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| Striking new and familiar characters and thrilling situations are teased on this expert poster for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
It is 1938, and Indiana Jones' estranged father has gone missing in a search for the Holy Grail. Up against the ruthless Nazis once again, Indiana must save his father and obtain the Grail.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is written by Jeffrey Boam (The Phantom (1996)), with George Lucas (American Graffiti (1973)) and Menno Meyjes (The Siege (1998)) contributing story elements, and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (The Sugarland Express (1974)), whose 10th feature it is. It is the 3rd in the Indiana Jones franchise.
The weakest in the 'original trilogy' in my opinion, Last Crusade is still a terrific adventure film. Many have expressed that its strength is its father/son story-line and the scenes of Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)) and Sean Connery (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)) in this capacity. I would only partially agree: Although Connery - and Denholm Elliott (Keys to Freedom (1988)) as another endearing geezer, the character Marcus Brody, - are good fun, I still think that Ford's interplay with Karen Allen (in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)) and Kate Capshaw (in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)) is more potent.
The pace is decreased, especially from the wonderfully hectic Temple of Doom, but there are many fun moments along the way. Best, however, may be the opening minutes, which introduces us to Indiana Jones as a boy, in the guise of the fantastic River Phoenix (Little Nikita (1988)), in a fabulous sequence on horseback and circus train (!) across the gorgeous Utah plains.
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Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 48 mil. $
Box office: 474.2 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 9.87 times its cost)
[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released 24 May (North America) and runs 128 minutes. Several story-lines were developed into scripts before getting thrown out in the years leading up to the production for various reasons. Ford was paid 4.9 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from May - September 1988 in England, including in London, Jordan, Spain, Italy, Germany, California, including in San Francisco, Utah, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. The film opened #1 to a 29.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another weekend and spent another 5 in the top 5 (#2-#2-#4-#5-#5), grossing 197.1 mil. $ (41.6 % of the total gross). It was the highest-grossing film of the year globally but the 2nd highest-grossing of the year in North America, behind Batman, selling approximately 49 mil. tickets domestically. It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Sound Effects Editing. It lost Best Score (John Williams) to Alan Menken for The Little Mermaid and Best Sound to Glory. It was also nominated for 3 BAFTAs, a Golden Globe and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #117 on the site's Top 250, sitting between A Separation (2011) and Die Hard (1988). Indiana Jones returned in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) with returning star and filmmakers. Spielberg first returned with Always (1989). Ford returned first in Presumed Innocent (1990); Connery in Family Business (1989). Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is certified fresh at 84 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?
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