Plot
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father's footsteps and stop the Nazis.
Release Year: 1989
Rating: 8.3/10 (231,592 voted)
Critic's Score: 65/100
Director:
Steven Spielberg
Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody
Storyline Indiana Jones, famed adventurer and archaeologist acquires a diary that holds clues and a map with no names to find the mysterious Holy Grail- which was sent from his father, Dr. Henry Jones, in Italy. Upon hearing from a private collector, Walter Donavan, that the mission for the Holy Grail went astray with the disappearance of his father, Indiana Jones and museum curator Marcus Brody venture to Italy in search of Indy's father. However, upon retrieving Dr. Henry Jones in Nazi territory, the rescue mission turns into a race to find the Holy Grail before the Nazis do- who plan to use it for complete world domination for their super-race. With the diary as a vital key and the map with no names as a guide, Indiana Jones once again finds himself in another death defying adventure of pure excitement.
Writers: Jeffrey Boam, George Lucas
Cast: Harrison Ford
-
Indiana Jones
Sean Connery
-
Professor Henry Jones
Denholm Elliott
-
Marcus Brody
Alison Doody
-
Dr. Elsa Schneider
John Rhys-Davies
-
Sallah
Julian Glover
-
Walter Donovan
River Phoenix
-
Young Indy
Michael Byrne
-
General Vogel
Kevork Malikyan
-
Kazim
Robert Eddison
-
Grail Knight
Richard Young
-
Fedora
Alexei Sayle
-
Sultan
Alex Hyde-White
-
Young Henry Jones
Paul Maxwell
-
Panama Hat
Isla Blair
-
Mrs. Donovan
(as Mrs. Glover)
Taglines:
The man with the hat is back. And this time, he's bringing his Dad.
Filming Locations: Administration Building, Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $48,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $29,400,000
(USA)
(2327 Screens)
Gross: $494,800,000
(Worldwide)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Director Trademark:
[Steven Spielberg]
[father]
Henry Jones Sr. was never around after his wife died.
Goofs:
Continuity:
Jones Sr., inside the tank, shoots a cannon at a truck next to the tank. The truck explodes, and a (dummy) body flies up and toward the tank. But in the next shot, the body falls on the other side of the smoke cloud, far from the tank.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Scout Master:
Dismount!
User Review
The Last Crusade is the best of the Indy trilogy and the most fun one can have watching a movie.
Rating: 10/10
Rating: **** out of ****
My opinion of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade could be deemed
slightly biased. It is the first film I ever saw in theaters and it's
also the first movie I purchased on video. I even own the same,
worn-down, beat-up copy (and look upon it even more fondly than the
widescreen edition, for sentimental reasons, of course) (but nothing
beats the pristine quality DVD). I think it's fair to say it's this
movie that cemented my love of cinema, the high regard I hold for great
escapism, which is sorely lacking from today's cinema; movies that
should be fun now drag or bludgeon themselves with relentlessly awful
scripts or MTV-style direction that turns relatively simple scenes into
chaotic blurs. The Last Crusade may only be thirteen years old, but I
think I can safely say they don't make them like they used to.
The film stars, of course, Harrison Ford as Indy Jones, the
archaeologist/adventurer who's on yet another quest, this time to find
his father, who'd been searching for the Holy Grail. Said Dad is played
by none other than Sean Connery, whose highly charismatic performance
is quick to place this film, acting-wise, above the others in the
trilogy by giving Ford a genuine acting equal (let me put it this way,
he's only half a notch below Harrison Ford/Indy in charisma and appeal
if that tells you anything). The rest of the film focuses on this
ongoing journey between father and son (eventually joined along by
Sallah and Marcus Brody), complete with amazing action and stunt
sequences, clever humor, and nasty (but fun) surprises.
The script, by Jeffrey Boam, takes a few cues from Raiders of the Lost
Ark, but actually improves upon that story by paying more attention to
characterization. The delightful opening scene (all three movies really
open with a bang, don't they?); which details how young Indy got his
scar, whip, hat, and fear of snakes; makes for a better prequel than
Temple of Doom (and any of The Adventure of Young Indiana Jones, for
that matter).
The story is engrossing because there's a lot of fun clues offered
towards the location of the Grail and, thus, there's a lot of engaging
little discoveries (love the "X marks the spot" scene). I'm quite
certain, like with Raiders of the Lost Ark, the plot has a few holes,
but they're fairly hard to notice, and I've seen this movie quite a few
times, but maybe it's just my enjoyment of the film clouding that up.
Either way, it speaks volumes in favor of Spielberg's direction and the
performances.
Given that action and adventure is the series' selling point, you can
expect the thrills and wondrous delight of discovery delivered in
spades. The action scenes are terrific (and matched well with John
Williams' rousing, memorable score, also the best of the trilogy), the
best being a fantastic ten-minute chase sequence on board (and in) a
tank, possibly the best action sequence of Spielberg's career. I also
loved the motorcycle chase and the Zeppelin setpiece, where the heroes
go about dispatching of two enemy fighters in unexpected, but quite
hilarious, fashion. The climax, complete with frightening booby traps,
is a suspenseful venture into the unknown.
The Last Crusade is far more humor-oriented than its predecessors, but
part of the movie's effectiveness is that it's able to deliver belly
laughs without defusing the tension during the action sequences. Some
of the jokes are just brilliant, including one with Indy armed with a
Luger in confrontation with a trio of Nazis on board a tank that's even
funnier than the swordsman scene in Raiders (well, to me, at least).
The supporting cast is all-around superb; John Rhys-Davies is back as
Sallah, wonderful as ever and displaying a bit more enthusiasm
searching for the Grail than he did digging up the Ark of the Covenant.
The late Denholm Elliot also returns as Marcus Brody, the most lovable
goof of a museum curator. Alison Doody is interesting as Elsa, the
blonde historian whom Indy falls for; a twist involving her character
and her actions towards the climax make her not as one-dimensional as
she may initially appear. Julian Glover is the best of the main Indy
villains, he's far more menacing than Paul Freeman's Belloq and less
over-the-top but equally enjoyable as Amrish Pruri's Mola Ram. I also
enjoyed Michael Byrne's performance as the Jones hating Colonel Vogel,
who relishes in torturing Indy and his father. When it comes to pure
delightfully nasty villainy, Byrne is even more fun to watch than
Glover.
Harrison Ford delivers his best Indy performance (maybe even his best
performance, period) in this particular adventure. With the addition of
Connery as his father, it reveals a personal side to Indy we haven't
seen before. It's his rapport with Connery that strikes that spark that
separates this from 99% of the genre. They craft an uncannily touching,
funny, and genuine bond. That, coupled with the superb action and
thrills, solidifies The Last Crusade as the pinnacle of high adventure
summer entertainment.
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