The quest for the grail is not archeology, it's a race against evil. If it is captured by the Nazis, the armies of darkness will march all over the face of the earth.
Title:
Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeDate Watched: 12/23/2012
Original Ranking Out of 10: N/A
Revised Ranking Out of 10: 8+
Synopsis: Everybody's favorite archaeologist finds himself on a quest for the Holy Grail along with his estranged father.
The Good: Two or three really awesome action sequences. A surprising amount of heart. Great special effects (probably the best of the original trilogy).
The Bad: Again, fails to live up to Raiders.
Why Do I Own This Movie?: Costco on DVD. Amazon on Blu-ray. I don't think it's available in either format separate from the rest of the trilogy.
Should I Still Own This Movie?: Yes.
What Did I Notice That I Didn't Notice Before?: There are pictures at the beginning that foreshadow the challenge at the end.
Other Impressions: I hate that my initial reaction to this movie is "It's no Raiders." Raiders of the Lost Ark is a classic that rises above the schlocky genre picture that it is by not missing a single step and, on top of that, incorporating child-like energy and inventiveness that never runs out. Last Crusade may be even worse off than Temple of Doom, since its storyline and setting are much closer to those of the original than the sequel's were. It's still a wonderful movie and well worth multiple viewings, but... as I said: It's no Raiders.
The highlights here, at least for me, are the boat chase and the tank chase. They're well conceived and well shot, but Indy gets off a little easy in both of them. Remember the sequence in Raiders where he not only has to fight somebody twice his size, but also has to contend with a plane that's about to take off, flown by a pilot who's trying to shoot at him and propellers that threaten to slice him to bits as well as a fire that's going to blow everything up? And once he finishes with that, he jumps on a horse and... I can't do this.
Everything in Last Crusade is really, really good. I like the relationship between father and son that the movie focuses on (even if it is typical Spielberg), but does it really belong here? Do we go to Indiana Jones movies to learn more about the character's history? It doesn't get in the way at all, but it doesn't directly add very much either. I suppose that the threat of his father dying motivates Indy to attempt the impossible at the end, but I feel like the same thing could have been accomplished with, say, Short Round. I'm not even saying that Sean Connery's character shouldn't be here -- I'm just saying that the movie seems so focused on the characters that it becomes (comparatively) restrained.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is wildly entertaining, a hell of a lot of fun, and has many moments of absolute genius. In another universe, where the series started out with this movie, it probably would have had a similar effect on audiences. But, while sequels are supposed to be bigger and more extravagant, this one holds back, evoking memories of Raiders without necessarily recreating all of the magic.
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