Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade
Indy is back and better than ever!
The final (for now) installation in the Indiana Jones saga goes back to the original formula of religious themes (the first film was about the Ark of the Covenant), Africa and Indy’s duty as a professor. Sean Connery is a stunning addition to the cast as Indy’s father, also called Dr. Henry Jones.
The film also brings back Denholm Elliott as the bumbling Marcus Brody, and the incomparable John Rhys-Davies as the lovable Sallah. River Phoenix is brought in to portray the young Indiana. The film begins with the background of Indiana as a boyscout in Utah. He discovers looters seeking out and finding the Cross of Cortez, snatches it when they aren’t looking, and tries to take it to his father. But his father is busy working on literature connected to the Holy Grail and can’t be bothered. The bad guys get away with the cross, Indiana’s face is cut from misusing a whip for the first time, and the lead bad guy gives Indiana his (later made famous by Indiana) hat.
The story picks up again in “modern” times (when Indiana has grown up), on a ship where Indiana is working to steal back the very cross taken from him as a boy in Utah. He succeeds and is almost immediately drawn into a Nazi plot upon returning to the States. His father’s been kidnapped for the information he’d discovered on the Grail. Indiana must rescue his father and get to the Grail before the Nazis. Along the way they must deal with secret passages, Nazis planes, a German blimp, divine tests and Hitler himself.
This is arguably the best of the three existing Indiana Jones movies (a fourth is slated for release in 2008). Sean Connery is perfect as Dr. Jones Senior, and the banter between him and Harrison Ford is extremely funny. The movie won one Oscar for Sound Effects Editing, but was nominated for Best Music, Original Score (for which it should have won!) and Best Sound. The special effects are undeniably cheesy, but the series should be a staple in every household.
Written by: Tracy Elledge
Reviewers Rating: 9.5
Reader's Rating: 9.50
Reader's Votes: 2
Added: 8-Aug-2007
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