Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade almost was, and in many fans’ estimation probably should have been, the last adventure for the iconic screen hero. After the disappointing (yet still extremely profitable) Temple of Doom, the film was a significant return to form and offered many unmistakable notes of closure to bring this blockbuster trilogy to a satisfying conclusion.
Of course, we know now that Last Crusade wouldn’t actually be the last Indiana Jones movie. However, at the time, I think everyone assumed it would be, including director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford. Age 15 at the time, I saw the movie opening weekend and vividly recall the audience standing up to applaud as the final shot faded into the credits – something I still count as an extreme rarity among my theatrical experiences (outside of film festivals, where it’s considered polite form to applaud no matter what the movie is). Unsurprisingly, Last Crusade was another spectacular success. In fact, it went on to become the highest-grossing movie of 1989, which was no small feat in direct competition against the mega-hit Batman. Viewers of all ages loved Indiana Jones and were delighted to see the character triumphantly (and, as it turns out, even literally) ride off into the sunset.
| Title: | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
| Year of Release: | 1989 |
| Director: | Steven Spielberg |
| Watched On: | 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray |
| Also Available On: | Blu-ray Disney+ Paramount+ Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
Dispensing with the needless confusion of Temple of Doom technically being a prequel to the first movie, Last Crusade is a proper sequel with a story set in 1938, two years after the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. At least, that’s the case after a very fun prologue sequence set in 1912 featuring rising young star River Phoenix (who had played Harrison Ford’s son in The Mosquito Coast, and would tragically pass away just four years later) as teenage Indy.
Once the main plot kicks in, our heroic archaeologist embarks on a new adventure, this time in search of none other than the Holy Grail, the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. Doing so once again pits him against some dastardly Nazis, who fully buy into legends that the Grail can bestow the blessing of eternal life. More importantly, Indy is also reunited with his estranged father, Henry (screen legend Sean Connery), who’d gone missing while on the same quest.
The constant bickering between Indy and his disapproving dad brings a hugely entertaining dynamic that sets this sequel apart from both of its predecessors – enough so to easily brush aside any questions of why Indiana Jones’ father would have a Scottish accent. In addition to that, the film also features the return of Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies as Indy’s friends Marcus and Sallah, and adds Julian Glover as a new Nazi-collaborating antagonist. As the story hops around the globe from Venice to Austria to the Middle East, director Spielberg stages another fantastic string of action and stunt set-pieces to put his heroes in danger, most of them thankfully more in line with the larger-than-life thrills of Raiders than the cartoonish silliness of Temple of Doom.
The female lead in this outing is Dr. Elsa Schneider, an Austrian art professor played by Irish model/actress Alison Doody, who’d had a small part as a Bond Girl in 1985’s A View to a Kill. Doody bears a notable resemblance to Grace Kelly and looks great in the period wardrobe, but unfortunately, at least in this role with the accent she has to put on, gives a rather stiff performance. If perhaps not as grating as Willie in Temple of Doom, Elsa makes another weak love interest for Dr. Jones. However, the character becomes somewhat more interesting after a (not at all surprising) heel turn in the middle of the picture.
Truth the told, the need to recycle Nazis as villains and center the entire story around another Judeo-Christian religious artifact with supernatural powers is a little disappointing. I wish the movie could’ve come up with some fresher ideas. The screenplay by Jeffrey Boam (whose Lethal Weapon 2 would be another huge hit the same summer) also lays out the clues to the treasure hunt a bit too schematically. Practically every detail of Indy’s journey is mapped out for him in advance, and all he needs to do is follow the instructions to find the Grail.
Quibbles aside, Last Crusade is a much worthier follow-up to Raiders of the Lost Ark than Temple of Doom had been. It’s a terrific capper to the Indiana Jones Trilogy. Regrettably, producer George Lucas had trouble recognizing that and couldn’t let his character retire in peace.
