Movie of the Week: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

   

    Movie of the Week (1/26/14-2/1/14): I am way late this week, and to be honest with you I forgot. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, "Kurt! How could you leave us without a movie to watch for so long?" My bad, but don't fret no longer because we do have a movie to watch, like we always do. This particular film is my personal favorite of the series that is overall a very good series. But, this one adds a cast member that I'm sure most if not all of us enjoy seeing on the screen and his chemistry is perfect with his on screen son. This is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
    The films opens with one of my favorite prologue scenes on film. We get to see a young Indiana Jones in his first encounter with a bad guy and we get to see how he got his scare and his hat. From there on we get to the main plot of the movie as Indiana searches for the Holy Grail. But, his whole reasoning as to searching for the Grail is because his father just went missing while searching for it. So, Jones races to find his father while at the same time trying to escape from and stop the Nazis from getting there first.
    Of course we all know that Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones, or Junior as his father calls him throughout the film, and naturally he nails it. The new cast member that we have added here is Sean Connery as Henry Jones, his father. Connery also is great here as the chemistry between him and Ford is truly unforgettable as they make you laugh several times and make you think as their relationship as father and son is very important throughout. River Phoenix plays the young Indiana Jones and he was certainly entertaining during that segment. Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, and Michael Byrne round out the rest of the cast as they all deliver as well.
    I guess where we should start here is the exciting screenplay and story, I mean we all wanted to go out looking for the Holy Grail and the screenplay helped bring this to life. George Lucas and Menno Meyjes gave us the story but Jeffery Boam gave us the explosive screenplay that we know today. But, of course it would not be a complete Indiana Jones film without the direction of the great Steven Spielberg. He again gave us a great film with his classic direction and well shot scenes that will leave you on the edge of your seat at times. I also enjoyed his direction in the well shot comedic scenes with Ford and Connery, also the Denholm Elliott's scenes.
    The film also has good effects and for 1989 they are very good and make the film look that much better. The effects are more necessary near the end and with the great sound editing and mixing, the action scenes are perfectly put together for the screen. Of course we can't forget the memorable score that we find ourselves humming whenever we watch this film or the other ones, and John Williams made sure that we would. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is an upgrade from the film before it and keeps your attention until the very end when we find out the true meaning of the movie. The great direction, effects, screenplay, and musical score makes this one of the best Indiana Jones adventures and films of 1989.
4/4 Stars