|
by Rick Norwood
| ||
|
SF on TV | ||
I've been watching The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, now out on DVD. The quality of this series is uneven,
depending largely on how much involvement George Lucas has with a particular episode. Since the shows are presented in
chronological order, instead of in the order they were filmed, there are some jarring changes in tone, often between
one episode and the next, now grouped back-to-back as two-hour "movies."
Here is an episode guide and star ranking (but really, subtract half a star from all rankings in honor of
the Hebrew God). These are ratings as television shows. None of the TV shows come close to any of the movies.
The episode in Greece has a neat puzzle and solution. The Benares episode has a good discussion of religion, along
with an example of the imperviousness of religious belief to hard facts. The first Princeton episode is loosely based on
the Nancy Drew books. The story set in Prague is a misguided attempt at screwball comedy. The only fantasy
episode is the one set in Transylvania. Harrison Ford appears briefly at the beginning and end of the Chicago
story. The New York episode is really pretty stupid, but redeemed by the intelligent use of George Gershwin music throughout.
The prologue of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade occurs in 1912, between Journey of Radiance and Spring
Break Adventure. Raiders of the Lost Ark picks up the story in 1936. The framing story with Harrison Ford in
The Mystery of the Blues is set at an unspecified date in the 50s. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull takes place in 1957. And the "Old Indy" scenes, none of which are included in any of the home video
versions, are set in the "present day," that is, in the 90s. I was hoping that the DVD would include the "Old Indy"
bits, but they don't. Afraid of unfavorable comparisons to Harrison Ford?
The bonus features are generally excellent, especially the ones about the Treaty of Versailles after the end of The Great War.
Speaking of George Lucas, I saw the preview of the animated feature Clone Wars last night, and it looks god awful.
SF on TV in July
Coming in August, more Stargate Atlantis and the Season Four finale
of Doctor Who. The Doctor returns in 2009.
| ||
|
Rick Norwood is a mathematician and writer whose small press publishing house, Manuscript Press, has published books by Hal Clement, R.A. Lafferty, and Hal Foster. He is also the editor of Comics Revue Monthly, which publishes such classic comic strips as Flash Gordon, Sky Masters, Modesty Blaise, Tarzan, Odd Bodkins, Casey Ruggles, The Phantom, Gasoline Alley, Krazy Kat, Alley Oop, Little Orphan Annie, Barnaby, Buz Sawyer, and Steve Canyon. |
Chapter 1: 1908, My First Adventure, Egypt (***), Tangiers (***)
Friday, July 11
 
|