Customer Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Widescreen Edition) [VHS]

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark was a spectacular ride full of eye-popping stunts and breathtaking action sequences. The second Indiana Jones film, The Temple of Doom, was a disappointment. It was a decent movie, not bad by any means whatsoever, but it couldn't hold a candle to its predecessor. It seemed the Indiana Jones chronicles were only going to go downhill from there. Boy, was I wrong. I watched The Last Crusade in theaters back in 1989 and it was every bit as fun and enjoyable as Raiders of the Lost Ark, even an improvement in some ways. There's considerably more character development in this film and the special effects have gotten better with enhanced technology.

The storyline reverts back to the formula that made Indiana Jones so great. This time, Jones (Harrison Ford) has discovered that his father, Henry (Sean Connery), has disappeared on an expedition for the Holy Grail. Indiana takes his place and, with the help of Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot), Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), searches for his father and the Holy Grail and must battle Nazis on the same quest.

The Last Crusade is action galore as its a non-stop and fun thrill ride. The stunts and action scenes are amazing, as usual.

The performances are as good as ever. Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones and Denholm Elliot and John Rhys-Davies do good jobs with their role. The real standout in this film, though, is Sean Connery as Jones' father.

The Last Crusade is an excellent crowd pleaser, so watch it with an audience. To sum it up, this and Raiders of the Lost Ark are the best action films of all time.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is what I think the best of the three Indiana Jones movie. And one of the most important reasons for this conclusion is not just that it has Harrison Ford doing absolutely great, it has legendary actor Sean Connery as Indy's dad.

Harrison Ford is Dr. Henry 'Indiana' Jones, Jr. When he is asked by Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) to help go in search of the mystical Holy Grail since one of his main archaeologist has disappeared, he refuses. But when Indy is told that the missing man is his father, Professor Henry Jones, Sr., (whom he has rarely spoken to in 20 years), Indy, along with the help of friend Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) and Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), try to rescue his father from... who? Can it be the mysterious men who are trying to stop him from finding the Holy Grail? Or is there more to just finding his father and the Holy Grail than meets the eye? Indiana discovers that you can't trust anybody when dealing with power seeking men who want to use the cup of Jesus for evil.

The best Indiana Jones movie AND action/adventure movie!! And the script and plot is just perfect, with plenty of lines which are just so funny! The first part where they have 'young Indiana Jones' played by River Phoenix was lots of fun, too. I like it where the explained some things like how Indy got his famous hat. "Everyone's lost but me..."

My favorite parts are when Indy 'rescues' his dad but instead has to escape from the bad guys when he is caught himself and whenever Indy and Dr. Jones are arguing. One thing though is that I didn't think much of Alison Doody as Elsa. Yeah, she was real greedy and everything but I still like Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood in the first Indiana Jones movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark". And of course John Williams score is just terrific. I can probably hum the whole Indiana Jones theme song!

For those of you who haven't seen this movie, well, I'm telling you to put it on you 'must see' list!

The third installment of the Indiana Jones series,Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,is another fantastic adventure.(it's not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark,but at least as good,if not better than Temple of Doom.)The film starts out in 1912 in Utah,and shows Indy as a teenager,played by River Phoenix.Then it shifts to 1938 and Indy winds up battling Nazis again,this time teaming up with his father Henry Jones(played wonderfully by THE James Bond,Sean Connery)to find the Holy Grail.Of course Harrison Ford is great as Indy,and the rest of the cast is very good,too,including Alison Doody as Dr.Elsa Schneider,John Rhys Davies as Sallah,Denholm Elliot as Marcus Brody,and Julian Glover as Donovan.There's loads of action,and the musical score by John Williams is great.Overall,it's a great movie and a fine collaboration of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" disappoints, for its inability to construct a believable action scene. Who'd get taken in by this blatant cartoonery? I, frankly, miss the stark realism and gritty humanism of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Temple of Doom". What? They were live-action cartoons too? Well, that changes everything, then, doesn't it?

