Indiana Jones Retrospective: The Last Crusade

Released five years after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade aimed to recapture the magic of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Indiana Jones is approached by a mysterious figure, Walter Donovan (Julian Glover), an American businessman who asks him to find another lost artifact. This time Indy is asked to find the Holy Grail. Indy only agrees when he finds out his father, Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery), has disappeared and he needs to find it before the Nazis do.

The Last Crusade is a film I have nostalgia for. It was the Indiana Jones film that seemed to be on TV the most when I was growing up. I even watched it a couple of times with my mum when it was on TV. Upon rewatching I can say it still holds up as an exhilarating action-adventure.

Temple of Doom was a divisive film because of its darker tone, violence that forced the creation of the PG-13 rating, portrayal of India, and the annoyance of Willie Scott. The Last Crusade aimed to be the opposite of Temple of Doom. The third film in the series was more like Raiders of the Lost Ark. The setup in The Last Crusade was more like Raiders since Indy was recruited to find a legendary Christian artifact and made the Nazis the villains again. The Last Crusade also brought back Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) from Raiders to act as important allies for Indy.

Whilst The Last Crusade aimed to be more like Raiders of the Lost Ark, it wasn’t a carbon copy of the first film. The setup was the same and The Last Crusade had tropes of the franchise, but the storytelling and tone were different.

The Last Crusade was the lightest of all the Indiana Jones films because it was the most comedic. This was the film where Indy smashed a hole in the floor of a library and pretended to be a Scottish lord. Indy and his dad were a buddy team as they argued and bickered with each other. Ford and Connery had great chemistry and they made for a great double act.

The Last Crusade was the film with the most heart out of all the Indiana Jones films. This was due to the relationship between Indy and his father. They had a strained relationship as shown by their first interaction where Henry Sr. made the teenage Indy (River Phoenix) show off his language skills before his son was allowed to speak. Henry Sr. was a stern father but he was more of a bookish man who dressed like a professor. He wasn’t a man of action like his son, and it was a different role for Connery. He was far from his role as James Bond.

This film gave Indy and Henry Sr. a character arc. They went from animosity to realising they loved and respected each other. There was emotional power when Henry thought his son died during the battle and realised how much he loved his son, and Indy needed to save his father by retrieving the artifact Henry Sr. had been searching for all his life. Henry Sr. also had to give up the Holy Grail to prevent Indy from falling into the abyss.

The draw of all the Indiana Jones film were the set pieces and The Last Crusade had plenty of them. The Last Crusade’s prologue was nearly as iconic as Raiders of the Lost Ark since it showed teenage Indy having to battle a group of treasure hunters on a circus train and acted as an Indiana Jones origins story. My favourite sequence was the tank battle where Indy had to save Henry Sr. and Brody from the Nazis. It was classic swashbuckling fun. Indy’s mission into the Holy Grail’s resting place was also memorable because Indy had to use all his education and guile to get passed the ancient traps.

The Last Crusade did feel like a conclusion part of a trilogy. It was meant to be a closing chapter for Indy and his adventures. This was indicative of the final shot of Indy and his allies riding off together into the sunset like it was a classic Western. It would have been a perfect ending to the series.

The Last Crusade is still a great Indiana Jones film. It was a near non-stop adventure that managed to honour the spirit of Raiders of the Ark whilst changing up the storytelling.