Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
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| Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | |
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| Directed by | Steven Spielberg |
| Written by | Jeffrey Boam (screenplay) George Lucas (story) Menno Meyjes (story) |
| Starring | Harrison Ford Sean Connery John Rhys-Davies Alison Doody Denholm Elliott |
| Produced by | Robert Watts |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date | 24 May 1989 |
| Runtime | 127 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $48,000,000 |
| IMDb page | |
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, Alison Doody, River Phoenix and John Rhys-Davies. This film is the third released, though the twenty-fifth chronologically, in a series of film and TV productions about the adventures of the heroic fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones.
When Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. (played by Sean Connery) vanishes while pursuing a life-long search for the Holy Grail, Indiana must retrace his father's steps in the hopes of rescuing him — and the Grail — from the clutches of the Nazi military machine.
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Plot summary
The movie starts in 1912 with Indy (Phoenix) as a boy scout in a failed attempt to retrieve the Cross of Coronado from grave robbers. The small adventure inspires his whip, fear of snakes, fedora (and style of dress), and even the scar on his chin. The story then advances to 1938; Indy (Ford), now a grown man, is successful in getting the Cross and donating it to Marcus Brody's (Elliott) museum.
Walter Donovan (Glover) informs Indy that Henry Jones Sr., his father (Connery), vanished while searching for the missing half of a clue leading to the Holy Grail, which has the power to grant eternal life. Indy and Marcus travel to Venice to meet Dr. Elsa Schneider (Doody) to follow the footsteps of his father. Inside the library (a converted church which is actually the Church of San Barnaba in Campo San Barnaba) where his father was last seen, Indy discovers the tomb of a knight of the "Last Crusade" which holds information needed to begin the quest for the Grail. Indy encounters a secret and fanatical religious cult determined to protect the Grail at all costs. The cult leader, Kazim, tells him that his father is being held in Brunwald Castle near the Austrian-German border.
In Germany, Indiana finds his father but both find themselves being betrayed by both Schneider and Donovan. Indy discovers that both work for the Nazis and that his father's kidnapping was staged to get him to solve the mystery of the Grail for them. Indy and his father escape the Nazis and go to Berlin, to retrieve his father's Grail diary needed to complete the quest. Meanwhile, the Nazis capture Brody, somewhere in Turkey, and learn where to start the Grail quest.
Donovan and Schneider, with Brody, begin the Grail quest on one path, as does Indy with his father and Sallah on another, and the cult on yet another. Eventually, their individual quests cross paths and lead to a confrontation where cult leader Kazim is killed by Donovan's men and a desert chase that reunites Indy and his father with Brody and Sallah.
The quest reaches its climax at the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, in Hatay near Iskenderun, where the Holy Temple (secret home to the Grail) is located. Donovan captures Indy in the temple and shoots Indy's father, forcing him to face a set of challenges and retrieve the Grail for its healing powers to save his father's life. Indy, guided by his father's diary, surpasses the challenges, arriving in a room with Holy Grail hidden amongst many false grails and a knight of the last Crusade surviving by the Grail's power. Donovan and Schneider immediately follow Indy. Schneider then picks out a golden, bejeweled grail which Donovan drinks from. The grail was a false one and Donovan is killed.
Indy picks the true Grail, but the knight commands him not to let the Grail go "past the Great Seal", as it is the boundary of immortality. Indy takes the Grail with the holy water and heals his father. Schneider then tries to leave with the Grail and crosses the Great Seal. As the knight warned, the building collapses and she loses her balance at the edge of a crevasse. Indy tries to save her, but she falls into the abyss while trying to recover the Grail. Then Indy attempts to get the Grail, but his father tells him to "let it go", thus the Grail is never recovered as the heroes escape the crumbling Holy Temple. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ends with Henry Sr. revealing that "Indiana" was the family dog's name; Indy, his father, Sallah, and Marcus ride off into the sunset.
