Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)

8/10

Starring

Harrison Ford

Sean Connery

Denholm Elliott

Julian Glover

River Phoenix

Directed by Steven Spielberg

What could be better than seeing what led to the whip and the hat that became the trade mark of our hero; what could be better than seeing Indiana Jones on a quest with his father and probably his mentor as they face odds and spiritual powers in high places.

The thing that makes Indiana Jones movies a must watch is that it crosses various genres like action, adventure, thriller and spiritual/supernatural. Making sure that the viewer is intrigued by the blend. The father and son relationship is one blend that Spielberg did well as it was never a dull moment with the duo.

The chase scene in the train where we get to see young Indy in boys scout uniform is one scene that I very much applaud, as it does not play on your intelligence, and it explored the realms of revealing some of the attributes of Indy and what led to them.

The movie plot is centered on the Holy Grail. It starts with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late River Phoenix), where we get to see things that made Indy who he is like what led to his fear of snakes.

It moves from there to a classroom where Indy is teaching his students and was drawn away from his teaching again to embark on another adventure, to find the Holy Grail and his missing father. His adventure led to Nazi involvement as they want the Holy Grail and the eternal life that comes with it.

Shot in Spain, Italy, England, Turkey and Jordan, the movie was a financial success, earning over $474,000,000 in the box office and it went home with an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is directed by the legendary director Steven Spielberg who had to drop out of directing Big (1988) and Rain Man (1988) so as to fulfill his promise of making this movie with executive producer George Lucas.

The Last Crusade is the third installment (and was meant to be the last) in the Indiana Jones franchise.

The Raiders of the Lost Ark was seen by many as the best of the best when it comes to the Indiana Jones franchise as they saw Temple of Doom as falling short of the pedigree that the previous delivered. The Last Crusade was taken through writes and re-writers so that it can serve as an apology to fans and win back their love for the whip and the hat. To me Temple of Doom is not as bad as they say and Spielberg and Lucas owed no one nothing.

Here is one Indiana Jones you don’t want to miss and include in your collection as the first three are the classic and way ahead than the forth addition, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).