Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Best sequel of the series.

In 1938, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) has discovered a diary and a map that can lead to the holy grail of Christ. Unfortunately his father Henry (Sean Connery) has been kidnapped by the Nazis as he heads to Venice where he meets up with a gorgeous nazi woman named Dr. Elsa Schnedier (Allison Doody) and private collector Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) to help rescue Henry. After they have rescued Henry, they must try to find the Holy Grail before the Nazis do cause the Nazis want to take over the world with super nazis if they were granted the powers.

Brilliant sequel that manages to improve over the dark and gruesome "Temple of Doom" and just as good as the first installment. This is a very entertaining sequel with all the goods like great acting especially from the late River Phoenix and John Rhys-Davis as Sallah, fantastic special effects like the amazing death of Donovan, action, a little romance and of course humor. This is a great movie from both Steven Spielburg and George Lucas as they made a truly solid installment that is very satisfying.

This DVD contains excellent picture and sound with good extras like an introduction by Spielburg and Lucas, three featurettes, photo galleries and a DVD-rom PC Lego Indiana Jones demo. June 18, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Review

With a plot reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the third Indiana Jones installment sees the return of a winning formula.

It's 1912 and young Indiana Jones (River Phoenix) risks his life to save Coronado's Cross. But his father (Sean Connery) is not impressed. We jump to 1938 and Indy (Harrison Ford) discovers that his father has gone missing while searching for the Holy Grail, a cup endowed with miraculous powers due to Jesus having drunk from it before his crucifixion. Off to Venice, where Indy is followed by a secret brotherhood, dedicated to maintaining the secret of the Grail. Indy finds his father, but Nazis kidnap them both. They escape to Berlin to find a missing diary and (literally) run into Hitler. After fleeing an airship and engaging in a dogfight, father and son head to the desert to beat the Nazis to the Grail. After a remarkable chase with a tank, Indy's dad is shot and must get to the Grail in order to save his father's life.

The chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery is fun to watch. Both actors have impeccable timing and are obviously enjoying themselves. And unlike Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in which Indy's sidekicks were overall annoying, Connery's character is a worthy companion and foil. Since father and son have a past, you care about their relationship.

This installment also includes the return Indiana Jones' milder mannered side -- a hero who can be tremendously awkward when not battling bad guys or untangling ancient mysteries.

Much of the movie's success is due to a tongue-in-cheek attitude, signaled right from the start when young Indy -- played by an intense River Phoenix -- can't find the rest of his Scout troop and loudly declares that "everyone is lost but me."

Ahh, that's the Indiana Jones we know and love.

Although nothing can beat the first 10 minutes of Raiders, here we get answers to some burning questions: Why is Indiana terrified of snakes? Why the fedora? And how did he get that scar on his chin? Finally, we even learn Indiana's real name!
June 18, 2008

But the Dogs Name Was Indiana!

The Last Crusade recaptured the fun and excitement of the first Indiana Jones movie with a father son pair-up that is both genius and funny. James Bond and Indiana Jones together...now there's a dynamic duo! What is especially ironic is that Spielberg was inspired to have a cloak and dagger plot in the Indiana Jones series that was born from a love the James Bond films.

Harrison Ford brings Indiana Jones back to life with an amazing performance. But this time we get to see a bit of the little boy who is trying to impress his father. A couple of the most enjoyable parts of the movie are when Indiana does something that he is proud of and looks to his father for approval...only to gets a look of disdain!

Sean Connery has always been one of my favorite actors ever since the early days of Bond. A true mans man and a ladies man. He seems to be as comfortable in a suit as wresting in the mud. Connery gives a stunning performance in the Last Crusade as a driven man in search of the Holy Grail who deeply loves his son, but as with many fathers, is clumsy at expressing that love. One of the great lines of the movie came when Connery confronts his son about the origin of his adventurous name when he says in typical Connery fashion: "The dogs name was Indiana!"

There are many memorable scenes. We get to find out why Indy hates snakes. In the opening of the movie the young Indy (played by River Phoenix) falls into a circus train car full of snakes...and hates them ever after. Who can blame him! Another memorable scene is when Indiana comes face to face with Hitler (at a rally in Berlin) who signs the critical journal Indy is holding.

The plot is about a quest for the Holy Grail that has incalculable value and magical powers to bring long...long life. The plot twists and turns, frightens and delights as our heroes get closer to the final prize. In one of the final twists of the plot Indian must "Choose Wisely" to save his father's life and not losing his own!

