It shouldn't come as a surprise that the third and final set in The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones DVD series has arrived three weeks before the theatrical release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Even if there wasn’t a fourth Indy movie for fans to sink their cinematic teeth into, the third Young Indy set is one hell of a package, which just hit store shelves on April 29. To put things into perspective, although the 10-disc set only features the last seven episodes of the series, it goes ovet-the-top in bonuses with 31 documentaries, an interactive timeline, video game, and A LOT more, for a total of 26 hours of Young Indy entertainment. That's more than an entire day's worth of adventure and history.

Cracking the early whip:

Believe it or not, Indy’s exploits go back even further than The Raiders of the Lost Arc, as Jones has been getting into tricky situations throughout history, especially as a young man. In case you missed the first two volumes (if you're a fan, you need go back and pick those up as well), the third and final set continues to follow a younger Indiana around the globe in search of treasure and chance historical meetings with some of the most significant figures of the 20th century.

Starring Sean Patrick Flannery as a twenty-something Indiana Jones, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Three features the last seven adventures of Indy before his first big screen jaunt to find the Arc of the Covenant. Labeled the "Years of Change," we get to follow Jones’ globetrotting after the end of WWI, where Indy has some pretty interesting (sometimes lame) run-ins with the likes of Ernest Hemmingway, Al Capone, Louis Armstrong, and Dracula (Vlad the Impaler).

Episodes and highlights:

For those of you that haven’t seen the series, or even know much about it, this isn’t your typical adventure series. First, it’s from the creative mind of George Lucas, who had the proper cash to produce an amazingly high-quality television series. Just like previous volumes, the cinematography and sets are spectacular. It certainly makes sense considering the cast and crew actually traveled the world to film on location. Since this marks the end of young Indy’s adventures on DVD, you might find the final episodes a bit underwhelming as compared to the first two volumes. Still, a few highlights to watch out for include, "Treasure of the Peacock's Eye," which gives us the moment when Indy transfers from soldier to archeologist, the two-part "Winds of Change," which continues Indy’s transition from soldier to civilian and later finds him at the table during the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The final two episodes, "Scandals of 1920" and "Hollywood Follies," dovetail nicely with the big screen films, as Indy finds his way into show business, eventually starring in adventure serials, which inspired Lucas to write Indiana Jones in the first place.

Special features:

Documentaries... lots of documentaries!: Like I mentioned, Volume Three is top heavy on the documentary side, namely in historical value. Even fans who could care less about the past will be impressed by the sheer volume of info packed into the discs. Each disc serves up a wealth of goodness between bonuses and the episodes, with at least three hours of supporting material on the subject matter. For example, "Masks of Evil" offers up "For the People Despite the People - The Ataturk Revolution," "The Greedy Heart of Halide Edib," "Dracula - Fact and Fiction," and "The Ottoman Empire - A World of Difference." Sute the Vlad storyline in the episode is cool, but wait until you see the true story of the Impaler in the bonuses. There aren't many DVDs that come down the pike that serve up this many documentaries. You'll be busy for weeks.

Interactive timeline and video game: If you're a DVD junky that loves DVD-ROM goodies, you'll undoubtedly have even more fun with Young Indy. The timeline is very extensively informative and it kept me in front of the monitor longer than I expected. Although I lost track of time, I also got lost in the archival footage about the history of the world during the time of Indy’s adventures. Although a link to Google might have been sufficient, George Lucas also includes a list of additional sources to check out if fans want to continue their Indy related history lesson. On the gaming front, the Young Indy video game is a great way for younger viewers to get into history, the world, and Indiana Jones. If you wrap up a history lesson in a video game, kids will pay attention. Here's to hoping high-school classes will become their own unique video games.

Tales of Innocence

For the People Despite the People: The Ataturk Revolution

Hellfighters: Harlem's Heroes of World War One

Overall: In terms of entertainment value, even if you weren't a fan of the series, it really doesn't get much better than The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume Three. With 26 hours of Young Indy and real life adventures of the 20th Century, there's nothing to complain about at all. It’s also the perfect preamble to one of the biggest films of 2008, Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Crystal Skull.

-- Troy Rogers

       

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