59. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989) - Steven Spielberg

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989) - Steven SpielbergThe daring archaeologist and his father search for the Holy Grail and fight the Nazis. The third (and up to now final) movie in the Indiana Jones trilogy followed the search for the Holy Grail and with it the chance of immortality. Indy along with his father Henry James Sr. (Sean Connery) are once again up aganist the Nazi's, who want the cup of christ to make their army even stronger than ever imagined. The third installment in the franchise was a light relief after the Temple of Doom which had taken the movie into a dark place that didn't really suit the character (although I still think that movie is pretty good). This is the fun installment of Indiana Jones, but not once does it get over the top. The genius of the film came in the casting of Indy's father. Who better than James Bond to play the father of a character that Spielberg always intended to be his version of 007. Connery plays the role with a light touch and humour, and the two iconic actors of the 20th century play so well of each other that instantly you accept them as father and son. The journey between the relationship of the two characters is what this movie is really about. There is of course another Indiana Jones in this movie... in the first moments of the film we meet River Pheonix as a young Indiana Jones on an adventure of his own. It makes for a fun opening to the movie as he witness a chase on a circus train and we see how he got his famous hat! The third act of the movie is in my opinion suprior to the third act of Raiders of the Lost Ark. We see Indy as he goes through various different traps to reach the holding place of the grail and a meeting with the first knight of the crusade, guarding over it. It makes for an exicting climax as if he choses the wrong cup, he will age at a rapidly quick rate and be dust in seconds. Yes sure Raiders third act is fantastic (and a bit creepy) seeing Nazi's on fire and blown up and all but I prefer this one as it seems slightly more mythical and magical. Indiana Jones is the most fun of the three Indy movies and is action packed to the prim of exicting set pieces and thrilling chases. It's a perfect end to one of the best trilogy's around and it's a bit of a shame it may not be the last adventure for long because I doubt that a more fitting final movie could ever be made better than this.