Here, though, the liberties taken are so great that, although there are some fascinating character development moments, the weakness of plot premise prevents us from getting lost in the story. It is simply too fantastic a leap of faith to believe that Indiana Jones would somehow get involved with Hollywood's nascent film industry. Worse, even if one could forgive Indy's presence in Hollywood, the historical figures he meets are far too conveniently placed in the plot for us to revel in their discovery. On the other hand, the Indy on display here is very much Indiana Jones. There is a level of resourcefulness and cunning which sometimes makes us think we're watching Ford, not Flanery.

At once this film suffers from the series' worst quality (implausibly putting Indy at George Lucas' historical mercy) and benefits from its best (giving Flanery some moments to show us the glint in Harrison Ford's eye).

Thus, though the premise of the story is deeply flawed, we do care about the relationships Indy forges here. The entire first hour is very much foreshadowing for his relationship with Belloch (and other rogue archaeologists) from the theatrical film series. Likewise, the untenable romantic relationship lays the groundwork for the Professor Jones we see in "Raiders": a man who would probably like to commit to a woman, but who can't quite seem to get there because the kind of woman he likes has a very full plate herself.