Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Release Date: May 1989

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Rated: PG-13

Cast:
Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones
Sean Connery: Henry Jones
Denholm Elliot: Marcus Brody
John Rhys-Davies: Sallah
Allison Doody: Elsa
Julian Glover: Walter Donovan
River Phoenix: Young Indiana Jones

In 1981, audiences were introduced to one of the most iconic film heroes of all time: Indiana Jones.  The movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark.  It was a wild ride from start to finish with exciting action, great writing and an astounding cast.  It also boasted some awesome special effects.  It was such a success that a follow-up film was commissioned: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  Released in 1984, Temple of Doom was released to mixed reviews with some praising it for being an exciting thrill-ride and others lambasted it for being too dark and overly violent.  I would certainly agree that the second film took a very dark turn as far as Indiana Jones goes, but it still retained that amazing sense of adventure that has become the trademark of the Indiana Jones films.  In 1989, audiences once again took another ride with Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Only this time, Indy wasn’t alone.  He brought father along for the ride.

The movie opens in Utah in 1912 as a troupe of Boy Scouts are exploring southern Utah when young Indiana Jones(River Phoenix, Harrison Ford)comes across a gang of hooligans who have discovered the Cross of Coronado in one of the caves.  Believing that artifact belongs in a museum, he steals it and escapes with the thugs in hot pursuit.  Indy manages to escape the thugs only to lose the artifact to them when the “owner” of the cross wants it back.  Years later, Dr. Jones has been captured with the cross in his possession.  He eventually escapes and returns to his university when he’s contacted by wealthy businessman Walter Donovan(Julian Glover)and is told that there is a mission to reclaim the fabled Holy Grail.  Initially refusing, Indy learns that his father, Henry Jones(Sean Connery) who was obsessed with the Grail, has vanished.  In the previous films, each film centered around a particular supernatural object.  Raiders, dealt with the Ark of the Covenant and Temple of Doom dealt with the fictional Sankara Stones.  With Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Holy Grail is the object which is being sought by the villains.  For Indy, finding his father is more important, and that’s one of the main reasons why Last Crusade is such an amazing movie.

Steven Spielberg once claimed that the James Bond movies were the inspiration for Indiana Jones, so he cast the original James Bond as Indy’s father, Henry Jones.  The casting couldn’t have been more perfect.  When Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are on the screen together, it’s movie magic.  These two bounce off each other incredibly well.  While Temple of Doom was a very dark chapter in the series, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade does a complete 180 and ends up being a much lighter film than the original and it works.  The father-son dynamic between between Indy and Henry Jones allows for some pretty hilarious moments.  It also works because while the characters are estranged from each other, the further into the film you get, the more these two begin to bond over the course of the adventure and it makes for an incredibly compelling story.  Along for the journey are returning characters Marcus Brody(Denholm Elliott)and Sallah(John Rhys-Davies).  Brody’s character is completely out of his element when he joins Indy on his quest to find his father, and some of the funniest moments in the movie deal with Brody’s “fish-out-of-water” situation.  The villains in the film are the Nazis again, with Colonel Vogel(Michael Byrne)as the villain that Indy gets to beat up.  Donovan is the main villain of the film, but there’s a twist regarding Indy’s love interest, Elsa.  Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones at this point, nobody can take his place now.

The action in this film is simply spectacular.  Raiders of the Lost Ark had the fight around the plane and the huge desert chase scene.  Temple of Doom had the opening brawl in the nightclub, the fights in the mine, the mine car chase scene and the bridge sequence.  Each of those pieces were fun to watch and were extremely memorable.  Because of Sean Connery’s presence in The Last Crusade, the action is amped up considerably and makes it more personal for Indy.  From the opening train sequence in 1912 to the escape from the Nazi castle the film leads up to one of the most amazing chase sequence put to film:  The tank sequence.  From horseback to fighting on the tank itself as well as inside the tank, the action in the film doesn’t let up and it really makes it feel like Indy is in real danger.  The boat chase is probably one of the most exciting scenes I’ve ever seen.  It’s fast-paced, explosive and intense.  Obviously, there’s a whole lot to love about this movie.  If there’s a downside to the movie, it’s that it has to end sometime.

This being and Indiana Jones film, we rightfully expect to see some very spectacular set pieces.  I’m not talking about the action, but rather the sets themselves.  From the caves at the beginning of the film to the deserts, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade definitely cements Indy as the world’s foremost globe-trotting adventurer.  In fact, for the final action sequence, the cast and crew are on location in Petra, Jordan.  The city literally carved out of stone is one of the most visually unique places in the world, and Steven Spielberg uses it perfectly for the film’s climax.  There’s no CG or visual trickery.  That is Petra they are standing in front of.  The interior of the temple is obviously on a set, but the exterior is just phenomenal to see.  John Williams is the master of the film score, and his work on the Indiana Jones films is nothing short of legendary.  From the iconic March of the Raiders theme, to Henry Jones’ theme, the music to Indiana Jones is filled to the brim with adventure and excitement.  If there is a perfect movie to cap off a movie trilogy, it’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  Sadly, it wasn’t the final film in the series, as a fourth film was released in 2008.  But that’s for my next review.  At the end of the day, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is one of the best and most memorable action movies of the 1980s.  10/10 is as good as it gets.

 

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