Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is about an archaeologist who learns that his father, a Holy Grail scholar, has vanished, and who is hired to finish the search. It opens with a Boy Scout named Indiana Jones in 1912 and then jumps to 1938, so the film gives you the hero's origin and his biggest family problem in the same sitting.

In the prologue, young Indy takes a valuable cross from treasure hunters and escapes them, earning his fedora. In 1938 the adult Indy recovers the same cross from a collector off the Portuguese coast. Back home, he learns that his father Henry has gone missing. Wealthy backer Walter Donovan asks Indy to find his father and the Grail. Henry's diary then leads Indy and his friend Marcus Brody to Venice, where they meet Dr. Elsa Schneider.

The opening works like a compressed Indiana Jones film: a stolen artifact, a chase on horseback and a hat as the prize. It is a tidy way to explain why this character dresses and behaves the way he does, and it sets up the diary as the object the whole story hangs on. If you are planning a marathon, the film sits third in both release order and story order, and the indiana jones movies in order guide explains why Temple of Doom still comes before Raiders in the timeline.

The full plot of The Last Crusade runs from a circus train in 1912 to a collapsing temple in the desert, and it turns on a father and son who finally learn to trust each other. Spoilers follow for the whole story.

In the prologue, a young Indiana Jones grabs a cross belonging to Coronado from grave robbers and flees on horseback and then aboard a circus train. The leader of the robbers lets him keep a fedora. In 1938 the grown Indy retrieves the cross from a collector off the Portuguese coast. He then learns that his father Henry has vanished while hunting for the Holy Grail. Walter Donovan, who funded Henry's search, hires Indy to continue it.

Indy and Marcus Brody go to Venice, meet Elsa Schneider, and find a clue in a catacomb below a library. A secret brotherhood attacks them, and its leader tells Indy that his father is held at a castle. Indy and Elsa infiltrate the castle, where a Nazi officer captures them and Elsa turns out to be working for the Nazis.

Indy gets the diary back in Berlin during a rally, and he and Henry escape by zeppelin and plane. The Nazis follow the diary's map to Hatay, where Indy destroys their convoy and a tank plunges off a cliff. At the Grail temple, Donovan shoots Henry to force Indy to cross the deadly traps.

Guided by the diary, Indy reaches the Grail Knight, who warns that only one cup is the true Grail. Elsa hands Donovan the wrong cup and he ages to death. Indy chooses the right cup and heals his father. Elsa dies reaching for the Grail, and Indy nearly falls too until Henry talks him into letting go. The Grail drops into an abyss, and the Joneses, Marcus and Sallah ride off together.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade reached US theaters on May 24, 1989, according to Box Office Mojo. No premiere date, city or venue has been published for the film.

The UK release followed on June 30, 1989, and the Australian release on June 8, 1989, both reported by TMDB. The film is rated PG-13 in the US and PG in the UK and Australia. That makes it the first film in the series to carry PG-13 in the US, since Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom both carry PG in the US listings.

On the earnings side, the film took $197 million domestically and $277 million internationally for $474 million worldwide, from a $48 million budget. That was the biggest total of the first three films, ahead of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom, and the next film to pass it was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. For the full table, see the indiana jones box office page.

In the Last Crusade ending, Indy picks the true Grail, heals his dying father, and then lets the cup go when Elsa's fall nearly takes him too. The Grail drops into an abyss and is lost for good, which closes the original trilogy. Spoilers follow.

The choice is the best built set piece in the film, in my opinion. The Grail Knight warns that only one cup is true. Elsa hands Donovan the wrong cup and he ages to death, while Indy picks the right one and uses its water to heal Henry. Earlier traps in the temple test skill and nerve, but this one tests judgment, and that is a smart change of pace after the tank and zeppelin chases. It could be argued that the film saves its biggest stunt for a decision rather than a fall.

Then comes the second test. Elsa tries to take the Grail out of the temple, which collapses, and she falls to her death. Indy almost falls after her, reaching for the cup, and Henry persuades him to let go. Perhaps this is the point of the whole film: the artifact is not the prize, and the son who has spent years chasing relics has to drop one to keep his father. That is a cleaner payoff than the earlier Indy adventures offered, where the artifact decided everything.

Why is it called the last crusade? In my opinion the title points to the Grail quest itself, a final holy mission, and to the fact that this was the last film of the original trilogy in 1989. Harrison Ford returned for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. The film's closing shot, filmed in Amarillo, Texas, has the Joneses, Marcus and Sallah riding off together, and that picture still reads as the franchise's farewell.

Yes, The Last Crusade was filmed at Petra, Jordan, where Al Khazneh stood in as the entrance to the Grail temple. That is one of seven main shooting locations across Spain, England, West Germany, Italy, Jordan and the US.

Principal photography began on May 16, 1988 in the Tabernas Desert, Spain, and ended on September 16, 1988 after 123 days. The Tabernas Desert and Guadix covered the opening shoot, including the desert and tank sequences. Interiors were shot at Elstree Studios in England.

• Bürresheim Castle, West Germany: stood in for Brunwald Castle.
• Venice, Italy: the canal boat chase, with the library exterior filmed at San Barnaba. The Grand Canal was closed for the boat chase on August 8, 1988.
• Petra, Jordan: Al Khazneh as the Grail temple entrance.
• Colorado and Utah, USA: including Arches National Park.
• Amarillo, Texas, USA: the closing shot.

To see where this 1938 adventure sits in the saga, the indiana jones timeline lays out every film in story order.

The best Last Crusade trivia covers a casting turnaround, a quick improvisation and a very slow tank.

• Sean Connery first turned down the role of Henry Jones Sr. and signed on March 25, 1988.
• Connery improvised the line "She talks in her sleep", and it stayed in the film.
• Harrison Ford recommended River Phoenix to play the young Indiana Jones.
• The tank was built by George Gibbs over an excavator framework, based on the Tank Mark VIII, and moved only 10 to 12 mph.
• The film is the first in the series with a PG-13 rating in the US.

The tank is the detail a mechanic appreciates most: a machine built over an excavator framework that never moved faster than 10 to 12 mph. For more of the series, see temple of doom, raiders of the lost ark, kingdom of the crystal skull and dial of destiny.