As incredible as it may seem Harrison Ford is about to be in the first Indiana Jones movie in almost twenty years. Thankfully, fans all over the world there was something that would tide us over in that time. In the late nineties a television series stepped up to the plate to give the audiences a look at Indy as a young man, ‘The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones’. The original series aired from 1992 to 1993 but was cancelled before all the filmed episodes could be aired. Most were re-edited into 22 feature length television movies. Although the ratings were insufficient to maintain the series it rapidly was embraced by the fan base and the stories accepted as part of the Indiana Jones canon. Now with the forth adult Indy flick about to hit the movie screens we all have a chance to get another Jones fix and ramp up to get ready. Naturally both the younger and older ‘Indy Jones’ are part of the Paramount family. If you haven’t kept up with the television series they have come up with a different way of presenting the television films. The television seasons were not in chronological order so the folks over at Paramount have collected the movies into theme oriented box sets. The first was the earliest years of Indy’s adventures. Volume two concentrated on World War I and now the third set will look at the years between WWI and the adult Indy theatrical films set in World War II.

There is one thing that Paramount knows how to do; release spectacular DVD boxed mega sets. In this third volume set there are seven film length episodes, over thirty related featurettes tied to the episodes and a few general historical documentaries just for good measure. This method of presenting the series actually works out a lot better than the more usual method of demanding television episodes in the order they were aired or produced. This allows you to immerse yourself into this period of Indy’s life and the history of that time. Now that all three sets are available fans can have Indy weekends watching young Mister Jones grow up. This ten disc set is a fitting capstone for the television series and will both entertain and inform the whole family. This set does cost more than the typical television season set. Considering you are actually getting so many hours of fun and education it is well worth it.

The time span of this collection is covers some of the most fascinating time in history. It goes from the jubilation of ending the Great War through the hectic times of the roaring twenties and then on to the years where the world stage one again was in tumult and the Second World War was developing. Over this time Young Indy would meet the people who would alter the course of history and establish new and exciting means of artistic expression. You have great authors, the fall of one of the last empires and the birth of jazz and the blues. Indy was witness to the beginnings of Hollywood and the art of cinema and travel to remote lands to uncover the origins of the human condition. Playing the role of Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones as a young man is Sean Patrick Flanery. He is great in the role and a worthy predecessor to the part created by Ford. In each story Jones is tossed about by the forces that drive history. Most of the people he encounters are vital to the course of human development. This series gives young and old a chance to find out more about these times. It would be a great idea to watch with your kids and then go to a library together to research the men and women in Indy’s adventures. While fictionalized accounts there are enough facts to give a true picture of the times depicted.