Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Paramount/Action-Adventure-Fantasy RT: 127 minutes Rated PG-13 (mild language, violence, frightening images, some sexual innuendo) Director: Steven Spielberg Screenplay: Jeffrey Boam Music: John Williams Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe Release date: May 24, 1989 (US) Cast: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, River Phoenix, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Robert Eddison, Richard Young, Alexei Sayle, Alex Hyde-White. Box Office: $197.1M (US)/$474.1M (World)
Rating: *** ½
After going dark in Temple of Doom, director Steven Spielberg returns to the lighter tone that made Raiders of the Lost Ark the classic action-adventure that it is. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the third movie in the franchise, has the intrepid adventurer going after another Biblical artifact, the Holy Grail.
Spielberg ups the ante by bringing superstar Sean Connery (the first James Bond) into the series as Indy’s father. Not only that, he opens the movie with a bravura sequence featuring River Phoenix (Stand By Me) as teenage Indiana Jones. Think of it as a backstory of sorts as we learn the origin of his hat, bullwhip and ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) while he tries to keep a valuable golden cross out of the hands of thieves. The scene involves an exciting chase through a passing circus train. What a great way to kick things off!
As one who holds Raiders sacred, I was glad to see a return to form for the series. I went to see it opening day with my then-girlfriend who didn’t understand all the fuss about Indiana Jones and his adventures in archeology. I actually had to explain the Holy Grail to this clueless girl. Well, it’s a small price to pay for being one of the first to see Last Crusade.
After the opening sequence, the action jumps ahead twenty-six years to 1938 with Indy (Ford) re-acquiring the cross and donating it to the museum of his friend and colleague Marcus Brody (Elliott). Soon thereafter, he meets a very wealthy man named Walter Donavan (Glover, For Your Eyes Only) who informs him that his father Henry Jones Sr. (Connery) mysteriously vanished while searching for the Grail. You see, locating the cup that Christ drank from at the Last Supper has been a lifelong obsession of the senior Jones. It also caused a quite the rift between father and son.
Anyway, Indy receives his father’s diary in the mail from Venice, Italy. Naturally, it contains clues about the Grail’s location and his father’s whereabouts. He and Marcus are met in Venice by Dr. Elsa Schneider (Doody, Major League II), a colleague of his father’s who may know more than she lets on about his disappearance. Here’s the deal, the Nazis would also love to get their hands on the Grail. After all, the Ark of the Covenant worked out so well for them! I’m not going to divulge any more of Last Crusade other than to say that Indy also finds himself up against a secret society that protects the Grail from evildoers.
While I don’t think that Last Crusade is as great as Raiders, it is the second best entry in the series. It’s full of action and adventure. The special effects are quite good. Ford still seems to enjoy playing the role. Connery is an excellent addition to the cast. He and Ford work very well together. There’s also a fair amount of comedy in Last Crusade including a surprise encounter with Hitler himself at a book burning. There’s also an amusing bit on board the Hindenburg.
What I’m getting at is that Spielberg has the magic touch when it comes to movies like Last Crusade. At least he did back in the day. As much as I like it, there’s no denying that it doesn’t feel as magical as the first movie. For me, Raiders is one of the defining movies of my teen years. I wouldn’t say that about Last Crusade even though it reunites Indy with his old pals Marcus and Sallah (Davies). Frankly, Marcus comes off as a real buffoon in this movie. I think that was a wrong move on Spielberg’s part.
On the upside, he keeps the momentum going with the non-stop action and adventure as Indy races the bad guys for the Grail. When they finally reach their destination, it’s pretty cool. I also like how this adventure brings father and son closer together despite Henry Sr. embarrassing Indy at every turn. He reveals that his son took his nickname from the family dog. You gotta love parents, am I right?
In any event, Last Crusade would have been a great way to wrap up the series, but NO!!!! I may be getting ahead of myself (by almost two decades), but Spielberg had to make another Indiana Jones movie that proved to be one too many. I’ll discuss it in more detail in that review. But as far as Last Crusade is concerned, it’s a solid summertime action-adventure that reminds us that Hollywood used to make event movies that were actually good.
