Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade Film Review

Back in the eighties we had a great trilogy of action films that should have stayed exactly that a trilogy but in both 2008 and more recently in 2023. Paramount and later Disney decided to bring back the Indiana Jones films and do nothing interesting with them with both Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and Dial Of Destiny being some of the worst films in the franchise and yet films like Raiders Of The Last Ark and the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today prove that when you get these films right then you end up with something special and so then join me as I review the film that really should have been the final ever Indiana Jones film with the film in question being called simply just "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when his father is kidnapped Indiana Jones has to go a find them and find the mythical holy grail before it falls into the hands of the naz*s. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the plot of this film being not only about the search for the holy grail but also the search for a father and son to reconnect with this being something that the plot of this film do really well with the fact that the plots are tied together being something that is a smart thing thing to do as it would have been very easy for the makers of this film to write off the whole father and son subplot for alot of the film yet that's not what happens in this film as the two of them do coexist together so much so that you really can't have one without the other. Whilst this films plot isn't the strongest that the franchise has evert had with this being something that could be argued for alot of the films in this franchise as well the films plot is one that is creative enough and is fun enough that you do kind of forgive it with the plot of the film having the ability to make you feel like your kid again as it is just that fun to watch and that is something that alot of the truly wonderful Indiana Jones films have the ability to and it's something that the later sequels fail to do with the plot if this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones , Sir Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr. and Denholm Elliott as Marcus Brody. Also starring in this film is Alison Doody as Elsa Schneider , John Rhys-Davies as Sallah , Julian Glover as Walter Donovan , Michael Byrne as Standartenführer Ernst Vogel , Kevork Malikyan as Kazim , Robert Eddison as The Grail Knight , Alex Hyde-White as Young Henry Jones, Sr and River Phoenix as Young Indiana Jones.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To say that alot of this films actors are really good would be a huge understatement as all of the main actors in this film really do give us a top tier performance in this film alot of which do remind us of why we like these actors to begin with and in the case of Sir Sewan Connery why he is of course well known for being the first official James Bond here we do get to see him be more comical and be more thought provoking something which for obvious he could never be as James Bond. With the best actor in the whole entire film being of course Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones as by this point in the franchise the man just is this character with him basically being able to play this role in his sleep and still turn in a good performance as that's how good he is as this character something which he does prove again in this film as while in the other films we do get to see that he makes for a good action hero and give you all of the good action lines here we also get to see that he could be a good dramatic actor as well as he does give us a really powerful performance in these scenes where he and Sir Sean Connery are just talking about their past. With the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film. 

Whilst this franchise has always been very up and down when it comes to it's characters with the first film giving us some truly iconic characters the same thing is sadly not true for alot of the other films as the characters in those films are forgettable and yet here in this film we do get some really good characters. Granted this mostly because of the fact that they mainly bring back characters from the first film but even the characters that the film introduces are really well done with the likes of Donovan and Elsa making for characters that whilst they aren't complex in anyway they are still entertain9ng and that more the play with the formular that these films have established. With Donovan being the rich person who does initially send Indy on his mission in the first place only for it turn out that he's the main villain and while all of the other female characters in this franchise have been good guys for Indy to possibly fall in love with Elsa first follows that trend by first seducing Indy into letting her go with him on this quest only for it it turn out that she to is evil and is just as greedy as what Donovan is both of these things are things that do play around with the franchises formular as typically the character that sends Indy on his mission in he first place is never seen again until the very end of the film and therefor not only having come back but also be revealed as the films main villain is a smart twist and one that does work due to the fact that we the audience don't see it coming. As for the returning characters they are all done really well even Marcus Brody who was Indy's father figure of sorts in the first film is here meant to be the films comedic relief character which is a change that does make as the film quite literally has Indy's father figure in the film and Sallah is just as lovable as he was in the first film and while Henry Sr isn't a returning character he does blend in really well with it being obvious where Indy got his more adventurous side from.

Speaking of Indy the thing that this film handled really well was the relationship between Indy and his father. As all throughout the film we do see why they drifted apart for many years as the two of them are vastly different characters with Indy being more outgoing and always looking for adventure and Henry whilst he is still looking for an adventure in his own way is more of a traditionalist with him preferring to do things his way which are things that do see the characters but heads alot of the time in this film as Henry Sr. does have things in his airy that he didn't tell Indy about and the pair of them do have to reconcile the fact that Henry Sr. did spend more time focusing on finding the holy grail rather then being a father to Indy. All of this is something that does come to a head when during the films climax when after failing to save to Elsa from dying Indy now finds himself gripping to the same edge that Elsa had just fallen from with his dad trying to pull him and yet Indy is slowly being seduced by the power that the grail could have. Yet the only thing that makes him turn around being when his father instead of calling him "Junior" like he has done all throughout the film instead calls him "Indiana" the one thing that he wanted to be called not just throughout the film but for alot of his life and by doing that his father is finally accepting Indy for who he is faults and all and Indy is accepting his father for who he is faults and all. This is something that does make the film feel alot more personal and alot more emotional as by all rights the makers of this film should have had Indy walk away after failing to save Elsa but it's the fact that they took the time to give these two character the closure that they both wanted that makes this moment really standout all the more with the film being all the more better off because of it.

