Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

When something is done for the third time, usually you already know how to do it, and even though the previous two installments of the series were not bad in any way, the third Indiana Jones represents the real peak of this mini-series and in a way also one of the peaks of its genre, which is adventure film. It doesn't take itself seriously, and that is extremely important, while also having a sufficiently high budget and an inventive screenplay that doesn't let the viewer breathe for a moment, with a great cast led by experienced Ford and Sean Connery. The two of them complement each other perfectly, resulting in a fascinating spectacle. The scene of the tank battle or the rescue in the underground labyrinth will stay in the viewer's memory for a long time. Another excellent music. Overall impression: 100%. (06/13/2006)

An incredible movie that definitively moved the series into the waters of immortality. The biggest credit for that goes to the light-hearted script and the perfect chemistry between Ford and the dry-witted Connery. Every scene between this duo comes together flawlessly, leading up to the final departure into the setting sun. (04/30/2006)

When I wrote about Raiders of the Lost Ark that it is the best adventure movie, I was in two minds because the proverbially second best is The Last Crusade. If I were to specify it in percentage terms it would look a bit like this: Raiders 100% and Last Crusade 99.9%. By a hair’s breadth. It probably lacks the element of surprise, or the darkness that surrounded the Ark of the Covenant. But what The Last Crusade lacks in darkness it makes up for in inventiveness, fun and Sean Connery (they say that Lucas was originally against having a former James Bond playing Indy’s father, but Spielberg insisted that this would be the joke :-). Marvelously handled father son theme is a great sideline to the story developing around the legend of Christ’s grail. If you want the whole family to enjoy, the last part of the trilogy is the perfect choice. By the way, the reason why a fourth Indy hasn’t been made yet is that Lucas subconsciously knows that it wouldn’t work these days. Plus what better ending to the legendary trilogy can you imagine than the heroes driving off into the setting sun. (12/05/2006)

This is my favorite part mainly because it features Sean Connery, who fits perfectly with Ford. In addition, there are Nazis and a fantastic meeting with Hitler. Overall, it's entertaining and very action-packed, especially the scene with the tank is simply divine. The search for the grail becomes somewhat irrelevant, as the journey is truly important here. (03/30/2015)

Lucas' and Spielberg's apology for the dark pulp flick Temple of Doom, which paradoxically with its "white savior" concept was most in line with the original idea of conceiving Indiana Jones as the cliffhanger adventure short familiar in the 20s and 30s. As vocal as there were voices that adding another dimension to the central character by pinning his impractical father on him would rob Indiana of some of the mystery that surrounds him, on the contrary, the move was helped in particular by a noticeably aged original cast, the new wrinkles and tired eyes simply added a human dimension to the adventurers, not to mention the fact that after the second installment you quite welcome the fact that the sidekick is not a loose young girl lusting after Jones's sweaty, sweaty body between screams. Otherwise, again, the dozens of different sub-quests, the world locations we get to see, the tangibility and light-heartedness of the action, the beautiful framing, and the relentless torture of the crew in their quest to film the never-before-seen, it's still such a beautiful and forgotten cinematic discipline that I'm defining a special way of sitting on the couch that's just for this trilogy. The fourth installment never existed, you may even remember seeing it, but no, it was just a bad dream. This way it’s just fine. (06/02/2019)