Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Special features include a six-minute introduction by Spielberg and Lucas, who discuss the grail as a metaphor for bringing Indy and his estranged father together and agree that Crusade is the funniest of the three films; "Indy's Women," an American Film Institute tribute with leading ladies Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, and Alison Doody each discussing her character (Capshaw candidly describes Temple of Doom's Willie Scott as "whiny, petulant, and annoying"); "Indy's Friends and Enemies," a look at the films' various villains and sidekicks; plus storyboards and photo galleries. --Sam Graham

The storyline reverts back to the formula that made Indiana Jones so great. This time, Jones (Harrison Ford) has discovered that his father, Henry (Sean Connery), has disappeared on an expedition for the Holy Grail. Indiana takes his place and, with the help of Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot), Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), searches for his father and the Holy Grail and must battle Nazis on the same quest.

The Last Crusade is action galore as its a non-stop and fun thrill ride. The stunts and action scenes are amazing, as usual.

The performances are as good as ever. Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones and Denholm Elliot and John Rhys-Davies do good jobs with their role. The real standout in this film, though, is Sean Connery as Jones' father.

The Last Crusade is an excellent crowd pleaser, so watch it with an audience. To sum it up, this and Raiders of the Lost Ark are the best action films of all time.


Keeping Up With The Joneses   May 25, 2004
the-gr8shag
17 out of 17 found this review helpful

"The quest for the grail is not Archeology. It's a race against evil. If it is captured by the Nazis, the armies of darkness will march all over the face of the Earth."
- Henry Jones Sr. reminds his whip wielding son how important the last crusade for the Cup of Christ is in "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade".

The third entry in the adventures of Indiana Jones, aptly titled "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade", is a lot light hearted than "The Temple of Doom" and its dark heart, and is more in the spirit of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" but can't outmatch it.

Three years after the events in "Raiders", Indiana Jones is on a quest to find his missing father after finding out he's been abducted by sinister forces. For most of his life, Indiana's father, has been researching and trying to locate The Holy Grail. If Indiana finds his dad he also may have found The Holy Grail.

After Seventeen summers, since its 5/24/89 release, the film is still fun to watch. The cast is great, especially Sean Connery as Henry Jones Sr. I can't imagine anyone else for the role. The chemistry between Connery and Harrison Ford is what makes the "Last Crusade" a stand-out crowd pleaser. Denholm Elliot expands on his role from "Raiders" as Marcus Brody, adding some goofy comic relief as the bookish curator out of his element. Of course it isn't an "Indiana Jones" film without Harrison Ford as the title role. This a classic example of a film character that is so legendary, that it would be fruitlessly idiotic to have the character be recast with another actor. In other words I really can't see Tom Selleck as Dr. Jones, and if there isn't a fourth adventure with Indiana Jones it would suck big time, but I could live with it.

"Last Crusade" does have some really great action sequences. From Indy's first adventure, to the motorcycle and tank chases the film seems to try to outdo itself. Thats where the film hits a small speed bump. The action is so great that I couldn't help but be reminded of "Raiders" thru some of the action sequences in "Last Crusade" (especially the tank chase. It reminded me of the truck sequence in "Raiders"). But, its all good!

As for a fourth film, who knows? As of this writing, story creator George Lucas wasn't to happy with the latest draft and the whole production almost went back to square one. The film won't get made unless Harrison Ford, Lucas, & director Steven Speilberg are happy with all aspects of the script.


New Last Crusade Special Collector's Edition due out May 13th, 2008!   March 8, 2008
Sanpete (in Utah)
14 out of 19 found this review helpful

The details of new DVD editions of the three classic classic Indiana Jones movies with all-new special features have been announced. They'll be available separately for the first time on DVD, or as a set. They were previously only available on DVD as a set.

The new releases will coincide with the new movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which comes out on May 22nd. They'll have new special features designed to introduce new Indy fans to the old movies, as well as to introduce old fans to the new movie.

The Indiana Jones movies are George Lucas's recreation/update of the serialized adventures of the 1930s and '40s. Made in the '80s and set in the '30s, they feature Harrison Ford as a mild-mannered archeology professor who moonlights as an adventurous seeker of priceless antiquities. This takes him to exotic locations across the world, and gets him in some very tight spots of the kind that only a movie hero could get into, or out of. He invariably finds himself opposed by dangerous men with evil plans for the powerful objects only he has the skills to recover. There are elaborate set pieces with creepy critters, ancient traps, fights with weapons from bare hands to airplanes and tanks, and sometimes supernatural forces. Along the way Jones manages to have some romance too. Humor is a big part of the fun.

This is the third in the series, after Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It begins with a teenaged Indy trying unsuccessfully to save an artifact from thieves, during which we get background on his signature fedora, bull whip, fear of snakes and his father. Then we jump to 1938, when Indy learns his father, played by Sean Connery, has gone missing while searching for the Holy Grail, which the Nazis have designs on for world domination. Joining with a somewhat dim museum owner and the beautiful woman Indy's father had been working with, Indy has close calls in Venice, Austria, and Turkey as he closes in on the Grail and, in the end, bonds with dad.