Kidding aside, you shouldn't ever go into an Indiana Jones movie expecting credible action. And "The Last Crusade" has the least credible, but at times most fun, action of any in the series. Watch as Indy, armed only with a horse and the strap from his bag, manages to outrun and outgun a German tank. Later in the sequence, we get a moment that for me defines the ethos Spielberg and Lucas have built for this series. Indiana is wrestling with some Nazis on the tank. The tank moves slowly towards a cliff. Instead of jumping off the tank at the last minute, leaving the baddies to tumble to their doom, Indy appears to go over the cliff with them. His entourage, which includes his stoic father, rushes to the side of the cliff just in time to see the tank hit bottom and explode. Somber faces all around. Just as they say their goodbyes, the camera cuts to a hand appearing by the cliff's edge, out of their view. It's Indy! He's alive! After a quick moment to brush himself off, he joins his friends to see what the fuss is about. His father does a pitch-perfect double-take upon noticing him, then explodes in joyous tears. The scene ends with Indy, collapsed in exhaustion, surprised when his fedora, thought lost in the wreckage, tumbles into his lap. It's a perfect blend of classic Saturday matinee hokiness with a dollop of contemporary self-awareness. The filmmakers know that Indy's invincible. The actors know it. And most importantly, the audience knows it. But for a brief moment, the film has us going. Then it allows us to laugh at our own gullibility.

Besides mocking the genre pictures from whence it came, "The Last Crusade" spends a lot of time winking and nudging about its own past. The character, by this point in the trilogy, has a lot of history, and much of it is playfully referenced here. One key moment finds Indy and his current Jones girl, Elsa, exploring the catacombs underneath a Venetian library. Intricate hieroglyphics adorn the walls. One in particular looks like a glowing golden box. Elsa points it out and asks, "What's this one?" "The Ark of the Covenant," says Indy. "Are you sure?" she confirms, perfectly setting up his deadpan reply: "Pretty sure." More explicitly is the infamous opening sequence, starring River Phoenix as Young Indiana. In it we see, during one quick trip across a Circus train, the origins of Indy's fedora, his whip, his fear of snakes, and his knack for adventure. Even though I have some trouble believing that the fragile and feline Phoenix will grow up to be the rugged and rough Harrison Ford, he has enough fun during the sequence to make my qualms disappear.

Which leads me to the casting of Indy's father. It might seem far-fetched to have the decidedly Midwestern Ford fathered by Sean Connery. But like Phoenix, Connery has enough fun here to make you forget the differences in their accents. You'll be won over by the twinkle in his eye and the bounce in his step. The movie relies heavily on their chemistry, and at this task it does not fail. Connery, who provided the model for Indiana Jones in the first place (what is Indiana Jones if not an archaeological James Bond?), plays against type: he's a bookworm. Armed with his tweed jacket and neat bow-tie, he's hardly the Jones patriarch you were expecting. Henry Jones is a Mr. Magoo-type character, accidentally finding ways of saving the day, when his more daring son can't. In "The Last Crusade", Connery proves, through the power of his towering charisma and impeccable comedic timing, why he's still a star, some forty years after "Dr. No".

Not so successful a casting choice is Alison Doody. Her Elsa continues the tradition of Indy's leading women getting better and better looking, while being played by poorer and poorer actresses. From Karen Allen, to Kate Capshaw, to a new high/low. If this trend continues, I expect to see Denise Richards in "Indy IV". True, you understand why the shallowness in Indy's character would find her appealing, but Doody brings little more than wooden line readings to the movie.

While not as 'important' a movie as others in his oeuvre, "The Last Crusade" once again shows how adept Steven Spielberg is at manipulating an audience into high gear. The action sequences are economical and exciting, the visual jokes work like a charm every time, and the special effects, while already dated, work in a cheesy/kitschy kind of way. On top of all this, Spielberg throws in more Nazi imagery here than in any of his other movies, including "Schindler's List". When Indy finds himself face-to-face with Hitler, in one of the film's best jokes, Spielberg doesn't miss the opportunity for some fun at the fuhrer's expense.

