Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

After the really darker and violent second entry The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade returned the series back to it's former glory and in doing so produced the best entry in the series. The film serves both as a prequel and a sequel to the previous entries with the opening showing a Young Indy played by the late River Phoenix and explaining how Indy got his facial scar, fear of snakes and the inspiration behind his trademark outfit. It is a solid performance by Phoenix, who in his brief onscreen time manages to capture Ford's mannerisms perfectly. Ford himself recommended Phoenix to Spielberg, having worked with him on The Mosquito Coast 3 years earlier. The film then moves into the present where Indy is hired by American Walter Donovan (played with relish by Julian Glover) to find the Holy Grail and in turn his father who was the project leader who has gone missing. The late Sean Connery, who received a BAFTA nomination for his turn Henry Jones Snr, steals the film as Indy's dad. His chemistry with Ford, who in real life he is only 10 years older, is truly infectious providing the film with it's very best moments. There is plenty of action to please the Die Hard Indy fans but it is the dynamic between these 2 that holds the glue for this film. It is also to date still the longest of all the films clocking in at 126 minutes. The summer of 1989 was chockful of blockbusters and Sequels (I think something like 32 sequels were released that year) and while Batman was domestically Number 1 in the states The Last Crusade was Number 1 Internationally worldwide and with good reason as it was the better film. The film also reunited John Rhys Davies (Sallah) & Denham Elliott (Marcus Brody) from the first movie, having been absent from the second movie. This was at the time supposed to be the last part in a 3 picture trilogy that started with 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark before they revisited it 20 years later with the atrocious Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I read somewhere, upon his passing last year, that Connery had been offered to reprise his role but didn't like the script which involved aliens and he was enjoying his retirement. The Indiana Jones series was born out of Spielberg desire to direct a Bond film that when it came to casting Indy's dad Connery was a no brainer and this is still one of his best film roles. Highly Recommended 5/5🥰🥰🥰

The story is not as strong as past Indie films, and the hero characters not as endearing as in the other films. However the special effects of how they made an 80 year old actor look half his age is totally amazing. For the first 30 minutes the movie has a flash back to WW2 and indie looks how we all remember him. The plot moves on to present day and Harrison Ford looks his real age 81. There are some familiar faces returning to the Indie Saga , which is a nice touch and helps to remind you how good the old movies where. The real problem with this movie is the special visual effects don't look that great for 2023, the plot is a bit farfetched, even by Indie standards, and Indie doesn't come over as the man going to save the world from the bad guys. Is the movie worth seeing? Yes but don't expect it to be as good as the others. Maybe it has been so long since the last Jones movie the producers and writers have forgotten how to do it.

After reading commercial critical reviews of this film, you'd think this was a dim and depressing coda to the Indiana Jones series with a sad and dingy Dr. Jones being upstaged by a stereotypical modern feminist. Not at all.You have to consider how old Harrison Ford is and YET he is still Indiana Jones. And he knows it. This is no 'phone it in' for cash. Yes, he's older and slower but his younger days are gone. You need to enjoy the film for what he can do now.Other than making a whole new younger Indy film in CGI, this was about as good as it could get. I'd held secret hopes of Indy's last journey being to a risen Atlantis - but despite the cringy title - this is still a true Indy film. And the first 30 minutes - I was transported back to 1982 when my father and I saw Raiders in the cinema. I laughed, and almost cried with joy. Not all CGI is evil and here it was used to create a genuine piece of story. I will watch this bit again just to pretend it's a whole film.Harrison Ford is excellent as the older Indy, kind of lost at first as he has had no new adventures. Teaching at uni, he's not really excited about teaching or life any more. When his feisty God-daughter turns up to steal part of the Dial, he is unwillingly thrust into adventure. As the film goes on, the old Indy begins to find his feet again. He's still the unwilling grouch who is also still the hero.And... Nazi's. A moment of reality - these guys really were utterly evil - and history needs to always remember them and what they did.In entertainment, they are Indy's best enemies and here they are no exception.Any downsides? Yes, Indy seems to deny that he experienced the spiritual realities of the ark and the grail by saying that it's "how hard you believe" that is important. Really? After you've experienced the power of God, and ancient aliens? This incongruent nod to self-help pulled me out of the story for a moment. But just for a moment.The ending is... strangely fitting. There are definitely twists I didn't see coming. And there's a scene right at the end that harks back to the first film - I actually felt like crying. For me that was over 40 years ago and Indy is still here.God bless you, Indiana Jones.