Customer Reviews

Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Chapter 13 - Adventures in the Secret Service [VHS]

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This is a great movie first taking place in Austria during WW1 . Young Indiana escorts 2 princes to meet their sister and brother -in-law to make a pact for Austria to joinn the French. The second part takes place also during WW1 and the russians this time take center stage. For all those who like the works of Lucas and Spielberg this is a must for every collection

The first half of this video is great, it starts out with an amusing instance of mistaken identity, as two Austrian princes, who are also French lieutenants, mistake Indy for a delivery boy because he's riding a bike and his uniform is covered up by his coat. They run him off the road with their car, and are later shocked to learn that he's not only not a delivery boy, but that he's a captain, outranking them. Indy, still insulted, isn't impressed to then learn that they are royalty. This doesn't get the relationship off to a very good start, and so of course Indy is assigned to escort them across the border to Austria.

There are more great moments of humor in the first half, along with lots of running around, and it's all very entertaining. Indy is somewhat grumpy the whole time, which, come to think of it, made him more similar to the older Indy played by Ford.

The second half finds him reassigned to Russia, which is weird in itself, but the bizzare thing was that Indy moves in with a bunch of Bosheviks, and becomes very good friends with them. How he managed this, and why, isn't addressed, since we're just plopped into the middle of his stint in Petrograd. The fact that the Bolsheviks, knowing full well that Indy is a capitalist American working for the French secret service (some secret), allow him to join their midsts is hard to believe. One girl even falls in love with him.

Indy dislikes desk work, and so did I. It was rather boring, watching him mull around the stacks of paper looking like they meant something to him, but we never understand what. He never really did anything in this half, except fail at just about everything he was supposed to be doing. The ending was the worst ending yet, and left me wondering just what we were supposed to make of Indy's politics.

The second half is good for two things, 1: showing that Indy still has a whole lot of growing up to do, and 2: that his birthday is in July (some trivia if you ever need it). But the first half was great, so the video is worth it.

This movie is good on the whole, although it does have a few flaws.

The movie starts out with Indy helping 2 Austrian brothers get to Austria through the German barricades. This first half of the movie is good and has a lot of suspense. But once they get to Austria and Indy is re-assigned to Russia, the plot falls apart. It gets very confusing, and character development is underdone. There is some guy that is chasing Indy throughout the first half of the movie, and we never know who he really is. And then suddenly Indy is friends with some people in Russia, and we don't know how they came to be friends. It sort of clears up at the end when the Bolsheviks march through the streets of St. Petersburg, but even then, it is still confusing.

Other than that, it is a good movie, and the portrayal of spying here is magnificently accurate. If you're a fan of Indiana Jones, this is worth seeing, but if you're not, you should probably think before seeing this movie.

this movie has a pretty decent first part where indy delivers two austria-hungarian princes to the emperor and empress. but the second part is real weird. indy meets friends in russia and then does some spy work. you never really find out what he's supposed to be spying on, and the russia part really has no plot. like all the young indy movies, the ending leaves you hanging, but this ending is where one of indy's friends die in a political demonstration, so it's extra weird. but the movie is good on the whole.

Being a big History buff. and loving Indiana Jones. i loved this movie. others of the series i have found fairly pleasing...but could do better. i am big on spying and espionage, and am glad to see a movie that portays spying accurately(compared to 007)...and of couse its INDY! BRAVO Lucas

Part 1 of this episode is classic Indy. It has intrigue, Indy's unique problem solving, historic accuracy, and a wonderful sense of humor in its representation of the spoiled aristocratic brothers. Part 2 is set in beautiful St. Petersburg Russia and captures the excitement of the revolution (reminiscent of Reds) but is either not as well written or not as well edited as it could be. The course of Indy's relationship with his revolutionary roommates does not develop naturally and left me feeling that there must be important scenes sitting on the cutting room floor.

This episode reaches a great level of drama, intrigue, and suspense. Most of all, as with all of the Young Indiana Jones episodes with Flanery, he is what makes it all worthwhile. He surely is one of the most un-appreciated actors of today. He is very talented. He deserves much more recognition!

Certainly one of the better of the series. Beautifully Shot and very suspenseful first half. As for the comment below on indy and the russian language i believe in one of the first episodes he spent time in russia with his father as a boy.

There are a number of reasons to like this episode. The locations are sumptuous. The acting is truly fine. The adventures are both engrossing and educational. One leaves hungry for more information about the waning year of the first World War. And Flanery is, as ever, a joy to watch.

But is it Indiana Jones? There are certainly moments in the first of the two plotlines where we see some of Harrison Ford's steely, serious presence. But Indy-as-European-spy just doesn't work. Oh I buy that Indy could well have been a part of the Belgian Army assigned to French Intelligence. His presence in Cairo in "Daredevils of the Desert" makes better sense (though it is somewhat problematic that he hasn't finished high school yet by the time he enlists for the war). But Indy speaking/reading/writing Russian and French so fluently that the French embassy in Moscow would use him as a diplomatic translator? No, sorry, this is total abuse of the Indiana Jones character. There is no reason on EARTH that Indy would have attained a mastery of Russian, much less by his late teens. There's even less chance that he would be able to translate at that level between Russian and French. Granted, Indiana is linguistically talented, but "Last Crusade" has him learning ancient languages from his father. It's a stretch to believe he would know French well enough to usefully enlist in the Belgian army, but this is at least possible because of French's importance to archaeology. Russian simply was of little use to an archaeologist like Henry Jones, Sr., and Russian was in no way offered at his local school in rural America.

Given that the entire second half of the film depends upon his fluency in Russian, therefore, it falls apart as an Indiana Jones adventure. There were other ways to get Indiana Jones to Moscow with his character intact, but they weren't taken here.

Fortunately, the route taken here was at least scenic and intriguing. "Adventures in the Secret Service" is thus recommendable for its effort to explain some of the mysteries of Europe in 1917.

Can Indy speak many languages fluently? I would venture a guess "yes" given his education and life of globe hopping. Every kid I know where we live speaks at least 2 languages or is learning the second. Many speak 3 or 4. Their families have taken them globe trotting and they are called third culture kids or global nomads...kind of like Indy. In some ways my kids identify with him. Our family has enjoyed this series both on Armed Forces Network several years ago and now on video. We are all history buffs and enjoy a good adventure too. All are provided. The fun of the character, though not always true to life is a plus. Thanks to Lucas for entertaining and educating us both.