventure begins.....

This was a good video, and I've waited seven years for the series to be released. I was disappointed to find out that Old Indy is not even featured. Perhaps the worst thing they done was to put two episodes together with new footage. This didn't even look right because all of the actors are noticeably older, and Sean Patrick Flanery's hair is obviously longer in the back. They should have thought about these things beforehand, and perhaps filmed them this way in the first place, not try and finish them now as Star Wars Special Edition so tragically looked.

I would have given this 5 stars, because I really did enjoy it very much. But I can't quite get over the fact that for much of the first half Indy whines and follows his girlfriend around reluctantly, as she initiates all the adventure. I can understand that, at 16, Indy isn't going to be exactly the same as when he's older, but really, when he was played by River Phoenix, during the "Last Crusade" prologue that took place in 1912 (four years before this one) he had much more initiative.

That said, I think Sean Patrick Flanery saves it by being so cute and appealing as Nancy's sidekick, especially toward the end as the Indy in him finally wakes up. I can date it to the moment he takes his fedora out of the closet, and then all of a sudden he's the hero again. One of my favorite parts was when he punched in the glass case after Nancy failed to get it open by picking the lock. But even before then, it's fun to watch, reagardless of the liberties it takes with Indy's character. Nancy is a worthy "Indy girl", being as plucky as Marion Ravenwood (though more innocent).

The second half, the Mexico/Pancho Villa adventure, is a little too contrived for my tastes...I mean, even for "Young Indy", where you have to take all the historical figures popping up with a grain of salt, this doesn't quite make sense. Why is Indy risking his life to retrieve a bunch of dresses? Just buy the lady some new ones, for Pete's sake. It does bring up another thing that irks me; the fact that none of the Correy Carrier (young young Indy) episodes are on video. I watched the whole series when it was on TV, but I can barely remember them. Here we have Indy writing letters to T.E. Lawerence, whom he met in an earlier episode, and he encounters Demetrius, the bad guy from that episode. All this harkening back seems rather cruel when it's not on video, especially when they tout these as "The Complete Adventure of Indiana Jones."

Lloyd Owen, as Henry Jones Sr., does a very good job of sounding just like Sean Connery. I enjoyed the few scenes with him in, since "Last Crusade" is my favorite "old" Indy, due to the repartee between Ford and Connery. Here you get a glimpse of the things they were talking about. Remy never ceases to annoy me, however. But it's worth tolerating Coutteure to watch Flanery. He may not try to evoke Ford as much as River Phoenix did, but he's a great Indy throughout the series.

This was a good video, and I've waited seven years for the series to be released. I was disappointed to find out that Old Indy is not even featured. Perhaps the worst thing they done was to put two episodes together with new footage. This didn't even look right because all of the actors are noticeably older, and Sean Patrick Flanery's hair is obviously longer in the back. They should have thought about these things beforehand, and perhaps filmed them this way in the first place, not try and finish them now as Star Wars Special Edition so tragically looked.

This is one of the best episodes of the series, it starts with Indie still in high school and he is partially transformed into a soldier and a crusader for archeological artifacts. The circumstances where he meets his friend Remy are also explained and several notable historical figures are also part of the story.
In the first segment, Indie is in high school and is trying to woo Nancy Stratemeyer for a date to the prom. Indie is working at a soda fountain and his main competition is a rich boy with a nice car. Indie is also a big fan of the original "Tom Swift" books and he reads them all the time. When there is a theft of industrial secrets at Edison Labs, Nancy is a driving force in her and Indie tracking down the thieves and recovering the secrets. Nancy's father is Edward Stratemeyer, who wrote many of the books in the original "Tom Swift" series and the creator of the "Nancy Drew" series of adventures for young girls. Nancy is portrayed as a fearless girl of adventure; it was an excellent tie-in to adventure literature.
The second segment of the episode has Indie in New Mexico where he and a friend make plans to travel down to Mexico to visit a bordello. However, when they arrive at the border town it is attacked by the bandit forces of Pancho Villa and Indie finds himself their captive. The attack triggers the invasion of Mexico by American forces under Pershing, and they pursue the forces of Villa deep into Mexico. At the time, Remy is a member of the Villa forces, having joined after jumping off a Belgian ship. One of the best scenes is when a young Lieutenant Patton enters a bar on a reconnaissance mission and challenges the other patrons.
When the forces of Villa attack a government stronghold, Indie is part of the attack and there is a great scene where he shoots an opposing soldier at point blank range. He begins to apologize profusely to the man, even though he is still capable of fighting. After experiencing the consequences of the revolution to the poor Mexican peasant, Indie decides that revolutionary fighting is not for him and he and Remy ride off to join the war in Europe.
One of the best aspects of this episode is the naive bravery of the young Indie, at first he must be goaded into action by Nancy and then is very impulsive in his activities. He becomes very idealistic, only to have those feelings slammed by the reality of what revolution is all about. He is growing up rapidly, fearless to a fault, now he needs an effective and appropriate channel for his idealism and courage.

It was an awsome movie it was the first yong indiana jones i ever saw first i watched the temple of doom then i saw raidersthen i saw the the last crusade.the only thing i didnt like was how indys girlfriend was solving all the mystery and indy was a scardy cat and the part with panchovilo lost me to but in all it was a great high adventure film !

The first half is cute and very fun to watch (with a feeling very similar to that of one of the other films by this director: The Rocketeer). I enjoyed the young comedic romance and Hardy Boys/Nancy Drewish mystery. The second half is good, but stretches credibility a tad having Young Indy getting involved with Pancho Villa. There is a good confrontation with an old foe and old score. Staggering production values for a small screen effort (rivals much of the big screen).

Its the eve of the Mexican Revolution and Young Indy is in Mexico. He is captured and is forced to join the revolution. Meet historic people like the infamous Pancho Villa. Its a bomb. Join Indy through daring battles and the fight against an old enemy....Demetrios. I would recomend this hit to anybody. Watch and learn at the same time.

This film is exciting! Indy and his girlfriend, Nancy Stratenmeyer whose father wrote the Nancy Drew mysteries, solve a mystery in the first half involving a traitorous employee and theft of important submarine plans. Lucasfilm hints that Nancy's father based the fictional Nancy Drew on his daughter. I also liked that Indy helps Mr. Stratenmeyer with his stories. The Pancho Villa part is thrilling and fast-paced, Indy's impulsiveness and gallantry getting him more than he bargains for. Eventually, he catches up with his old enemy Demetrius (from "My First Adventure," not currently available on video) and retrieves the fabled Jackal headpiece, originally stolen from the tomb of an Ancient Egyptian architect. All in all, this is a great film of excitement and intrigue, worthy of the name Indiana Jones.