Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was the third and final instalment in the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Whereas "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was a prequel to "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Last Crusade" is a true sequel. Apart from an opening scene relating an adventure of the teenage Indy as a Boy Scout in 1912, the action takes place in 1938, two years after "Raiders". (In this opening scene we learn how the hero got his nickname; Indiana is not, as I had always assumed, his home state, but a name borrowed from his pet dog).

Whereas "Raiders" was a great commercial and critical success, "Temple of Doom" received considerable criticism, both on account of its dark, gloomy atmosphere and its racist treatment of Indian characters. Steven Spielberg, therefore, was determined to make the third film lighter in tone, closer in spirit to "Raiders". Once again the villains are the Nazis, once again the plot involves the search for a legendary relic with mystical powers (in this case the Holy Grail which caused such excitement among King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table) and once again much of the action takes place in the Middle East. (This must be the only Hollywood film ever to be set- ostensibly- in the short-lived Republic of Hatay, formerly part of French Syria and today part of southern Turkey, which enjoyed a brief independence for several months in 1938/9. Most of the "Hatay" scenes, however, were shot in Spain, with the ruins of Petra, actually in Jordan, standing in for the temple in which the Grail is housed).

The film also introduces us to Indy's father, Henry Jones, Sr. The James Bond films were undoubtedly one of the inspirations for this franchise, and it was possibly in their homage that Sean Connery was cast as the elder Jones, even though he is only twelve years older than Harrison Ford. (That speedboat chase along the Venetian canals also seems to be homage to Bond). Like his son, Henry senior is an academic archaeologist and has gone missing while seeking the Holy Grail. Indy believes that his father is in danger and sets out to find him, a quest that will take him to Venice, Germany and ultimately Hatay. The main female character is Henry's colleague, Dr. Elsa Schneider, a glamorous Austrian blonde whose loyalties are ambiguous.

There is more stress on character development here than in other episodes of the franchise, with emphasis being placed on the father-son relationship. The film is not just about the search for the physical Holy Grail. Even in the Arthurian legend the Grail was as much a symbol as a physical object, and today the phrase "holy grail" is used metaphorically for anything which is desirable and much sought-after. The film is also about Indiana's search for his lost father and their efforts to re-establish a relationship which in the past has often been strained- the story's metaphorical Holy Grail. Ford and Connery are both good at bringing out this aspect of the story. There are also good contributions from Denholm Elliott as Indiana's bumbling colleague Marcus Brody and Alison Doody as the treacherous, seductively sinister Elsa.

After the awful "Temple of Doom", "Last Crusade" represents a welcome return to form, both for Spielberg and for Ford, who seemed ill at ease in the earlier film but here is back to his old ebullient self. The film contains a better balance of suspense and humour than did its pre

Fmovies: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade was, in my opinion, the best movie of the Indiana Jones trilogy. This movie featured the same type of humor we have become accustomed to from Jones, as well as another beautiful woman (also probably the best Indy girl) and lots of great action scenes! This movie starts off with a teenage Indy (River Phoenix) which gives us a look at an event that molds his life and character as well as his relationship with his father, Henry (Sean Connery). We also learn he is a "Junior" and that he hates to be called that.

Back as an adult, Indy's father is kidnapped and he must set out to find him. His only clues are his father's diary notes, which were mysteriously sent to him earlier that day. They lead him to Italy, where he meets the gorgeous blonde, Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), who becomes an integral part of this story.

Once again, the grown up Indy (Harrison Ford) does battle with the Nazis. Apparently, Adolf Hitler is after the Holy Grail, which contains the blood of Christ. So Indiana and his father team up to get there first. Along the way, there is a great action scene where Jones fights a few Nazis on board a moving tank.

Overall, as I mentioned earlier, I believe this to be the best Indiana Jones movie of the three. This action movie was good long before movie studios learned to make the great CGI and special effects. It's effects were pretty good anyways but back in 1989, things just did not look as good as they can make them today. Still, highly recommended and worth your time. 9.5/10

When the two greatest filmmakers in the world teamed up to create the best action movie of all time - Raiders of the Lost Ark, it seemed unlikely that they could duplicate their divinely-inspired work. After a miss with the entertaining yet forgettable Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade comes pretty close to doing just that.

Film history's most profitable star Harrison Ford returns to his signature role in a performance that speaks for itself, and benefits greatly from a gallery of memorable supporting characters. That includes Sean Connery, the grandest of all modern action day movie heroes (and appropriately cast, as the spiritual father of the character is James Bond). Connery plays against that, in a performance that is different than anything he has ever done, and it works. Even so, Denholm Elliott can't seem to help stealing every scene he's in as Marcus Brody, a lifelong friend of the Jones family.

This movie stands by itself in the way it deals with spirituality, and is thick with religious themes throughout, without preaching to you. This is a very difficult balance to achieve in any film, and that alone makes the film stand out as brilliant. It is more abundant with humor than the previous two films, without the characters falling into irritating self-parody. Being a sequel, this is a difficult balance to achieve as well. (Look at action sequels such as Lethal Weapon 4).