Overall a great addition to the Indiana Jones collection!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking
June 7, 2008

Indiana Jones, Monty Python and the holy handgrenade of Antioch

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, quite a few people (and reviewers) dismissed the excellent "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (also reviewed) as the worst sequel in the original 80's Indy series and some said it was just simply a bad film...full stop. They derided the film so much that I wondered if they had actually seen it at all, so unjust was the "outrage" against the episode. Obviously, the fact that "Temple of Doom" was following the truly wonderful "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (the only really great film of the 4) had a negative effect on how some were going to view the first sequel in the series, as no matter how hard Lucas and Spielberg et al tried they couldn't hope to top the incredible impact that "Raiders" had on the public.

But unfortunately, it seems that the producers of the Indy series abandoned their own judgment and bent over backwards in an attempt to eliminate the darker elements of "Temple of Doom" and replace it with lashings of incredibly stupid and inane comedy for the third installment, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".

So vehement were the producers of "Last Crusade" to replace serious content with appalling idiocy, they were willing to litter the movie with slapstick nonsense that destroyed the overall film.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the film is a complete write off in every department. The basic story is OK (but only just) and sees our hero following in his fathers obsessive quest for the famed cup of Christ, or the Holy Grail. The essential plot elements are all there and includes the usual Indy staples of multiple locations, deadly traps and spectacular supernatural McGuffin. Even the Germans were forced back into their nazi uniforms to don their traditional Hollywood caricature as the badguys; Which, in my opinion was a bit tired and un-necessary. There are plenty of bad folk around and their presentation here is far, far inferior than their turn in "Raiders".

Most in the movies favor, and the only reason this film gets an extra star, is the inclusion of Sean Connery as Indy's dad. It's a good plot device to hang the kinda weak central plot onto and Connery's performance as the bungling Old Man of Henry Jones Jr is quite delightful and he has some great lines too..."We named the dog Indiana".

The shared screen time of Ford and Connery generally works well and they pair of them seemed to be having a good time in their roles.

Another mention should go to Irish actress Alison Doody, as the obligatory squeeze (with a twist) and Denholm Elliott who reprises his charming role as Marcus Brody, dean of Indy's college in America. Unfortunately, it was to be for the last time.

Also of note, is a floppy haired River Phoenix as a young Indiana in the movies brilliant opening sequence.

Unfortunately, after the opening is complete, the film starts to go rapidly downhill until it naturally reaches it's ridiculously absurd climax, by which time my suspension of disbelief had had enough and Mr Cynicism had stepped in.

But even the rapidly disintegrating story would have been bearable if Spielberg and Lucas had refrained from carelessly dropping the incredibly unfunny attempts at "humour" through the film. Sure, the two preceding efforts had liberal amounts of humour sprinkled within it's opening and ending credits, but it remained subtle and never interfered with the overall product or the "seriousness" of the piece. In "Raiders" Indy shoots the sword wielding foe with his revolver, instead of fighting him with a sword and in "Temple of Doom" he tries it again, but this time his gun has been missing since the opening sequence. These humourous efforts are fine and funny and what's more they are limited to reality. They don't break down the walls of reality and destroy the suspense or action of a given scene.

Whereas the "humour" in the "Last Crusade" is so heavy handed that it completely ruins a scene. For instance, when Indy breaks his way through a library floor in Venice to get to a secret chamber, the noise he naturally makes breaking the floor is mistaken by a librarian for the noise he makes while he is stamping overdue books. Now, this may be fine in a Monty Python movie, but in a film such as an Indy adventure, it is just stupid. There's no other words for it. It ruins the suspense of the scene.

Likewise the "No Ticket" scene in the Zeppelin and the ridiculous Berlin book burning scene where Indy meets Hitler, coupled with the scene where the BF108 pilot sheers his wings off and continues traveling down a tunnel beside a car containing the Jones boys go a long way towards tearing apart any suspension of disbelief that's required equipment for watching a film of this sort. It's unbelievably groan making, destroys the suspense and danger and it's difficult to imagine anyone finding it enjoyable.

At it's conclusion "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" has long since revealed itself another 'could have been' film. It could have been great, but it's let down terribly by the decision to dilute the overall effect with mind numbing idiocy and it kills any excitement with dreadful foot stamping comedy that even a Will Ferrell movie would scoff at.

May 27, 2008

another best of the best

Incredible movie considering it's a sequel. I keeps you captivated from start to finish. Another one of the best adventure films made. I still returned it after learning it is in a 2.35 aspect ratio.I still don't get why these are not made for 16x9 wide screen TV's. So people be aware, "enhanced for wide screen TVs" does not mean you get to watch a full picture on your wide screen TVs. I'm still watching my laser disk version and won't give it up untill a "made for 16x9 TVs" version comes out in a 1.78 aspect ratio, a version to produce a full screen on a wide screen TV. May 24, 2008

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