Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers (WGA):

George Lucas (characters) and
Philip Kaufman (characters) ...

Release Date:

24 May 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

He's back in an all new adventure. Memorial Day 1989.

Plot:

When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father's footsteps and stop the Nazis.

Plot Keywords:

Man In Uniform | Zeppelin | Severed Head | Shot In The Head | American Abroad

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	Indiana Jones
Sean Connery	...	Professor Henry Jones
Denholm Elliott	...	Dr. Marcus Brody
Alison Doody	...	Dr. Elsa Schneider
John Rhys-Davies	...	Sallah
Julian Glover	...	Walter Donovan
River Phoenix	...	Young Indy
Michael Byrne	...	Vogel
Kevork Malikyan	...	Kazim
Robert Eddison	...	Grail Knight
Richard Young	...	Fedora
Alexei Sayle	...	Sultan
Alex Hyde-White	...	Young Henry
Paul Maxwell	...	Panama Hat
Isla Blair	...	Mrs. Donovan (as Mrs. Glover)

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Greek

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | Germany:12 | USA:E | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Israel:PG | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (MPAA #19773)

Filming Locations:

Administration Building, Treasure Island, California, USA

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

Two thousand rats were bred for the production (they had to be bred specially as ordinary rats would have been riddled with disease).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Indy and his father are in the airplane while escaping the zeppelin, Henry shoots the plane's tail, ripping the top off. In subsequent shots of the plane, the tail can be seen with holes in it, but the top intact.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Scout Master: Dismount!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indyfans and the Quest for Fortune and Glory (2008)

Soundtrack:

Just A Gigolo

Movie Magic!

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.