This film stands among the greatest action adventures of all time. I don't know anyone who hasn't seen it, but if you haven't, don't walk to see it. Run.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade fmovies. This was an amazing movie, my personal favorite in the Indy series. Has good plot, a lot of humor, and some emotion too. not to mention plot twists

Indiana Jones teams up with his father to try and locate the Holy Grail. Something that the Nazis are again particularly interested in themselves.

We didn't know it at the time, but every Indiana Jones fan on the planet presumed that The Last Crusade was to be the final film to feature the intrepid archaeologist. As it turned out, another film would surface in 2008, but casting that aside (as many would like to do), Last Crusade should, and is, judged as the trilogy closer it was meant to be.

In 1988 Steven Spielberg was deep into bringing Rain Man to fruition, all thoughts of Indiana Jones had gone by the wayside with the harshly judged part two, Temple Of Doom. In stepped George Lucas to politely remind Spielberg that they had an agreement to make another Indiana Jones picture, Spielberg no doubt obliged and humble, passed on his Rain Man work to Barry Levinson who promptly bagged himself an Oscar for the film. It can be guessed that Spielberg was probably grouchy around this period, but he needn't have worried, because The Last Crusade provided a much needed hit for not only himself (post Empire Of The Sun), but also Lucas (Willow) and Harrison Ford (Frantic).

I mention the run up to this picture because it explains a lot on why the film is pretty much a retread of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, something that some detractors find unforgivable. Yet Last Crusade is still an immensely enjoyable adventure picture, with Spielberg proving that he was still capable of a popcorn bonanza. Using the Raiders formula and moving away from the dark flourishes of Temple Of Doom, Last Crusade is actually the simplest film of the three, but still it manages, courtesy of a sparkling casting decision, to become the most entertaining of the original trilogy. Is it better than Raiders? Of course not, but it positively rips along with sparky dialogue and an agenda of cliffhanging suspense like the adventure films of yore.

In comes Sean Connery as Dr Jones Senior, and its the picture's trump card, because the magnificent interplay and obvious rapport with Ford (cool as a cucumber) is there for all to see. It's this what drives the film on through the more mundane and picture filler sequences, showcasing two top wily professionals with care and consideration to their craft. The casting of Alison Doody as the main female is a poor one, and one only has to look at her subsequent career post Crusade to see she wasn't up to the task here. Bonus comes in the form of the River Phoenix prologue, Phoenix as the young Indiana paves the way for the jaunty path that Crusade takes, whilst simultaneously giving us a nice little back story from which to launch the adventure.

Made for $48 million, the film went on to gross $474,171,806 Worldwide, now that's a lot of people who evidently were happy with Raiders Of The Lost Ark 2! And I gleefully count myself amongst that number. 9/10

Indiana Jones, the man, the legend, the whip. Everyone I know has seen at least one of the Indiana Jones movies and usually Raiders of the Lost Ark is their favorite. Now I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark, I also really loved Temple of Doom even though it gets a lot of hate for it's darkness. But The Last Crusade is my favorite of the trilogy and the strongest in my opinion. For goodness's sake we have Sean Connery as Indiana's father, how could we get any better than that? I love his way of saying "Junior!", always gets me in a good chuckle. Harrison Ford still has that same Indy charm that swoons the ladies, the adventure that captivates the guys and takes us on an incredible journey that we'll never forget.

In 1938, Indiana finally recovers the Cross and donates it to his friend Marcus Brody's museum. Indiana is later taken to the residence of wealthy businessman Walter Donovan, who informs him that his father has vanished while searching for the Holy Grail, leaving behind partial directions from an incomplete stone tablet along with his diary containing his life's work on the Grail. Indiana and Marcus travel to Venice to investigate Henry's disappearance, meeting up with his colleague Elsa Schneider. Discovering catacombs beneath the library where Henry was last seen, Indiana and Elsa find the tomb of Sir Richard, a knight of the First Crusade who is buried with a complete version of the tablet. Indiana finds his father, only to be betrayed by Elsa, who reveals that she and Donovan are working with the Nazis to find the Grail. The Nazis steal the Grail diary and capture Marcus in Iskenderun, where he was sent with pages from the diary to seek the protection of Sallah. The Joneses manage to escape the castle and follow the Nazis to Berlin, where they recover the diary from Elsa. The Joneses, Marcus and Sallah arrive to find that the Nazis are unable to pass through three "trials" of God. After Indy's father gets shot, he doesn't have much of a choice as to pass the trials and choose the correct cup to save his father's life.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is one of my favorite movies of all time, it's just a flawless movie that will always be timeless. My future kids will watch these movies, they're just a lot of fun. Who said archeology can't be fun? This also has one of the most exciting chase scenes of all time, Indiana is trying to rescue his father and a friend from a Nazi tank and he is on a horse, a brutal fight ensues and was just so exciting to watch. I've watched this movie since I was a little girl and I still watch it with pleasure today, even with my friends we love watching Indiana and his adventures. They're an absolute blast and if you haven't seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, please take the first opportunity you have to watch it, it's a great movie.

10/10