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Is Young Indiana Jones chronicles a boring series?

Discussion in 'Lucasfilm Ltd. In-Depth Discussion' started by antitoxicgamer, Sep 22, 2020.

  1. antitoxicgamer

    antitoxicgamer Jedi Knight star 2

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    Sep 9, 2020
    I have watched it's first episode "My first adventure".

    But so far the show was boring(Even though that I'm watching the improved and less boring version of it that doesn't have old Indiana Jones in it.) and it has made me lose my interest in watching the next episodes.

    Does it get better ?
     
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  2. DartJackson

    DartJackson Jedi Knight star 1

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    Aug 26, 2020
    Yes. It will get better. The episodes with little Indy are rather slow and more like historical lectures. But then there are episodes with an Indy teenager who participates in WWI and in terms of the quality of filming, the entertainment is very cool.

    But I advise you not to miss a single episode. Because some characters from the "children's" episodes appear in WWI episodes.

    Children's episodes are only chapters 1-5. Chapters 6-22 take Indy adventures from 16 to 21 years old. Most are associated with WWI.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2020
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  3. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

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    May 18, 2017
    it's honestly a bit dull, and I'm a huge Indy fan. Lucas used it as a teaching tool about history.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2020
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  4. DartJackson

    DartJackson Jedi Knight star 1

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    Aug 26, 2020
    WWI episodes are almost on par with movies.

    IMHO, Young Indy not as boring as Mandalorian.
     
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  5. Ackbar's Fishsticks

    Ackbar's Fishsticks Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 25, 2013
    Personally, I skipped almost all of Season 1 because the childhood stuff looked boring, apart from the last couple episodes set in the Mexican and Irish revolutions.

    Watched all of Season 2, which is the bulk of the World War One episodes, and can vouch that that's not boring. Well, almost never - you can probably skip "Espionage Escapades."

    Most of Season 3 is worth it too - it closes on a couple more World War One episodes, then you have "Treasure of the Peacock's Eye" which is sort of a precursor to the Indy we know in that it's a treasure hunt (or at least the first half of it is). Then there's the episode with the end of the war and Indy's return to the United States, which is probably worth it if only for setting up the estrangement between Indy and Henry. Then there's "Mystery of the Blues" set in Chicago when he's a college student and bumps into the city's Prohibition era seedy underbelly, which is always fun. The rest of the season I didn't bother to check out, but that's only two episodes.
     
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  6. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

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    May 18, 2017
    The one that Harrison appears in is fun. He has his beard as he was filming The Fugitive.
     
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  7. Ackbar's Fishsticks

    Ackbar's Fishsticks Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 25, 2013
    Also...

    What version are you watching? Most of the "episodes" are two 45-minute episodes glued together into an hour and a half sort-of-movie. The problem is, which 45-minute episodes get glued together has been changed in typical Lucasian fashion. There's the order in which they originally aired, and then there's the order in which they were glued together when they were released on VHS or DVD.

    (I assume you're doing the latter, but I believe some of the former are still available on YouTube).

    One of the better Season 1 episodes in my memory was the original pilot - the first 45-minute segment is with Child Indy on a dig in Egypt getting mixed up in a mystery involving a jackal figurine and a bad guy trying to steal it, the second 45-minute segment jumps to Teen Indy getting mixed up in the Mexican Revolution but then running into the same guy again there, and thus being able to close out the jackal mystery. Unfortunately, that episode got reedited so that each of the two segments are now paired with different ones (Child Indy with another Child Indy, Teen Indy with another Teen Indy), so you don't get the satisfaction of seeing the entire story resolved.

    As originally aired, the episodes were all "out of order" in terms of Indy's life - the way it's been reedited in the DVDs makes it pretty much all in chronological order. Which is less confusing, but sometimes you lose something in translation too, as above.
     
  8. antitoxicgamer

    antitoxicgamer Jedi Knight star 2

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    Sep 9, 2020
    The version that doesn't have old indy telling stories of his adventures for people.
     
  9. DartJackson

    DartJackson Jedi Knight star 1

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    Aug 26, 2020
    On the other hand, a lot of new things have appeared. The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones is not just chronological re-edited The Young Indiana Jones Сhronicles, but also adding whole new stories, and expanding old ones. Something that was not in the original broadcast
     
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  10. Alexrd

    Alexrd Chosen One star 6

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    Jul 7, 2009
    Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, Adventures is the definitve way to watch the series.
     
  11. DartJackson

    DartJackson Jedi Knight star 1

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    Aug 26, 2020
    I am also for this option. But there are drawbacks here:

    Many viewers don't get caught up in the children's chapters, so they stop watching the show before getting to more interesting material with Sean Patrick Flannery.

    When looking at the chronology, you get tired of WWI episodes pretty quickly, which seems to be too many and they are redundant. Although they were, of course, shot amazingly, by about 15 or 16 chapter I personally got tired of the military theme. In the original order, military episodes were interspersed with peaceful ones, so there was no such fatigue from the military episodes.

    Due to the specifics of the chronology, the series does not end on such impressive episodes as we would like. Because the Hollywood Follies was not filmed as an intentional ending originally. The most stunning episodes were centered in the middle of the series, and the finale was not so exciting. In a way, the original final episode (Travels with Father) felt more important and better connected the series to the films, rather than final Chapters about how Indy tries himself in the show business of post-war USA.