Cast listing
| Actor/Actress | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Harrison Ford | Indiana Jones |
| Sean Connery | Professor Henry Jones |
| Denholm Elliott | Dr. Marcus Brody |
| Alison Doody | Dr. Elsa Schneider |
| 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 (scenes deleted) |
| Paul Maxwell | Panama Hat |
| Isla Blair | Mrs. Donovan (as Mrs. Glover) |
| Vernon Dobtcheff | Butler |
| J.J. Hardy | Herman |
| Bradley Gregg | Roscoe |
| Jeff O'Haco | Half Breed |
| Vince Deadrick Sr. | Rough Rider (as Vince Deadrick) |
| Marc Miles | Sheriff |
| Ted Grossman | Deputy Sheriff |
| Tim Hiser | Young Panama Hat |
| Larry Sanders | Scout Master |
| Will Miles | Scout #1 |
| David Murray | Scout #2 |
| Frederick Jaeger | WWI Ace (scenes deleted) |
| Jerry Harte | Professor Stanton |
| Billy J. Mitchell | Dr. Mulbray |
| Martin Gordon | Man at Hitler Rally |
| Paul Humpoletz | German Officer at Hitler Rally |
| Tom Branch | Hatay Soldier in Temple |
| Graeme Crowther | Zeppelin Crewman |
| Luke Hanson | Principal SS Officer at Castle |
| Chris Jenkinson | Officer at Castle |
| Nicola Scott | Female Officer at Castle |
| Louis Sheldon | Young Officer at Castle |
| Stefan Kalipha | Hatay Tank Gunner |
| Peter Pacey | Hatay Tank Driver |
| Pat Roach | Gestapo |
| Suzanne Roquette | Film Director (scenes deleted) |
| Eugene Lipinski | G-Man |
| George Malpas | Man on Zeppelin |
| Julie Eccles | Irene |
| Nina Armstrong | Flower Girl (as Nina Almond) |
| Nick Gillard | Tank Crewman Hit by Periscope (uncredited) |
| Ronald Lacey | Heinrich Himmler (uncredited) |
| Derek Lyons | German soldier (uncredited) |
| Michael Sheard | Adolf Hitler (uncredited) |
| Tip Tipping | Tank Crewman (uncredited) |
Overview
This installment in the Indiana Jones series has more humor than the previous two films. The humor is mainly shown through the relationship between Indiana and his father. Also Marcus Brody is a less serious character than his previous appearance in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, being described as a museum curator who "once got lost in his own museum". The lightheartedness of the movie especially contrasts to its predecessor Temple of Doom, which is usually cited as the "darkest" in the trilogy.
Last Crusade is estimated to have grossed nearly $200 million domestically and $277 million overseas. It was second-best domestically (after Batman) and the first in overseas sales.
Production
Indiana Jones artist Drew Struzan created the film's distinctive artwork. Also like the previous films in the series, the soundtrack was composed by John Williams. After producing the three Indiana Jones movies in the 1980s, no further movies have been made by Lucas or Spielberg in the Indiana Jones series as of 2005. Yet there have been persistent rumors of Indiana Jones 4 in that time.
Video games
In 1989, Lucasfilm Games released both a graphical adventure game and an action game of the same name, based on the film.
Trivia
- A notable item in the movie is the Grail diary of Henry Jones Sr. In the story it contains important clues that are needed to find and safely obtain the Holy Grail. Some Indiana Jones fans have attempted to create replicas.
- Harrison Ford and Pat Roach are the only actors to appear in all three films in the trilogy (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).
- The opening sequence, with River Phoenix as the young Indiana Jones, was shot at the end of production. The rock formations during the opening credits belong to Arches National Park, outside of Moab, Utah. The circus train was shot on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, which runs between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico. As with the previous two films, studio filming took place at Borehamwood Studios in Hertfordshire, England.
- River Phoenix, who plays the younger version of Harrison Ford, played Ford's son in The Mosquito Coast.
- During a sequence in which Indy is flipping through the Grail Diary, there is a glimpse of the top half of the broken slab in Donovan's office.
- In the Boy Scout Scene, Indiana Jones is a life scout. He was supposed to be an Eagle Scout, but the badges are not given out to anyone other than Eagle Scouts - So he had to be just one under!
- In the Young Indiana Jones television series, the reason why the elderly Indiana appears so spry for his advanced age may be linked to drinking from the Grail.
Home video releases
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released on laserdisc in 1990, on VHS in 1999, and on DVD in October 2003. The film in each was release, was packaged along with the other two installments of the series: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
External links
- Official Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade site
- The Indiana Jones Wiki
- Indy-Net.co.uk
- Pictures of Venice including the "library" used in this film
| Indiana Jones TV series/films |
