Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- 1989

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(1989)

Rated PG-13 for violence, language, horror and sexuality
My Rating: 4 Stars

Harrison Ford
Denholm Elliot
Alison Doody
John Rhys-Davies
Julian Glover
Sean Connery

My favorite Indiana Jones movie. I have always loved stories about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, so this film really hit the spot. But not only for that aspect of it. The movie is very well acted, with lots of history and laughs thrown in. Makes for an enjoyable evening of watching.

Summary:
Hitler had to abandon the Ark of the Covenant after it disappeared without a trace (thanks to Dr. Jones) but he hasn't given up hope for an easy victory. There is another “mystically-empowered” legend from the antiquity that he intends for himself and his followers: The Holy Grail.

One fine afternoon, Dr. Jones is followed and intercepted on his way home from the university. They bring him to a man who has in his possession part of a stone tablet and a request that Dr. Jones find it's twin. On the tablet is depicted a riddle of the location of the Holy Grail. But there is a problem and it lies with the fact the tablet is broken, therefore part of the riddle is missing. This man needed to find the other tablet, which is in the tomb of one of the Knights of King Arthur's assembly.

 Dr. Jones is impressed with the tablet but not by the request. His father had studied anything and everything related to the Holy Grail for over 30 years. In fact, the Grail was an obsession that took him away from his family and allowed room for few friends. Indy said that if they wanted someone to find the Holy Grail, his father would be a better pick. It was unfortunate, the man replied, but they had chosen Professor Jones first and he had gone missing. That was why they needed Indy.

As you well may guess, Indy and his father had never been close. The very fact that Indy hadn't realized that his father has been out of town for awhile says a lot for the amount of contact between the two. Immediately after the meeting, he rushed to his father's home, only to find it had been ransacked. He stood in his father's trashed living room and wondered who and why? What are they looking for? Where had his father disappeared to?

That was when he realized the package he received in the mail that day was his father's Grail diary. The one Professor Jones wrote all of his notes in... all the clues, the maps... everything he had discovered in his 30 years of study. Indy knows his father would never part with his diary unless he thought it would be in danger. And if it were in danger, it meant that Professor Jones was also in danger. The two may not have been close, but Indy is a good son. His only reason for excepting the job to find the missing tablet is to search for any clues that might lead him to his father.

The next day found Indiana Jones and Mr. Brody, a close friend of both the Jones', on a plane to Venice. Straight into the heart of danger and adventure... and face to face with Adolf Hitler.

“Germany just declared war on the Jones' boys!”

What I Liked:
1: The acting... phenomenal.
2: 99% of the special effects were so well done that you didn't realize they were.
3: Alison Doody was a beautiful woman and wonderful actor. She is my favorite of all Indy's love interests. But she also had an appropriate end.
4: The humor. My family and I nearly laughed ourselves silly. :-)
5: When there was sexual references, it was discreetly done.
6: All of the history, legends, story, etc.
7: The actor who played Hitler actually looked very much like him.
8: Sean Connery is wonderful. He was the perfect pick for Harrison Ford's father.
9: In spite of their differences, father and son learned to appreciate and respect each other.
10: The punch through the paper. That was clever...
11: How well Indiana Jones and his father are depicted. It's just about perfect.

What I Didn't Like:
1: Some of the adventure/script was pretty unbelievable. Some of the pickles could have been avoided with a little common sense.
2: The sexual references. It didn't help the story.
3: language.

“Junior...”
“Daaaadddd....!”
“No ticket!”
“You were named after the dog?! Hehehehehe!”

If you want to watch Indiana Jones, this is the film. :-)