    Looking at the chronology, there are also obvious problems with Indy's character development. He sees firsthand the horrors of war in Europe in, but continues to be naive and awkward in Africa. In the final post-war Сhapters, Indy doesn't look like a WWI veteran.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2020
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  12. antitoxicgamer

    antitoxicgamer Jedi Knight star 2

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    Sep 9, 2020
    Guess the series need a perfect version that has the best of the 2 versions.(Without old Indy but and chronological order to make the series feel less repetitive.)
     
  13. DartJackson

    DartJackson Jedi Knight star 1

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    Aug 26, 2020
    In fact, some of the Old Indy segments were impressive. And they revealed the context of some of the stories. There are excerpts on Youtube.

    By the way, some episodes that were immediately broadcast in the USA as full-length in other countries were divided and contained old Indy segments.

    But it is impossible to find the entire series in the original version in one language, since some episodes were only aired in Europe (ABC closed the series before the end of season 2). By the way, ABC was headed by Bob Iger in those years. And he was very skeptical of the show from the beginning. The show was mis-advertised and the release schedule was odd (season 1 was very short). All this, coupled with long hitatuses, led to the fact that the initially impressive ratings dropped very quickly.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2020
  14. Dark Ferus

    Dark Ferus Chosen One star 8

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    Jul 29, 2016
    I personally enjoyed the series starting with My First Adventure all the way through. I get why it may not be for everybody though.

    Never saw the George Hall Old Indy segments since I saw the series on DVD.
     
  15. DartJackson

    DartJackson Jedi Knight star 1

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    Aug 26, 2020
    George put his soul into this show. I love all episodes. But this does not negate the disadvantages that I highlighted above.

    I do not consider these claims to be particularly serious. And chronological order has its own charm, because it is an attempt to make a coherent saga from series to movies.

    I really liked the new stories, although the transition scenes were filmed at times sloppy. The age difference between the actors is obvious.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2020
  16. rpeugh

    rpeugh Force Ghost star 4

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    Apr 10, 2002
    I saw a couple of episodes on youtube. I dont mind them removing the old Indy segments and presenting the episodes in chronological order. My problem is that the 90 minute movies dont feel like 90 minute movies. They feel like two 45 minute episodes, and that has nothing to do with the way the actors look, it has all to do with the pacing. And I find that to be very uncharacteristic of George Lucas. (ROTJ notwithstanding). Im amazed to find out just how much of the prequel crew was involved with this series. Makes me wonder why they didnt bring back Paul Martin Smith for AOTC, why Jonathan Hales and other Indy writers werent used for TPM and ROTS.
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2020
  17. antitoxicgamer

    antitoxicgamer Jedi Knight star 2

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    Sep 9, 2020
    I think it's because none of them wanted to work on Star Wars.
     
  18. rpeugh

    rpeugh Force Ghost star 4

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    Apr 10, 2002
    Hmm. So Smith was dragged kicking and screaming to edit TPM and Hales was dragged kicking and screaming to help write the script for AOTC? I suppose its possible they just werent available for the other movies.
     
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  19. antitoxicgamer

    antitoxicgamer Jedi Knight star 2

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    Sep 9, 2020
    Oops, sorry . Misread your reply. :(
     
  20. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 1, 2014
    Considering that they cut the old Indy bookends from the DVD that were in each episode, I'd like to see them re-shoot those with Harrison Ford for a blu ray re-release.
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2021
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  21. DartJackson

    DartJackson Jedi Knight star 1

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    Aug 26, 2020
    It will probably be technically difficult to publish this series on BD. Although I would like it too. It would be cool to release a shared box of "The Complete Adventures of Indiana Jones" with original films.
     
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  22. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

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    May 18, 2017
    Speaking of Sean Patrick Flanery I just found out he has a black belt in Ju Jitsu and has his own studio/dojo in LA.
     
  23. rpeugh

    rpeugh Force Ghost star 4

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    Apr 10, 2002
    As much as I defend Jake Lloyd's performance in TPM, I do think that 10 year old Indiana Jones is a more successful portrayal than 10 year old Darth Vader. As bad as it is that Jake has received so much criticism for his performance, its also too bad that Corey Carrier hasnt gotten more praise for his performance in the Young Indy series. And Lloyd Owen is just as successful at creating a younger Henry Jones Sr. as Ewan McGregor is at creating a younger Obi wan.
     
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  24. Dark Ferus

    Dark Ferus Chosen One star 8

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    Jul 29, 2016
    @AndyLGR Harrison Ford as 90s Indy would be excellent. They could also include elements of 5 in the bookends, such as changing the details of his family (I don’t think Indy went from having one teenage son in 1957 to multiple children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in 35 years).
     
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  25. AEHoward33

    AEHoward33 Jedi Master star 4

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    Aug 11, 2019
    Actually, I thought it was a pretty good series. It had its boring episodes, but I enjoyed the series overall. Some of the episodes really stood out for me - the two-part episodes, Indy meeting Violet in London, and Indy's experiences during the battles of Verdun and Somme. As you can see, I seem to prefer those episodes featuring Sean Patrick Flannery as Indy.
     
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