Well, I'd like to start this first post of 2023 to wish you all a Happy New Year and this post will be yet another revisitation (again I know!) of a previous one (which was a revisitation too!) and the subject of it will be the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. So, it will be the usual expanding on bits of the previous review here and there and I will also add in my rating (which wasn't there before).
So, with that said let's take a look at this action thriller 34 years on from its release...
And the usual warning is coming...
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
STORY
So, the film begins in 1912 when Indy was just a teenager (played by the late River
Phoenix). Indy is on a boy scout trip with his class in Utah, where
they break off into pairs look around the mountains. Indy goes into one
of the caves and finds some robbers who are digging for artifacts and
they find a cross that belonged to Coronado, a historic Spanish
explorer. Indy, believing its an important artifact that belongs in a
museum, nabs the cross while the robbers aren't looking, and he flees as
the robbers chase him.
Indy during the chase, makes his way onto a
circus train, and after a close quarters fight with the robbers, he
manages to escape with the cross (courtesy of a magic trap door) and
runs home. Once Indy get's back home, the robbers call the local
sheriff who comes around and forces him to give the cross back. The
leader of the robbers, who dresses similar to how Indy dresses in the
future, is impressed with his grit, and gives him his fedora.
The film
the cuts to 1938 where Indy is on a ship fighting to get back the
Coronado cross from its acquired owner (the man whom it was given to
back in 1912 credited only as "Panama Hat" in the film and played by
Paul Maxwell). In amid a fight, the ship is blown up and Indy escapes
with the cross. Indy makes it back to his college in America and gives
Marcus (Denholm Elliot) the cross to place in his museum.
As
Indy leaves the college he is approached by some men who take him to
meet an antiques collector, Walter Donovan, who tells him that he is on a
quest to find the holy grail, and that Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr
(Sean Connery) who was helping them with their research, has gone
missing. Indy checks out his dad's home, but doesn't find him, but he
remembers that he was sent a parcel, delivered to his office, which he
opens and finds his dad's diary on the Holy Grail.
Indy then agrees to
go to Venice with Marcus to meet up with Henry's Austrian colleague, Dr
Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody). They go to a library where Henry was
last seen, and Indy discovers from the clues in his father's diary that
the tomb of one of the knights of the holy crusade is buried underneath
the library.
Indy and Elsa go underneath the library into the catacombs
and eventually find the tomb that Indy spoke of, and inside there is
the skeleton remains of the knight, who has a shield, which Indy uses
his crayon paper rubbing of the shield (which is only half complete) to
complete the shield image. However as he does this, some men come down
into the catacombs and set fire to the water (which is laced with
petroleum).
Indy and Elsa managed to escape the catacombs to the
surface and are given chase by the men on a speedboat, Indy eventually
manages to fight one of them and forces him to answer why they are
trying to kill him. The man, Kazim, tells Indy that he is a member of
the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, who are determined to keep the
secret of the holy grail safe, Indy also asks if he knows where his
father is being held, which the man eventually obliges, telling him that
Henry is being held in a castle on the Austrian border.
Indy
travels to the castle with Elsa, he manages to get inside and finds
Henry (by crashing into his room using his whip to swing in through the
windows!) who tells him that he sent his diary back to him so that it
wouldn't fall into the Nazis hands, but he is appalled when he realises
that Indy brought it with him. However Indy is taken in by a ruse set
by Elsa who appears to be held hostage by a German colonel, Ernst Vogel
(Michael Byrne), but its revealed she is working with the Nazis as is
Donovan, who are basically there to get the grail diary.
Indy and Henry
are soon tied up and left in the castle, while Donovan and Elsa leave.
In an effort to escape the castle, Henry tries to use Indy's lighter to
burn through the ropes, but he accidentally drops it, and it sets fire
to the floor and soon the whole room. Indy and Henry eventually escape
the castle and are given chase by the Nazis on a motorbike, but they
evade them, afterward Henry explains to Indy that they need to get the
diary back as it has vital information to help them find the Grail.
Marcus meanwhile, who is hopelessly lost in Turkey, meets up with Sallah
(John Ryhs Davies), and he has the grail map, which gives instructions
to its location, but the Nazis soon capture Marcus.
Indy
and Henry then go to Berlin to get the diary back, which Indy (dressed
as a Nazi officer) takes them Elsa. As they try to leave Germany in a
zeppelin, but they are soon intercepted by the Nazis again, and Indy
and Henry escape in a small plane attached underneath the Zeppelin.
After a dogfight with Nazi planes, Indy and Henry managed to land the
plane and thwart the other plane, by Henry shooing a lot of birds with
his umbrella, who fly right into the path of plane, causing the pilot to
crash it into a mountain.
