Customer Rating: 
Summary: If Adventure Has a Name...
Comment: It must be Indiana Jones! German East Africa, 1916:
After taking the wrong train... twice, and managing to get lost even further still, Indy and Remy find themselves in the hands of the British Army instead of their own Belgians. With a promise to be returned to their own lines ASAP, Indy is shanghaied by a group of elderly commandos on a mission to find and destroy the Germans' newest secret weapon, an enormous cannon mounted on the flat car of a train; a train that seems to have the ability to vanish into thin air! Once free of that mission, Indy is tricked again, and soon finds himself in a balloon with Remy and a German strategic genius they've taken prisoner, flying low across the African landscape with enemy forces in hot pursuit.
The Phantom Train of Doom is another excellent chapter in the Indiana Jones saga. It's also a key chapter, since it is on this adventure where Indy truly learns the value of improvising, thinking on your feet, and making it up as you go. All those valuable lessons are taught to Indy by "The Old and the Bold" soldiers of the British Army, along with a new respect for those older than himself. But Indy also learns what it takes to be a good soldier from Von Lettow, his German captive. Lessons aside, there's no shortage of fun and action in this highly entertaining episode from the life of Young Indiana Jones.
Customer Rating:
Summary: We did kidnap my father! It's a nightmare!
Comment: All right, I'm biased. When I watched the whole series on TV I was only about 7, so my memories of most of the episodes are all but nonexistent. "Phantom Train" is one of the exceptions, and the most vivid in my mind. So naturally I enjoyed watching it again, even more than the others. It's great as a breather between "Trenches of Hell" and "Oganga", which are very thoughtful and serious. It is a tad hokey, but in that respect most like the Harrison Ford movies. Indy undergoes character developement, however, which is good. The first half has plenty of action, but Indy learns his lesson of the day, and this lesson actually sticks with him and is seen in the movies. That is, that the ability to improvise is a quality.The second half seems slow when compared with the first, but doesn't end up being anticlimatic. Von Lettow was really great as the stodgy German general, who reminds Indy of his father (see review title). The German woman who manages to shampoo and condition her hair out in the wilds was, in my opinion, a yawner. But she didn't figure in all that prominantly, so it wasn't too bad.
Five stars for all the times I was able to say, "I remember this part!"
Customer Rating:
Summary: VERY, VERY GOOD VIDEO
Comment: I've been an Indiana Jones fan for over six years and this was one of the first young Indy videos I watched. I have seen about half of the episodes available on video and so far this is still my favorite. It had a good story with good acting and great special effects. It is a classic tale of adventure in Africa. In the first part of the video Indy accidently goes on a mission to blow up a mysterious train with a flat-bed mounted cannon that has been shelling allied troops but cannot be found. In the second part of the video, Indy and his army buddy Remmy try to survive the wilds of Africa with an important german military prisoner. They run into hostile bush-men, lions, and are being pursued by the entire German army the whole time. Action-packed and full of surprises along with nice bits of humor in appropriate places this video should delight anyone intereseted in Indiana Jones.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Saturday matinee fun
Comment: The first hour is pure fun, the action has all the wit and humor of Raiders or Last Crusade, with a wonderful contrast between Young Indy and the much older soldiers.The second continues all of the wit and humor, yet adds a thoughtful look at Indy's search for father figures to replace his own estranged father, Prof Henry Jones Sr.
Quick, some lead a crusade to persuade Viacom (Paramount's parent company) that either of their networks CBS or UPN needs to make more Young Indy movies! We'll all be right behind you!
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Train" lays down tracks for the developing Indy's character
Comment: In his filmed introduction, George Lucas describes "Phantom Train of Doom" as one of his favorite Young Indy stories. For once, his perception of his own work isn't inflated. This is great Saturday afternoon matinee material, as the series was always intended to be. Like the equally exciting "Daredevils of the Desert", this episode succeeds because it is plausible, its historical figures are limited, and its two hours--filmed at different times--are knitted together extremely well.Hour One has us meeting a very young Indy, indeed. This Indy is a relatively new inductee into the Belgian Army fresh off the boat to East Africa. Indy here is, well, uptight--more uptight than even the younger, River Phoenix portrayal. He likes plans, orders. He hasn't learned yet to say, "I don't know, I'm making this up as I go along". But the group of older soldiers he meets in East Africa soon teach him the value of flexibility. They teach him, in short, how to improvise. In the process, we're shuttled along on a rollicking great adventure.
Hour Two largely reverses Hour One and shows us--and Indy--that improvisation can only successfully begin from a position of discipline. Demonstrating the point is a finely-acted General Von Lettow Vorbeck, Commander of the German forces in East Africa, who variously plays captive and captor. It is a fascinating study in the relative values of luck and strategy. Lucas' choice of von Lettow, along with the apparently accurate 'elderly regiment', is, to my mind, what Lucas should've been doing in most of the episodes. By chosing people who are at once historically important, yet relatively unknown to modern audiences, Indy's association with them doesn't feel so blatantly contrived as in other episodes. Also, by concentrating almost exclusively on Von Lettow in the second hour, we really get a chance to understand the character in a way we never did in, say, "Mystery of the Blues", where historical figures virtually flooded the plot. Here, with just the single villain, we have an enjoyable game of cat and mouse, somewhat akin to "Silence of the Lambs", where we at once dislike and admire our antagonist.
What Hour Two ultimately says, then, is that, while fortune does indeed favor the bold, heroic outcomes are largely the result of ordinary hard work. Ford's Indy has obviously learned the lesson well. For all the action and adventure we see in the films, there's also a lot of study and hard work before Indy ever dons the leather jacket. It is, for the audience, a lesson far more valuable than the history on offer.
