Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Special Edition) DVD
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 Rating: - Indiana Jones, Monty Python and the holy handgrenade of Antioch
For some reason, unbeknownst to me, quite a few people (and reviewers) dismissed the excellent "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (also reviewed) as the worst sequel in the original 80's Indy series and some said it was just simply a bad film...full stop. They derided the film so much that I wondered if they had actually seen it at all, so unjust was the "outrage" against the episode. Obviously, the fact that "Temple of Doom" was following the truly wonderful "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (the only really great film of the 4) had a negative effect on how some were going to view the first sequel in the series, as no matter how hard Lucas and Spielberg et al tried they couldn't hope to top the incredible impact that "Raiders" had on the public.

But unfortunately, it seems that the producers of the Indy series abandoned their own judgment and bent over backwards in an attempt to eliminate the darker elements of "Temple of Doom" and replace it with lashings of incredibly stupid and inane comedy for the third installment, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".

So vehement were the producers of "Last Crusade" to replace serious content with appalling idiocy, they were willing to litter the movie with slapstick nonsense that destroyed the overall film.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the film is a complete write off in every department. The basic story is OK (but only just) and sees our hero following in his fathers obsessive quest for the famed cup of Christ, or the Holy Grail. The essential plot elements are all there and includes the usual Indy staples of multiple locations, deadly traps and spectacular supernatural McGuffin. Even the Germans were forced back into their nazi uniforms to don their traditional Hollywood caricature as the badguys; Which, in my opinion was a bit tired and un-necessary. There are plenty of bad folk around and their presentation here is far, far inferior than their turn in "Raiders".

Most in the movies favor, and the only reason this film gets an extra star, is the inclusion of Sean Connery as Indy's dad. It's a good plot device to hang the kinda weak central plot onto and Connery's performance as the bungling Old Man of Henry Jones Jr is quite delightful and he has some great lines too..."We named the dog Indiana".

The shared screen time of Ford and Connery generally works well and they pair of them seemed to be having a good time in their roles.

Another mention should go to Irish actress Alison Doody, as the obligatory squeeze (with a twist) and Denholm Elliott who reprises his charming role as Marcus Brody, dean of Indy's college in America. Unfortunately, it was to be for the last time.

Also of note, is a floppy haired River Phoenix as a young Indiana in the movies brilliant opening sequence.

Unfortunately, after the opening is complete, the film starts to go rapidly downhill until it naturally reaches it's ridiculously absurd climax, by which time my suspension of disbelief had had enough and Mr Cynicism had stepped in.

But even the rapidly disintegrating story would have been bearable if Spielberg and Lucas had refrained from carelessly dropping the incredibly unfunny attempts at "humour" through the film. Sure, the two preceding efforts had liberal amounts of humour sprinkled within it's opening and ending credits, but it remained subtle and never interfered with the overall product or the "seriousness" of the piece. In "Raiders" Indy shoots the sword wielding foe with his revolver, instead of fighting him with a sword and in "Temple of Doom" he tries it again, but this time his gun has been missing since the opening sequence. These humourous efforts are fine and funny and what's more they are limited to reality. They don't break down the walls of reality and destroy the suspense or action of a given scene.

Whereas the "humour" in the "Last Crusade" is so heavy handed that it completely ruins a scene. For instance, when Indy breaks his way through a library floor in Venice to get to a secret chamber, the noise he naturally makes breaking the floor is mistaken by a librarian for the noise he makes while he is stamping overdue books. Now, this may be fine in a Monty Python movie, but in a film such as an Indy adventure, it is just stupid. There's no other words for it. It ruins the suspense of the scene.

Likewise the "No Ticket" scene in the Zeppelin and the ridiculous Berlin book burning scene where Indy meets Hitler, coupled with the scene where the BF108 pilot sheers his wings off and continues traveling down a tunnel beside a car containing the Jones boys go a long way towards tearing apart any suspension of disbelief that's required equipment for watching a film of this sort. It's unbelievably groan making, destroys the suspense and danger and it's difficult to imagine anyone finding it enjoyable.

At it's conclusion "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" has long since revealed itself another 'could have been' film. It could have been great, but it's let down terribly by the decision to dilute the overall effect with mind numbing idiocy and it kills any excitement with dreadful foot stamping comedy that even a Will Ferrell movie would scoff at.

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