Soon after Indy and Henry travel to Hatay
and rejoin with Sallah, as they go after Marcus, who is being held
captive by the Nazis. Indy again soon gets involved in a fight in the
desert with a Nazi convoy, as he takes on the Nazis in a tank (where
Marcus is being held), and he rescues Marcus and Henry, and dives off
the tank just before it goes over a cliff, killing Vogel.
The men
eventually make their final journey to the canyon of the crescent moon,
the location of the grail. Indy, Henry, Marcus and Sallah enter the
temple and find Donovan is using volunteers to try and get pass the
traps set to reach the grail, but they are all killed. Indy and the
others are soon captured by Donovan's men, and Donovan forces Indy to
get the grail, by shooting Henry in the chest. Indy now must use his
father's grail diary in order to traverse the traps ahead of him in
order to reach the grail and try and save his dad's life....
THOUGHTS
Indiana Jones and the
Last Crusade for me is easily the second best film in the Indiana Jones
adventures (after Raiders) and after the breakneck pace and the gruesomeness of the
Temple of Doom, the Last Crusade thankfully gets back to the tone of
Raiders. Its also great that we are reunited with Marcus and Sallah
from Raiders as well, who both help to keep the tone from the original
as well.
Last Crusade is also very funny and witty in various scenes,
as the screenplay was written by Jeffrey Boam (who wrote the screenplay
for Lethal Weapon 2 that same year) there plenty of amusing lines of
dialogue throughout. Its also a nice touch that we also get to see a
bit of Indy's past, when we see him in the past as a young teenager, who
makes the gutsy decision to steal the Coronado cross and try and escape
from the group of robbers who dug it up in the caves. Boam a popular screenwriter himself sadly later died in 2000 from heart failure.
However one of the
things that also helps make Last Crusade work so well is the
relationship between Indy and his father, Henry, as Indy grew up, Henry
was so embroiled his work over the Holy Grail, that he had little or no
time for his son at all. And there is a bitter tone from Indy,
who clearly is not happy with the memories he had of his father in the
past, and always refers to him in a negative light when he talks about
him to Marcus, Elsa or anyone else in the film. But at the same time
when he meets up with his dad again, he does still stand to the
attention of his dad, when Henry says something, Indy says "Yes, sir!".
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain spoilers!)
Performance wise, the Last Crusade definitely has alot to offer and the cast are all on great form.
Starting with Harrison Ford, who is great once more as Indiana Jones and by this time he had
grown so comfortably into the part, and he has share of highlights and good scenes in the film.
And to start off there is the scene where Indy along with Marcus, meets
with Elsa in Venice and they go off to a library to find clues that
would lead to the tomb of a knight from the Holy crusades in the quest
to find the holy grail. So, in the scene Indy works out that the tomb
is actually somewhere within the library itself.
So, Indy says to Elsa "Dad wasn't looking for a book about the knight's
tomb, he was looking for the tomb itself. Don't you get it? The tomb is
somewhere in the library. You said yourself it used to be a church!".
So, Indy points out the Roman numerals on the glass windows "Three.
Three. Seven. Seven. Ten. And ten...!" however Indy can't see the
numeral for ten, so he says to Elsa and Marcus "Look around for the
ten". So, Indy looking around decides to go upstairs and he suddenly
sees the Roman numeral for ten "X" and he says to Elsa and Marcus "Ten!
X marks the spot!" contradicting what he said to his students earlier
about "X never marks the spot!".
Another good scene is when Indy and Elsa start their romantic fling as
Indy finds his room ransacked as well as Elsa's. So, Elsa, looks shocked
at her room and asks "What were they looking for?" and Indy produces
the grail diary and says "This" and Elsa says "You had it? You didn't
trust me" and Indy says to her "I didn't know you". Indy then says to
Elsa "At least I let you tag along" and Elsa suddenly cross, says "Oh,
yes! Give them a flower and they'll follow you anywhere!" and Indy
annoyed says "Knock it off! You're not mad!" and Elsa spitefully says
"No?!" and Indy says "No. You like the way I do things". Elsa then
angrily says "It's lucky I don't do things the same way.You'd still be
standing at the Venice pier!".
Elsa then starts to walk out the room but Indy grabs her and says "Look,
what do you think is going on here?! Since I met you, I've nearly been
incinerated, drowned, shot at, and chopped into fish bait! We're caught
in the middle of something sinister here. My guess is Dad found out more
than he was looking for. And until I'm sure, I'm going to continue to
do things the way I think they should be done!". So, Indy then pulls
Elsa roughly toward him and kisses her on the lips and Elsa, shocked
says "How dare you kiss me!" and she kisses him back passionately. Indy
then says "Leave me alone. I don't like fast women!" and then start
kissing again and Elsa kisses Indy's ear and says "And I hate arrogant
men!". And as they lie down on a couch and begin making out, Indy
looks, smiles and says "I love Venice!" and Elsa grabs his head, pulling
him down and they start kissing again.
Then there is the silly but funny scene where Indy and Elsa arrive at
the castle where his dad is being held and he pretends to be a Scottish
Lord and Harrison Ford puts on the worst Scottish accent
ever! And in the scene, Indy bangs on the front door and a butler let's
them in and Indy says to him in a Scottish accent "And not before time!
Did you intend to leave us standing on the doorstep all day? We're
drenched!" and he feigns a sneeze over the butler and he says "Now look,
I've gone and caught a sniffle!".
The butler then asks Indy "Are you expected?" and Indy says "Do not take
that tone with me, my good man. Now buttle off and tell Baron Brunwald
that Lord Clarence MacDonald and his lovely assistant...are here to view
the tapestries!". Indy then turns to Elsa and says "Dear me, the man
is dense. This is a castle, isn't it? There are tapestries?!". The
butler then says to Indy "This is a castle, and we have many tapestries.
But if you are a Scottish lord, then I am Mickey Mouse!". Indy turns to
Elsa and says in an almost Russian sounding accent(!) "How dare he?!"
and he suddenly spins round and knocks out the butler with one punch.
Another good scene from Harrison is when Indy and his dad, Henry escape
from the Nazis at the castle in a motorbike side-car and Henry tells
Indy that they should go after the diary which is now in the possession
of the Nazis.
So, as they are about to head off to get Marcus, Henry objects and says
"No, you're going the wrong way. We have to get to Berlin!" but Indy
points to the other direction and says "Broady's this way!" but Henry
tells him "My diary's in Berlin!". Indy insists "We don't need the
diary, Dad. Marcus has the map!" but Henry then says "There is more in
the diary than just the map" and Indy then switches off the bike and
says "Alright, Dad. Tell me".
So, Henry tells Indy about his diary containing clues to dealing with
the final challenge in locating the grail and they must face three
deadly traps, however he can't remember what they are and he says he
wrote them in his diary, so he didn't need to remember. So, Indy
angrily says to Henry "Half the German army's on our tail, and you want
me to go to Berlin?! Into the lion's den?!" and Henry says "Yes! The
only thing that matters is the grail!". Indy then asks "What about
Marcus?" and Henry tells him "Marcus would agree with me!" and Indy says
to himself "Two selfless martyrs! Jesus Christ!" and this prompt Henry
to suddenly slap Indy in the face and he warns his son "That's for
blasphemy!".
Another funny scene is when Indy and Henry board a zeppelin to escape
the Nazis, however its not long before the SS officer, Colonel Vogel
(Michael Byrne) and his men show up searching for Henry. And Vogel
moving around the zeppelin keeps showing passengers a picture of Henry
asking if they have seen him and he soon moves up toward Henry, who is
hiding himself behind a large newspaper. So, Vogel uses his baton to
pull down the paper and he grins and says to him "Guten tag...Herr
Jones!" but Indy (who disguises himself as a ticket inspector) comes up
behind Vogel and says "Tickets please!". So, as Vogel turns around, he
looks at Indy in surprise, who punches Vogel and throws him out the
zeppelin and Vogel lands in a pile of luggage below and Indy afterward
turns to the alarmed passenger and says "No ticket!" and they all
suddenly panic and produce their tickets!
Another good scene is when the Nazis order the zeppelin to be turned
back to Germany, prompting Indy and Henry to flee the zeppelin in a
small biplane attached to the zeppelin and they take on two German
fighters. So as they take to the skies in the plane, Henry says to Indy
"I didn't know you could fly a plane!" and Indy tells him "Fly, yes!
Land, no!". And after they fly off, Indy spots the fighters and he
shouts to Henry "Dad, you're gonna have to use the machine gun! Get it
ready!" and Indy notices the fighters and he yells to Henry "ELEVEN
O'CLOCK! DAD, ELEVEN O'CLOCK!!" and Henry looks at his watch and asks
"What happens at Eleven O'Clock!" but Indy explains by yelling "DAD!
TWELVE, ELEVEN, TEN!! ELEVEN O'CLOCK!!! FIRE!!".
So, after Henry ineptly uses the machine gun and unwittingly shoots the
biplane's tail, Indy is forced to make an emergency landing, so they
crash land and get out and the German fighter planes continue to open
fire at them and they take cover. Henry then says "Those people are
trying to kill us!" and Indy yells back "I KNOW DAD!!" but Henry
surprised says "Its a new experience for me!" and then Indy says to him
"It happens to me all the time!".
Sean Connery, as unlikely a choice as he could be for the part of
Indy's father, Henry Jones, works brilliantly well in the role, despite the fact in
reality Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford! But Connery
plays Henry just right, with an almost dismissive sense of authority
over Indy, and as a man who is so obssessed with his work, but despite
all that they still share some nice moments together.
And Sean has his share of good scenes in the film also that include his
first one, where Indy breaks into Henry's room where he is being help
captive by the Nazis and Henry smashes a vase over Indy's head and
suddenly moves into view for the first time and looks on at his son and
says "Junior?!". And Indy looks a little dazed after being hit and he
says obediently "Yes, sir!" and Henry grins at him and says "It IS you,
Junior!" and Indy says to him "Don't call me that please!".
Henry then picks up a piece of the broken vase and he goes over to a
table light and examines it and says "Late 14th century. Ming dynasty.
Oh, it breaks the heart!" and Indy says to him "And the head! You hit me
dad!". Henry looks pained and says "I'll never forgive myself!" but
Indy, who believes that Henry is talking about him, says reassuringly
"Don't worry, I'm fine". Henry looks at the vase again and then he
smiles and says to Indy "Thank God!" and he crosses to him and they both
smile together, as Indy is pleased that his dad appears to be concerned
for him. However, Henry then indicates the vase "Its a fake! See, you
can tell by the cross-section!" and he throws the piece of the vase
down.
And this is followed by the funny moment where Henry reveals he posted
his grail diary to Indy back home to get it as far away from the Nazis
as he could only for them to be interrupted by Nazi officers. So, one of
the officers asks "Dr Jones?" and both Indy and Henry says "Yes?" and
the officer says "I will take the book now!" and they both ask at the
same time "What book?" and the officer says "You have zee the diary in
your pocket". Henry however laughs and says "You dolt! You think my
son would be that stupid to bring my diary back here!" and Indy smiles
nervously as Henry looks at him and he asks "You didn't did you? You
didn't bring it, did you?" but it quickly dawns on him "YOU did!".
So, Henry angrily says "I should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers!"
and Indy angrily says to him "Will you take it easy?!" and Henry spits
back "Take it easy?! Why do you think I sent it home in the first
place?! So, it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands!!". Indy then angrily
says to Henry "I came here to save you!" and Henry shouts back "Oh
yeah?! And who's gonna come to save you, Junior?!!!". Indy then shouts
"I TOLD YOU...." and he suddenly grabs a machine gun from one of the
officers and shoots the Nazis dad and he turns to his stunned father and
says to him "...DON'T call me Junior!".
WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO A BIG SPOILER!!!
Another good scene is when after Indy has just discovered that Elsa is
working with the Nazis, Indy and Henry are tied up with their hands
behind their backs and taken into a room within the castle. So, Indy
says quietly to Henry re: Elsa "How did you know she was a Nazi?" and
Henry asks "What?" and Indy leans in and quietly repeats "How did you
know she was a Nazi?" and Henry tells him "She talks in her sleep" and
Indy looks stunned and Henry gives an awkward smile. Henry then says to
Indy "I didn't trust her. Why did you?" and we suddenly hear a voice
say "Because he didn't take my advice..." and we suddenly see Walter
Donovan get up from a chair as he is also in cahoots with the Nazis to
find the grail. And Henry says to Donovan "I misjudged you, Walter. I
knew you would sell your mother for an Etruscan vase, but I didn't know
you would sell your country and your soul to the slime of humanity!".
Then there is the scene where Indy and Henry finally share a quiet
moment together on the zeppelin as they talk about how they have never
seen each other and that Henry was never really there for Indy growing
up. And Indy tells Henry that they had a lonely time growing up
together without his mother (as she passed away) to which Henry replies
"Actually, I was a wonderful father". Indy laughs and asks "When?" and
Henry, taken aback says to him "Did I ever tell you to eat up? Go to
bed? Wash your ears? Do your homework? No. I respected your privacy, and
I taught you self-reliance!". Indy however becomes angry and tells
Henry how he felt he was less important to him then people who were dead
for hundreds of years and how they have barely spoken in 20 years. So,
Henry puts his diary aside and says "Oh well, I'm here now! What do you
want to talk about?" and Indy looks at him for a moment, speechless and
he laughs and says "I can't think of anything!" and Henry says "Then
what are you complaining about???!".
Then we have the scene where Henry attempts to rescue Marcus from the
Nazis, who is being held captive inside a German tank. So, Henry tells
Marcus "Its a rescue, old boy. Come one!" and before they can leave,
Vogel appears with his men. And Vogel takes off his clothes and slaps
Henry with them as he asks him "What does the diary tell you that it
doesn't tell us?!" and Henry suddenly grabs hold of Vogel's hand firmly
and he angrily tells him "It tells me that goose-stepping morons like
yourself should try reading books instead of BURNING THEM!!".
WARNING: SPOILERS ARE IN THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH!
And last of all is Sean's final scene where Indy, Henry, Marcus and
Sallah are set to head off on horses into the sunset. And after they
leave the temple where the Holy Grail resides and having lost it when
the temple collapses (and Elsa and Donovan have both been killed) Indy
sadly looks toward the temple remains. And Henry says to him "Elsa
never really believed in the Grail. She thought she found a prize" and
Indy turns to him and asks "What did you find, dad?" and Henry smiles
and says "Me? Illumination". And as they mount their horses, Henry
asks Indy "What did you find, Junior?" and Indy looks annoyed but Sallah
asks "What does this mean? This junior?!" and Henry tells him "That's
his name" he points to himself "Henry Jones..." and points to Indy
"Junior!". Indy however, annoyed says "I like Indiana!" and Henry tells
him "We named the dog Indiana!" and Sallah laughs out saying "You were
named after the dog?! Ha ha ha!!". Henry then finally says to Indy
"After you, Junior" and Indy says "Yes, sir!" and he gallops off on his
horse.
Up next is Julian Glover who puts in a fine performance as the devious collector, Walter Donovan, who is driven by his greed to find
the Grail and he uses Indy and Henry in the process.
And Glover his some good moments too such as the one where after
(SPOILER!!!!) Donovan has revealed his true colours as he is in cahoots
with the Nazis just after Indy and Henry have both been captured. So,
in the scene, Henry says to Indy re: Elsa "I didn't trust her. Why did
you?" and then we hear a voice say "Because he didn't take my advice!"
and then we see Donovan rise from a chair and Indy looks on angrily and
says "Donovan!" and Donovan says to him "Didn't I warn you not to trust
anyone, Dr Jones?".
Another good scene from Glover is when just after Indy and Henry have
been left in the castle tied up together, Donovan gets into a car
outside and he is handed a couple of telegram from a Nazi officer. So,
Donovan reads the first one and says to Vogel "Well we have Marcus
Broady and more importantly we have the map!". The officer then comes
back with another telegram, which Donovan reads ""By the personal
command of the Fuhrer. "Secrecy essential to success. Eliminate the
American conspirators.". Donovan then turns to Vogel, who stands
grinning by the car door, he says to him "Germany has declared war on
the Jones boys!" and Vogel laughs and closes Donovan's door just before
his car is driven away.
And last of all is the scene where Donovan and Elsa finally reach the
temple where the Holy Grail is located but they are forcing to use Arab
guards as volunteers to try and navigate past the deadly traps that lie
in the way of the grail itself.
So, when Indy and the others are captured and taken to Donovan, Elsa
surprised to see Indy still alive says "I never expected to see you
again" and Indy grins and says "I'm like bad penny. I always turn up!".
And Donovan says to Elsa "Back up, Dr Schneider. Give Dr Jones some
room. He's going to recover the grail for us" and he says to Indy "What
do you say, Jones? Ready to go down in history?" and Indy says "As
what? A Nazi stooge like you?!". Donovan however has other ideas and
says "
Is that the limit of your vision? The Nazis want to write
themselves into the Grail legend... take on the world. Well, they're
welcome. But I want the Grail itself. The cup that gives everlasting
life. Hitler can have the world, but he can't take it with him. I'm
going to be drinking my own health when he's gone the way of the dodo".
Donovan then pulls a gun on Indy and he says to him "The grail is
mine and you're going to get it for me" and Indy trying to contain his
anger says "Shooting me won't get you anywhere" and Donovan says "You
know, Dr Jones? You're absolutely right!" and he instead turns and
shoots Henry in the chest, who falls back on the ground. Elsa,
distressed moves forward saying "No!" but Donovan shouts at her "GET
BACK!" and Indy tends to Henry for a moment before he get's up and makes
to move on Donovan. Donovan however keeps Indy at gunpoint and shouts
to him "You can't save him when you're dead! The healing power of the
Grail is the only thing that can save your father now. It's time to ask
yourself what you believe!".
Alison Doody is very good in her role as femme fatale character,
Elsa Schneider, who at first appears to be on Indy's side but its not
long before we find out where her real loyalties lie. Alison Doody
herself was actually only 21 years old at the time of filming, which is
surprising when you look at her as she does look that bit more mature
(and pretty hot!).
And Alison has some good moments here aswell such as her first scene
where Indy and Marcus just arrive in Venice and come off a pier. And as
they do, Marcus asks Indy "How will we recognise this Dr Schneider?" and
Indy says "I don't know. Maybe he'll recognise us" and we suddenly hear
a female voice "Dr Jones?" and Indy turns around to see a beautiful
woman with blonde hair, which turns out to be Elsa. So, Elsa says to
Indy with a smile "I knew it was you. You have your father's eyes" and
Indy moves forward to her and turns on his charm and says "And my
mother's ears but the rest belongs to you". Elsa then smiles and says
"It looks like the best parts have already been spoken for" and Indy
smiles and Elsa looks to Marcus and asks "Marcus Brody?" and Marcus
replies "Yes" and she introduces herself "Dr Elsa Schneider".
