Directed by:
Steven SpielbergScreenplay:
Jeffrey BoamCinematography:
Douglas SlocombeComposer:
John WilliamsCast:
Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Alex Hyde-White (more)VOD (5)
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The third installment in the widely beloved Spielberg/Lucas Indiana Jones saga begins with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late River Phoenix), who, through a fast-paced prologue, gives the audience insight into the roots of his taste for adventure, fear of snakes, and dogged determination to take historical artifacts out of the hands of bad guys and into the museums in which they belong. A grown-up Indy (Harrison Ford) reveals himself shortly afterward in a familiar classroom scene, teaching archeology to a disproportionate number of starry-eyed female college students in 1938. Once again, however, Mr. Jones is drawn away from his day job after an art collector (Julian Glover) approaches him with a proposition to find the much sought after Holy Grail. Circumstances reveal that there was another avid archeologist in search of the famed cup Indiana Jones' father, Dr. Henry Jones (Sean Connery) who had recently disappeared during his efforts. The junior and senior members of the Jones family find themselves in a series of tough situations in locales ranging from Venice to the most treacherous spots in the Middle East. Complicating the situation further is the presence of Elsa (Alison Doody), a beautiful and intelligent woman with one fatal flaw: she's an undercover Nazi agent. The search for the grail is a dangerous quest, and its discovery may prove fatal to those who seek it for personal gain. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
When something is done for the third time, you usually know how to do it well, and although the previous two films in the series were in no way bad, the third Indiana Jones represents the true pinnacle of this miniseries and, in a way, one of the peaks of its genre, the adventure film. It doesn't take itself seriously, which is extremely important, and at the same time, it has a sufficiently high budget, an imaginative screenplay that doesn't let the viewer catch their breath for even a moment, and a great cast led by the seasoned Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. The two complement each other wonderfully, resulting in a fascinating spectacle. The tank battle scene or the rescue in the underground labyrinth will remain in the viewer's memory for a long time. Once again, excellent music. Overall impression: 100%.
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The Last Crusade loses its breath a little after a brisk and all-explaining intro with River Phoenix, but then goes full speed until the very end. The third Indy outing appealed to me the most, thanks to the casting of Sean Connery and especially the great action-adventure energy of the whole film. This time, the line with the Nazis didn't bother me as much as it did in the first one, and compared to the previous installments, the theme tune was spared, whose overuse in both the first and the second one was quite a drag on my ears. Plus, the Holy Grail has a better vibe for me personally than the Ark of the Covenant (or magic stones). A weaker five stars!
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Lucas' and Spielberg's apology for the dark pulp flick Temple of Doom, which paradoxically with its "white savior" concept was most in line with the original idea of conceiving Indiana Jones as the cliffhanger adventure short familiar in the 20s and 30s. As vocal as there were voices that adding another dimension to the central character by pinning his impractical father on him would rob Indiana of some of the mystery that surrounds him, on the contrary, the move was helped in particular by a noticeably aged original cast, the new wrinkles and tired eyes simply added a human dimension to the adventurers, not to mention the fact that after the second installment you quite welcome the fact that the sidekick is not a loose young girl lusting after Jones's sweaty, sweaty body between screams. Otherwise, again, the dozens of different sub-quests, the world locations we get to see, the tangibility and light-heartedness of the action, the beautiful framing, and the relentless torture of the crew in their quest to film the never-before-seen, it's still such a beautiful and forgotten cinematic discipline that I'm defining a special way of sitting on the couch that's just for this trilogy. The fourth installment never existed, you may even remember seeing it, but no, it was just a bad dream. This way it’s just fine.
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My favorite Indy... WHY? Because it contains several absolutely classic action scenes, several excellent gags and, above all, Jones Sr. performed by Sean Connery. The Connery-Ford chemistry works in an absolutely fantastic way, as if they both really had a family bond. Of all their scenes, my favorite is the one on the rock after the tank fell into the abyss. Everything essential is in it – humor, tension, feeling. The story may be a little weaker than in the first film, but it has a similarly magnetizing atmosphere and depth that is so lacking in Temple of Doom. And Spielberg's ingenuity in the action scenes has no limits... The others have no choice but to copy and copy. If you say “adventure film", then I hear the whip crack, and out of the corner of my eye I see a character in a hat. Top class, Dr. Jones!
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When I wrote about Raiders of the Lost Ark that it is the best adventure movie, I was in two minds because the proverbially second best is The Last Crusade. If I were to specify it in percentage terms it would look a bit like this: Raiders 100% and Last Crusade 99.9%. By a hair’s breadth. It probably lacks the element of surprise, or the darkness that surrounded the Ark of the Covenant. But what The Last Crusade lacks in darkness it makes up for in inventiveness, fun and Sean Connery (they say that Lucas was originally against having a former James Bond playing Indy’s father, but Spielberg insisted that this would be the joke :-). Marvelously handled father son theme is a great sideline to the story developing around the legend of Christ’s grail. If you want the whole family to enjoy, the last part of the trilogy is the perfect choice. By the way, the reason why a fourth Indy hasn’t been made yet is that Lucas subconsciously knows that it wouldn’t work these days. Plus what better ending to the legendary trilogy can you imagine than the heroes driving off into the setting sun.
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