Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers (WGA):

Jeffrey Boam (screenplay)
George Lucas (story) ...

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:

Nazi | Holy Grail | Diary | Indiana Jones | Map

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	Indiana Jones
Sean Connery	...	Professor Henry Jones
Denholm Elliott	...	Marcus Brody
Alison Doody	...	Elsa
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:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Costume designer Anthony Powell sourced real Nazi uniforms from Eastern Europe for all the actors playing German soldiers.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the second test, to 'walk in the footsteps of the name of God', Indy nearly falls when he mistakenly starts to spell "Jehovah" with a "J" instead of an "I". While it is true that the use of the letter "J" came about centuries after the first crusade, the word "Jehovah/Iehovah" - or any other spelling - was not in use then either! It was created by faulty scholarship at the time of the King James Version translation of texts into English. Hebrew texts refer to God with YHVH, which is never spoken aloud. Instead, Hebrew manuscripts insert the vowel pointing for "Adonai" - "Lord" - which is substituted when the text is spoken aloud. The Christian translators were unaware of this, and inserted the vowels with the consonants and unknowingly created "Jehovah" for their English text. So there are several centuries difference between the era of the First Crusade, when the three knight brothers lived and heard/read scripture, and the translation of the King James Version which created the word "Jehovah".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Scout Master: Dismount!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Soundtrack:

You're a Sweet Little Headache

Excellent!

It is now 1938 and Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) sets off on a new adventure - this time, to find and rescue his professor father (Sean Connery) who disappeared while on a quest to locate the Holy Grail.

A noticeable improvement over part two; while not quite as good as the first movie, it's still adrenaline-pumping, intriguing entertainment, with nary a dull moment. Best part of the movie is the chemistry between Ford and Connery, who make a convincing father-and-son duo (despite being only 12 years apart in real life). They play off each other well and it's the strained relationship between Indy and his father that provides the movie with some of its more interesting moments. We even get to see Indy as a young man in the opening sequence, and the late River Phoenix does an admirable job in the role.

Once again, there is a sequence designed to provoke a reaction among the more squeamish viewers; in the first movie, it was snakes, in the second, it was insects, here it's rats. GROSS!

This is a worthwhile action-adventure that holds up as a solid example of its genre.

8/10