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released on Blu-ray in 2012 and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in 2021. The 4K transfer on the latter starts off on poor footing as the opening Paramount logo segues into the movie proper and film grain freezes in place, then gets visibly wiped away on screen, as if a DNR filter kicked in just before the transition. The first scene, comprised mostly of optical composites to impose titles over the live-action footage, may have always been inherently soft, but looks unnaturally smoothed-over to my eye.
The rest of the movie once the titles have finished is more or less on par with the 4K transfers for Raiders and Temple of Doom. The 2.35:1 image is generally well detailed, but I suspect that the original film grain was likely stripped out, the picture digitally sharpened, and then artificial grain added back on top. Assuming I’m correct about that, the results in this instance are a little more stable than the first two movies, with fewer scenes where sharpening artifacts stand out. However, it still doesn’t quite look natural. On the other hand, colors are very rich and the HDR grade is quite pleasing.
The blue-screen effects during the blimp and airplane scenes in this movie have always been pretty dodgy, and 4K resolution doesn’t help that in the slightest. If anything, they look faker than ever now.
The Last Crusade was nominated for a Best Sound Oscar in 1990 and won for Sound Effects Editing. Unfortunately, the Dolby Atmos remix has been so noise-reduced and dynamic range compressed as to suck almost all the life and fun right out of the movie. I truly hate the Indiana Jones Atmos mixes. Punches, gunfire, and tank cannon blasts that ought to hit with some bass are pathetically weak now.
Dialogue is also very soft on this film in particular and often gets buried under the music and sound effects – except for the scene where Indy fights a Turkish assassin as his boat is chopped up by the propeller of a larger ship, during which all the sound effects are pulled down to near inaudibility while dialogue ADR is boosted. (I’ll be honest, that part could well have always been a problem with the movie, but it really stands out here.)
From what I can tell, the Atmos mix is locked to 7.1.2 format with no use of Front Wide channels or discrete front and rear heights. Although they may have some ambience bleed or miscellaneous sound effects every once in a while, the height speakers really only come to life during the aerial combat scene. Admittedly, that’s the best-sounding part of the whole movie and almost makes a case for how Atmos should benefit this film. But then the sequence ends with two very limp explosions to remind us that, planes zig-zagging around the room or not, this track was really optimized for listening via a soundbar.
My copy of the 4K disc was included in a 4-Movie Collection box set bundled with Raiders, Temple of Doom, and Crystal Skull. The set only includes one UHD disc for each film packaged in its own SteelBook case. No standard Blu-ray discs were provided.
The only bonus features on the Last Crusade UHD disc are two trailers. Any other supplements previously found on Blu-ray or DVD didn’t make the transition.
Related
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Indiana Jones franchise (other)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 4K Ultra HD
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Film at 11 Podcast Review
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 4K Ultra HD
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Film at 11 Podcast Review
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom NES Video Game (1988)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
- Steven Spielberg (director)
- Harrison Ford
- Sean Connery
- River Phoenix
- Other Awesome Movies of 1989
Note: All screenshots on this page were taken from the standard Blu-ray edition of the film and are used for illustration purposes only.
The Video File Blog 
All Indiana Jones movies (even Crystal Skull) were solid box office hits. I really can’t fathom why ‘Dial of Destiny’ is doing poorly. It’s a much, much better movie than ‘Skull’ and a worthy finale to our hero (even if, yes, ‘Crusade’ was that too).
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Being such a fan of Raiders, it’s strange to me that I didn’t see Last Crusade in the theater – especially since I had a car in 1989 and recall going to quite a few movies. I worked at Circuit City in the early 90’s and I recall the Last Crusade LD being played as a demo constantly. I remember renting the VHS of this movie during the summer of 1994, my roommate at the time had a Yamaha AVR, and he used this rental as an excuse to finally buy a center speaker. We listened to Last Crusade in Dolby Pro Logic and that was so cool. I liked the experience of L-C-R channels better than I did with just having L-R+surrounds.
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