"The quest for the Grail is not archeology; it's a race against evil."

Rating: 10/10 (29 September 2007)

In 1981, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg astonished the cinema-going world with the brilliant rip-roaring adventure of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' featuring Harrison Ford as the rugged, handsome, whip-cracking archaeologist Indiana Jones. A phenomenal critical and box-office success, the film inevitably resulted in the production of sequels, which, happily, did not diminish greatly in quality. 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' was released in 1986, to a rather more mixed reception, but the noticeably darker overtones and awe-inspiring effects-driven action sequences nonetheless make it one of cinema's supreme adventures. The third film in the series, 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' was released in 1989, partially as Spielberg's "atonement" for the perceived faults in his previous instalment.
This one, superficially a rough retread of the original film, is my personal favourite of the lot, in no small part to Sean Connery's inspired casting as Professor Henry Jones. The story opens with a prologue from Indiana Jones' childhood, as a boy scout in Utah in 1912. After stumbling upon a group of grave robbers, young Indiana (played with gusto by River Phoenix, who tragically died of a drug overdose in 1993 at the brink of a successful career) steals the valuable Cross of Coronado, with the intention of presenting it to a museum. As he scrambles desperately across the carriages of a moving circus train, in flight from his experienced pursuers, we come to witness the origin of some of the hero's trademarks: the fear of snakes, the bull-whip and, of course, the fedora hat.
Returning to 1938, we find Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) as the clean-shaven, tweed-wearing professor at a New England college, lecturing to his students about the lack of adventure in the field of archeology ("X never ever marks the spot"). Following the disappearance of his father, respected archaeologist Prof. Henry Jones (Sean Connery), Indiana strikes off across the world in search of him, unwittingly throwing himself into a race to discover the Holy Grail, the sacred cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. However, to make matters worse, Indiana finds that his old enemies  the Nazis  have also launched a frantic bid to acquire the Grail. Aided by museum curator Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) and beautiful Austrian historian Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), Indiana must rescue his father, beat the bad guys and uncover the ultimate archaeological treasure.
'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' was, once again, directed by Steven Spielberg, working off a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes, and a screenplay from Jeffrey Boam. What ultimately makes the film such an enjoyable ride is its fantastic sense of humour, and Connery's character delivers a large portion of the comedy, whether he is smashing his son over the head with a fake Ming Vase, setting the floor alight or blasting away the tail of his own plane with a machine gun (before blaming it on the Nazis). Ford and Connery have their own share of playful father-son banter, which becomes particularly farcical when it is revealed that they have both slept with the same woman (a favourite piece of dialogue: "I'm as human as the next man"; "I was the next man!"). Denholm Elliott is also highly entertaining as Marcus Brody, who, despite Indiana's great respect for him, is so hopelessly inept that he "once got lost in his own museum."
The film, just like its predecessors, is one long string of action sequences, the centrepiece in this one taking place on and around a heavily-armoured Nazi tank. Clever, witty and impeccably acted, 'Indiana Jones' was and remains one of the most entertaining motion pictures ever produced, and a flawless addition to an excellent trilogy. Bring on the fourth instalment!