There is also the scene where Indy and Elsa have their one-night stand
together but I have already mentioned that in Harrison Ford's section of
the performances, so I won't mention it again here just to save time!
However it is a very nicely played scene by both of them.
Another good scene is when Indy turns up to rescue Henry and after
killing a few Nazi guards and taking a machine gun he enters another
room to find Elsa being held at gunpoint by Vogel, who threatens to kill
her. However, Henry tells Indy that Elsa is really a Nazi and they are
bluffing him but Indy gives in and puts down his gun and Vogel let's go
of Elsa, pushing her into Indy. Elsa looks at him and says softly "I'm
sorry" and Indy says "No, don't be" but then she takes the grail diary
from his pocket and steps back and with a wry smile says "But...you
should have listened to your father!".
Then there is the scene where Indy and Henry have been tied up together,
sitting on chairs with their backs away from each other and Elsa looks
to Indy, who glares at her angrily. So, Elsa says to him "Don't look at
me like that. We both wanted the Grail. I would have done anything to
get it. You would have done the same" but Indy says to her "I'm sorry
you think so" leaving Elsa a little stung. However, Elsa brushes it off
and moves in close to Indy and says to him softly "I can't forget how
wonderful it was" and Henry says "Thank you, it was rather wonderful!"
and Indy turns his head to look at Henry in disbelief but Elsa grabs his
face and gives him one last kiss and she says to Indy "That's how
Austrians say goodbye!" and she leaves.
And last of all is the scene where Indy and Henry head to Berlin to
retrieve the diary from Elsa and Indy disguises himself as a Nazi
officer at a book burning rally, Elsa however looks on, quite upset as
she witnesses many German members of the public, throw piles of books
onto fires. And as Elsa walks off sadly, Indy suddenly comes up from
behind and says "Fraulien, Doctor?!" and Elsa looks stunned and asks
"How did you get here?!". Indy then roughly starts to search her
pockets and says "Where is it?! I want it!" and he takes out the diary
from her jacket pocket and Elsa asks "You came back for the book?!
Why???" and Indy walks away and says "My father didn't want it
incinerated!". Elsa taken aback, says "Is that what you think of me? I
believe in the Grail, not the swastika!". Indy angrily then says "But
you stood up to be counted with the enemy of everything that the Grail
stands for! Who gives a DAMN what you think?!!!" and Elsa shouts back
"You do!!". Indy then grabs Elsa by the throat and threatens her "All I
have to do is squeeze..." and she says tearfully "All I have to do is
scream..." and Indy after a second, let's her go.
Denholm Elliott is also really good once again as he returns to his role as Marcus Brody, except this time rather
than coming across as an intelligent capable scholar, he is more made
out to be a bumbling fool. Or rather its more just that Marcus is
simply out of his depth in the situation as he is not a field man like
Indy is, and Indy also recalls how Marcus one time got lost in his own
museum!
And Elliott has some good moments too in the film that include the scene
where Indy and Marcus head over to Henry's house and find it ransacked.
And Marcus says to Indy as they enter "Dear God! The old fool! What has
he gotten himself into now?" and Indy suddenly realises the package he received in the post is Henry's grail diary, which he opens up. Indy
then looks around and at a picture of on the wall of a knight and he
asks Marcus "Do you believe, Marcus? Do you believe the grail actually
exists?". Marcus then replies "The search for the Cup of Christ is the
search for the divine in all of us. But if you want facts, Indy, I've
none to give you. At my age, I'm prepared to take a few things on
faith". Indy then looks grave and says quietly to Marcus "Call Donovan,
Marcus and tell him I'll take that ticket to Venice now" and he walks
off and Marcus says to himself "I'll tell we'll take two".
Then there is the scene where after Indy narrowly avoids death at the
hands of the brothers of the crucible sword, regroups with Marcus back
at Marcus' hotel room and they look at the rubbing of the inscription
from the knight's shield in the catacombs of the library. So, as Indy
tries to piece together where exactly the grail would be located, Marcus
says "Your father would know. Your father did know!" and he takes the
grail diary and opens it "Look. He made a map. He must have pieced it
together from clues scattered through the whole history of the Grail
quest. A map with no names. Now, he knew there was a city with an oasis
due east, here. He knew the course turned south through the desert to a
river, and the river led into the mountains, here. Straight to the
canyon". Marcus then shuts the book and says excitedly "He knew
everything except where to begin! The name of the city!" and Indy says
"And now we know".
