Claim: Indiana Jones has been portrayed by Harrison Ford.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg , from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas . It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones franchise . Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana 's father , Henry Jones , Sr. . Other cast members featured include Alison Doody , Denholm Elliott , Julian Glover , River Phoenix , and John Rhys-Davies . In the film , set largely in 1938 , Indiana searches for his father , a Holy Grail scholar , who has been kidnapped by Nazis .   After the mixed reaction to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , Spielberg chose to compensate with a film that toned down the violence and gore . During the five years between Temple of Doom and Last Crusade , he and executive producer Lucas reviewed several scripts before accepting Jeffrey Boam 's . Filming locations included Spain , Italy , the United Kingdom , Turkey and Jordan .   The film was released in North America on May 24 , 1989 , to mostly positive reviews . It was a financial success , earning $ 474,171,806 at the worldwide box office totals . It won an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing .