A rock-em, sock-em tour d'force for everyone involved...

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2001)

I (kind of) remember when I first saw this film  it was not in the theater but probably on videotape or possibly on television.
I didn't like the portrayal of the Nazi's then; they were much too cartoonish  their true evil didn't come through  they were something to be ridiculed and laughed at for their buffoonery.
Well, they still are. But now, after seeing this film on the big screen, it doesn't matter!
This whole film is a filmed comic book  the Nazis are supposed to be cartoonish; the violence is not real, the situations are totally impossible  but that doesn't mean that it is any less a great film.
Once again Indiana Jones fights the ideology that is the Nazis and, of course, wins.
He has the requisite number of close escapes and near-death experiences that allows the viewer to suspend the plot holes and lapses in continuity that are rampant in this truly one-of-a-kind film.
Harrison Ford could not have been better cast as Indiana Jones (you will find out how he got his name in this installment) and he takes the story and runs with it.
Sean Connery is incredible as his father  the real humour starts the first time he appears on the screen.
There is amazing attention to detail (note the name of the ship that Indy is trapped on in the opening sequence) and the characters are actually fully developed and finely drawn.
Allison Doody (who could live with a name like that?) makes her last major screen appearance as the evil Dr Elsa Schneider  what happened to her and where is she now?
This, apparently the last of the Indiana Jones films, is not exactly the best way to finish a franchise  but it could be much worse. I enjoyed every minute of it.