Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Zavvi Exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-ray by Paramount Home Entertainment/Lucas Films by Steven Spielberg

After the really darker and violent second entry The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade returned the series back to it's former glory and in doing so produced the best entry in the series. The film serves both as a prequel and a sequel to the previous entries with the opening showing a Young Indy played by the late River Phoenix and explaining how Indy got his facial scar, fear of snakes and the inspiration behind his trademark outfit. It is a solid performance by Phoenix, who in his brief onscreen time manages to capture Ford's mannerisms perfectly. Ford himself recommended Phoenix to Spielberg, having worked with him on The Mosquito Coast 3 years earlier. The film then moves into the present where Indy is hired by American Walter Donovan (played with relish by Julian Glover) to find the Holy Grail and in turn his father who was the project leader who has gone missing. The late Sean Connery, who received a BAFTA nomination for his turn Henry Jones Snr, steals the film as Indy's dad. His chemistry with Ford, who in real life he is only 10 years older, is truly infectious providing the film with it's very best moments. There is plenty of action to please the Die Hard Indy fans but it is the dynamic between these 2 that holds the glue for this film. It is also to date still the longest of all the films clocking in at 126 minutes. The summer of 1989 was chockful of blockbusters and Sequels (I think something like 32 sequels were released that year) and while Batman was domestically Number 1 in the states The Last Crusade was Number 1 Internationally worldwide and with good reason as it was the better film. The film also reunited John Rhys Davies (Sallah) & Denham Elliott (Marcus Brody) from the first movie, having been absent from the second movie. This was at the time supposed to be the last part in a 3 picture trilogy that started with 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark before they revisited it 20 years later with the atrocious Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I read somewhere, upon his passing last year, that Connery had been offered to reprise his role but didn't like the script which involved aliens and he was enjoying his retirement. The Indiana Jones series was born out of Spielberg desire to direct a Bond film that when it came to casting Indy's dad Connery was a no brainer and this is still one of his best film roles. Highly Recommended 5/5🥰🥰🥰

Downloaded okay adding to my library. Good quality picture,top notch chapter of indiana jones 3rd instalment. Watched from time to time remembrance viewing.always enjoyed these type of movies with some charisma,first rate cast blend in as in this one indy embarks on the quest to find holy grail facing stiff challenges on the way and rivalry from the germans who tryimg to grasp the grail as indiana must foil there attempt. Just before 2nd world war.superb locatiom sets,perfect visuals. Stunts,mixture of guys,girls heroics,great action mythlogy. No sexual scenes here nor swearing. well balance.

Before I continue with this review in earnest, I don't really have anything against 'Crystal Skull', I just see it as a sequel outside of the original trilogy, hence my use of the word.I always used to think the Last Crusade was the weakest film, the most boring. I don't know what I was on as a kid, because watching them back through recently, this one is by far the best. We all love Raiders; from the introduction of Indy in the first place, to exploding planes, German U-boats, boulders and the melty faces. But even Raiders has it's weaker points, it's moments edging on the boring. It's a good film, but not quite amazing like some people think. Temple of Doom is also easily watchable, but the entire cave sequence gets a bit arduous to sit through by the end.The Last Crusade however, is wall-to-wall fun, and action. Not a dull moment, with some great lines, great characterisation, and even better, great acting all round - particularly, of course, from the phenomonal Sean Connery. The story has all you need in an Indy film - Some ancient, supernatural relic must be found before the baddies get it. But in some beautiful settings and with the right amount of disregard to history thrown in. Just an awesome adventure film.

Not as bad as The Temple of Doom, not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark. That first movie seems to have sprung from inspiration; the subsequent movies feel as though the decision to cash in was made and inspiration sought thereafter, with varying success. There is an attempt to make a less messy film than Temple, but more slapstick comedy has been shoehorned in, drowning the action sequences, and the sets still resemble The Crystal Maze. The plot seems to be a supermarket version of The Da Vinci Code, with Indy and his dad looking for easy clues in churches (Indy can't see a giant figure X under his feet unless he climbs a set of stairs} and there's also a secretive sect sworn to prevent the Holy Grail falling into the wrong hands (i.e. the Germans, once again, still paying for their past 55 years later). There are flaws a-plenty; Jones wades through a petroleum swamped crypt with a lit torch, dripping fire, but only when a baddie sets light to the petroleum does it become flammable. Our hero also takes a dive in it without it stinging his eyes. Indy's exit through a manhole makes you wonder why the sewage company didn't notice the "secret" crypt long before Indy.Continuity errors are also in abundance - a boat's bullet ridden windshield repairs itself for some shots and not others, another boat is cut in half by a propeller then fixes itself, a plane's tail is shot off, and also repairs itself for a wide shot. A tank's turret falls off after a cliff dive, then reattaches itself for a later shot.As mentioned, it's a step up from Temple of Doom, but the arc involving a distant father who learns to appreciate his son is predictable - as the only other distractions are seen-it-before set pieces, a standard love interest and some religious hokum, this doesn't quite reach the heights of the first film in the franchise.