|
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Amazon.co.uk
George Lucas’ The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Two, The War Years continues the extraordinary narrative, historical, and production achievements found in Volume One. As with the first series, each feature-length programme (re-editing material from the original, one-hour broadcasts to smooth out the chronology of Jones’ experiences as a child and young man) resembles a theatrical experience more than episodic television. Each drama is remarkably rich in layered detail, shedding light on major events, figures, and ideas from a pivotal era in world history. Where Volume One largely focused on the early childhood of Indiana Jones as he travelled the world in the company of his parents, meeting the likes of Picasso, Tolstoy, Freud, and T.E. Lawrence, Volume Two is exclusively concerned with Jones’ experiences during World War I. This time, Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery, introduced in the final episodes of Volume One) is serving in the infantry of the Belgian army under an assumed name, eventually rising in rank from corporal to captain and becoming a spy after paying extensive, nightmarish dues on the war’s front line in Europe. The series captures some of the horror of World War I’s most infamous battles, directly inserting Jones into the thick of the action at Verdun, the Somme, the Middle East, and elsewhere. In time, Jones is repeatedly recruited to become a secret agent, going undercover in Austria to help forge a separate peace between the last Habsburg emperor and the allies, and playing a crucial part in the survival of British and Australian forces crossing a merciless desert. Along the way, Indy befriends Bolsheviks preparing for the Russian Revolution, has a romance with Mata Hari, attempts a prison break with Charles de Gaulle, and has a wonderful encounter with Albert Schweitzer. As with Volume One, this follow-up box set includes an astonishing number of excellent special features, primarily dynamic documentaries about many of the real-life people and incidents introduced in the stories. These extras provide much depth and analysis without being at all dry; a creative history teacher would do well to incorporate them (and, for that matter, the shows themselves) in a class about the 20th century. --Tom Keogh
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The second volume in the adventures of "Young Indiana Jones" and it follows Indy (Sean Patrick Flannery) through World War One, surviving the trenches in France and becoming a spy, going on missions to Africa, Barcelona and Russia.
With the flux of documentaries that accompany each episode, the DVD collection is almost like a mini-historical library with breakdowns of the significant events and people Indy meets in his travels.
I think Lucasfilm must have plundered Spotlight or the British casting agencies as a number of popular British actors (James Nesbitt, Colin Baker, John McInnery) pop up throughout all the shows.
The depiction of warfare is realistic but not nearly as grim as Spielberg, Lucas oft-time collaborator, showed in "Saving Private Ryan" and Indy (who can survive anything and is, thanks to his education, something of a genius) is not seriously affected by what is going on around him. This hinders the drama a little bit.
Nevertheless this is recommended to Indiana Jones fans.
With the flux of documentaries that accompany each episode, the DVD collection is almost like a mini-historical library with breakdowns of the significant events and people Indy meets in his travels.
I think Lucasfilm must have plundered Spotlight or the British casting agencies as a number of popular British actors (James Nesbitt, Colin Baker, John McInnery) pop up throughout all the shows.
The depiction of warfare is realistic but not nearly as grim as Spielberg, Lucas oft-time collaborator, showed in "Saving Private Ryan" and Indy (who can survive anything and is, thanks to his education, something of a genius) is not seriously affected by what is going on around him. This hinders the drama a little bit.
Nevertheless this is recommended to Indiana Jones fans.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The first volume was good; the second volume is even better. In general, the 'war years' covers July 1916 to October 1917 and sees Indy go from footslogger in the trenches to a captain in military intelligence. From the outset it is very important to keep in mind that the original intention of Indiana Jones was to recreate a story/comic book hero; the 'silly' sounding chapter titles have all been devised with that in mind, and with that in mind I feel many criticisms are unwarranted.
Rather than critique all eight 'movies', I shall focus on what I think is the best one: 'Oganga'. What appeals about this episode (East and Central Africa December 1916/January 1917) is that it covers a lot of ground. It commences with trench warfare, (and like the 'Trenches of Hell' - first episode) with a limited budget does a fair job of showing the horrors of the war. What both these episodes share is the idea of creating a human background: yes, there is a high body count (Indiana himself polishes off quite a few), but there are a number of supporting actors that do only support but whose partial verbal characterized presence helps to create a more natural feel; there are some very nice touches and great attention to detail rather than the usual awkward unrealistic silent treatment of the supporting cast. This is something that is missing from so many so-called Hollywood blockbusters, but here, with a budget of $1.5 million. Disobedience of orders leads to a successful engagement, and Indiana is suitably smug (again, one of the strengths of the series is that he does have feet of clay and is capricious and weak as the next man; he displays the rashness of youth, conceit of rank). The second part involves a hazardous mission from one side of Africa to the other, in which Albert Schweitzer pops up, with some nicely scored Bach to boot. The perilous river journey has shades of Conrad but as nods rather than outright imitation.
Overall, the second volume is great - the extras are much better than those of the first volume. The only slight irritation is the bucking of the original chronology; Austria March 1917 is paired with Petrograd July 1917 while Barcelona May 1917 is set with Prague August 1917. This has been done I think to keep a `serious' pair together while the latter pair is comic in tone: the weighty end of Petrograd would have been ruined with the farcical Prague following it.
I can't wait to start on with volume three now, but have the feeling that volume two will remain the best one by far.
Rather than critique all eight 'movies', I shall focus on what I think is the best one: 'Oganga'. What appeals about this episode (East and Central Africa December 1916/January 1917) is that it covers a lot of ground. It commences with trench warfare, (and like the 'Trenches of Hell' - first episode) with a limited budget does a fair job of showing the horrors of the war. What both these episodes share is the idea of creating a human background: yes, there is a high body count (Indiana himself polishes off quite a few), but there are a number of supporting actors that do only support but whose partial verbal characterized presence helps to create a more natural feel; there are some very nice touches and great attention to detail rather than the usual awkward unrealistic silent treatment of the supporting cast. This is something that is missing from so many so-called Hollywood blockbusters, but here, with a budget of $1.5 million. Disobedience of orders leads to a successful engagement, and Indiana is suitably smug (again, one of the strengths of the series is that he does have feet of clay and is capricious and weak as the next man; he displays the rashness of youth, conceit of rank). The second part involves a hazardous mission from one side of Africa to the other, in which Albert Schweitzer pops up, with some nicely scored Bach to boot. The perilous river journey has shades of Conrad but as nods rather than outright imitation.
Overall, the second volume is great - the extras are much better than those of the first volume. The only slight irritation is the bucking of the original chronology; Austria March 1917 is paired with Petrograd July 1917 while Barcelona May 1917 is set with Prague August 1917. This has been done I think to keep a `serious' pair together while the latter pair is comic in tone: the weighty end of Petrograd would have been ruined with the farcical Prague following it.
I can't wait to start on with volume three now, but have the feeling that volume two will remain the best one by far.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A worthy successor to the excellent Season 1. Youthful Indiana (Sean Patrick Flanery) is now caught up in the events of 1916-1918 - meeting key figures who, if not already famous, very soon will be. Amongst much else,he experiences the horrors of trench warfare and suffers personal loss in the upheavals that beset Ireland and Russia. Throughout there is excitement and humour (a foretaste of the films), not to mention episodes that are genuinely moving. The photography is magnificent. (Just one dud - "Espionage Escapades" is a misguided attempt at farce, embarrassingly overacted and full of silly accents.)
What places the Young Indiana boxed sets in a class of their own are the accompanying documentaries (here over twenty four of them). These are frequently real eye-openers, shedding considerable light on the events depicted and people involved. (A pity, though, about the music - often it is not needed and intrudes.)
An ambitious project, on the whole splendidly realised. It offers much to entertain, inform and stimulate.
What places the Young Indiana boxed sets in a class of their own are the accompanying documentaries (here over twenty four of them). These are frequently real eye-openers, shedding considerable light on the events depicted and people involved. (A pity, though, about the music - often it is not needed and intrudes.)
An ambitious project, on the whole splendidly realised. It offers much to entertain, inform and stimulate.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great DVD at a very competitive price!
Well, if you have seen Indiana Jones and you want to know more about its background and story... then this is perfect for you! Read more
Published 20 months ago by Vittorio
priceless
I am Janpanese. In Japan, the adventures of young Indiana Jones were aired in 1993 when I was high school student. Read more
Published on 22 May 2010 by Masahiko Suzuki
indiana
arrived in excellent condition and in a fast time, as much as you can ask for
Published on 13 Mar 2010 by C. S. Shead
Dr Jones but not as you know him
It says a lot about a television programme when the documentaries on the dvd are far more interesting than the programme. Read more
Published on 7 July 2009 by Tome Raider
R. Cavazzana
The Indiana Jones chronicles volume 2 is awesome. The adventures of Henry Jones junior during the first world war are amazing. And whats even better are the extra features. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2009 by R. A. S. Cavazzana
Superb
Volume Two is all about the World War One years. They have some interesting historical characters, such as Charles Du Gaulle, Sigfried Sassoon... Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2008 by L. A. Pepper
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
