Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

I stated before that the previous Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was not my favorite in the series, which no doubt led readers to wonder which one was my favorite. Well, it's actually the third film in the series: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford) has never had an easy relationship with his father, Henry (played by Sean Connery), but when he is informed his father is missing by Walter Donovan (played by Julian Glover), he is on the next plane to Venice, Italy along with family friend Marcus Brody (played by Denholm Elliott). It is there that he meets Dr. Elsa Schneider (played by Allison Doody), an Austrian Archeologist that Henry was working with to try and locate clues that would lead him to the Holy Grail, a lifelong obsession of his. The trio quickly discover that hot on their trail are not only a group of men sworn to protect the grail but also the Nazis as well. After rescuing his father from the clutches of the Nazis, and discovering that Elsa is one of them, Indy and his father find themselves in a race to try and recover the Grail and keep it from falling into the hands of the Nazis. 

For the third entry in the Indiana Jones series, a lighter touch was given to the film after the criticism that Temple of Doom received. There were several different scripts written, including ones by Chris Columbus before Jeffrey Boam was able to create an acceptable script that pleased both Spielberg and Producer George Lucas. The script then went through a few re-writes to strengthen up the dialogue, especially between Indy and his father, by Empire of the Sun screenwriter Tom Stoppard. The film's story delves into Indy's back story and specifically his relationship with his father and revealing elements of the character that had been previously unknown including the character's real name, Henry Jones, Jr. It's this change-up in the formula that is the film's greatest strength with Indy and his Dad playing off each other wonderfully, with Indy's dad completely unaccustomed to the adventures Indy deals with and is even shocked when he watches Indy try to shoot his way out of captivity at one point. This relationship both provides a great deal of humor to the film but also poignancy as well. The main plot of Indy and company trying to keep another powerful religious artifact out of the hands of the Nazis is more of less a rehash of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the addition of Indy's father and the two of them renewing their familial bond over the course of their adventure manages to raise it ever so slightly above Raiders in my rankings. Also helping nudge the film to the top ranking is the score by John Williams, which is not just my favorite in the series but also my favorite John Williams score period. I love that he composed all new themes for this film and saves the iconic "Raiders March" theme for the very end of the film. I even enjoy listening to it on it's own without the film (and now my parents know what happened to their copy of the film's soundtrack). 

Harrison Ford is in typical top form as Indiana Jones in his third outing as the character. I could tell he was enjoying being able to have a little more fun with the character in this outing, especially in the scenes between Indy and his father. Sean Connery joins the cast for this film as Henry Jones, Sr and in addition to being a great addition, his casting is a bit of an in-joke as well. Remember back in my Raiders of the Lost Ark review when I referenced Spielberg wanting to direct a James Bond film? Well, it was only natural they would want to cast Sean Connery as Indy's dad as Spielberg viewed the Bond films as the father of the Indiana Jones films. What makes it even better is that the character of Henry Jones is about the furthest thing from Bond imaginable. He is an academic through and through and for the most part not a man of action at all. He spends at least the first half of the movie in a bot of shocked awe at everything Indy has to do to get them out of their assorted predicaments. Henry is by no means dead weight and does try to help, even when it doesn't go well such as an attempt to burn through the ropes they're tied up with goes so wrong he winds up setting the entire room on fire. Still, you can sense that Connery is having a lot of fun playing the role and is quite entertaining in the role. River Phoenix turns up at the beginning of the movie played a teenage Indiana Jones in the opening sequence that manages to explain each characteristic of the Indiana Jones we know and love within said sequence. Phoenix does a good job capturing what a young Indy would have been like and in fact was suggested for the part by Harrison Ford after Phoenix played his son in The Mosquito Coast.    

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is without a doubt my favorite in the series. While aspects of it perhaps follow Raiders of the Lost Ark a little too closely, it manages to surpass the film in my opinion by adding new and interesting dynamics to it's main character as it expands on who he is, as well as adding in his father to the adventure. It's also a very fun and rollicking adventure beyond that with it's share of memorable action set pieces that make for superior entertainment.