And lastly there is the funny scene where we find out that Elsa and
Donovan are working with the Nazis to find the grail and they capture
Indy and Henry together and they intend to find the missing pages of the
diary, which Indy gave to Marcus. So, Donovan says re: Marcus "He
sticks out like a sore thumb! We'll find him" and Indy says "The hell
you will!" and that Marcus has friends in every town and knows all the
local customs and languages and can blend in and disappear and with any
luck "he's got the grail already". However we then cut to a bewildered
looking Marcus, who is in Iskanderun and he shouts to the locals that
surround him "Does anyone here speak English? Or even ancient Greek?"
and people keep offering him things. Marcus is then offered food by a
local and he says "No, thank you, madam. I'm a vegetarian" and he says
to himself "Does anyone understand a word I'm saying here?!".
John Ryhs-Davies also makes a welcome return in his role as
Sallah, who appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark alongside Denholm
Elliott and here he slips effortlessly back into the part as if he had
not been away.
And I will mention for time only one of his scenes and its the one where
Sallah turns up at Iskenderun to meet a bewildered and lost Marcus.
So, Sallah greets him warmly and says "Mr Brody!" and Marcus says "Oh,
Sallah! What a relief!" and Sallah says "Marcus Brody, sir! But where
is Indy?" and Marcus tells him "Oh, he's in Austria on a slight detour.
But don't panic, everything's under control". However they are then
met by two German officials (really Nazi officers in disguise) and one
of them warmly greets Marcus and says "The director of the Museum of
Antiquities has sent a car for you" and Marcus smiles and says "You're
servant, sir" and Sallah says "And I'm his". And as they start to follow
the two Germans, Marcus pleased says to Sallah "My reputation proceeds
me" but Sallah warns him "There is no museum in Iskenderun".
A then one of the Germans spins round and asks them for their papers
suddenly. So, Sallah nervously bluffs them and he says "Papers? Of
course" and he says quietly to Marcus "Run" but Marcus doesn't catch
on. So, Sallah produces a newspaper and says "Papers. Got it here. Just
finished reading it myself" and again he says to Marcus "Run" but
Marcus still doesn't quite understand Sallah and says "Yes?". Sallah
then shows the Germans the paper ""Egyptian Mail," morning edition!" and
he once says to Marcus "Run(!)". Marcus finally catches on and says
"Did you say...." and Sallah suddenly puts his paper up to one of the
Germans' faces and punches him and shouts "RUN!" and he pushes the
Germans over a stall and he desperately tries to lead Marcus away from
them. Sallah the sees a truck nearby, which has a ramp down and he
grabs Marcus and shouts "Quick! Find the back door! Find the back
door!". So, Marcus goes up inside the back of the truck only for some
locals to then close up the ramp and shut the truck's door and the truck
drives off, leaving Sallah despondent.
And last of all is Michael Byrne, who is very good in his role as
the ruthless SS Officer, Colonel Vogel, who leads the Nazi quest to
find the Grail. Byrne most likely because of his looks often has played
German/Nazi soldier roles in the past and he even appeared in another
film with Harrison Ford, "Force 10 from Navarone" back in 1978.
And I will quickly mention two of Byrne's scenes with the first one
being where Indy and Henry are left tied up in the castle and Elsa says
her goodbye to Indy by giving him a passionate kiss and she says to Indy
"That's how Austrians say goodbye" and she leaves. However, Vogel then
walks to Indy and says to him "And this is how we say goodbye in
Germany, Dr Jones!" and he hits Indy on the head with his baton, which
causes Indy's head to hit Henry's head aswell and Vogel walks out,
leaving the Jones's reeling.
And lastly there is the scene where Henry tries to rescue Marcus from
the Nazis as he is being held captive in a German tank, however they are
both caught by Vogel's officer. So, Vogel orders his men to search
Henry and he says to him as he takes off his gloves "Search him. What is
in this book? That miserable little diary of yours. We have the map.
The book is useless. And yet you come all the way back to Berlin to get
it!". Vogel then slaps Henry with his gloves "Why?!" What are you
hiding? he slaps him again and then he asks "What does the diary tell
you that it doesn't tell us?!" and Henry tells him that Nazis should
read books instead of burning them.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the direction, well its another sterling effort by Steven Spielberg,
who does an excellent job here and
he keeps the pace of the film moving along nicely and he does a great
job at producing fine performances from the cast and does well at
building the relationship between Indy and Henry. At times perhaps the
tone of the film is a bit overtly
comical, but I think Spielberg helps keep it just about right enough to
keep the overall tone in tune with the original film.
As for the music score, John Williams once again provides an
excellent one, which features the familiar and memorable Indy theme but
also it adds plenty of new tracks that have plenty of atmosphere,
excitement and even a bit of emotion here and there. Its not quite in
the same league as Williams magnificent score for Raiders but its still a
very fine effort and let's face it, John Williams lesser scores often
tend to be better than some composers very best works (no offense to other composers!).
FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
As for the flaws...well yeah OK, The Last Crusade has a few worth mentioning.
For starters I think one of the problems I had with the film was to do
with the idea of Henry sending his Grail diary to Indy and its not so
much that he sent it in the first place but its more a case of why
didn't he include a written note with it to warn him what has happened
to him?! I mean that would have made a lot more sense! But of course it
is done this way to build up the mystery and suspense of Henry's
disappearance but even so I can't help but think, Henry could have
written a quick note saying "I sent this book back so the Nazis don't
get it. I've been captured so watch out!". Would that have been so
difficult?!
Further to this point, given that Henry was captured by the Nazis, how
did he manage to even send the diary back in the first place?! I can
only imagine that he did it before he was captured and he sussed out
what was going on but if that was the case again why didn't he include a
written note to warn Indy what happened?! Achh anyway, it all worked
itself out in the end I guess!
Another thing that bugged me is the scene where Indy completes the inscription on the shield by using a penciled rubbing that Indy's dad had kept from Sir Richard's tomb. However in the next scene, the brotherhood that chase Indy, set fire to the oil in the underground area, forcing Indy and Elsa to dive underwater for cover from the flames. However, by doing that surely the rubbing would be ruined and totally soaked through since Indy is underwater but in the next scene after Indy escapes back to his hotel room, we see the rubbing is completely dry! So, yeah that is one scene that never really sat right with me unless the rubbing itself is totally waterproof but I doubt it!
I also felt that the section where Indy tries to save Marcus from Vogel
and the other Nazis in the tank, was also a bit long and drawn out as it
takes a bit too much time for Indy to eventually get him out of there.
It also leads into the really daft bit where Indy has his fight with
Vogel ontop of the tank, Henry is knocked off his feet and nearly ends
up being crushed under the tank's rails but Indy uses his whip to grab
hold of him, so he doesn't but meanwhile he does this, Vogel is beating
up Indy and Sallah soon arrives in the nick of time to save Henry! I
mean convenient or what?!
Another strange moment in the film is when Indy and Henry are on the
zeppelin, it suddenly turns around to take them back to Germany on order
of the Nazis. However as Indy and Henry make their escape, Indy says
"I thought it would have taken them a lot longer to figure out the radio
was dead". Right, what does he mean by that? Does that mean Indy somehow
managed to get to the radio on the zeppelin and sabotage it?! And even
if he did, that means there would be no way for the pilots of the
zeppelin to contact the Nazis to alert them about the Jones being
onboard! So, I don't quite get the reference and how the zeppelin would receive orders to be turned about unless the radio WAS working! Not
unless of course they repaired it, which yeah OK, is a possibility.
And lastly I found it a bit daft how in that scene near the end where
Elsa makes the mistake of trying to take the grail out of the temple,
only for it to cause the temple to being collapsing around them and Elsa
ends up falling to her death as her greed to reach for the grail
overtakes her and Indy loses his grip on her. And as Indy nearly
befalls the same fate, dangling over a chasm, he tries to reach for the
grail, which lies on a bit of rock nearby him and Henry holds onto him.
However as the violent quaking carries on, it suddenly softens and
stops when Henry calls Indy "Indiana" for the first time in the film and
he says to him re: the grail "Let it go" and Indy let's himself be
pulled up by Henry and they escape the temple.
Again its a rather
strangely convenient moment that was worked into the film as if the
temple is allowing for Henry to reach to his son and convince him to let
go of his desire for the grail, just long enough for Henry to pull him
up! Yeah OK, that sounds a bit daft in itself maybe but if you watch
the scene, you might get what I mean.
Anyway, that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, to sum up, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a very enjoyable
and solid entry in the franchise and it was a pity that it would be
followed up by the mediocre "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" almost 20
years later. The casting of Sean Connery is a great choice and he and
Harrison Ford share a great father/son chemistry onscreen together even
though there are only 12 years between them in real life!
The film is also ably backed up by a solid cast with Julian Glover and
Alison Doody both being standouts here and its also great to see the
return of Denholm Elliot and John Rhys-Davies in their roles as Marcus
and Sallah. And Spielberg's direction is once again great and he
confidently handles the film's action aswell as the humour and John
Williams again provides an excellent score here.
And despite any of its niggling issues to do with its plot, they are
still don't detract from what is a highly entertaining movie, which
easily remains the second best in the Indy quadrilogy. And after the major letdown of the fourth film, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, let's hope the upcoming sequel (and most likely the final film!) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny puts things right even though Harrison Ford stars in it, he is now 80 years old, so not sure how well he'll hold up in it physically! ;-)
And with that I will rate The Last Crusade:
9 out of 10
So, that's it for this one and I will return sometime soon with another post.
Until then bye for now!
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