Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
for unspecified reasons.
Reviewed by: Daniel Ball
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | 14 and up |
| Genre: | Action Adventure |
| Length: | 2 hr. 7 min. |
| Year of Release: | 1989 |
| USA Release: |
May 24, 1989 (wide) |
LEGEND—Was Jesus Christ only a legend? Answer
MIRACLES—Has science disproved the miracles associated with Jesus Christ? Answer
ARCHAEOLOGY—Have any burial sites been found for the people involved in Christ’s life and death? Answer
Is Jesus Christ a man, or is he God? Answer
| Featuring | Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover |
| Director |
Steven Spielberg |
| Producer |
Paramount Pictures Lucasfilm Robert Watts, George Lucas, Frank Marshall, Arthur F. Repola |
| Distributor |
 Paramount Pictures Corporation, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS |
In this final installment of the famous trilogy, Steven Spielberg has executed yet another blockbuster and added another terrific narrative to the life of Indiana Jones. Spielberg co-collaborator John Williams once again provides a great (not his best) score.
Professor Henry Jones “Junior” (Harrison Ford) and newcomer Henry Senior (Sean Connery) team up to recover another ancient relic from the Bible. This time, they search for the Cup of Christ. Nazis are once again the bad guys throughout the film, as they race against our heroes to claim the Holy Grail for “Der Fuhrer.”
The “mature” content is typical for a Spielberg film. The profanity is mild. In one instance, Indy uses the Lord’s name in vain, but is slapped by the elder Jones “for blasphemy.” Implied fornication is present in two scenes (one is from a conversation), and the violence is fairly intense (decapitation, bloody bullet piercings, and rapid/disgusting aging). Violence is the key category that warrants caution.
While worldly filth pollutes the movie, it’s redeemed by the challenges of faith that the characters face; challenges that are similar to our own. In one scene, Indy is forced to cross a ravine where there’s no bridge. The only way to get across the ravine is to take a “leap of faith.” This PERFECTLY illustrates how we should trust God. Many youth ministers use this scene to show their groups.
Parents: If possible, see this movie on network stations; otherwise, know what your child can handle, if they plan on watching it. All others: The amount of challenges posed to the characters as well as the Christians in the audience make this a much healthier movie than “double-naught seven.”
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
The violence is normal for a PG-13 movie. It’s intense and you do see blood, but this is an action movie so what else do you expect? After all that is said I highly recommend this movie if you’re looking for an intense action movie that isn’t too violent and has very little profanity and sex and is still an all around great film!
[Better than Average / 5]
The Movie is great! Harrison Ford is the only actor on Earth who can play this character. No one else has his charisma, his charm, and his intellect to take on this character. I loved him in the first two but in this one his performance beats even that of his first time wearing the fedora in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Casting Sean Connery as Indy’s father is brilliant. The two in the movie have a special relationship that captures the audience attention.
As for the Christian aspect of this movie, I would say that Indy represents good and of course the Nazi’s represents evil. Indy at first doesn’t believe in Christ but after experiencing many hardships, he finally takes God into his soul and trusts in his and with God’s help he defeats the Nazi meance and saves his father thanks to the Holy cup’s awesome power. “You must believe boy, you must.” are the words uttered by Jones, Sr. in the movie. And that is the message of this film. Good vs. Evil. Christ vs. Satan. Overall, this is one of my top ten favorite films of all time and my favorite Indiana Jones movie. Once again the creative talents of the director Spielberg, the actor Harrison Ford, and the writer George Lucas create a story that is not only fun to watch, but great to experience over and over again.
I HIGHLY recommend this movie. I can’t wait for the DVD version to come out as of course it will be packed with special features. Oh and one more thing. Another Indiana Jones movie is in the works. Dr. Jones is not done yet!
[Average / 5]
[Average / 4½]
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
Interestingly enough, The Raiders March and Marion’s Theme for the first movie were two separate themes originally, but Steven Spielberg liked them so much he suggested that Williams combine them into one, and thus the iconic End Credits music for the first film was born.
The plot of this film is so well known, I won’t go into it; only to say that casting 007 himself Sean Connery was a stroke of genius. This adds to the comedy factor of the film, and gives it a gentle balance of seriousness and good old-fashioned fun.
Biblically speaking, the film has plenty of violence which is mostly bloodless but slightly more intense than the previous two installments (but nowhere near as gruesome as THAT scene in “Temple of Doom”), mild-to-moderate profanity (including several unnecessary profane uses of God and Jesus” Names) and a brief scene where fornication is once again implied. With that in mind, I recommend the first and third installments for discerning viewers. I grew up watching this film along with “Raiders Of The Lost Ark,” so I am biased towards them.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5