The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye

RELEASED TO TV IN 1995 and directed by Carl Schultz, "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye" features 20 Year-old Indiana Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery) and his tubby pal, Remy (Ronny Coutteure), globetrotting from Belgium at the end of WWI to Egypt and, eventually, SE Asia and New Guinea, obsessed with finding a fabled lost diamond that belonged to Alexander the Great. The antagonists they face include a dubious man with an eye-patch, Asian pirates and (maybe) hostile islanders.

This was the second of four such movies with Flanery as the title protagonist, released from 1994-1996; although, chronologically, it was the third movie. Remy only appears in the first two and, for me, Coutteure didn't work in the role. Why? Because he's SO overweight that it's impossible to buy him as a WWI trench soldier or a world-traveling adventurer. The movie scores pretty well on the female front with cutie Jayne Ashbourne as Lily and Alice Lau as an Asian pirate, but neither lasts overly long, which is one of the problems with this movie: Characters come-and-go (usually dying) with Jones & Remy the only two constants.

Aside from the opening in the Belgium trenches, the first act is kind of tedious, but things perk up by midway with Lily and the Asian pirates; then the story bogs down again on an island in the South Pacific, although things get interesting when the real-life anthropologist of that period enters the proceedings, Bronislaw Malinowski (Tom Courtenay). Some people complain about the ending but I found the lesson that Malinowski teaches young Indiana compelling and inspiring.

Being a TV movie, "Treasure of the Peacock's Eye" of course lacks the production quality of the theatrical blockbusters, but it's not bad all things considered. It's the segmented story where I have a problem: The plot is just an excuse to thrust the treasure-hunters from one short-lived adventure to another; all the peripheral characters are thin as notebook paper and quickly discarded. Nevertheless, the movie contains likable heroes and the misadventures & intrigue that go with a treasure quest.

THE FILM RUNS 94 minutes and was shot in Bangkok & Phuket, Thailand (and, presumably, S. Cal., since there aren't any deserts in Thailand). WRITER: Jule Selbo.

GRADE: C+

Considering that this is a made-for-TV movie, I have to give it an 8 out of 10. Great acting, good plot, exciting actions and fun to watch. If you like Indiana Jones or Sean Patrick Flanery, you've gotta see this!

This movie was loads of fun. It's obviously made-for-TV, but still has a higher production value than most of them.

The story follows a 20-year-old Indy (Flannery) and his friend Remy from the battlefields of Belgium to the South Pacific in search of a precious gem.

Along the way we get to peak inside young Indy as he must decide whether it's the prize or the chase that he loves.

All-in-all fun family fare. If you're a big Indy fan, I recommend this flick to add to your collection.

I like this one because it's the closest I've seen in the series that is like the Indiana Jones Films. I would love to see more episodes like this.

So Young Indy and his friend Remy come home from the war and with a map and some dying soldier telling them about the eye of the peacock, they decide to go treasure hunting.

They meet a girl and get into some hi jinks as they are following some one eyed man that they get into fights with. There's a pretty cool fight on the boat with a bunch of pirates. Then the film goes pure Lucas on an island as they are captured by natives. Then Indy meets some guy who teaches him that he doesn't need the diamond which negates his fortune of glory in Temple of Doom.

This is an action packed thrill ride with a wonderful score by Steven Bramson. Some say the last third is boring since there's no longer any action but I liked the performances here and this is technically the last you see of Remy in the timeline. I wish there was a third season to flesh out the story. It's a great series!

The first half of this straight to video film (it's comprised of 2 episodes from the show) is filled with great humor, ancient treasures and all the swashbuckling action and adventure Indian Jones fans have come to love.

The second half of the film slows down considerably. As mentioned above, the film is actually 2 episodes from the show, and like most t.v. shows, many episodes have distinctly different feels from one another (E.R. for example may have a more light hearted episode occasionally, or one that focuses primarily on one character). Unfortunately, the two shows, while making sense to put them together makes as they are in sequential order, they don't match up very well in tone on style. While the first half is a lot of Indy style action, the second slows to an almost crawl. The first half many will prefer, but the second has it's own merit as well. The two just do not flow together very well.

Still a strong exciting and funny first half (Flanery really gets to do the Indiana Jones thing in this one!), and an interesting (if a bit too ponderous) second half still make up a strong if slightly disjointed finished product. A must see/own for Indy Jones fans, and worth if only to see the invaders fighting Indy on the Ocean liner! A sequence more than worthy in the Indiana Jones adventures!