Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The story was written by Jeffrey Boam and comes from an idea by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third movie in the Indiana Jones film series and follows Raiders of the Lost Ark from 1981.

In the movie, set in 1938, Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, looks for his father who was taken by the Nazis. They both search for the Holy Grail, an ancient and important cup.

After the darker movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, director Steven Spielberg wanted to make a fun and exciting movie for this new adventure. He and producer George Lucas chose a script written by Jeffrey Boam after looking at many options. They filmed in many places around the world, such as Spain, Italy, West Germany, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The film came out in the United States on May 24, 1989, by Paramount Pictures. People and critics liked it very much. It made a lot of money, earning $474.2 million around the world and became the highest-grossing film of 1989. It won an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing and was nominated for other awards too. Even though Spielberg and Lucas thought this might be the last Indiana Jones film, more adventures came later. These were Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in 2023.

Plot

In 1912, a young Indiana Jones lives with his father Henry Jones Sr. in Moab, Utah. During a scout trip, Indy takes a special crucifix from some thieves. Years later, in 1938, his father goes missing while searching for a holy item called the Holy Grail.

With the help of Walter Donovan, Indy travels to find his father and the Grail. He meets Dr. Elsa Schneider and faces dangers from Nazi soldiers. Indy and his father escape several times and finally reach a temple where the Grail is kept. After facing many challenges, Indy saves his father and they leave the temple safely.

Cast

See also: List of Indiana Jones characters

• Harrison Ford as Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr.: An archaeologist, professor and adventurer who tries to save his father and find the Holy Grail.
  • River Phoenix as a younger Indiana Jones.
• Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr.: Indiana's father, a professor of medieval literature.
• Denholm Elliott as Marcus Brody: Indiana's English colleague and an old friend of Henry.
• Alison Doody as Elsa Schneider: An Austrian art professor and Indy's love interest.
• John Rhys-Davies as Sallah: A friend of Indiana and a professional excavator living in Cairo.
• Julian Glover as Walter Donovan: A wealthy American businessman and grail hunter who sends the Joneses on their quest for the Holy Grail.
• Michael Byrne as Standartenführer Ernst Vogel: An SS officer.

Michael Sheard briefly appears as Adolf Hitler.

Production

Development

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg planned to make three Indiana Jones movies since 1977, when Lucas first talked about Raiders of the Lost Ark with Spielberg. By 1979, they signed a deal for five movies with Paramount Pictures. After some people did not like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg wanted to finish the trilogy to keep his promise to Lucas. He wanted the new movie to feel like Raiders of the Lost Ark again.

At first, Lucas wanted the movie to be about a haunted mansion, inspired by Romancing the Stone. Writer Diane Thomas worked on this idea, but Spielberg thought it was too much like Poltergeist, a movie he had worked on. Lucas then suggested the Holy Grail as the main treasure. Spielberg wasn’t sure about this at first, but later agreed.

Different writers worked on the script over the years. Chris Columbus wrote a version where Indiana fought a ghost in Scotland and traveled to Mozambique. Later, Spielberg decided to focus on Indiana’s father, Henry Jones, Sr., to add more depth to the story. Writer Jeffrey Boam helped shape the final story, focusing on Indiana’s search for his father and the Grail.

Filming

Filming began in May 1988 in Spain, with scenes shot in places like the Tabernas Desert and Almería province. The production moved to England, where scenes were filmed at Elstree Studios and other locations. Parts of the movie were also filmed in Petra, Jordan, and the United States.

The famous tank chase scene was one of the hardest to film. A special tank was built for the movie, and it often broke down during filming. Other tricky scenes included the train sequence and the fight in the castle. The crew used many creative tricks to make the scenes look real, like using doves instead of real seagulls and building miniatures for some effects.

Design

The designers had to create many special items for the film, like the tank used in the chase scene. They also had to design costumes that looked right for the time period. Henry Jones Sr.’s clothes were based on real people from that era, and the Nazi uniforms were made from genuine old clothes found in Eastern Europe.

Visual effects

The visual effects team at Industrial Light & Magic worked hard to create scenes like the plane crash and the trials to reach the Grail. They used models, miniatures, and computer tricks to make these scenes look real. For example, they built a small model of a plane to show it crashing, and used computer graphics to add details like dust and shadows.

Themes

The movie shows the special bond between a son and his father who were not very close at first. This idea of fathers and sons appears in other movies from the same year, like Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Field of Dreams. A writer for The New York Times said that in these films, people seemed more interested in earning each other's respect than in big adventures or fighting bad guys. The movie ends with a quiet and meaningful conversation between the father and son, which is more powerful than the big events that happen earlier.

Soundtrack

See also: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (soundtrack)

Release

The first look at the movie appeared in November 1988, shown with two other films. A book version of the movie was released in June 1989 and became very popular. After the movie came out, the actor gave his famous hat and jacket to a museum.

Instead of making toys to advertise the film, the creators sold everyday items like hats and shirts. Two video games based on the movie were released in 1989, and another one came out in 1991. A new book version was published in 2008 to match a later movie.

Box office

The movie was released in May 1989 in many theaters and made a lot of money quickly. It set several records for how much money a movie made in its first weeks and months. By the end, it had made over 474 million dollars worldwide, making it one of the top movies of all time when it came out. It was especially popular in 1989, even with other big movies released the same year.

Home media

The film was first released on VHS on February 1, 1990. In 2003, it became available with its two earlier movies as a trilogy DVD box set. This set included extra materials and a special documentary. It sold very well, with many copies sold on the first day. In 2012, the film was released on Blu-ray with the other three Indiana Jones films. In 2021, a special 4K version of the film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray. This version was made from scans of the original film negatives and was part of a box set for the four Indiana Jones films.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has an approval rating of 84% based on 136 reviews, with an average rating of 8 out of 10. Critics said the movie is lighter and funnier than the one before it. They liked the exciting adventures from the first film and the chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.

Metacritic gave the film a score of 65 out of 100, meaning most critics liked it. Audiences gave it an average grade of "A". Many famous reviewers praised the movie, especially the fun scenes and the story about Indiana Jones and his father. Some reviewers did not like it as much, but overall, it was seen as a good ending to the trilogy. In 2025, The Hollywood Reporter said the movie had the best action scenes of 1989.

Accolades

The film won an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing. It was also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Sound (Ben Burtt, Gary Summers, Shawn Murphy and Tony Dawe). Sean Connery was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film won the 1990 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and got nominations for other awards too.

The story of Indiana Jones as a young man led to the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. The place Petra became very popular with tourists after the movie, and many more people visited each year.