Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

An army of fascists seek to plunder, an artefact so precious it's a wonder, an archaeologist will resist, using whips and guns and fist, in a treasure of a film, packed with adventure.

There are puzzles to be solved and riddles broken, the dialogue's a joy, beautifully spoken, action packed from start to end, returns a massive dividend, engaging all the way, and thought provoking.

"Last Crusade" is always a joy to watch. At 2hr 7 mins the time just flies by, there is never a dull moment. There is a great variety of action, they manage to fit in horseback, train, car, airplane, boat, motorcycle and tank action scenes. All of these scenes are done at the very top of their class.

All the main cast work off of each other perfectly, and there is fantastic chemistry between Sean Connery and Harrison Ford as the father/son duo at the core of this film. The real predecessor to Indiana Jones is James Bond, so it makes sense that Sean Connery would play the father of Indiana Jones. But beyond stunt casting, Sean Connery's Henry Jones is a delight, and is memorable in every scene he is in.

This film also blends together action and comedy perfectly. It never clashes with the tone and always allows the serious moments to sink in. But when they do a joke, it is legitimately a very funny joke.

And how I can go without mentioning the music? John Williams delivers some of the best music of his career in this entry. The music compliments what is going on on screen so well, you could picture the scenes in your mind just through listening through the soundtrack.

Where some may prefer "Raiders of the Lost Arc" for its originality and grit, I prefer "Last Crusade" for its refining and perfecting everything the series had set up. The ending of this film is also just more satisfying and exciting than the ending of "Raiders". The Holy Grail is the best maguffin of the series, and possibly of all time. There is something inherently legendary about people questing to find the Holy Grail.

If you haven't seen this film: WATCH IT. If you have seen this film a dozen times already: go ahead and watch it again. It is always entertaining, exciting and illuminating. What a great way to END a great trilogy.

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 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

Everything clicks in this action-packed cliffhanger. In his third (and what for years what thought to be his last) adventure, Indy is on the hunt for that ultimate treasure, the Holy Grail. Along the way he must contend with Nazis, a secret brotherhood and, of course, snakes. Sean Connery is a wonderful addition as Indy's father, and the chemistry between he and star Harrison Ford may just be one of the best in film history. The movie is a true rarity in that its attempts to outdo each preceding chase sequence succeed. Though children might have trouble interpreting the plot, this crusade is one people of all ages will enjoy.