The ending, much-maligned, does well servicing the story. We've been leading up to finding the Holy Grail, but it's not really an important part of the story, just an excuse for mild adventures. After all, the filmmakers didn't even bother to come up with a menacing villain to stand in the Jones' way. What we do get is a hubristic stooge, whose obsessiveness is burning so intensely, it's obvious to everyone but him that it will be his downfall. The ending provides some suspenseful moments, gives all the characters credible reasons for doing what they have to do to move the story along, and ties up all the loose ends. It's a fine way to wrap up another fun entry in the Indiana Jones series.

On this new adventure Indy (Harrison Ford) Jones Henry jr. finds himself in a quest for his father Henry Jones sr (Sean Connery) and the Holy Grail with a little of help from his father, Sallah (John Rhys Davies) and Marcus Brody(Denholm Elliot) begin a packed action-adventure meanwhile Indy figth with Nazis, arabs, the evil Walter Donovan (Julian Glover), the beatiful Elsa Schneider(Alison Dody) and the Nazi coronel Vogel(Michael barne)

thanks to Spielberg and Lucas we know the origin of Indys Hat, Whip, the scar of his chin, his clotes and his Indiana name. higly recomended for part of the family (9 years up)

The details of new DVD editions of the three classic classic Indiana Jones movies with all-new special features have been announced. They'll be available separately for the first time on DVD, or as a set. They were previously only available on DVD as a set.

The new releases will coincide with the new movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which comes out on May 22nd. They'll have new special features designed to introduce new Indy fans to the old movies, as well as to introduce old fans to the new movie.

The Indiana Jones movies are George Lucas's recreation/update of the serialized adventures of the 1930s and '40s. Made in the '80s and set in the '30s, they feature Harrison Ford as a mild-mannered archeology professor who moonlights as an adventurous seeker of priceless antiquities. This takes him to exotic locations across the world, and gets him in some very tight spots of the kind that only a movie hero could get into, or out of. He invariably finds himself opposed by dangerous men with evil plans for the powerful objects only he has the skills to recover. There are elaborate set pieces with creepy critters, ancient traps, fights with weapons from bare hands to airplanes and tanks, and sometimes supernatural forces. Along the way Jones manages to have some romance too. Humor is a big part of the fun.

This is the third in the series, after Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It begins with a teenaged Indy trying unsuccessfully to save an artifact from thieves, during which we get background on his signature fedora, bull whip, fear of snakes and his father. Then we jump to 1938, when Indy learns his father, played by Sean Connery, has gone missing while searching for the Holy Grail, which the Nazis have designs on for world domination. Joining with a somewhat dim museum owner and the beautiful woman Indy's father had been working with, Indy has close calls in Venice, Austria, and Turkey as he closes in on the Grail and, in the end, bonds with dad.

This one returns to the lighter tone of Raiders, after the somewhat darker Temple of Doom, and perhaps exceeds Raiders in its emphasis on humor (though I still find Raiders funnier). It's fun to see Ford and Connery working together. As always there are very involved set pieces, including a tank battle, an intricate plot full of mystery and action, and some magic. And critters: this time thousands of rats.

If you don't want the whole set and don't want to wait until May, you could get a used copy of the old Last Crusade DVD (people sell them out of the sets). The difference is in the extra features. The bonuses from the old set are on their own disc, so what you get when you buy just the old Last Crusade DVD is pretty bare. The new release, on the other hand, has the following, all new:

-- "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: An Introduction" by director Steven Spielberg and creator/producer George Lucas

-- "The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute," in which the three Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) reunite for a discussion

-- "Friends and Enemies," in which Spielberg, Lucas and Indiana Jones writers discuss how they created the original characters, and a look at new faces in the new movie

-- storyboards: the opening sequence

-- DVD galleries of illustrations, props, production stills and portraits, FX/Industrial Light and Magic stuff, and promotion/marketing materials

-- "Lego Indiana Jones," a demo and trailer for a game based on the trilogy

If you like a few extras, you'll probably prefer this new DVD, though maybe not enough to upgrade from the old one, or to wait until May. I like audio commentaries, myself, and since they're easy to produce and tend to bring out points not covered in other features, I subtract one star for a special edition without any, but I look forward to the rest. If you don't care about commentaries, this may be a five-star DVD for you.

There have been rumors of deleted scenes, but none are included.

Some will want to wait for a high-def release, which makes sense if you have the equipment or plan to get it. Many speculate that a Blu-ray release will come out for Christmas, but that's sheer guesswork.

There's also some speculation that an even better edition with all four movies will soon supersede this new DVD. They may bundle the four together, but I doubt that there will be a better edition of this movie soon, if ever, on standard DVD. Keep in mind that the previous set came out over four years ago, and if not for the new movie, that would probably be the only release during the decade of standard DVD. The next upgrade may be high-def only, and may not happen for a while.

If you do want the whole trilogy (highly recommended), the new release is here, the old set is here. If you want to pick up one of the others from the new set, the new edition of Raiders of the Lost Ark is here, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom here.

Anybody who's seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade knows it's an unsurpassable adventure. It's got all the great action of Raiders of the Lost Ark, twice the humor (in quantity and quality) of Temple of Doom (which was, admittedly, the most action-packed of the series), and more character development than both combined. So that's why I'm getting a little impatient waiting for the DVD of my favorite action film. This was definitely the perfect to a magnificent trilogy.

After the critical and commercial failure of Color Purple and Empire of the Sun, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas returned to the sure-fire formula of the Indiana Jones franchise. Opting to steer away from the darkness of Temple of Doom and go for a more light-hearted adventure, Last Crusade suceeds wonderfully, with the pairing of Sean Connery and Harrison Ford producing one of the best on-screen pairings since Newman and Redford. John Rhys-Davies makes a welcome return as Sallah, Indy's guide and friend. While not as strong as Karen Allen in Raiders, Alison Doody make a good impression as Elsa, a german women who seduces Indy. The villians are great with Walter Donavan (Julian Glover) as an evil german intent on retrieving the Holy Grail. The action set-pieces are top-notch, with speedboat chases, tank chases, plane chases and all rounded off with an exciting finale, Last Crusade ends the trilogy perfectly. When the film was realesed in 1989, it was greeted with critical praise and box-office triumph.

In this the 3rd of the Indiana Jones trilogy, we again meet Indy(Ford) back at the university, when he recieves a strange notebook in the mail from his father(Connery), and he is contacted by the dubious buisnessman Walter Donovan(Glover), he decides to go to Venice, Italy to find his disapeared father along with his confused friend Marcus Brody(Elliot). Here he meets his fathers associated Dr. Elsa Schneider(Doody), as they delver further in to the mystery of his fathers disapearance and the Holy Grail, they find that they are opposed by several groups, and once again Indiana Jones finds himself battling nazis as he tries to get to the grail before them, and in the process getting Adolf Hitlers autograph(even though Adolf seem to misspell his name in the movie). The movie reminds alot of the mood that was created in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Connery is perfect in the role as Henry Jones, sr. and the whole movie seems to be in perfect balance keeping you at the edge of your seat all the time, but still giving you time to calm down.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is one of my favourite action films of all time. It has action by the bucketful, plenty of suspense and Harrison Ford is on top form. In this adventure Indy goes out to retrieve the Holy Grail. On the trail he finds his father (played by Sean Connery) and finds out the Nazis are looking for the Grail as well.... Last Crusade is definitely better than IC and the Temple of Doom and holds a candle to the excellent "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Theres also a bit of comedy as well: Indy kills about 6 soldiers with one bullet on top of a tank and constantly argues with his dad! I recommend this to anyone who likes action films.