The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones - Volume 2: The War Years

Well, just as quickly as the first volume of "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" was issued on DVD, CBS/Paramount Home Video has just come out with the second volume, "The War Years". In this new, stunning nine-disc set, the curtain continues to be unveiled on young Indy's (Sean Patrick Flanery) adventures during World War I.

When we last left our young adventurer-to-be, he had left behind the girl of his dreams and retreated to the Belgian army with a broken heart. Now, as Indy goes into battle, he soon faces dangers too immeasurable to consider. In Chapter 8, "The Trenches of Hell", Indy and his friend Remy face certain danger in the battle of the Somme, which claimed over a million casualties on both sides. Indy, however, is captured and imprisoned in a German prison camp that makes Alcatraz look like a Sunday school picnic. Indy soon finds himself plotting his escape with the help of a young visionary officer named Charles de Gaulle. In Chapter 9, "Demons of Deception", Indy finds himself as a messenger in Verdun carrying messages between two sides of the army, only to discover that senseless death in war need not occur. From there Indy journeys to France where, in the second portion written by Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia of "Star Wars" fame), Indy has a torrid romance with the infamous Mata Hari.

In Chapter 10, "The Phantom Train of Doom", Indy encounters a group of aging soldiers in Africa seeking to take out and destroy the Germans' latest superweapon, the Big Bertha. Later, in Chapter 11, "Oganga, the Giver and Taker of Life", Indy's mission through Africa brings him face to face with a deadly epidemic in a small village with only a single child as the lone survivor. As his troops fall one by one to the epidemic, Indy eventually encounters Dr. Howard Schweitzer and relearns his humanity in the process. From there, in Chapter 12, "Attack of the Hawkmen", Indy engages in battle against the German force's legendary pilot, the infamous Red Baron.

Chapter 13, "Adventures in the Secret Service", finds Indy as a spy to bring two brothers to the emperor of Habsburg, then later Indy must choose between friendship and war as he comes face to face with the growing Bolshevik rebellion in Russia. The lighter-hearted Chapter 14, "Espionage Escapades", finds Indy in Barcelona meeting up with his old friend Pablo Picasso and caught up in a humorous spy mission in, of all places, the opera! Indy then finds himself in Prague caught up in the most perilous of situations - hoping to get his telephone turned on to find out his next assignment! - until he is aided by Franz Kafka. Finally, in Chapter 15, "Daredevils of the Desert", Indy is sent to assist the Australians as they attack the ancient town of Beersheba. He enlists the help of a belly dancer (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in a suspenseful mission to defuse the explosives with which the occupying Turks have booby-trapped the city's water supply. Look for future 007 star Daniel Craig in a supporting role in this installment.

As with the first volume, executive producer George Lucas has reedited many of the original one-hour segments into two-hour telefilms, eliminating all of the old Indy (George Hall) bookend segments and filming new footage to bridge the gaps where needed. Each segment is presented in full-frame format in English Dolby 2.0 surround sound, with optional English subtitles. For "The Trenches of Hell", an elderly Indy's encounter with a rude donut worker lands him in jail. In "Demons of Deception", the elderly Indy recounts his tale as a courier, then later finds himself in line at a grocery store spinning his tabloid-like romance with Mata Hari to shoppers. These and many other bookend segments were completely omitted from the DVD release, and it's a real shame, since only those like me who remember the original broadcasts remember these bookends quite well. Only "The Phantom Train of Doom" remains virtually untouched from its original two-hour broadcast, with only a few minor changes in the credits sequences. That credit on the package, "Some episodes have been re-edited from their original TV broadcasts" should really read, "All...", if you ask me.

Accompanying each chapter are a total of 26 new documentaries produced by Lucas and Rick McCallum that further explore the real characters, locations, and themes conveyed in each chapter. Unlike the first volume, which had some of the documentaries occupying a single disc, all of the documentaries are contained with each respective chapter, thereby streamlining the set by three discs. The final disc contains a new 40-minute discussion on history and war, as well as a DVD-ROM interactive game and interactive timeline. If only we had had more meaty information on the making of the series itself, as with the 11 VHS releases, then I would have found it more satisfying, along with the original broadcast versions of these episodes.

What a wonderful Christmas present this made! The second volume of "Young Indiana Jones" is another great addition to the Indy canon, and I've got to admit, I'm ready for the third and final volume to come in the new year (not to mention the fourth "Indiana Jones" feature film - maybe they'll do a cross-promotion for the film with a trailer on the final set). If only my dad were alive to enjoy this series once again as he did during the early 90's.

How about that for a nice surprise review! With that I wish you a blessed and prosperous Happy New Year, and I'll see you again in 2008!

Long time, no blog...

Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged with the latest DVD reviews. To be perfectly honest, the past two and a half weeks have been an extremely stressful time in my life. I've been juggling between 3-4 jobs just to make ends meet for me and my family, working an exhausting night job until 1 a.m. in the morning, going between a weekend part-time job that I had to give up because the hours conflicted with my wife's work schedule, and two seasonal jobs that will end Christmas Eve. It's been staggering, to say the least, and, as my long-time boyhood friend Jeff Henson (whom I owe so many thanks that I cannot begin to say the words) has said, I'm in a season of gazelle intensity, to quote Dave Ramsey.

Needless to say, all of this job juggling and searching has left me with little time to sleep and no time to even watch and review DVDs. But that's not to say I'm completely giving it up. As soon as my life stabilizes again to a point where I can review some of the latest DVDs, I'll be back online. There are a number of recent titles that I want to post my thoughts on, among them the recent Disney-Pixar offering "Ratatouille", the extended DVD release of "High School Musical 2", Sony's recent release of "Spider-Man 3", Universal's extended unrated cut of "Battlestar Galactica: Razor" (which would have been the last review I would have posted here and on TrekWeb.com and was 99% complete with it but for some unusual reason it got deleted, which gripes me to no end), Paramount's new two-disc SE of Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning epic "Braveheart", and my continuing analysis of the first volume of "Young Indiana Jones".

Don't forget that next week marks the release of two long-awaited DVD sets that I've got my eye on that would make awesome Christmas gifts, the second volume of "Young Indy" and the mega-awesome five-disc "Blade Runner" Ultimate Collector's Edition (which I will go on record and say that for the upcoming Bitsy Awards will be selected as THE DVD release of 2007). I don't know if I'll be able to score review copies of either, or even if they'll be under my Christmas tree this year, but we'll wait and see.

That's all for now. Unless I blog again in the next few weeks, have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I'll see you again in 2008!