Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

(Flash Review)The final of the core three movies, this wasn't as good as I remember or it has aged poorly. This opens with an off-putting flashback of how Jones got his funny quirks with his attachment to his hat, fear of snakes, etc... It felt poorly done and hokey with lame humor. Back to present time now, Jones is on the hunt for the chalice Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. He follows some clues with an attractive woman, gets followed by some bad guys who know what he's is searching for; cue hammy hi-jinks and you know the drill. The antagonist believes he will acquire eternal life if his drinks from the chalice and he must snatch it before Jones can. While fun and adventurous, it felt stale as the humor and gags felt tired and worn yet it had decent effects for 1989. It was fine but was a far cry from the amazing Raiders of the Lost Ark.

RELEASED IN 1989 and directed by Steven Spielberg, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" has Jones (Harrison Ford) globetrotting for the Holy Grail and, along the way, teaming up with his father (Sean Connery). Alison Doody plays an Austrian colleague of the latter.After the cartoony farce of "Temple of Doom" (1984), Spielberg went back to the blueprint of "Raiders of the Last Ark" (1981) to make this third film in the franchise. The problem is that, while good in many ways, "Last Crusade" is second-rate by comparison. "Raiders" copped the perfect tone for this kind of adventure flick: Quasi-realistic with a fun, kinetic edge. As wild as the actions scenes in "Raiders" were, most of them were later reenacted on a TV show in order to see if they were plausible, and they were! Unfortunately, "Last Crusade" mixed the plot of "Raiders" with the silliness of "Temple" and so many of the action sequences smack more of a cartoon than reality. The escape from the zeppelin in the parasite biplane is a good example. Then there's the silly bickering and bumbling of father and son, like when they're tied-up in the castle or facing the Nazis in (what is now) Turkey.Thankfully, there are eventually some good scenes between the two, which shed insight on them and their troubled relationship. And the globetrotting is great, starting with Arches National Park, then Venice, an Austrian-German castle, Berlin and Turkey. While cartoony and second-rate (compared to "Raiders"), the action sequences are often fun and thrilling. And the striking Doody is fine on the female front. Some critics wrote her character off as a "blonde bimbo," but this is inexplicable seeing as how she's palpably intelligent and sophisticated. Regrettably, the climax is overlong and curiously dull despite its attempt at spiritual profoundness.THE MOVIE RUNS 127 minutes and was shot in Arches National Park, Utah; Hertfordshire, England; Venice, Italy; Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; London & other places in England; numerous locations in Spain; Colorado; Amarillo, Texas; New Mexico; and Petra, Jordan. WRITERS: Jeffrey Boam wrote the script from the story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes.GRADE: B-

The Indiana Jones trilogy concludes with this epic face off between Indiana Jones and the Third Reich. Sean Connery gives a terrific performance as Indiana's father and really adds class to the film. The film is exciting and mystifying, dealing with highly mysterious religious mythology and artifacts.The religious aspect of the film definitely adds to the thrill of the movie, but it's carefully not overdone. The enemy Nazis are very real and Indiana is as down to Earth as always, with refreshing and smart writing throughout the film.The cast is brilliant, with a welcome addition of John Rhys Davies. The score is sweeping and epic. Everything seems to come together for Indiana and his crew at the end of the original trilogy. Great film all around. Great adventure for all.

When I was a kid I was absolutely obsessed with Indiana Jones, it's one of the only franchises where my original impressions when I was young still Rings true to this day, when I first watch all the movies, this was my favourite of the 4 and to this day The Last Crusade is still my favourite entry in the series. One thing I feel this movie does better than any other movie in the franchise is how it characterises Indiana Jones, we actually learn a lot about him in this movie, the opening Flashback was a great way to set up what we've been lead to believe about him and it does this without dialogue but with actions that lets you take it in more. I also adored the inclusion of his father in this movie, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford played of teach other perfectly, it was such a good way to humanise his character and give him some extra vulnerability that he didn't have in the first two films. The set pieces in this film are still absolutely phenomenal, they still hold up to this day. The tank and motorcycle chases still look great, they had real stakes and tension to them because you realise that they were filmed to be practical and realistic and like the past two, Jones isn't a perfect fighter and only just manages to get out of it. But the best set piece in the film is the trials for the holy grail at the climax. It was so good to see Jones use his mind to accomplish his goal rather than with his physical abilities, because of this there was so much tension due to the fact that you didn't know how he was going to get through it. The tone in this movie is perfect, it never feels muddled or conflicted. Large portions of The Last Crusade are hilarious, they integrate comedy into tense moments and it always feels consistent and just makes this film so much more enjoyable. Another thing I love about this movie is that it still has room more those more mature scenes, not necessarily dark but the tone can often shift to being a bit more sombre to suit more character building scenes and it's done so well. The main quest in this movie is my favourite one in large part due to the personal connection they gave it. They set it up as something Sean Connery's character has been searching for over his life and it gets you more invested in where it's going because of that. They use the fact that it will fall into Nazi hands if they don't find it first but it's not as effective a motivator as the emotional connection they gave it to Indy and his father. This has been and will always be one of my favourite movies, it's just Indiana Jones at his best. It's incredibly fun but still heartfelt, it takes lengths to develop the protagonist more and has a quest that the viewer can get more invested in. This (as well as the other 3 entries) is my childhood film that will always be with me. 10/10: A+ (Incredible)