Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg | 127 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Robert Eddison, Richard Young, Alexei Sayle, Isla Blair

Director Steven Spielberg says it’s his favorite ‘Indiana Jones’ movie and it’s not hard to guess why. Just like the first part ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ almost perfect in all areas and where this film may lack some of the adrenaline rush of ‘Raiders’ and the presence of Karen Allen, it is more than made up for by the father-son relationship that forms the main storyline next to all the action.

After the dark and for many disappointing ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’, Spielberg and creator/producer George Lucas return to the familiar themes: a search for a (Christian) religious object, with fanatical Nazis in their wake. This time, Indy even bumps into Adolf Hitler (Michard Sheard) himself during a book-burning parade. The breakneck feats, beautifully designed action scenes – including one with a huge German tank in the desert -, lots of humor and a lot of beautiful and completely different locations, make the film top entertainment.

At the beginning of the film, a long and beautifully nostalgic filmed segment (which is actually a movie in itself) zooms in on the childhood of Indiana Jones. River Phoenix, who died so tragically young, plays the young Indy here and the viewer learns a lot about Indy’s lifelong passion for artifacts and treasures. In some amusing scenes, the origins of his fear of snakes are also the use of his famous whip and how he appears from the scar on his chin. So it’s a celebration of recognition. After this, the film gets off to a good start, but after this exciting start, ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ can’t get any better.

Harrison Ford slips back into the title role of Indiana Jones and is back on track as the stunting, sometimes bumbling and sarcastic archaeologist cum adventurer. Indy had sidekicks before (Denholm Elliott as the otherworldly professor Marcus Brody and John Rhys-Davies reappear as the amusing Sallah) but the best (sparring) partner of them all is Sean Connery as Indy’s father, Henry Jones. While Connery isn’t really old enough to be Ford’s father, his old-fashioned appearance makes sure that isn’t a problem—and at the same time, Connery manages to put enough life into the role that he doesn’t come across as an old man. His Henry Jones is a connoisseur of the Middle Ages and avid hunter of the Holy Grail, who is captured by the Nazis. These are led by the sinister SS officer Vogel (Michael Byrne). Indy, in addition to Sallah, gets help from art historian Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), who previously worked with his father. Doody is the only real flaw on the acting front. She knows too little of her role and only pales in comparison to her predecessors, especially Allen. Furthermore, Julian Glover has a beautiful role as the slippery rich man Walter Donovan.

Many of the “regular” crew returned for the film: John Williams once again composed the music and created new variations on the well-known Indiana Jones theme, the cinematography of Douglas Slocombe (in his latest film) is classy. Sound Effects Man Ben Burtt (also known for ‘Star Wars’, among others) won an Oscar for “Sound Editing” together with Richard Hymns.

Given the advancing technology, the visual effects now seem a bit clumsy, especially the scene in which a German plane “drives” over a road, but that too has its charm in a film like this. There are some moments where Lucas and Spielberg lean a little too much on slapstick-like comedy, but luckily this doesn’t come at the expense of the action.

One of the nicest elements of the Indiana Jones series are the memorable moments, which ensure that you immediately know that it is an Indiana Jones film and which part it is. Whether it’s the rolling ball in part 1, the chase in the mine carts in part 2 or, as in this part, the chase with the tank or the trip with the Zeppelin, the makers always manage to come up with new and fresh action scenes.

‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ seemed to be the last adventure of the movie hero and the closing scene was a fitting end to the trilogy. Still, Lucas, Spielberg and Ford regularly reunited without agreeing on another sequel for a long time, but the series continued in 2008 with “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”