The Last Crusade

James Rolfe has stated that the true predecessor to Indiana Jones is Agent 007, James Bond. That's why there is no coincidence that the first actor who portrayed James Bond, the coolest Scottish man you know in Motion Picture history, Sean Connery, was casted as Indiana's father, Henry Jones, in the 1989 film, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," which also happens to be the best one out of the four, and one of my all time favorite films. But for those of you who have seen any or all of the James Bond films, you know that he would find himself in a ridiculous situation where no human being could survive. Set up a trap and see how he escapes, that's what it's all about.

James Lipton said to Harrison Ford when he was a guest on Inside the Actors Studio, "Now if my arithmetic is correct, Sean Connery, in order to be your father, would have to father you at the age of 12." To which Harrison responded, "But you know Sean, he could have done it." Lipton went on and said, "Leaving that aside for the moment, I thought the father/son story worked brilliantly in that movie." While reminiscing, Harrison said, "Oh, it was just pure joy. We felt very comfortable in that relationship with those words."

In this film, Lipton commented that it did us all the service in answering several questions that the world had been asking for seven years. At the end of the film, after teasing the audience throughout the entire movie, Henry Jones reveals that Indiana Jones's real name is Henry Jones Jr. and the dog was named Indiana.

Now onto the review. This film opens in 1912, when a 13-year-old Indiana Jones, played by River Phoenix, attempts to recover Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's cross, which he finally does in 1938. Denholm Elliott reprises his role as Indiana's friend, Marcus Brody from Raiders of the Lost Ark, who are assigned by Walter Donovan, played by Julian Glover, to find the Holy Grail. They go with Dr. Elsa Schneider, played by Allison Doody, picking up where Indiana's father left off before he disappeared. After Indiana finds and saves Henry, they work together, recovering Henry's diary, and using his research to go out and find the Grail before the Nazis get it. Indiana's father is a medieval literature professor, and Indiana says is the one "the student’s hope they don't get." As I had stated before, the relationship between Indiana and his father, Henry Jones Sr., is just the best scenes in the movie. Whenever you see them together, you can't take your eyes off of them. Harrison Ford and Sean Connery worked so well together, they are believable in the roles of father and son, and they just let the chemistry flow between the two of them. That is why you should see this movie, for the two of them. Trust me when I say that this is the best one of the four Indiana Jones films.

However, I do have to say there are a couple silly moments in this one that I have to address. The first one is after a thrilling chase of the Nazis gaining up on Indiana and Henry, but they manage to escape. Now, they get to a beach where an enemy Nazi plane comes right toward them. With that, Henry Jones Sr. uses his umbrella, scares a herd of seagulls, and becoming Hitchcock's The Birds, they smash up the windows and get caught up in the propeller. That takes down the plane. Like I said, the best parts were when Indiana and his father bonded whenever they were in danger, but taking out a plane with seagulls is a fine line between brilliant and dumb. Another one is when Indiana is fighting the Nazi on top of the tank, which is one of the best action scenes in any Indiana Jones movie, and they are coming to a cliff. However, it's like a tribute to the old cliffhangers, like in the 60s Batman serial when Batman and Robin are in a trap, and the narrator would ask if they would escape, saying to wait until the next episode. The whole idea is to trick the audience into thinking Indiana died when the tank exploded, but when he climbs back up, wouldn't you ask how he survived that? The whole action is covered, there are no cutaways, we just see it fall and smash. So it's just like the raft scene in The Temple of Doom, you can't survive that.

Like I have told you all before, this franchise is all about the supernatural. In The Last Crusade, the supernatural scene comes when Indiana Jones goes through the three challenges in the cave. The first one is when he survives the blades that would have sliced him into pieces, spells out the word Jehovah with stepping stones in Latin (which begins with I), and makes a leap of faith, which at first you don't see the bridge, but then realize that it was camouflaged. As soon as he enters in the cave, there is a knight which has been waiting for 700 years. Elsa and Donovan barge in, demanding that they choose it first, and Donovan picks the wrong cup, aging rapidly and disintegrating into dust. Indiana then chooses, after Donovan chose poorly, and he picks the right one.

Alright, enough spoilers, go watch the film, you'll love it. Next week will be a defensive review on The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.