VERSUS THE SCARECROW EPISODE SEVEN: SPECIAL EDITION: Nick and the Last Crusade of Raiders of the Lost Temple of Doom? I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites. You can read the rest of my series here.
Just a quick refresher: each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film. “….and here. We. Go!”
In this episode we’re going to bend the rules a little bit. On September 15th AMC Theaters screened a marathon of all four Indiana Jones Films. I thought this was a tremendous opportunity because I had never seen these films before and what better way to experience them for the first time than on the big screen! Because the Scarecrow Movie Guide was published in 2004, it does not cover Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which I’m okay with. But weirdly enough, the book only covers The Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade films of the Indiana Jones Franchise. So I’m going to bend the rules a bit by reviewing The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, and I’ll reflect on Raiders of the Lost Ark as well as the marathon experience as a whole.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery and Alison Doody. IMDB says: “When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father’s footsteps and stop the Nazis.”
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a triumphant return to everything we loved about Raiders of the Lost Ark. It even had the same look and feel that was iconic to Raiders. The film begins by delving into Indy’s past bringing much welcomed character depth in an almost reintroduction to the character. The film maintains its tone, but there are a few scenes that seem heavy handed or rushed to a point where it does throw off the pace. Indy is facing a familiar foe but this time he has the help of new characters, to us, and old friends we missed from Raiders.
The film begins with a flashback and we see how even at a young age, Indy’s morals were strong and he didn’t always hate snakes. His past leads him to present day where he’s in search of the same artifact from his past. Everything seems normal and he’s back at school teaching to swooning teens when he gets a package from his father. He seeks out his father and realizes he’s missing and someone has ransacked his father’s home. Indy heads out to Rome in search of not only his father, but the holy artifact he was searching for. Throw in some deception and Nazi’s and the film takes off in a chase to find the Holy Grail.
The chemistry between Indy (Harrison Ford) and his father (Sean Connery) is perfect as they trade light-hearted barbs back and forth in unbelievably tense situations. They play off each other so well that neither seem to really own the screen or dominate each others performance so much as build and create stronger, more relatable characters. The rest of the cast comes across as minor only because of the performances and screen dominance of Ford and Connery. Surprisingly, it doesn’t hurt the film. What hurts the film are the scenes that take away from the pace of the film. Some scenes run on too long and others feel almost ludicrous. There is a scene where a notebook needs to be recovered and our heroes find themselves deep in Nazi territory in Berlin. The tension builds all the way to a point where SPOILER-KINDA Indy ends up getting the notebook signed by Hitler during a parade. I’ll say the again, he gets a notebook signed by Hitler, during a parade. The entirety of that scene felt ridiculous because of the mere lengths he has to go through. It’s a matter that should have been dealt with in a different setting, or even a different scenario. For me, it seemed so out of place and so heavy-handed, that it threw the pace off as it tried to pick back up the momentum it built.
That aside, everything else is really solid. The score is great, the settings are fantastic, and there is even some really nice camera work/tricks to create illusions and moments of suspense. Many will enjoy the film because at its core, it’s a father-son film that many will relate to. I enjoyed it and anyone else who watches it, regardless if they’ve seen the other Indiana Jones films, will enjoy it too.
Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on Raiders of the Lost Ark and if you’re interested in more, you can find the rest of the Versus The Scarecrow series here.