This one returns to the lighter tone of Raiders, after the somewhat darker Temple of Doom, and perhaps exceeds Raiders in its emphasis on humor (though I still find Raiders funnier). It's fun to see Ford and Connery working together. As always there are very involved set pieces, including a tank battle, an intricate plot full of mystery and action, and some magic. And critters: this time thousands of rats.

If you don't want the whole set and don't want to wait until May, you could get a used copy of the old Last Crusade DVD (people sell them out of the sets). The difference is in the extra features. The bonuses from the old set are on their own disc, so what you get when you buy just the old Last Crusade DVD is pretty bare. The new release, on the other hand, has the following, all new:

-- "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: An Introduction" by director Steven Spielberg and creator/producer George Lucas

-- "The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute," in which the three Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) reunite for a discussion

-- "Friends and Enemies," in which Spielberg, Lucas and Indiana Jones writers discuss how they created the original characters, and a look at new faces in the new movie

-- storyboards: the opening sequence

-- DVD galleries of illustrations, props, production stills and portraits, FX/Industrial Light and Magic stuff, and promotion/marketing materials

-- "Lego Indiana Jones," a demo and trailer for a game based on the trilogy

If you like a few extras, you'll probably prefer this new DVD, though maybe not enough to upgrade from the old one, or to wait until May. I like audio commentaries, myself, and since they're easy to produce and tend to bring out points not covered in other features, I subtract one star for a special edition without any, but I look forward to the rest. If you don't care about commentaries, this may be a five-star DVD for you.

There have been rumors of deleted scenes, but none are included.

Some will want to wait for a high-def release, which makes sense if you have the equipment or plan to get it. Many speculate that a Blu-ray release will come out for Christmas, but that's sheer guesswork.

There's also some speculation that an even better edition with all four movies will soon supersede this new DVD. They may bundle the four together, but I doubt that there will be a better edition of this movie soon, if ever, on standard DVD. Keep in mind that the previous set came out over four years ago, and if not for the new movie, that would probably be the only release during the decade of standard DVD. The next upgrade may be high-def only, and may not happen for a while.

If you do want the whole trilogy (highly recommended), the new release is here, the old set is here. If you want to pick up one of the others from the new set, the new edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark is here, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom here.


Indiana is back, and this time he's brought his dad along!   October 5, 2001
Priscilla Stafford (Yokohama, Japan)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is what I think the best of the three Indiana Jones movie. And one of the most important reasons for this conclusion is not just that it has Harrison Ford doing absolutely great, it has legendary actor Sean Connery as Indy's dad.

Harrison Ford is Dr. Henry 'Indiana' Jones, Jr. When he is asked by Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) to help go in search of the mystical Holy Grail since one of his main archaeologist has disappeared, he refuses. But when Indy is told that the missing man is his father, Professor Henry Jones, Sr., (whom he has rarely spoken to in 20 years), Indy, along with the help of friend Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) and Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), try to rescue his father from... who? Can it be the mysterious men who are trying to stop him from finding the Holy Grail? Or is there more to just finding his father and the Holy Grail than meets the eye? Indiana discovers that you can't trust anybody when dealing with power seeking men who want to use the cup of Jesus for evil.

The best Indiana Jones movie AND action/adventure movie!! And the script and plot is just perfect, with plenty of lines which are just so funny! The first part where they have 'young Indiana Jones' played by River Phoenix was lots of fun, too. I like it where the explained some things like how Indy got his famous hat. "Everyone's lost but me..."

My favorite parts are when Indy 'rescues' his dad but instead has to escape from the bad guys when he is caught himself and whenever Indy and Dr. Jones are arguing. One thing though is that I didn't think much of Alison Doody as Elsa. Yeah, she was real greedy and everything but I still like Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood in the first Indiana Jones movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark". And of course John Williams score is just terrific. I can probably hum the whole Indiana Jones theme song!

For those of you who haven't seen this movie, well, I'm telling you to put it on you 'must see' list!


Another fine Indiana Jones film!   November 17, 2000
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

The third installment of the Indiana Jones series,Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,is another fantastic adventure.(it's not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark,but at least as good,if not better than Temple of Doom.)The film starts out in 1912 in Utah,and shows Indy as a teenager,played by River Phoenix.Then it shifts to 1938 and Indy winds up battling Nazis again,this time teaming up with his father Henry Jones(played wonderfully by THE James Bond,Sean Connery)to find the Holy Grail.Of course Harrison Ford is great as Indy,and the rest of the cast is very good,too,including Alison Doody as Dr.Elsa Schneider,John Rhys Davies as Sallah,Denholm Elliot as Marcus Brody,and Julian Glover as Donovan.There's loads of action,and the musical score by John Williams is great.Overall,it's a great movie and a fine collaboration of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.