"On some adventures, one Jones isn't enough!"
It may have taken quite a long gestation period to reach the worlds cinema screens (including early ideas such as being a ghost story set within a haunted castle, as well as an intriguing aborted screenplay along the way, written by HARRY POTTER director/GREMLINS creator Chris Columbus, called THE MONKEY KING), but INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, the originally planned conclusion to the Indiana Jones Trilogy which had been first thought up by Lucas in the early 1970's and finally brought into development with friend Spielberg after a lazy day on the beach building sandcastles in Hawaii in 1977 (both of whom enjoying some much deserved in-hiding downtime, wanting to escape the stresses of their then just released film-making endeavours), hit the cinemas screens in the early summer of 1989, and proved to be a record breaker amongst a veritable crowded sea of other blockbusters (including the Bond actioner LICENCE TO KILL, GHOSTBUSTERS II, STAR TREK V and the ultimate box office champ that year: BATMAN, starring Jack Nicholson as the evil Joker and Michael Keaton in the title role as the dark avenger of the chaos stricken Gotham City).
After the dark and disturbing imagery of 1983's THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, Lucas and Spielberg were determined to do something a litlte more fun and light heartededly entertaining than before, mixed with the usual mcguffin (this time the Holy Grail) and the clever action scenes, as well as giving things story wise a bit more depth as a conclusion. Star Harrison Ford, too, was worried that the character of Indiana Jones was becoming one dimensional and wanted to end the series on a high with more characterisation and additional facets to the iconic role so as to make the film more satisfying as a project for both him to work on and for the audiences waching it. The result of the trios efforts saw in the highly successful introduction of Indy's father, originally planned as a Yoda like professor who stayed away from the action, but whom soon became an integral part of the films success, fully integrated into its story and its character relationships, and metamorphosed into the Henry Jones we know and loved, as played by ex-James Bond himself, Sean Connery. And, despite some early reticence from Lucas about the actor taking the role, Spielberg was ultimately right when he said, "Who else could and should play Indy's father than 007?" The resulting combination/chemistry of Ford and Connery together would prove the vital masterstroke that holds the film together. The pair work beautifully on screen, with a wonderful camaraderie and great comic and dramatic timing-you can also sense that the two actors are having a great time here and presumably added much of their own input to the films success, and providing it, backed up with a great John Williams score and an interesting script from the late Jeffrey Boam (who had a double win that year with his screenplay for another summer hit: LETHAL WEAPON 2), apparently with additional dialogue from popular UK screen writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, which showed a clear sense of heart and familial recognition that could affect, enthuse and entertain audiences worldwide (backed up with a fun opening set-up/chase introducing us to a young version of Indiana Jones, well played by the late River Phoenix). Plus there were the usual great action highlights (the tank versus Indy on horse sequence is absolutely fantastic-a triumph of plotting and choreography which brings to life a very satisfying character orientated adrenaline scene- as is the Venice speedboat chase), a yummy blonde Indy-babe, the German spy Elsa Schneider played by the equally yummy ex-Bond girl Alison Doody, and other enjoyable villains-once more the Nazis (though a little bit more lampooned and cliched now in comparison to their mostly tough and intimidating roles in RAIDERS, but a special note to Michael Byrne who is excellent and thoroughly rotten as General Vogel, alongside Julian Glover's ambitious and slimy US businessman Walter Donovan (and look out for a little cameo from the actors real-life wife, Isla Blair (as Mrs Donovan, and listed in the movies credits as being played by "Mrs Glover"!). Finally, to the delight of long term fans since RAIDERS, there's also the return of our other friends: Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliot) and Sallah (John Rhys Davies), though, like the Nazis they're fighting against, it seems that there characters would also be amped up for more comic effect.
Here's one of the original trailers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNTV61FeAs
 |
| The Tank action sequence looked thrilling on the big screen in 1989. |
I remember that seeing the final INDY film was even more of a thrill for me this time, as I was witnessing it on the biggest screen in London at the newly re-opened and re-furnished EMPIRE, Leicester Square theatre in the heart of London's West End. I saw it the opening weekend of the films release (plus a few more times after that with family and friends) where it was also the opening weekend for the new cinema, and which, I think, had also played host to another special Royal premiere, too, just like the one for TEMPLE OF DOOM. I clearly remember walking into the new EMPIRE and thinking, "This is how all cinemas should be!", and loved the re-design: the plush seating and a loud and eye filling laser light show and deafening, proper THX sound system designed specifically to rattle you in your seat before the film had even started! The audience of the Saturday mid afternoon show proceeded to love every minute of THE LAST CRUSADE, and so did I, and, as our old friends Indy, Marcus, Henry and Sallah rode off into the sunset at the end of their own crusade, I knew that this was indeed going to be the last film of the series and I had a little lump in my throat as the final credits rolled...
And then, almost twenty years later, Ford and the gang proved me wrong!
THE LAST CRUSADE, showing tonight on BBC 1, completes the series being shown on the channel and BBC HD.
