While this film tries to examine some of the more tedious parts of espionage work, this episode is easily the weakest of the The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Vol. 2: The War Years set. While all of the other episodes contain sharp dialogue and wonderful action sequences, “Espionage Escapades” drags on in a lot of places and looks like something the Marx Brothers should have made.
Special features include: “Impresario: Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes,” “Ballet: The Art of Dance” and Franz Kafka’s Dark Truth.”
Disc eight is titled “Daredevils of the Desert.” Ordered to assist the British (via a suggestion from Lawrence of Arabia) in an attack on the ancient Middle Eastern desert town of Beersheba, Indy goes undercover with a beautiful female spy (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Relying on his wits and her knowledge of the Middle East and mastery of belly dancing, the duo work desperately to disable the explosives placed in the city’s vital water wells by occupying Turks.
The story culminates in a spectacular cavalry charge by the soldiers of the Australian Lighthorsemen Regiment whose survival depends on the success of Indy's mission.
Special features include: “Lines in the Sand: The Middle East and the Great War and “Col. Lawrence’s War: T.E. Lawrence and Arabia.”
Disc nine is an interactive disc that includes and interactive timeline (on DVD-ROM), the “Historical Lecture War and Revolution” by H.W. Brands (Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin), and the "Special Delivery” Interactive Game (DVD-ROM).
Though some fans will undoubtedly be unhappy with some of the edits George Lucas has made to the original series to create The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Vol. 2: The War Years, this is ultimately a must-have set for any Indiana Jones fan. The plethora of special features on this set is amazing. Lucas deserves credit for using this set as a history lesson by including several hours of relevant documentaries with the episodes.
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