This film does do what alot of the other Indiana Jones films have failed to do and that's recapture the tone and spirit of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. With this being why the makers of this film brought back back both Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies as both of those characters did help to make the first film as memorable as it was and by making them alot more funnier in this film it is something that does help the film to not only by alot more lighthearted when compared to the more darker Temple Of Doom but it also does help to make this film feel more in line with Raiders as that film whilst yes it did have it's darker moments but it did also have it's more lighthearted moments not so much that you could call it an action comedy but enough to make the more darker moment really feel all the more serious and impactful. Both of which are things that do happen in this film as while yes the film does have it's moments that are more often then not played for laughs like for example Henry Sr. being disappointed at the thought a breaking a genuine Ming vase over his sons head only to be elated when he finds out it was a fake these moments are only there to get you to smile and that's it and when the film does get all the more serious like for example when Henry Sr. , Sallah and Brody all think that Indy has fallen to his death they all mourn him until it's discovered that he was hanging to a branch and he pulls himself whilst yes there are moments of humor in that scene it's the fact that a father thought that he had just seen just son died that makes it emotional with it being something that is then kind of reversed when Indy now has to actually get the grail to save his father's life both of those moments wouldn't have worked without the humor being in the film as it would have made the film be just as dark as what Temple Of Doom was.

There are some things that you just expect to see in the early Indiana Jones films and one of them is the fact that the main villain will get killed of in a way that pushed the boundaries of the PG rating. This is something that is true for this film as while Donovan's death doesn't get as gory as the face melting scene in the first film does the fact that we see him very quickly age to him is a pretty scary scene in it's own right and yet it is something that is oddly fitting for this character as he was always searching for fame and power thus becoming more greedy because of it and yet it's that want and need for power that did end up costing him his life as if he took a few minuets to realise he would have remembered that due to who the grail's cup was originally and that this person was always humble it wouldn't have been a big flashy cup. While Donovan isn't the best villain that this franchise has has he's more memorable then whoever the villain was in Dial Of Destiny and is alot more better as a villain then what Irina Spalko was in Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was as he does have an endgame that does align with what the German's want the cup for as they only want the cup for the power it could bring them whereas he wants it to be immortal and seeing him go to these extremes with the Germans is something that does make him an OK villain with the same thing being true for Elsa who is pretty weak as a villain as she really doesn't do all that much villainous in the film in fact one could argue that she does more when she's meant to be a good guy then when she's a villain as she doesn't really have an end goal in mind with her coming across as being evil purely for the sake of being evil.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly two hours and six minuets and fifty three seconds. Which to be fair to this film is a prefect amount of running time for this film to have as this film really does need that amount of running time in order to tell it's story in a way that doesn't do more harm to the story then good, as the film does have to fit in alot of backstory for Indy which is kind of needed as it also sets up his relationship with his dad and still a good story and it wouldn't be able to do that if this film was even ten minuets shorter as then the film the would be doing harm to it's plot and it characters. With the film even having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place and yet even with that in mind the film doesn't use it's running time all that wisely in one regard as the film does take the time to add things to it's plot that does make it more developed infact one could argue that the entire opening prolog with Indy as a kid is something that does add to the plot of the film as while we do get to see things like how he got his scar and fear of snake we also get to see the fact that even as boy Indy and his father at best weren't on good speaking terms with each other with this being something that does come up time and time again throughout the rest of the film and yet the film doesn't take the time to give any of it's characters any kind of character development outside of Henry Sr. and Indy which when it comes to both Sallah and Marcus Brody is something that does make sense as they dd appear in the first film but at the same time Brody was only in a handful of scenes at best at the start and end of the film and that's it therefor he should have gotten at least something small interms of character development and none of the films new characters get any kind of character development with them all being in the same place at the end of the film as they were at the start of the film but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The film does have alot of really good and over the top action scenes in the film all of which not only work really well but they also feel right at home in an Indiana Jones film as these are film that do demand these more over the top action scenes as that's when we get to see Indy be at his best as this is a character that is always just winning a fight by the skin of his teeth and he can't be like that if the action scenes aren't over the top and if one thing that's being done to help out another character doesn't effect him in a negative way. With the best action scene in the whole entire film being the tank chase scene as we not only get to see what Indy can do in a fight but we also get the more comedic element with Brody and Indy's father having a more comedic fight inside of the tank as well this is on top of all of the usual stunts and explosions that one does seem to expect from a great classic Indiana Jones film with Indy just narrowly avoiding getting his face battered and bruised when he's clinging on to the gun of the tank which then gets driven near a cliff face which is really fun to see and it is something that does add more danger to the fil as now we the audience are wondering just how id Indy going to get out of this one with the rest of the films action scenes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall while yes there have been two other Indiana Jones after this one this is the film that they should have ended the franchise on as it is such a goo film with it having all of the things that made Raiders Of The Lost Ark work but also doing new things with the characters that work as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very revie well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Blogger . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.